Social Studies, Social Competence and Citizenship in Early Childhood Education: Developmental Principles Guide Appropriate Practice

This study guided by Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) theory explored the perception of pre-service teachers about the application of the ZPD in the classroom. Five participants, all junior students, were purposefully selected from a university in the southern region of the United States to participate in the study. Open-ended interview questions were designed from a review of the literature regarding the effectiveness of Vygotsky’s ZPD in the classroom. Axial coding was used to analyze the data for the final research report. A major finding from the study is that Vygotsky’s ZPD is recognized by Educator Preparatory Providers (EPPS) as a major instructional approach used to promote student achievement and that some pre-educator candidates perceive problems implementing this innovative form of teaching social studies in the early childhood classroom. Another significant finding from the study is that it extends our knowledge about the application of Vygotsky’s ZPD in the early childhood social studies classroom. Implications for early childhood teacher preparation and future research are considered in the paper. Keywords: cognitive development, early childhood education, instructional ecology, preservice teachers, zone of proximal development

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Social studies in early childhood education and care: A scoping review focusing on diversity

Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood ◽

10.1177/1463949120953911 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 21 (4) ◽

pp. 312-324

Author(s):

Anette Ringen Rosenberg

Keyword(s):

Early Childhood ◽

Early Childhood Education ◽

Social Studies ◽

Cultural Diversity ◽

Early Childhood Teachers ◽

Early Childhood Teacher ◽

Future Research ◽

Childhood Education ◽

Educational Challenge ◽

Education And Care

Currently, little research exists on social studies within the context of Norwegian early childhood education and care, and how early childhood teachers work to familiarise children with social studies contexts . This article is a scoping literature review offering a preliminary research agenda. Its aim is to explore the ways in which the early childhood teacher can work to ensure young learners’ social studies education with a specific focus on cultural diversity and subsequent educational challenges. The research question guiding the article asks: How does previous educational research show that early childhood teachers can use social studies to address diversity with and amongst children? The analysis uncovers 4 scopes of research across 26 international and national studies. Previous research has contributed with knowledge in the areas of cultural diversity, anti-discrimination, human rights, and community and society as a means to familiarise children with diversity and related matters. Each scope addresses the knowledge status and opportunities for future research within each area. Based on the analysis, the author discusses the critical educational challenge of a paradox in familiarising children with diversity, where the early childhood teacher risks conveying biased information and stereotypical views, and highlighting cultures in discriminatory ways.

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Dialogic classroom talk in early childhood education: The effect on language skills and social competence

Learning and Instruction ◽

10.1016/j.learninstruc.2021.101522 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 101522

Author(s):

Femke van der Wilt ◽

Renske Bouwer ◽

Chiel van der Veen

Keyword(s):

Early Childhood ◽

Early Childhood Education ◽

Social Competence ◽

Language Skills ◽

Classroom Talk ◽

Childhood Education

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Evaluation of the "Learning to Live at Home" program. Pilot study for parents of Early Childhood Education

Electronic Journal of Research in Educational Psychology ◽

10.25115/ejrep.v17i47.1875 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 17 (47) ◽

pp. 149

Author(s):

Maria Carmen Pichardo Martínez ◽

Alicia Benavides Nieto ◽

Miriam Romero López ◽

Trinidad García-Berbén

Keyword(s):

Early Childhood ◽

Early Childhood Education ◽

Social Competence ◽

Behavior Problems ◽

Behavioral Problems ◽

Interaction Effects ◽

Childhood Education ◽

Universal Family ◽

Post Test ◽

Experimental Group

Introduction. In recent decades, several studies provide scientific evidence on the benefits of preventive family intervention in early childhood. However, in the Spanish context there is a shortage of interventions aimed at this population that have shown their effectiveness. In carrying out a pilot intervention for the universal family program Aprender a Convivir en Casa (ACC) with a Spanish population, the objective of this study was to ascertain its effectiveness in developing social competence and in reducing behavioral problems in preschoolers. Method. The sample involved 18 parents, all with children in early childhood education aged from 3 to 5 years old (Mage = 4.48 years, SDage = 0.50) from a school in Granada (Spain). 9 were placed in the experimental group and 9 in the control group. Participants were allocated to groups by accidental and non-probability sampling. The children in the experimental group were assigned to this group if their parents had attended more than 80% of the program sessions. Results. The results indicate both a main effect of the time variable (pre-test and post-test) and interaction effects between time x group variables (control and experimental) in the variables of social cooperation, social interaction and for social competence as a whole, with the experimental group obtaining higher scores in the post-test phase. With regard to behavior problems, the results show main and interaction effects in attention problems and in externalizing behavior problems. In the other variables analyzed, no significant main or interaction effects were found. Discussion and Conclusions. Intervention with families is an important protective factor in the prevention of behavioral problems. The results observed after the pilot implementation of the ACC program are promising, in that they show the promotion of social competence and the reduction of some behavioral problems in children from the participating families. However, there are some limitations in the study that need to be taken into consideration.

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