Infants’ Experiences of Shared Reading with Their Educators in Early Childhood Education and Care Centres: An Observational Study

2019 ◽  
Vol 47 (5) ◽  
pp. 519-529 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jane Torr
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Observational Study ◽  
Shared Reading ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Education And Care

scholarly journals How ‘shared’ is shared reading: Book-focused infant–educator interactions in long day-care centres

2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 815-838 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jane Torr
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Adult Child ◽  
Literacy Learning ◽  
Shared Reading ◽  
Language And Literacy ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Systemic Functional Linguistic ◽  
Education And Care ◽  
Material Setting

Children's language experiences in the first two years of life are inextricably connected with their current and future language and literacy development. Research has shown that mother–child shared reading of picture books is a practice that can promote this development. Little is known, however, about the shared reading experiences of infants attending early childhood education and care centres. This naturalistic study analysed the reading experiences of 10 infants observed during a three-hour period as they and their educators went about their typical activities in their early childhood education and care centres. Drawing on Halliday's systemic functional linguistic theory, which proposes a non-arbitrary relationship between language use and features of the material setting, this study analysed two aspects of the infants' shared reading experiences: the tenor (roles and relationships) realised in the educators' use of speech function, and the field (the topic or subject matter) realised in the vocabulary used. The manner in which these contextual variables are realised in the adult–child talk during shared reading affects the pedagogical potential of this practice. The findings reveal that the infants had little opportunity to initiate or participate in book-focused interactions with their educators, with implications for their language and literacy learning opportunities.

Social Investment and Childcare Expansion

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margarita León
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Perfect Match ◽  
Preschool Education ◽  
Conceptual Level ◽  
Social Investment ◽  
Trade Off ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Education And Care

The chapter first examines at a conceptual level the links between theories of social investment and childcare expansion. Although ‘the perfect match’ between the two is often taken for granted in the specialized literature as well as in policy papers, it is here argued that a more nuance approach that ‘unpacks’ this relationship is needed. The chapter will then look for elements of variation in early childhood education and care (ECEC) expansion. Despite an increase in spending over the last two decades in many European and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries, wide variation still exists in the way in which ECEC develops. A trade-off is often observed between coverage and quality of provision. A crucial dividing line that determines, to a large extent, the quality of provision in ECEC is the increasing differentiation between preschool education for children aged 3 and above and childcare for younger children.

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