Toward a Process-Centered Account of Literate Activity in the Classroom

This paper presents an approach to conceptualizing classroom activities that views teachers, students, and classroom objects as participating in continuous, cyclical processes of “reengaging” and “disengaging.” As an illustration, six episodes in a U.S. preschool classroom of a teacher, nine 4- to 5-year-olds, and a box (which held objects related to a featured letter of the week) were analyzed through a relational-process lens. The box, classroom members, and objects that children brought from home moved through cycles of coming together and moving apart physically and attentionally. Furthermore, these processes metaphorically pulled in other activities across time and space.

Cognitively Engaging Physical Activity for Targeting Motor, Cognitive, Social, and Emotional Skills in the Preschool Classroom: The Move for Thought preK-K Program

Despite the growing body of research indicating that integrated physical activity with learning benefits children both physically and cognitively, preschool curricula with integrated physical activities are scarce. The “Move for Thought (M4T) preK-K” program provides activities on fundamental motor skills that are integrated with academic concepts, executive function, and social-emotional skills in the preschool environment. The aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility, usability, and effectiveness of the M4T preK-K program over an eight-week period in 16 preschool centers (N=273; Mage=4.22 SD=0.61) that were randomly assigned to the intervention (8 M4T; n=138; Mage=4.31 SD=0.61) and the control (8 traditional; n=135; Mage=4.13 SD=0.60) group. In both groups, teacher ratings of children’s attention, behavioral control, and social skills (i.e., cooperation, assertion, and self-control) in the classroom, as well as children’s perceived motor skill competence and executive functions, were collected before and after the intervention. A daily teacher log measured intervention fidelity and perceived experiences with the program. Results showed a significant improvement on attention scores for children in the M4T preK-K group, compared to the control group. No significant differences emerged for behavioral control, social skills, executive functions, and perceived motor competence among groups. A significant time effect was evident for executive functions, with both groups improving over time. Further, the program was well-received, easy to implement in the preschool classroom and with high rates of satisfaction for both children and teachers. The M4T preK-K program is promising in helping teachers prepare preschool children for future educational success.

‘Two’s company, three’s a crowd’

This paper examines how young children mobilize interactional resources to position peers as neither fully included nor fully excluded in a preschool classroom. A single case of a video recording of three preschool-aged girls was analysed using conversation analysis. Two girls restricted access to a third girl and positioned her on the periphery in peer activity. The third girl’s entry into the activity was restricted through the other two’s claims of object ownership, limited physical access to objects, multi-modal practices that diverted attention away from the coveted objects, and assessments and sanctions around engagement with an object. The recurrent attempts to keep out the third girl were undertaken through partitioning. Findings highlight how children protect dyadic relationships.

How to have fun with sticks, bowls, and colored water: insights into multimodal signifier operations through Lacan’s four discourses

In this manuscript, I present a signifier-based, multimodal discourse analysis of a focal event involving four children (ages 4–5) as they interacted with materials and with one another in their preschool classroom. I draw upon Jacques Lacan’s theory of the four discourses, applying the mathemes, or formulas that he developed, in order to map the multimodal signifier operations as they occurred in the moment-to-moment interactions during the event. My purpose was to use the signifier as a conceptual tool for multimodal discourse analysis, which revealed the highly particular discursive agencies that are characteristic aspects of signifier operations. Further, I examined the movement and operations of the signifiers as they were drawn from across modes and combined to create opportunities for the subjects to participate in the discourse. These signifier operations occurred according to discursive agencies of an educational discourse that both reduced and delimited subjectivities, as well as agencies that the focal subjects introduced to challenge and re-signify toward new ways to participate in the discourse.

The inclusive preschool classroom : perspectives of the early childhood teacher

This study explored through naturalistic inquiry three early childhood teacher's perceptions of inclusion and in-class practices in the inclusive preschool classroom. Interviews and in-class observations were used for the purpose of data collection. A social constructivist lens was used to analyze the data. Drawing from a social model of inclusion and theory of attribution framework, the results revealed that inclusion is multifaceted. An understanding and commitment to the ideology of inclusion must occur in conjunction with inclusive in-class strategies and techniques to create successful inclusive programs. This study suggests recommendations for change must be made at the government level, the post-secondary education level and at the community level. These reforms need to be made collaboratively to ensure that all stakeholders have a common understanding and vision for inclusion.

The inclusive preschool classroom : perspectives of the early childhood teacher

This study explored through naturalistic inquiry three early childhood teacher's perceptions of inclusion and in-class practices in the inclusive preschool classroom. Interviews and in-class observations were used for the purpose of data collection. A social constructivist lens was used to analyze the data. Drawing from a social model of inclusion and theory of attribution framework, the results revealed that inclusion is multifaceted. An understanding and commitment to the ideology of inclusion must occur in conjunction with inclusive in-class strategies and techniques to create successful inclusive programs. This study suggests recommendations for change must be made at the government level, the post-secondary education level and at the community level. These reforms need to be made collaboratively to ensure that all stakeholders have a common understanding and vision for inclusion.