Given the need to find out information on how preschool teachers with expertise using the Second Step Violence Prevention Curriculum make decisions regarding the support of social concepts and skills outside of the actual lesson and in the natural play environment; the purpose of this study was to gain a better understanding of what the decisions look like, what events triggers the decisions, and how the teacher’s personal and professional knowledge play a role in the decision making process. The main research question driving my study was: How does a preschool teacher with expertise in using the Second Step Violence Prevention Curriculum make decisions regarding the support of social concepts in the play environment? Three sub-questions that lend support to answering the main question are as follows: (1) What does decision making regarding the support of social concepts look like from the teacher’s and researcher’s perspective? (2) What situations/events trigger the teacher to make decisions regarding supporting social concepts in the play environment (what is happening during the decision making episode? (3) How do professional knowledge/skills influence the teacher’s decision making regarding support of social concepts? Since this research focused on trying to understand teachers’ decision making (with regards to concepts espoused by the Second Step Curriculum) as they occur in the natural environment, each sub-question brought together pieces of information that help describe the “essence” of the decision making process as a whole.

A qualitative instrumental case study was adopted; and single-subject case was used for data collection and analysis. Multiple data sources including: initial background information interview, general observations of the site and climate, video recordings of decision making episodes, video-stimulated recall interviews, and a post-collection interview were used to answer the research questions and present a holistic picture of a preschool teacher’s decision making for the support of social concepts. Data gathered were analyzed through the constant comparison method of data analysis to emerging patterns and themes.

More than 80 of the participant’s decision making episodes were captured through video observation and twenty-three episodes, which met the criteria of decisions that support social concepts in the play environment, were chosen to prompt video-stimulated recall interviews. The themes that emerged from the data fell in accordance with the three research sub-questions: decision making type (proactive/reactive and routine/thoughtful) and process (structure of decision making episode), trigger of decision making episode (external, internal, or decision revisited), and influence of teacher professional background and personal belief system. Discussion of the findings and suggestions for future research yielded implications for the development of effective in-service professional development in the area of teacher reflection through three approaches: (1) Using video stimulated recall as a tool for teacher reflection and support for supervision and evaluation, (2) Focusing on reflection of a single developmental domain or content area, and (3) Using cooperative interactions to practice and enhance reflection.