‘We are the professionals’: a study of teachers’ views on parental involvement in school

The study examines teachers’ attitudes and experiences regarding home–school cooperation. Teachers constitute a powerful group in school compared with parents, and this relationship is interpreted through Bourdieu’s concept of social field, as a power relation. The empirical analyses are based on a mixed‐methods approach with survey and qualitative interviews among teachers in Norway. The results show that while teachers experience the interaction in a positive way, they try to limit parents’ influence through emphasising their own professionalism, thus leaving parents with the role as supporters. Teachers who relate to well‐educated parents are especially conscious of maintaining a distance towards the parents in order to keep them in their place.     

Developing pre-service teachers’ understanding of children’s risky play

This study examines the effectiveness of an intervention course for changing early childhood pre-service teachers’ understanding of children’s risky play. Twenty-six of the early childhood pre-service teachers who were enrolled in this course filled out an open-ended questionnaire at the beginning and end of the six-week course. Data from the pre and post surveys were triangulated with data obtained through the researcher’s reflective notes and participants’ brief evaluations and drawings. The results of the data analysis indicated that participation in the intervention course had changed pre-service teachers’ beliefs. As a result of the course, pre-service teachers’ positive perspectives on children’s risky play increased and their understanding became enhanced. Results are discussed in relation to the literature and the implications of examining early childhood education programs are explored.     

From preschool teachers’ professional development to children’s knowledge: comparing sets

Recently, there have been increased calls for enhancing preschool children’s mathematics knowledge along with increasing calls for preparing preschool teachers to meet the demands of new preschool mathematics curricula. This article describes the professional development program Starting Right: Mathematics in Preschools. Focusing on four episodes that revolve around the topic of equivalent sets, it demonstrates how engaging preschool teachers with challenging tasks may promote their subject matter knowledge as well as their pedagogical content knowledge, leading to an interweaving of knowledge and practice. Assessment of the program included assessing the children’s knowledge. Results indicated that students of participating teachers learned to be more flexible and to give more possible answers than students of non-participating teachers.     

Estonian preschool teachers’ views on supporting children’s school readiness

ABSTRACT

Transition from early childhood education to primary school is a complex phenomenon. This situation, moving from one educational system to another, is exciting, but can also be stressful for the child, her family and preschool teachers. Smooth transition to primary school helps children feel secure, relaxed and comfortable in their new environments. The current study, highlighting how Estonian preschool teachers comprehend their pedagogical activities in supporting children’s school readiness, was conducted using semi-structured interviews. There were 15 participants, preschool teachers, who at the moment of research taught in groups where children were between the ages of 6 and 7. As a result of completing the above procedure, research findings highlight that there is a lack of collaboration between preschools, schools and local neighbourhoods, but teachers try different methods individually when introducing school environment to children.     

Building children’s sense of community in a day care centre through small groups in play

This study examines the process through which children build a sense of community in small groups in a day care centre. The study asks the following: how does children’s sense of community develop, and what are its key features? Data were collected by applying ethnographic methods in a group of three- to five-year-old children over eleven months. The results show that children’s sense of community developed through three stages. In the first stage, it evolved gradually through experiences in joint play. In the second stage, stable friendships were formed and strengthened in play. In the third and final stage, sense of community was fully established and children’s emotional bonding was strong, manifesting itself in affective and physical closeness, sharing and caring and togetherness.     

ICT and play in preschool: early childhood teachers’ beliefs and confidence

This study investigated early childhood teachers’ beliefs about information and communications technology (ICT) and play in preschool, as well as their confidence in integrating ICT in the classroom. A 28-item questionnaire was compiled and administered to 190 early childhood teachers in Greece. Although ICT play (which can provide learning opportunities) has largely replaced traditional childhood play, in Greece, there is inadequate integration of ICT in early childhood education. In this study, two factors were extracted: ‘playing with ICT as an effective mode of learning and developing children's technological competence’ and ‘ICT use as free play’. The fewer the years of teaching experience and the higher the teachers’ computer self-efficacy, the stronger was the view that ICT play is not just free play. Teachers’ beliefs and confidence affect their classroom practices and, consequently, the children's learning. Viewing ICT as a mode of learning that should be embedded in the curriculum is expected to lead to ICT integration in a teacher's daily practices. The implications for in-service teacher training are therefore discussed.     

Young children’s communication and expression of values during play sessions in preschool

The article explores how young children between one and three years old communicate and prioritise values in order to create and be a part of a community during play sessions in an Icelandic preschool. Furthermore, it aims to investigate the value conflicts that might occur and how the children resolve such conflicts. The study adopts the phenomenological approach of Merleau-Ponty emphasising human bodily existence. Data consist mainly of video recordings. The findings show three main categories that illustrate the values that the children prioritised and found meaningful to their interaction in their play: the value of ownership of toys, the value of others’ well-being and the value of belonging to the community. The values could also be in opposition to values that were either prioritised within the group of children or emphasised by the educators. The study implies that play situations are a valuable arena for children’s learning of values. The value conflicts appeared to be especially important, including children’s confrontations with each other’s perspectives and requiring the children to clarify their views. Thus, children’s positions and possibilities within the group became visible and influenced the resolution of the conflicts.     

Digital play as a means to develop children’s literacy and power in the Swedish preschool

Abstract

This paper presents different angles on the subject of digital play as a means to develop children’s literacy and power, using an online ethnographical study of Swedish preschool teachers’ discussions in informal online forums. Question posts (n = 239) were analysed using the Technological Pedagogical Knowledge framework and the Caring, Nurturing and Teaching framework, with the aim of understanding how teachers intended to support children’s literacy development with tablets. Literacy development can be understood as a social practice that needs to develop along with changes in society’s demands on citizens. The results presented indicate that school subject oriented skills are predominantly present in the mind-set of these preschool teachers. When digital play is increasingly used for pedagogical purposes in preschools, that also means that preschools have expanded their opportunities to work with children’s literacy development. For preschool teachers, it is important to discuss how literacy development can be supported in a contemporary media landscape.     

Promoting children’s participation: the role of teachers in preschool and primary school learning sessions

The aim of this study is to provide insights into the social construction of participation in joint activities in Finnish preschool and primary school classrooms. The article deals with two issues: How do teachers promote participation in a preschool classroom as compared with a primary school classroom? What similarities and differences are found? It also considers the question of how the similarities contribute to the continuity from preschool to primary school in terms of participation. Based on observation data insights are provided into the interactions between teachers and children by using extracts from teacher‐led learning sessions. The teachers used a diversity of strategies to promote participation in both contexts. In the preschool the focus was on participation and interaction as such, whereas in the primary school the emphasis was more clearly on academic learning. The findings suggest that teacher support of active participation and friendly relationships, together with creative and playful activities in the preschool, enrich children’s curiosity, and nourish children’s motivation for and interests in academic learning.     

Write this way: examining teachers’ supportive strategies to facilitate children’s early writing in preschool

Reading and Writing - Writing is essential for communication in literate societies, and its successful acquisition and development is central to academic achievement. Beginning in early childhood,...     

Getting parents involved in children’s play: Qatari parents’ perceptions of and engagement with their children’s play

The study investigates parents’ perceptions of and engagement with their children's play in the context of Qatar. Quantitative data were collected using a questionnaire that was administered to parents of children aged 4–7 years old in Doha. A total sample of 240 parents responded to the questionnaire. Findings indicated that Qatari parents valued the importance of play to their children’s development and learning. In addition, parents showed a moderate level of engagement with their children’s play. The findings also indicated that physical play was the most common type of play in which parents are engaged with their children, followed by discovery play. Moreover, significant correlations were found between parents’ perceptions of children’s play and their engagement with all play types. In addition, significant differences were observed in parents’ perceptions of and engagement with children’s play based on parents' socio-demographic variables. These findings highlight the importance of extending children’s play in all children’s educational levels, and getting parents involved in children’s play activities.     

Exploring kindergarten teachers’ views and roles regarding children’s outdoor play environments in Oman

The purpose of this study was to explore kindergarten teachers’ views and roles regarding outdoor play environments in Omani kindergartens. Thirty kindergarten teachers from 15 private kindergartens were observed and interviewed. The results indicated that teachers recognize the importance of outdoor play in children’s development and learning. Although teachers are satisfied with the safety conditions of the outdoor play environments, they feel they need to know more about how to maintain safety criteria in this environment. Teachers most frequently took on the role of supervising and guiding children’s behaviour or setting up materials for play, whereas providing verbal comments and participating in play were less common. Omani outdoor play environments were found to face specific difficulties, such as the hot climate, a shortage of materials and equipment, a lack of natural surroundings and the short length of time spent outdoors. The article concludes with policy implications and pedagogical recommendations.     

Opening up towards children’s languages: enhancing teachers’ tolerant practices towards multilingualism

Mainstream teachers struggle with linguistic diversity, often leading to restricting multilingualism. Scientific research, however, recommends including pupils’ home languages in school. Various qualitative studies have evaluated implementations in schools and indicated possibilities for improving teachers’ attitudes towards multilingualism. This paper evaluates an experimental implementation targeting an increase in tolerance towards multilingualism. The implementation was facilitated by external school coaches and consisted of 3 experimental tools affecting the school. Data originated from 62 Flemish primary schools (of which half were experimental schools) that participated in 3 survey waves (2012 and 2014; 763 teachers completed both waves). We used multilevel regression. We concluded that the implementation leads to higher rates of tolerance. The fulfilment of the basic conditions needed for a successful change was important, and the linguistic diversity of the pupil population and the investment by external school coaches did not affect the tolerant practices of teachers towards multilingualism.     

‘We can only change in a small way’: A study of secondary English teachers’ implementation of curriculum reform in China

This article reports on a study of English secondary teachers’ perceptions of and implementation of the new English curriculum reform in China. Triangulated data collection methods were employed to gather information about teachers’ perceptions of the new curriculum and their teaching behaviours. Implementation gap emerged between the new curriculum requirements and the teachers’ classroom practices despite the teachers’ common endorsement of the new curriculum goals and pedagogies due to a series of contextual constraints: the considerable professional and psychological challenges to teachers, the students’ resistance, and the lack of support school administrators and most importantly, the backwash effect of the prevalent examination culture. The study suggests the necessity to address teachers’ challenges and difficulties in the curriculum reform process to facilitate their implementation of the reform.     

‘It’s not right for boys to play with dolls’: young children constructing and policing gender during ‘free play’ in a South African classroom

This paper focuses on the ways in which five- to seven-year-old primary school children in a Black/African township in South Africa construct and experience ‘free play’ in the classroom. Findings highlight the gendered manner in which play is constructed and constantly policed by these young children during ‘free play’. By foregrounding the young children’s gendered constructions and experiences of ‘free play’, the paper challenges the common sense teacher perceptions and constructions of children’s play that suggest children have ‘free choice’. The paper reveals that play is far from a ‘free’ activity as it is heavily constrained by specific contextual gender norms and expectations which limit possibilities by reproducing polarised versions of gender and perpetuate gender inequalities. Implications focus on the ways in which teachers can work with children to challenge the boundaries of gender during ‘free play’.     

Group size and organisational conditions for children’s learning in preschool: a teacher perspective

Background:?There is a limited amount of research about group size in preschool, and how it impacts on teachers’ working conditions and their ability to support children’s learning and knowledge development in line with curriculum intentions.

Purpose:?From a perspective on quality, this article examines the organisational conditions for children’s learning in preschool in relation to group size. The questions at issue are: how do teachers explain how they organise the child group and the learning environment in preschool, and why?

Sample:?The sample consists of 12 preschools from different parts of Sweden. The preschools selected for the study are stratified in order to represent small and large group sizes in Swedish preschools as defined by the Swedish National Agency for Education. The sample contains both urban and rural regions and represents districts that differ geographically, demographically, ethnically, and which include varied socioeconomic structures. The 12 preschools had children in three age groupings: 1–3, 3–5 or 1–5. The number of children in the participating preschools ranged from 12 children to 45 children, with seven of the preschools having more than 30 children in their groups.

Design and method:?The article is based on interactionist perspectives, Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory, a critical ecology of the early childhood profession, theories of children’s learning, and four dimensions of pedagogical quality. Together, these theoretical perspectives contribute to an understanding of the relationships between policy issues, educational goals, group size and teachers’ competence in organising and creating conditions for children’s learning. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with two teachers from each of the 12 preschools. The interviews lasted between 40–60 minutes and were recorded and transcribed verbatim. The analytical process was conducted in three steps and can be described as an analytical process of abduction. The four dimensions of pedagogical quality were used as analytical lenses to discern and understand critical aspects related to the teachers’ understanding of group size.

Result: Irrespective of group size, most of the children participate in different group constellations throughout the day, some organised by the teachers and some by the children themselves. Teachers’ competence to organise the children in such ways that good conditions for learning were created, differed between preschools, and depended on the teachers’ approach, which can be described as either intentional or unintentional learning.

Conclusion: Teachers’ organisational approaches influence the quality of the preschool and conditions for children’s learning in distinct ways.     

Curious play: children’s exploration of nature

This article explores the concept of ‘curious play’ as a theoretical framework to understand and communicate children’s experiences of free play in nature. The concept emerged interactively from three sources of inspiration: an ethnographically inspired study of children playing in nature; as a critique of the concept of ‘risky play’ being the dominant discourse on children’s play in natural environments; and from phenomenological and cultural-historical theories of children’s play and play environments. The article illustrates this interplay through an analysis of two empirical examples, and argues that curious play offers a comprehensive and existential approach to understanding the interplay of children playing in nature and children’s growth. Thus, children are conceptualized as active explorers and playful agents whilst embodying and creating knowledge, skills and understandings of themselves and their life-worlds.     

‘You should collaborate,children’: a study of teachers’ design and facilitation of children’s collaboration around touchscreens

Touchscreens are being integrated into classrooms to support collaborative learning, yet little empirical evidence has been presented regarding how children collaborate using touchscreens in classrooms. In particular, minimal research has been directed towards how teachers can design for and guide children’s touchscreen-based collaboration. Concurrently, the Programme for International Student Assessment and other international organisations have highlighted collaboration and ICT skills as crucial competencies for mastery in the twenty-first century. Accordingly, this article presents three narrative cases from a touchscreen project in Denmark, where 41 second-grade children and three teachers from two classrooms participated. The cases are based on ethnographic field data and 150 hours of video footage of natural occurring interaction in classroom settings. The ethnographic field data and video footage are examined using a collaboration model and embodied interaction analysis. Each case presents features of the subtle processes of children’s collaboration around touchscreens and teachers’ role in designing and guiding such collaboration. Thus, this article illustrates teachers’ and children’s situated processes of integrating touchscreens for collaborative activities in their classrooms.     

The role of involvement and emotional well-being for preschool children’s scientific observation competency in biology

ABSTRACT

Observation is one of the basic methods in science. It is not only an epistemological method itself, but also an important competence for other methods like experimenting or comparing. However, there is little knowledge about the relation with affective factors of this inquiry method. In our study, we would like to find out about the relations of emotional well-being and involvement with children’s observation competency. Seventy preschool children participated in our test observing a living mouse, a snail and a fish. From their behaviour in the test situation, we coded their observation competency as well as their emotional well-being and involvement. The data show that both emotional well-being and involvement are significant predictors of children’s observation competency. Further analyses confirm our hypothesis of a mediating role of involvement between well-being and the performance in the observation task. In conclusion, theoretical and practical implications of these results are discussed.