In Dialogue with Children: Exploring Children’s Views of Literacy Practices in Their Early Childhood Settings

Children’s physical education in early childhood settings has always been underpinned by an emphasis on play. This is viewed as foundational for child development (movement education, cognitive growth, socialising functions, emotional development). However, where priorities about childhood obesity prevail, increased ‘prevention’ efforts have become targeted at primary and pre-school-aged children. It could be argued that early childhood education has become another site for the ‘civilising’ of children’s bodies. Drawing on data from a questionnaire completed by 65 early childhood education centres in Aotearoa New Zealand, we examine the play and physical education ‘curriculum’ and what this may mean for pre-school children’s views of physical activity and health. In light of the evidence that suggests pre-school physical education programmes reinforce achievement of a certain restrictive and narrow model of physical health and activity, we explore the implications for primary school physical education. In doing so we consider how teachers of physical education in primary schools may need to reconsider the curriculum to support young children to regain enthusiasm for pleasurable movement forms that are not centred on narrowly perceived notions of the healthy or sporting body.

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Everyday literacy practices: Normalising the school literate child

South African Journal of Childhood Education ◽

10.4102/sajce.v11i1.946 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Colwyn D. Martin

Keyword(s):

Early Childhood ◽

Early Literacy ◽

School Readiness ◽

Literacy Practices ◽

Participant Observation ◽

Early Childhood Teachers ◽

Ethnographic Study ◽

Individual Agency ◽

Literacy Knowledge ◽

Early Childhood Settings

Background: One can argue that literacy practices work to produce forms of literacy knowledge and literate children in early childhood contexts. However, one needs to interrogate how these literacy practices create technologies of power that construct and normalise the school ready literate child.Aim: The ethnographic study employed in this article explored everyday literacy practices in early childhood contexts that were considered ‘usual’, the kinds of literate children these practices engendered and its normalising effects on children and teachers.Settings: The study was conducted in two early childhood centres with two early childhood teachers and teaching children between the ages of 3 and 4.Methods: The study was qualitative in nature and used participant observation. A genealogical analysis of literacy practices showed how technologies of power were embodied in different literacy practices that worked to construct and normalise the school ready child in different ways.Results: The findings revealed that everyday literacy practices were used to produce a literate child through disciplinary processes of observation, normalisation and examination. These literacy practices operated in covert ways where school readiness was tied to educational success. However, during this process of normalisation, children began to [re]position themselves within the literacy space, showing individual agency and self-regulation.Conclusion: Although the findings of this study are not generalisable, it has implications for how literacy and literacy practices are conceptualised in early childhood settings. This article advocates a reconceptualisation of school readiness by questioning embedded practices within the competence model of school readiness and calls for the early childhood field to dissect incisively what and who are advantaged and disadvantaged through early literacy practices.

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“Dear Sophia, I’m Going to Another World”

Advances in Early Childhood and K-12 Education - Critical Practice in P-12 Education ◽

10.4018/978-1-4666-5059-6.ch005 ◽

2014 ◽

pp. 118-141

Author(s):

Stacia M. Stribling ◽

Elizabeth K. DeMulder

Keyword(s):

Early Childhood ◽

Young Children ◽

Critical Literacy ◽

Literacy Instruction ◽

Literacy Development ◽

Literacy Practices ◽

Classroom Community ◽

Literacy Learning ◽

Early Childhood Settings ◽

Relevant Pedagogy

This chapter shares anecdotes from two early childhood classrooms where issues of diversity helped shape and drive literacy instruction. The stories of change and challenge in these two classroom settings highlight the potential for literacy learning when it is grounded in critical, culturally relevant pedagogy, and when it takes seriously the knowledge and experiences students bring to the classroom community. The chapter has four main purposes: (a) to emphasize the need to reframe/redefine what it means to be literate, (b) to explore the ways that innovative critical literacy practices can be used in early childhood settings as effective methods for engaging young children and supporting their literacy development, (c) to share some of the tensions that emerge when incorporating critical literacy practices in diverse early childhood settings, and (d) to propose ways to better prepare and support teachers to do this work.

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The role of socioeconomic and sociocultural predictors of Spanish and English proficiencies of young Latino children of immigrants

Journal of Child Language ◽

10.1017/s0305000920000203 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 1-28

Author(s):

Brian A. COLLINS ◽

Claudio O. TOPPELBERG

Keyword(s):

Early Childhood ◽

English Language ◽

Language Use ◽

Literacy Practices ◽

Family Background ◽

Children Of Immigrants ◽

Latino Children ◽

Wide Range ◽

Early Childhood Settings ◽

At Home

Abstract Young Latino children of immigrants typically speak primarily Spanish at home and are exposed to varying amounts of English. As a result, they often enter school with a wide range of proficiencies in each language. The current study investigated family background, language use at home and early childhood settings as predictors of Spanish and English language proficiencies among Latino dual language children (N = 228). Findings demonstrated divergent sets of predictors were associated with either Spanish or English proficiencies at kindergarten and second grade. Sociocultural variables (parent origin, gender, home language use, home literacy practices, and language use in early childhood settings) predicted children's Spanish proficiency, while socioeconomic variables (poverty, and maternal and paternal education) predicted children's English proficiency, with little to no overlap in these predictions. These results suggest that different supports are required for proficiency in Spanish and in English, highlighting the importance of sociocultural and socioeconomic factors.

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Standpoints on quality: Listening to children in Verona, Italy

Australasian Journal of Early Childhood ◽

10.1177/183693911203700204 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 37 (2) ◽

pp. 19-26 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Deborah Harcourt ◽

Valentina Mazzoni

Keyword(s):

Early Childhood ◽

Early Childhood Education ◽

Young Children ◽

Childhood Education ◽

Rights Of The Child ◽

Mosaic Approach ◽

Children’S Views ◽

Early Childhood Settings ◽

Children’S Accounts

EARLY CHILDHOOD RESEARCH and policy, globally, are focusing increasingly on issues of ‘quality’ in early childhood education. However, much of the focus to date has been on adult notions of quality, with little attention being devoted to children's accounts. Conducted in the context of early childhood education in Verona, Italy, this study offers children's views of quality in two early childhood classrooms. Informed by the participation mandates of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UN, 1989) and a sociological conceptualisation of child competences (Mayall, 2002; Smith, 2007), the research methodology draws on the mosaic approach (Clark & Moss, 2001) whereby children's photography, mapping and conversations were used to represent indices of the quality of their early childhood settings. The data in this study was generated with the understanding that young children are competent to articulate their ideas by using a range of symbolic literacies. The children formed opinions about their prior-to-school experience, particularly about their teachers, and gave a clear and articulate indication of what constitutes good quality. The findings point to the importance young children place on their relationships with their teachers, and the moral, ethical and social justice implications. In conclusion, the study calls for those engaged with children, particularly teachers, to take affirmative action on children's contributions to our understanding of quality.

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Children’s ‘working theories’ as curriculum outcomes

10.1093/oso/9780198747109.003.0016 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Sally Peters ◽

Keryn Davis ◽

Ruta McKenzie

Keyword(s):

Early Childhood ◽

New Zealand ◽

Adult Child ◽

Early Childhood Curriculum ◽

Complex Thinking ◽

Young Learners ◽

Early Childhood Settings ◽

Te Whāriki ◽

Sense Of Wonder

This chapter explores how children make sense of their world through the development and refinement of ‘working theories’. Working theories are a key item for young learners, and are emphasized in the New Zealand early childhood curriculum Te Whāriki. Children’s working theories develop in environments where they have opportunities to engage in complex thinking with others, observe, listen, participate, and discuss, within the context of topics and activities. It is through interactions and activities that children begin to own the ideas and beliefs of their culture and begin to make sense of their worlds. However, fostering this learning in early childhood settings is not always easy, and requires skilled adults who can respond appropriately. We explore and discuss the nature of children’s working theories and ways in which adult–child interactions can enhance or inhibit a sense of wonder and curiosity.

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The (im)materiality of literacy in early childhood: A socio-material approach to online and offline events

Journal of Early Childhood Research ◽

10.1177/1476718x20983852 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1476718X2098385

Author(s):

Alejandra Pacheco-Costa ◽

Fernando Guzmán-Simón

Keyword(s):

Early Childhood ◽

Literacy Development ◽

Research Method ◽

Literacy Practices ◽

Literacy Studies ◽

Hybrid Nature ◽

Ethnographic Approach ◽

The Way

Among the recent approaches to literacy incorporated into Literacy Studies, the concept of (im)materiality has enabled researchers to delve into the fluid and hybrid nature of contemporary literacy practices in early childhood. Our research explores the (im)materiality of literacy practices from the perspectives of space, screen mediation, artefacts and embodiment. The research focuses on the (im)material nature of the literacy practices carried out in different spaces, and its relevance in the making of meaning by children. The research method is based on an ethnographic approach. The results show the children’s embodiment of their literacy practices, and the way in which they create and interact with space and make meaning from their (im)material practices. These practices raise questions about their inclusion in current literacy development in schools.

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