The relationship between preschool teachers' knowledge and attitudes/beliefs

Sexual learning (SL) is not widely implemented in the context of Malaysia preschools. This research paper attempted to study the relationship between preschool teachers’ knowledge and attitudes/beliefs towards SL for preschool children in Malaysia. It was hoped to raise awareness among preschool tea...

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Main Author: Kong, Esther Sing Yii
Format: Final Year Project / Dissertation / Thesis
Published: 2024
Subjects:
Online Access:http://eprints.utar.edu.my/7140/
http://eprints.utar.edu.my/7140/1/2202924_FYP.pdf
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author Kong, Esther Sing Yii
author_facet Kong, Esther Sing Yii
author_sort Kong, Esther Sing Yii
building UTAR Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Sexual learning (SL) is not widely implemented in the context of Malaysia preschools. This research paper attempted to study the relationship between preschool teachers’ knowledge and attitudes/beliefs towards SL for preschool children in Malaysia. It was hoped to raise awareness among preschool teachers towards the importance of implementing SL and address the knowledge gap about SL from teachers’ perspectives. Albert Bandura’s self-efficacy theory was applied to the study. It was proposed that the knowledge and attitudes/beliefs would each contribute to the teachers’ self-efficacy and lastly impacted the action they take upon sexual learning. Quantitative research method and correlational design was applied. 90 Malaysian preschool teachers were recruited through convenience sampling method to answer the ‘Questionnaire on Young Children’s Sexual Learning’. The finding indicates there is a significant moderate, positive correlation between level of knowledge and attitudes/beliefs among preschool teachers towards young children’s SL (rs=.438, p<.001). This result showed that as knowledge increases, attitudes/beliefs increase and vice versa. Descriptive analysis revealed that Malaysian preschool teachers exhibit a low level in knowledge (M=4.38, SD=3.51) and a neutral to slightly positive attitudes/beliefs (M=89.30, SD=10.30) regarding SL for preschool children. Inferential analysis revealed that as knowledge increases, attitudes increase and vice versa. These two variables have considerable influence upon each other.Teachers’ level of knowledge and attitudes/beliefs can be improved by providing SL-related trainings and suitable resources as well as support. As recommendations, qualitative or mixed method approach is preferred over quantitative method to gain a deeper insight into teachers’ perspective. Next, random sampling size is suggested for obtaining a large sample size efficiently to increase the reliability of the results. Keywords: Sexual learning, preschool teachers, knowledge, attitudes/beliefs, preschool children
first_indexed 2025-11-15T19:45:08Z
format Final Year Project / Dissertation / Thesis
id utar-7140
institution Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman
institution_category Local University
last_indexed 2025-11-15T19:45:08Z
publishDate 2024
recordtype eprints
repository_type Digital Repository
spelling utar-71402025-06-01T15:22:47Z The relationship between preschool teachers' knowledge and attitudes/beliefs Kong, Esther Sing Yii L Education (General) LC Special aspects of education Sexual learning (SL) is not widely implemented in the context of Malaysia preschools. This research paper attempted to study the relationship between preschool teachers’ knowledge and attitudes/beliefs towards SL for preschool children in Malaysia. It was hoped to raise awareness among preschool teachers towards the importance of implementing SL and address the knowledge gap about SL from teachers’ perspectives. Albert Bandura’s self-efficacy theory was applied to the study. It was proposed that the knowledge and attitudes/beliefs would each contribute to the teachers’ self-efficacy and lastly impacted the action they take upon sexual learning. Quantitative research method and correlational design was applied. 90 Malaysian preschool teachers were recruited through convenience sampling method to answer the ‘Questionnaire on Young Children’s Sexual Learning’. The finding indicates there is a significant moderate, positive correlation between level of knowledge and attitudes/beliefs among preschool teachers towards young children’s SL (rs=.438, p<.001). This result showed that as knowledge increases, attitudes/beliefs increase and vice versa. Descriptive analysis revealed that Malaysian preschool teachers exhibit a low level in knowledge (M=4.38, SD=3.51) and a neutral to slightly positive attitudes/beliefs (M=89.30, SD=10.30) regarding SL for preschool children. Inferential analysis revealed that as knowledge increases, attitudes increase and vice versa. These two variables have considerable influence upon each other.Teachers’ level of knowledge and attitudes/beliefs can be improved by providing SL-related trainings and suitable resources as well as support. As recommendations, qualitative or mixed method approach is preferred over quantitative method to gain a deeper insight into teachers’ perspective. Next, random sampling size is suggested for obtaining a large sample size efficiently to increase the reliability of the results. Keywords: Sexual learning, preschool teachers, knowledge, attitudes/beliefs, preschool children 2024 Final Year Project / Dissertation / Thesis NonPeerReviewed application/pdf http://eprints.utar.edu.my/7140/1/2202924_FYP.pdf Kong, Esther Sing Yii (2024) The relationship between preschool teachers' knowledge and attitudes/beliefs. Final Year Project, UTAR. http://eprints.utar.edu.my/7140/
spellingShingle L Education (General)
LC Special aspects of education
Kong, Esther Sing Yii
The relationship between preschool teachers' knowledge and attitudes/beliefs
title The relationship between preschool teachers' knowledge and attitudes/beliefs
title_full The relationship between preschool teachers' knowledge and attitudes/beliefs
title_fullStr The relationship between preschool teachers' knowledge and attitudes/beliefs
title_full_unstemmed The relationship between preschool teachers' knowledge and attitudes/beliefs
title_short The relationship between preschool teachers' knowledge and attitudes/beliefs
title_sort relationship between preschool teachers' knowledge and attitudes/beliefs
topic L Education (General)
LC Special aspects of education
url http://eprints.utar.edu.my/7140/
http://eprints.utar.edu.my/7140/1/2202924_FYP.pdf