Showing papers in "Early Childhood Education in 2020"

Multimodal lifeworlds : pedagogies for play inquiries and explorations

Abstract: In this paper, we advocate a reconceptualisation of early learning in the 21stcentury in the form of multimodal lifeworlds. We review the research literature on the role of new technologies for young children’s learning, both in their homes and in educational contexts. We contend that, in order to make our work accessible, and to describe the ways in which digital artefacts can create new contexts for learning, we should foreground the learning that is possible in contemporary multimodal learning ecologies. We raise complex questions and issues that require consideration as we plan for pedagogies that will encourage, support and transform children’s learning. The paper presents an understanding of new and continually evolving technologies as artefacts that inhabit the contemporary child’s lifeworld. These resources form part of their suite of learning devices, which impact on children’s identities, learning ecologies and how they make meanings of self. Finally, we present a possible conceptualization, which combines these elements that are relevant for pedagogical planning, discussed in the article, to consider how new technologies, as social, cultural and personal artefacts can contribute to children’s learning ecologies.

Digital Stories with Children : Examining Digital Storytelling as a Pedagogical Process in ECEC

Abstract: Modern digital technologies have become common in educational settings of all levels. This has made the use of digital storytelling (DST) more applicable in early childhood education and care (ECEC). This paper examines the implementation of DST, aiming to answer the following questions: 1) How to support children’s active participation throughout the DST process in ECEC, and 2) how do 21st century skills manifest in the DST process? The study was conducted between 2017 and 2018, when two cycles of DST projects were implemented in four Finnish ECEC centres as part of a European project. The data consist of interviews with educators (N=15) and children (N=51), as well as documentation of the DST activities (project sheets, N=37, and yearly summary documents, N=18) produced by the educators. The data were analysed using inductive thematic analysis. Firstly, our results highlight aspects that are important for supporting children’s active participation in DST, divided into the following categories: premises on starting DST with children, interpersonal processes during DST activity, affordances of digital tools and the meaning of DST activity and products. Secondly, we present how the 21st century skills such as digital skills, collaboration and problem-solving manifested in the DST process.

Competence to Teach a Point of Intersection for Swedish Preschool Quality

Abstract: This article aims to highlight preschool teachers’ teaching competence as one critical aspect of Swedish preschool quality. The study was based on quality evaluations using the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale. Data was collected from 153 preschools and analysed with descriptive statistics for the subscales. The standpoint of the article is that children learn and develop by communicating and interacting with their environment, highlighting how intentions and circumstances between and within systems and contexts affect preschool teaching and conditions for children’s learning. To evaluate high-quality preschool education, two subscales with the lowest quality scores, Language and literacy and Learning activities, were chosen to explore teaching, as they embrace items and criteria that depend on teaching. The results highlight distinct patterns of variation in quality. The competence to teach is a point of intersection for the quality in preschool, and conditions for children’s learning. Areas in need of competence development are subject, and didactic knowledge competence in relating to children in dialogue, child-focused strategies, clarifying and communicating an object of knowledge by integrating play, care, and learning in teaching.

Young Children Voices of Happiness: Learning from Urban Area in Indonesia

Abstract: This qualitative study describes happiness of preschool children in four Islamic kindergartens in the urban area of Jakarta, Indonesia. The participant involved 353 children, including 165 boys and 188 girls, within four to six years. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews and face-scale, with the content. The result showed that children have high levels of happiness, with the majority considering play as a source of positive affect, followed by school performance, material issues, friendship, and family. In contrast, most reported sources of negative affect in children’s daily lives referred to the following categories: material issues, none, family, illness or injury, and friendship. Further studies are needed to analyze the implication of children's happiness on parents, social workers, and teachers by focusing on play activity.

Obstacles to dialogic encounters between parents and staff in pre-primary school

Abstract: This study investigated obstacles to encounters with staff as experienced by parents in the context of institutional pre-primary education in Finland. The study contributes to education research by exploring parents’ perceptions and experiences of encounters with staff from the perspectives of Buber’s (1923/1987; 1947/2002) dialogic philosophy and Giorgi`s (1994) phenomenological psychology. The parent volunteers (n = 15) who participated in planning the local preprimary education curriculum based on The National Core curriculum for Pre-primary Education 2014 (Finnish National Board of Education 2016) met three times during the 2015–2016 school year in a city in northern Finland. In the last meeting there were five parents, whose group discussion the results of this study are principally based. The parents expressed a desire for more openness and transparency regarding daily life events and practices in pre-primary schools. They also felt that power relations created barriers to cooperation in the sense that staff did not take account of parents’ perspectives on their children. The findings clarify how encounters between parents and staff crystallize in daily face-to-face discussions and suggest that dialogue between parents and staff requires time, a calm situation, a family-friendly approach, and the willingness of parents and staff to work together.

Äitien luottamuksen rakentuminen kasvattajiin varhaiskasvatuksen aloituksessa

Abstract: Educational partnership between parents and teachers in early childhood education and care (ECEC) is closely connected to children’s experiences during their first transition from home to ECEC. This transition is a starting point for educational partnership and supports building of trust between the diverse participants. In this article, we are interested in the process of building trust from the mothers’ perspectives. We will analyse from mothers talk how their trust to educators in ECEC institution builds while they are talking about their child’s first months in ECEC. The theoretical framework for the analysis is based on Rempel’s, Holmes’ and Zannan’s (1985) model for the development of trust. We will use the model to explore

Miten monikielisyys ja kielitietoiset toimintatavat koetaan varhaiskasvatuksessa

Abstract: Supporting multilingualism is emphasized in the current curricula of early childhood education in Finland. This article reports an analysis of the educators’ experiences of multilingualism and language aware practices. The data consists of a questionnaire addressed to the personnel (n = 86) working in a multilingual child groups, and it was analyzed using data-driven content analysis. The article focuses on the challenges and joys that the multilingual environment has brought to the educators, as well as on the findings that the perceived challenges and joys reveal about the shifts in the notions of multilingualism and language learning. The results

Action Research for Exploring the Possibility of Distance Learning in Kindergartens

Abstract: 본 연구는 코로나19에 대응해 유치원 휴업 기간 동안 온ㆍ오프라인을 통합한 유치원 원격수업의 가능성을 탐색한 실행연구이다. 2020년 2월 3일부터 6월 26일까지 서울시에 있는 하늘유치원(가칭)의 180명 유아(만 3세 44명, 만 4세 66명, 만 5세 70명)와 그 부모가 참여하였다. 본 연구는 Kemmis와 McTaggart(2005)의 ‘나선형 자기반성적 연구 모형’을 토대로 계획, 실행, 평가, 협의의 반복적 순환으로 재구성하여 1차, 2차, 3차 실행으로 진행되었다. 1차 실행에서는 모바일 알림장 활용과 ‘집콕놀이 꾸러미’를 셔틀버스 및 우편으로 전달했다. 2차 실행에서는 보다 발전된 온·오프라인 통합교육을 위해 모바일 알림장으로 쌍방향 소통, 지속성 있는 놀이 주제선정 및 연계 활동, 영상콘텐츠 제작 활용, 유치원 및 학급에 대한 정보를 제공했다. 3차 실행에서는 신학기 교육 공백 최소화를 위해 유치원 교육과정 및 특색교육을 영상으로 제공하며 유아의 놀이 배움을 지원했다. 연구결과의 의미는 첫째, 코로나19는 유치원 원격수업의 시작점이 되었으며, 둘째, 유치원 원격수업은 온․오프라인 통합 러닝으로 운영될 때 효과적이었으며, 셋째, 유치원 원격수업의 성패는 유치원과 가정의 협력에 달려있었다. 향후 유치원 원격수업을 위한 부모교육과 ‘유치원 원격수업 전용 앱’ 개발의 필요성을 제안하였다.

The Emerging Professional Teacher Identity of Early Childhood and Foundation Phase Pre-service Teachers: Implications for Teacher Education Programmes

Abstract: Professional teacher identity is an important element in teaching. A teacher who rightfully identifies with teaching can be capable of helping...

Latent Profiles of Korean Preschool Teachers Three Facets of Pedagogical Content Knowledge in Early Mathematics

Abstract: Existing research primarily focused on only one aspect of preschool teachers pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) in early mathematics. With a...

Digital Technologies and Early Childhood : Guest Editorial

Abstract: Research conducted on digital technology and early childhood has increased notably during the past three decades (Mertala, 2016; Stephen & Edwards, 2018), and there are no signs that this trend will change anytime soon (the publication of the present special issue is one empirical example). On the contrary, it seems likely that the published research will continue growing. One reason is related to the ever-diversifying palette of digital technologies: Before the advent of personal computers, research on children and digital technology focused mainly on radio (Gruenberg, 1935) and television (Schramm, Lyle, & Parker, 1961). In the 1990s, digital technology was equated mainly with desktop computers (Clements, 1997), whereas in the 2000s interactive whiteboards excited researchers and practitioners (Morgan, 2010). In the midand late 2010s, the focus shifted to mobile devices, namely, tablets (Falloon & Khoo, 2014; Stephen & Edwards, 2018). Now that we have entered the 2020s, the digital landscape our children live in is more diverse than ever: The traditional forms of digital technologies listed above are now complemented by virtual and augmented reality, wearable technologies, and the Internet of Things, to name only a few examples of the technologies children encounter regularly. For instance, market reports predict that the already notable sales figures of computerand/or Internet-enabled toys will grow rapidly in the near future (Statista, 2019).

Swedish preschool teachers’ experiences from pedagogical use of digital play

Abstract: This article reports on findings from an interview study with eleven Swedish preschool teachers. The purpose was to increase the knowledge about preschool teachers’ experiences from pedagogical use ...

The Effects of a Sand Play Based A-STEAM Program for Young Children on Creativity, Science Process Skills, and Playfulness

Abstract: 본 연구에서는 유아를 위한 모래놀이 연계 A-STEAM 교육 프로그램이 유아의 창의성, 과학적 탐구능력, 놀이성에 미치는 효과를 알아보고자 하였다. 연구대상은 서울시 S 유치원 5세 유아 38명(실험집단 19, 비교집단 19)이다. 2018년 9월 3일부터 12월 7일까지 실험집단에서는 24회의 모래놀이 연계 A-STEAM 교육 프로그램이 적용되었으며 비교집단에서는 같은 횟수의 감상․탐색 중심 예술 모래놀이 프로그램이 적용되었다. 효과를 검증하기 위하여 사전, 사후에 창의성, 과학적 탐구능력, 놀이성 검사를 하였으며 집단 간 차이를 검증하기 위해 공변량분석(ANCOVA)을 실시하였다. 그 결과 실험집단의 유아의 창의성, 과학적 탐구능력, 놀이성 총점 및 하위점수에 유의미한 변화가 있는 것으로 나타났다. 이러한 결과는 유아를 위한 모래놀이 연계 A-STEAM 교육 프로그램의 교육현장 적용 가능성 시사한다 할 수 있겠다.

Student teachers' perception of reflective journal writing in placement practicum:Experience from a hong kong institution

Abstract: The paper aims to research kindergarten student teachers' perceptions of reflective journal writing and its role in fieldwork placement within the context of Hong Kong. To respond to their professional growth, student teachers use reflective journal writing as an essential assignment in early childhood education because it gives them the opportunity to explore the understanding they have gained in a specific context of fieldwork placement practices. Nevertheless, the quality of reflection is heavily dependent on their perception of the practices and the learning context, because they can choose to remain at the surface level and avoid the reflection process. In this regard, instead of merely implementing reflective journal writing, it is urgent that teacher educators learn more about student teachers' understanding of their role. Thus, first, this paper briefly illustrates the role of reflective practices in developing kindergarten student teachers' professional growth. It then reviews the relevant literature on reflective journal writing and argues the importance of individual practitioners' perspectives of reflective practices. By drawing empirical data from five kindergarten student teachers currently studying in an institution in Hong Kong, this qualitative study assesses their perception of reflective journal writing in placement learning through photo-elicitation interviews.