THURSDAY, 30TH AUGUST
KEYNOTE I
9:30 - 10:30
Vygotsky and His Non-Classical Psychology
Elena Kravtsova
Russian State University for the Humanities, L.S. Vygotsky Psychology Institute, Russia
The art of psychology was one of the main highlights of Vygotsky’s activity. He began research
in psychology after he had worked as a teacher of literature, theatre critic, etc. It was his
experience in this sphere that allowed him to found a new sphere of psychology, called “nonclassical” psychology.
Non-classical psychology includes neither the stages of special research and implementation of
that research’s results, nor theory and practice. Instead, non-classical psychology is a science
which studies human psyche and personality and that exists in theoretical and practical studies
and in the real life of a person. This psychology is the psychology of cooperation, implying, first,
the cooperation of a professional psychologist with his/her colleagues and with other people
working in other spheres. In non-classical psychology, the psychologist does not correct, form or
develop anything; instead, he creates situations and circumstances in which he can correct,
form or develop. At the same time, these situations and circumstances strive to strengthen and
develop inherent personal characteristics. Correction and rehabilitation are possible only as a
last resort.
The best example of non-classical psychology is constructive psychology (in Russian
“proektiruyuzhshaya”) – the methodology and main principles of which are based on the
cultural-historical approach. Vygotsky’s constructive method means that pupils and teachers –
as well as psychologists and those who they help to develop – live common lives. The
constructive approach in non-classical psychology means movement from inherent mental
functions to higher ones, from the actual development to the Zone of Proximal Development,
and from the present to the future. This approach shows many possible ways of personal
development.
This keynote will show that the constructive approach in non-classical psychology is the future,
or the Zone of Proximal Development, of modern psychology.
Presentation is in Russian. English translation is provided.
THURSDAY, 30TH AUGUST
KEYNOTE II
14:00 - 14:45
Make-believe Play vs. Academic Skills: A Vygotskyan Approach to Today’s Dilemma of
Early Childhood Education
Elena Bodrova
Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning (McREL), Denver, Colorado, USA
This presentation will focus on the Vygotskyan approach to high quality early childhood
education in the light of the challenges facing early childhood educators in Russia and in the
West. One of these challenges is the constant pressure to start teaching academic skills at a
progressively younger age at the expense of traditional early childhood activities. The presenter
will discuss the implications of this trend for the changes in young children’s social situation of
development and the potential results of this change. An alternative to this artificial
“acceleration” of development is the idea of “amplification of development,” which is a
cornerstone of post-Vygotskyan theory of early childhood education. When development is
“amplified” rather than “accelerated,” young children have the opportunity to develop critical
underlying competencies, such as symbolic representation and self-regulation, in the context of
authentic developmentally appropriate activities. This approach does not preclude early
childhood educators from teaching the beginnings of literacy and numeracy to young children,
but rather helps them utilize the power of “uniquely preschool” activities for helping children
acquire essential cultural tools and develop higher mental functions. The concept of “uniquely
preschool” activities such as make-believe play will be further elaborated on from the
perspective of its impact on school readiness as well as its general impact on children’s learning
and development. The example of the Vygotskyan approach to learning and teaching early
literacy will be used to demonstrate how essential cognitive and social competencies can be
acquired in an authentic early childhood context.
FRIDAY, 31ST AUGUST
KEYNOTE III
8:45 - 9:30
Helping Young Children to Become Literate: The Relevance of Narrative Competence for
Developmental Education
Bert van Oers
Department Theory and Research in Education, Free University, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Becoming literate is basically a process of learning to participate in the literate practices of a
cultural community. A further analysis of this competence from a Vygotskyan point of view
reveals that it is grounded in the use of signs as tools for the organisation of human
(communicative) activity. This is particularly evident in the context of children’s play.
In order to deepen our understanding of this competence of coherent language use, we need to
identify its unit of analysis. In this key note I will argue that ‘narrative competence’ is the unit of
analysis of this competence. It encompasses elements of ability, disposition and cultural
constraints (like genre, conventions). Using Vygotsky’s idea of topic-predicate development, we
can psychologically explain ‘narrative competence’ further as a competence to elaborate an
intended topic (a theme or an issue one has in mind) for communicative purposes with the help
of verbal qualifiers (“predicates”).
Becoming literate is closely related to this ability to develop a topic in an orderly and culturally
accepted way. Examples will be given of this process based on the analysis of authentic texts of
6-year-old children.
Finally, the keynote will illustrate how this narrative competence is fostered in the context of
Dutch Vygotsky-based education (an approach we call ‘Developmental Education’) in the early
grades of primary school (ages 5 – 7). In this approach the traditional focus in schools on
reading as an introduction to literate practice, is replaced by a focus on ‘narrative competence’
(particularly communicating and authoring with all available means). Reading, then, emerges as
an outcome of children’s productive communicative activities. Matters of assessment will also
be discussed; the assessment of narrative competence will be based on narratives written by
pupils in response to a picture.
FRIDAY, 31ST AUGUST
KEYNOTE IV
11:45 - 12:30
Vygotsky on Human Nature and Human Development
James V. Wertsch
Department of Anthropology, Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, USA
Vygotsky’s ideas about human development have sometimes been difficult to understand or
have been misinterpreted because of different underlying assumptions about human nature.
The primary source of this difficulty is the assumption Vygotsky made about the fundamentally
social nature of human beings, which stands in contrast to an individualistic perspective that
pervades psychological research in the U.S. The individualistic predilections of American
psychology have been explicated and criticized under the heading of “methodological
individualism,” but they are so pervasive and deep seated that their influence persists, often in
unrecognized ways.
Beginning with some observations on what it was like for a newly minted American Ph.D. holder
to encounter Soviet psychology in the 1970s, I shall explore the difficulties involved in
translating Vygotsky’s ideas into a fundamentally individualistic cultural setting.
The
impediments I shall outline are not so much the result of scientific difference as of underlying
cultural differences in how social and individual processes are understood. Although the
concerns I shall outline were not the primary interest of Vygotsky or any of his intellectual
descendants in the U.S.S.R., reflecting on them can provide insight into implicit, yet very
powerful assumptions that guide the line of reasoning found in Vygotsky’s writings, as well as of
psychologists from the West.
SATURDAY, 1ST SEPTEMBER
KEYNOTE V
10:45 - 11:30
Vygotsky and Early Childhood Education in Italy
Susanna Mantovani
Università di Milano – Bicocca, Italy
Vygotsky was first translated in Italy from English, and then directly from Russian, in the early
1970s at a time when early childhood services, and, in particular, community schools for
children from 3 to 6, developed in many Italian cities governed by socialist administrations.
Today, Vygotsky is mainly studied and known in Italy because of his theory of proximal
development and, more recently, within the development of cultural studies. I will argue that
Vygotsky’s original, strong importance within the Italian early childhood educational scene
creates the link in his thought and works, between pedagogy and aesthetical thinking and his
emphasis on the emotional and social components in learning and development. I will focus on
his reflections on the pedagogical consequences of the artistic experience beyond its purely
intellectual dimensions, on the active role of the child in this experience, and on his ideas about
play, imagination and creativity. I will try to discuss how his work influenced or encountered the
experiences that were germinating and flowering in the Italian cities in those years – e.g. Reggio
Emilia – exploring the connections between political enthusiasm, strong participatory drives that
were in the air, and the inspiration of his thought – free and, at the same time, rooted in a
socialist background.
THURSDAY, 30TH AUGUST
SYMPOSIUM SET I
Symposium I/1
11:00 - 12:30
Vygotsky and His Non-Classical Psychology
Keynote session
Chair:
Elena Kravtsova
Russian State University for the Humanities, L.S. Vygotsky Psychology Institute, Russia
Presentation is in Russian. English translation is provided.
Symposium I/2
Parents' Perspective & Family Involvement
Self-organised symposium
ID-289
Empowering Families to Take an Active Role in Curriculum: Linking Parent
Education and Home Visiting with a Comprehensive, Child-centred Early Childhood
Classroom Programme
Chair:
Joseph Sparling
Georgetown University, USA
Session overview
Presenters will support participants as they: (1) Experience how families can become successful
facilitators of their child’s development and learning using the Abecedarian Project parent
techniques and materials in connection with the five components of The Creative Curriculum,
(2) Identify ways of empowering families to become more involved in the ongoing curriculum in
centre and home-based programmes, promoting positive relationships with children, (3) Review
the components of a comprehensive, child-centred curriculum for children under five and
explore partnering with families to enhance their ability to provide rich learning experiences at
home, (4) Learn about scientific research that validates the effectiveness of a planned and fully
implemented curriculum and shows how active family involvement is a key factor in children’s
readiness for school and success as learners. Presenters will identify parallel activities for
teachers and families in each of five curriculum components of a child centred curriculum.
Examples of application (using parallel resources translated and culturally adapted for each
country) will be drawn from Mongolia, Romania, and the USA. From Mongolia, the focus will be
on supportive outreach to poor households unable to afford monthly kindergarten fees, children
from migrant families, and children of rural nomads residing in remote areas. From Romania,
the focus will be on reaching children who have in the past resided in orphanages and now
reside in foster care. From the USA, the focus will be on supporting parents of low birth-weight
babies and other at-risk populations while linking this parent outreach to early childhood
classroom programmes.
Keywords: child-centred curriculum, parenting, home visiting, adult-child interaction
Five Components of a Comprehensive, Child-centred Curriculum
Hilary Parrish
Teaching Strategies, Inc., USA
The parent and classroom aspects of a programme may be linked, using the five organizational
components of the Creative Curriculum. (1) How Children Learn and Develop provides tools for
teachers and families to learn about and plan for each child. (2) The Learning Environment
guides teachers and parents toward increasing the learning potential of the classroom and
home environment. (3) What Children Learn helps teachers facilitate the classroom learning
experiences and provides parents with a roadmap for teaching and learning at home. (4) Caring
and Teaching helps teachers use a variety of instructional strategies and gives parents easy to
remember strategies for facilitating learning during everyday interactions. (5) Building a
Partnership with Families encourages collaborations between teachers and families; providing
families with take-home messages to guide their in-home parent child interactions. For each of
these curriculum components, adult-child interaction games developed in the Abecedarian
Project can empower families to take an active role in teaching their child. Research results with
low birth-weight children and other at-risk populations in the USA will illustrate this presentation.
The Step by Step Programme, Mongolia: Child-centred Education and Parent Education
Adiya Narmandakh
Mongolian Education Alliance, Mongolia
Today about 60 % of Mongolian children under the age of seven are not enrolled in pre-school
education. The majority of those are children from poor households unable to afford monthly
kindergarten fees, children from migrant families, children of rural nomads residing in remote
areas where there are no accessible educational facilities, children in urban and suburban
families who can neither enrol their children in state kindergartens as classes are full nor can
afford paying costly fees for private kindergartens, and children of ethnic minorities who often
skip pre-school education due to a language barrier. Children not enrolled in pre-school
education often have poor academic outcomes compared to those children who were enrolled in
kindergartens and, thus, had a certain amount of preparation for primary school. Because the
goal to reach universal pre-school coverage is not attainable with the current economic
conditions, Mongolia is looking for alternative ways to help children from marginalized groups
achieve better educational outcomes and prevent their dropping out from school. One
educational strategy to meet this important need is a family-based training initiative through
which parents are provided with basic teaching skills and content so that they can more
effectively act as “first teachers” for their children. This presentation will feature a current effort
in Mongolia to provide parents with age appropriate strategies for early childhood learning using
recently translated and culturally adapted adult-child interaction resources from the Abecedarian
Project.
Supporting Caregivers of Children in Long Term Care in Romania
Laura Florescu
Gr. T. Popa University of Medicine, Romania
Parent education is needed not only by natural parents but by caregivers who substitute for
parents on a long term basis. In Romania, these caregivers have traditionally staffed
orphanages but now are more likely to provided ongoing foster care. In the 1990’s Leagan de
Copii, Nr. 1, an orphanage in Iasi, provided support and education to help caregivers engage in
age appropriate strategies for early childhood learning using translated and culturally adapted
adult-child interaction resources from the Abecedarian Project. This intervention was carried out
using a randomised research design and the positive child developmental results were reported
in a 2005 academic journal publication. Since the time of the Iast experiment, the orphanages
have been closed and the children placed in foster homes, mainly in rural locations. Yet, this
gives rise to a new problem: minimally qualified foster parents, with no training or support in
parent education, caring for children on a long-term basis. This presentation will discuss the
orphanage research and explore the possible application of the lessons from this research to
the current foster parent situation. Many of the same issues faced are shared by the family
training initiative in Mongolia and the proposed foster parent training initiative in Romania. The
symposium panel members will reflect on these issues and seek audience participation and
insights.
Co-author: Victor Florescu
Symposium I/3
Co-operation between Families and Teachers
Individual papers
Chair:
Sue Greenfield
Roehampton University, United Kingdom
ID-99
Partnership between Parents and Early
Childhood Education Staff
Marjatta Kekkonen
National Research and Development Centre for Welfare and Health, Finland
The aim of the study is to research partnership between parents and early childhood education
staff. The purpose of the thesis is to find out discursive meanings and interpretations teachers
give to partnership. The presentation focuses on a home visit as a partnership / relationship
constructing practise. The functioning partnership between parents and day care personnel
does not evolve by itself, but requires mutual commitment. Far too often collaboration begins
first when a child has entered the centre. The staff rarely discusses with parents before the
start. In the Finnish partnership model a caregiver is encouraged to visit child's home and have
an introductory discussion with parents in good time before the start. At the same time a child
and a teacher get a chance to become acquainted with each other at the child's developmental
environment at home. The ecological theory of child development as well as theories of
professional communication and partnership forms the theoretical basis. The data consists of
six theme interviews, three peer interviews and eleven group discussions of six early childhood
teachers. As a research method is used qualitative discourse analysis. A discourse analyse of
the teachers' talk reveals, that teachers interpret the role of the home visit in various ways. The
tentative results reveal service-centred talk, home-centred talk, parent-centred talk, childcentred talk and professional-centred talk. The results imply that visiting child's home as part of
the early childhood education partnership process requires good professional communication
skills and re-evaluation of caregiver's professional role.
References
Barlow, J., Broclehurs, N. Stewart-Brown, S., Davis, H., Burns, C., Cagghan, H. & Tucer, J. (2003). Working in
partnership: the development of a home visiting service for vulnerable families. Child Abuse Review, 12, 172-189.
Brofenbrenner, Urie (1979). The Ecology of Human Development. Experiments by human and nature. Cambridge.
Hicks, Deborah (ed.) (1996). Discourse, learning and schooling. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press.
Keywords: partnership, professional, parent, home-visit
ID-223
Partnerships in Learning: Linking Early Childhood Services, Families and
Schools for Optimal Development
Jean Ashton
University of Western Sydney, Australia
Vygotsky believed that “individual consciousness is built from outside through relations with
others” (Kozulin, 1997, p. xxiv). He argued that human higher mental functions are products of
mediated activity and that the mediator uses a range of psychological tools and interpersonal
communication to achieve understanding. In the early years parents, community members,
early childhood and school educators are instrumental in mediating children’s developing
cognition. Increasingly, the importance of congruence between home, community, and school
philosophies and experiences is being recognised. Successful transitions to school are more
likely when such partnerships exist ensuring a balance between continuity and new
experiences.
To study this question, the experiences of 89 families whose children were starting school in
2006, in one highly diverse postcode region in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney were
explored. Using a mixed method approach, questionnaires and focus groups were used to map
their use of early childhood services for the target child, their reasons for choosing those
services and their perceptions of their child’s readiness for school. Furthermore, interviews were
held with all kindergarten teachers in the five schools in the postcode region. Analysis of the
data indicate that, while families and teachers value early childhood experiences in preparing
children for school, there is little communication between services and schools and therefore
minimal congruence in approaches to mediating learning. The provision of a continuum of ideas,
philosophies and experiences between the early childhood years and school which would lead,
in Vygotsky’s view, to optimal learning was therefore found wanting.
Co-authors: Jean Ashton, Christine Woodrow, Christine Johnston, June Wangmann and Tanya
James
Keywords: cognitive and social development, collaboration, partnerships in learning
ID-228
Parent Co-operation in Icelandic Playschools
Bryndis Gardarsdottir and Jóhanna Einarsdottir
Iceland University of Education, Iceland
The study focuses on the cooperation and relationship between Icelandic playschool teachers
and parents. The study is a part of the cross-cultural project Parental Participation, which
involves professionals from Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Portugal, and Australia.
The research project focuses on the contemporary challenges of the parent-teacher
partnerships in Early Childhood Education based on contextual orientations. Through crosscultural research the project aims to develop theoretical and methodological basis for
approaching the phenomenon of parent-teacher partnerships in changing societies, add to the
body of knowledge, and deepen our understanding of the nature of parent-professional
partnerships in contemporary contexts of Early Childhood Education, and enhance the training
and professional development of early childhood educators.
A survey was conducted among playschool teachers in Iceland. A questionnaire developed in
cooperation with the other researchers was sent to all playschools in Iceland for the playschool
teachers to answer. The presentation will focus on the results from the part of the study, which
had the purpose to discover Icelandic playschool teachers’ views on parents’ participation and
cooperation, and their aims and methods.
Keywords: family, partnership, professionalism, cross-cultural research
Symposium I/4
Play
Self-organised symposium
ID 156
Promoting Young Children's Play and Learning in Meaningful Sociocultural Contexts
Chair:
Bert van Oers
Department of Theory and Research in Education, Free University Amsterdam, The
Netherlands
Co-chair:
Dorian de Haan
Inholland University, Utrecht University, The Netherlands
Session overview
In many countries, early childhood education has come to receive a firm position by an
increasing participation of children from all social groups and by government policies. On equal
opportunities grounds, national policies promote formal curricula, in which the transmission of
knowledge and skills is emphasized.
Early childhood teachers are under pressure to adopt educational methods that are originally
developed in the more formal context of school.
The aim of the presentations in this symposium is to show how research, which is undertaken in
cooperation with practitioners, may contribute to build a play-based pedagogy in which the focus
is on a development approach instead of a transmission approach. Teachers may guide
learning in the domains of pretend play and language, literacy and science by creating sociocultural/ historical activities in the classroom that are meaningful for children. In this way,
learning becomes a social endeavour that calls forth participation of children and provides them
with cultural tools to participate in society outside school.
Keywords: play-based pedagogy, socio-historical approach, cultural tools
Understanding the Dialectical Relations between Everyday Concepts and Scientific
Concepts within Playful Learning Contexts
Marilyn Fleer
Monash University, Faculty of Education, Australia
In Australia there is strong political interest in early learning, particularly in relation to play-based
programmes. Better understanding the diversity of pedagogical practices, which fall under playbased programmes in the early years, has received international attention. However, using a
cultural-historical tradition to frame research activity in relation to conceptual development in
children is less common. In this paper, the findings of an Australian Research Council funded
study will be presented. This study sought to examine how science concepts develop in playbased programmes in Australia. The dialectical relations between everyday concepts and
scientific concepts within situated playful encounters in early childhood settings was examined
in order to build more appropriate pedagogical models for teaching science to very young
children (rather than adapting school based practices or research for very young children). The
study took place over two years, gathering data across three cultural contexts. Video
recordings, field notes and photographic images across centre and family contexts were made.
Vygotsky’s (1987) writing on everyday concepts and scientific concepts provided a powerful
framework for the study design and analysis. The study found that children’s investigative
probes were mostly random when teacher knowledge of the concepts was limited. Conscious
awareness of concepts in the context of play-based practices informed and directed how playbased activities emerged. The findings add to Vygotsky's theoretical work on complexive
thinking and provide new insights into how play-based contexts generate or minimise concept
formation in early childhood.
Keywords: play, concept formation, science
Co-Construction of Pretend Play: The Teacher’s Roles and Children’s Narrative
Development
Dorian de Haan
Inholland Univerity, The Netherlands
In the 'Developmental Education’ approach in The Netherlands, play is considered as the core
of young children’s curriculum. In playgrounds of pre-schools and in classrooms of primary
schools, teachers create meaningful learning contexts like home corners, post offices, musea,
supermarkets etc. and furnish them with objects which are derived from the children’s daily lifes.
Whereas these contexts are beneficial to all kinds of developmental domains, the potential
resources for the development of pretend play is most obvious. Development of pretend play, in
its turn, relates to narrative/ literacy development (Vygotsky, 1976). There is ample literature
about children’s development of pretend play, but there are only a few empirical in-depth studies
of teacher’s co-construction of play with toddlers.
The main question of this presentation is: which type of co-construction of pretend play is most
conducive to the development of pretend play of the children? The focus is on the teacher’s
roles and language in relation to verbal and non-verbal play actions of the children. The
research is a multiple case study of four teachers of two pre-schools and three-year-old children
for whom the pre-school’s language is not their mother tongue. The data consist of videotaped
and transcribed teacher-child interactions, and each turn of the teacher is analysed in relation to
the child’s narrative actions.
Keywords: teacher’s role, pretend play, narrative development
Reading and Writing with Struggling Readers: A Vygotskyan-based Approach
Isabelle Peters
De Activiteit, National Centre for Developmental Education, The Netherlands
Teachers have the disposal of many remedial reading programmes for children with reading
difficulties. These programmes often exist of meaningless training of separate reading skills. A
negative consequence could be that the teacher’s attention is solely focused on skills that the
child has not yet mastered. In this way, children are continually confronted with their
shortcomings. According to Vygotsky, it is of great importance to start from the children’s
capabilities and by means of compensation to come to the goal the teacher has in mind. In a
study, based on a multiple-case study design, I investigated how teachers in a Vygotskyanbased curriculum can assist struggling readers. More specific I wanted to investigate whether
the strategy 'spelling’, sounding out letters and blending them together, has a compensating
function within meaningful activities. The research had the form of a design experiment; after
several cycles of invention and revision, we developed an approach, which can be used by
teachers in their classroom practice. In meaningful reading and writing activities, teachers have
the opportunity to fine-tune their assistance to the needs and abilities of the children, and to
assist them using several strategies to come to reading. The results show that the children in
this study improve their reading. More words are read at once, they made less reading errors
and their reading speed improved. But most of all, the children are motivated again to read
books and write their own texts. In this presentation I will report about the research and from
thereon focus on how teachers can use this approach to assist struggling readers.
Keywords: reading difficulties, compensation, meaningful activities
Assisting Young Writers in Meaningful Play-based Activities
Bea Pompert
De Activiteit, National Centre for Developmental Education, The Netherlands
In The Netherlands the Vygotskyan cultural-historical approach has been elaborated in an
educational approach called Developmental Education. This concept offers teachers a
theoretical framework and gives them instruments to develop their own teaching methods.
Teachers who are involved in our training activities have adopted this concept and are capable
in designing meaningful activities with play character.
In this paper we report about a case-study concerning our work with three teachers of three
classes from the same school (4 to 7/8-years-olds in the grades 1-4). We assume that assisting
the pupils in a developmental way should focus on two objectives:
1. the development of your own voice as a writer
2. learning to use the conventional writing strategies and text forms.
In our study we have tried to locate teachers’ interventions that should stimulate these two
objectives and we have analysed them with the teachers.
We have made video recordings of several writing activities, analysed the logbooks of the
teachers and interviewed them.
Our study shows which interventions the teachers practice, their reflections on it and the effects
of the interventions on the pupils’ writings and writing attitude.
We conclude that the teachers should use the activity-oriented instruments for planning and
reflecting on writing activities in a more focused way. As teacher trainers we have to find ways
to build it up with them in our teacher training activities.
Keywords: developmental education, writing activities, teachers’ interventions, professional
reflection
Co-author: Niko Fijma, De Activiteit, National Centre for Developmental Education, The
Netherlands
Symposium I/5
Applying Socio-cultural Theory in Play and Learning
Individual papers
Chair:
Sue Dockett
Charles Sturt University, Australia
ID 333
Learning through Play According to Vygotsky's Theory
Riitta Korhonen
University of Turku, Department of Teacher Education in Rauma, Finland
The purpose of this study is to establish the facts around the use of pedagogical drama play in
pre-school education; and also to observe the learning environment, teaching methods and play
in pre-school education.
In the theoretical part, the starting point for the framework is contextualised. According to
contextualism, learning environment affects the overall well-being, development, and learning of
a child. The salient points are the child’s own activities and the given opportunities to enjoy
pursuits which are meaningful for him. In this study, learning is seen in the context of play, and
realization of the drama play is studied in the pre-school education of six-year-old children.
According to Vygotsky (1933; 1986; 2001) role-play as the leading activity of pre-school
children. It was repeatedly shown that play leads to development and helps the child to learn
new skills. With pre-school children the most important form of art in play may be drama,
because it provides an opportunity for the teacher to plan activities using narrative stories and to
take account of the life experiences and arousing motivations of the members of her group.
This research is a qualitative case study. The study material was collected by interviewing preschool teachers, interpreting the researcher’s notes, and recording pedagogical situations of
drama play on video. Based on the teachers’ observations, the results give a description of
children’s playing process, an evaluation of the play’s implementation, and also an account of
the teachers’ experiences of their participation and role in pedagogical drama play. In addition,
the paper presents teachers’ views on how to develop further both pedagogical drama play and
their know-how and skills.
The study results indicate that teachers in pre-school education are disposed to develop drama
play as a method of working in pre-school teaching. In a number of situations children’s drama
play changed, of their own will, to practising writing skills, for example. The children were
motivated, and the teachers experienced much progress as instructors of play.
Keywords: early childhood education, drama, learning, play
ID 444
Vygotskyan Perspectives on the Facilitation of Children’s Development
through Dramatic Play: Balancing Structure with Freedom of Exploration and Innovation
Amita Gupta
The City University of New York, USA
This paper describes a curriculum on dramatic play as it was initiated, implemented and
developed with a group of 4 year olds over a period of four months. Starting with the children’s
own narratives the teacher helped each student to extend his/her own “story” into a
performance activity which involved the whole class, ultimately becoming an essential part of
the daily classroom schedule. The paper includes not only a detailed discussion of the step by
step process of how this curriculum was developed but also an analysis of the subsequent
multi-dimensional development in children that occurred as a result of the acting out of the
children’s stories. The role played by language and social interaction is a central aspect in
Vygotsky’s theory and provides an overarching theme for this paper. The discussion is framed
within a Vygotskyan perspective as connections are explored between this project, children’s
development and specific Vygotskyan ideas such as language and cognition, the zone of
proximal development, cultural signs and tools, socio-cultural construction of knowledge, and
the notion of willpower. Children served as important facilitators of each other's cognitive
development as they engaged in discussion with peers, and this also led to instances of moral
reasoning. This project on dramatic play might well be viewed in terms of guided participation in
which the children were active learners in a classroom community of people who supported,
challenged and guided novices as they collectively participated in a cultural activity.
Keywords: Vygotsky, dramatic play, children’s development, socio-cultural constructivism
Symposium I/6
Teachers’ Practice: Interaction with Children
Individual papers
Chair:
Ruzanna Tsarukyan
Step by Step Benevolent Foundation, Armenia
ID 43
Developing Effective Pre-school Education in the Novgorod Region of
Russia
Susan Moxon
University of Northampton, United Kingdom
Practitioners from five nursery schools in the Novgorod region of Russia visited the UK and a
British team of trainers visited Russia over a period of three years (2002-2005). This project
Developing Effective Pre-school Models was financed by the British Council under the auspices
of Professor Chris Pascal. The aims of the project were to encourage reflective practice and to
develop a criteria for assessment, which could be disseminated widely. It was decided jointly by
the British and Russian teams that the priorities for study were observation, how children learn
and partnership with parents. The work included child development theory and developing
critical skills of reflection and dissemination. These were addressed through a variety of
methods including experiential sessions. The foundation of much of the work was based on the
importance of play and on Vygotsky's concept of the role of proximal development. The main
findings and outcomes of the project were documented by the expert evaluator, Dr. Elena
Yudina. Dr. Yudina wrote that participants developed new forms of interacting with parents, new
skills in interacting with other people, the ability to discuss and plan their own work freely and
openly, new and appropriate teaching materials and different skills of dissemination. The
session in the conference will discuss the planning and resources necessary for the project and
the significant changes which occurred. It will be presented by Sue Moxon Senior Lecturer in
Early Years University of Northampton, Rosemary Peacocke formerly HMI Staff Inspector for
Early Years and Larissa Samarina Director of the School of Early Development, Novgorod.
Keywords: learning, play, parents, dissemination, Novgorod
ID 455
Supporting Development - Understanding Child Well-being
Irene Gunning
IPPA, The Early Childhood Organisation, Ireland
The Irish policy context in relation to early childhood curriculum and education has developed at
an unprecedented rate over the last decade. Common to many policy documents (Department
of Health and Children [2000]; National Council for Curriculum and Assessment [2004]; The
Centre for Early Childhood Development & Education [2006]) is a concern for children’s wellbeing, which is conceptualised in a multiplicity of ways (Pollard et al, 2002). A single definition
has not emerged from the literature but economic condition, health, education and social
relationships are acknowledged as contributing to a holistic concept and sense of well-being.
Within the Irish context, there is a need for greater understanding of well-being, its’ affordances
in the lives of children and the role of the early childhood curriculum in supporting its
development. This current study sets out to explore the views of childcare practitioners, making
visible their concepts of child well-being and provoking reflection on their current practice.
Drawing on a series of focused group discussions with practitioners engaged in accredited
childcare training, this study will gather ‘thick’ descriptions and generate rich information about
embedded ways of understanding and acting (Geertz, 1983) within the context of early
childhood services.
Themes emerging from this initial piece of research will identify culture and practices within
childcare settings that enhance children’s well-being within the daily curriculum. This study will
have implications for practitioners, who will be required through policy guidelines and legislation
to provide for children’s well-being.
Keywords: well-being; curriculum practice
Symposium I/7
Supporting Development through Scaffolding
Individual papers
Chair:
to be determined
ID 313
The Early Years Foundation Stage in England: Themes, Principles and
Commitments
Tim Vaughan
Primary National Strategy, England, United Kingdom
This paper explores the emergence of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) approach to
practice for children from birth to age five years. There are four underlying principles within
EYFS covering a unique child, enabling environments, positive relationships and learning and
development.
The approach was one of ethnographic research, which drew upon qualitative data. A clear brief
was set by politicians and the Department for Education and Skills to draft and consult on a
framework for young children's early learning, development and care. Trailing across 20 local
authorities including discussions with children and parents, a telephone survey by a national
organisation, questionnaires across all interested stakeholders and network events were used.
This enabled the voice of academics, professionals across the workforce, national organisations
and parents to be used to inform this emerging framework During the research, development
and consultation phase of the EYFS many respondents demanded principles about working with
children and families to be made explicit and memorable and to permeate the whole framework.
This paper demonstrates how the four underlying principles represent Vygotskyan ideas
mediated by time, culture and policy. The child is represented throughout the EYFS as a unique
learner who develops new skills and knowledge through interaction with others - both peers and
adults. The centrality of play and social interaction in constructing new ideas is celebrated as is
the crucial role of practitioners in tuning in to young children, scaffolding their learning and
encouraging their deep thinking.
Keywords: principles, unique child, relationships, environment, learning
ID 319
Documenting Children's Learning Using ICT
Andrew Lockett
Early Years Foundation Stage PNS, England, United Kingdom
As part of the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) Primary ICT programme, ‘Using ICT
in EYs Project’ was launched in January 2006. 20 Local Authorities (LA) in England were
involved in the project with the aim of investigating how ICT could be used to support
observational assessment, the documentation of children’s learning stories, and how this could
contribute to the Statutory Foundation Stage Profile (Conference Strand 4).
The main thrust of the project was to raise practitioners’ use of ICT. This involved an enquirybased approach with LAs exploring a range of ICT technologies in practice, raising their own
questions and addressing emerging questions. The underpinning idea is that if practitioners are
using ICT, this would provide a role-model for children; the implication being that children’s
motivation to use a range of technologies and their ICT capabilities would be enhanced.
Each LA was required to provide a written report outlining how they set up their projects, the
questions raised, the barriers encountered, and the impact their explorations and investigations
had using the ECERS-ICT (Early Childhood Environment Rating Scales). In addition, they
reviewed the impact on children’s learning, involvement of parents / carers, and practitioners’
observational assessment practices. Accompanying these reports each LA supplied illustrative
case study material for wider dissemination on the DfES Standards Web-site.
The presentation will outline a range of ICT practices that emerged across a wide spectrum of
EYs providers; highlighting the impact on practice and children’s learning.
Keywords: assessment, ICT, documentation, learning stories
ID 504
Mothers' Scaffolding with Their Toddlers
Mine Gol-Guven
Bogazici University, Turkey
Four American and two Chinese mothers were observed and video-recorded while they played
with their two years old children. 15 minutes of home play data were coded. First, the play was
divided into strips (i.e., episode). The researcher specifically looked for a theme, the initiator,
type of initiation, the terminator and type of termination. The play types during the interactional
episode were specified. The next step of the data analysis was to identify the responses given
by the moms and the children. Twenty response types (e.g., instruction, demonstration,
guidance) were distinguished to see the conditions when mothers use different strategies to
scaffold the play interactions. The findings show that the children seemed to be responsive to
their mothers' strategies when they were consistent. For instance, when the mom used
instruction, the child seemed to respond to her using the same strategy. Also, the children
seemed to look for harmony and variety in mothers' responses. Sometimes using one strategy
received a non-compliance behaviour. For instance, when mothers used too much instruction,
children became less responsive in play. The children knew what they were capable of doing
and seemed to decide if they want to continue or not. When they felt the confidence of
answering their mothers' questions or doing what the mothers wanted them to do, the children
were responsive to the play. The mothers were also aware of their children's confidence level
and adjusted their responses accordingly. Both mothers and children seemed to read and
interpret each other's signals during play.
Keywords: play interactions, scaffolding, mothers, toddlers
Symposium I/8
Transitions
Individual papers
Chair:
Marika Veisson
Tallinn University, Estonia
ID 159
First Experiences of 'Crossing Borders’: How Adults and Peers Support the
Transitions of Babies and Toddlers into Group Care Settings
Liz Brooker
Institute of Education, University of London, United Kingdom
This study explores the ways that adult and peer interactions may support the transition of very
young children into their childcare settings, in ways which foster a sense of competence, agency
and overall well-being in the child, and encourage the construction of long-term positive
dispositions towards learning. An ethnographic approach was initially adopted, allowing the
identification of the culture of 'everyday life’ in the setting. Subsequently, case studies of a small
sample of children – three from 'Babies’, three from 'Toddlers’ and four from 'Kindergarten’ –
were constructed, to investigate the ways that the development of children of different ages and
backgrounds was supported through the child’s interactions with adults and peers. Observations
of the children as they arrived, and settled into the life of the setting, were supplemented by
semi-structured interviews with each child’s parent and 'key worker’. Analysis of the data
indicates that the key workers’ early strategy of 'following the child’ enables them to scaffold the
child’s development and learning in several distinct domains. These include helping the child to
know and engage with others in their group; to know and anticipate the routines of the setting; to
experience a sense of belonging and ownership; and to move rapidly from full dependence
towards age-appropriate independence. Many examples are found of small children’s ability to
move away from their key adult, to form attachments to peer and groups, and to make
increasingly competent and independent use of the opportunities and affordances of their
environment, including and especially the human resources.
Keywords: early transitions, socio-cultural learning, key worker, well-being
ID 380
Transition Period and Well-being: A Study with Babies and Toddlers and
Their Parents
Eliana Bhering
UFRJ, Brazil
Transition from home to crèche is a period when the main focus is usually on the well being
(Laevers, 1994) of all involved. It is largely acknowledged that parents become tenser around
the time when their young babies and toddlers have to start going to crèches (Sarkis, 2005). In
many cases, going to crèches is more needed than actually desired. Having said that, parents,
under the pressure, face great difficulties and children may feel the impact of big changes.
Transition Programmes try to minimize the effects of separation preparing the environment and
interactions and fully involving parents in the process that will facilitate transition and promote
well being for both parents and children (Mantovani, 2001). The study is about the interactions
between parents, teachers and children at the time of transition. One of the research objectives
is to assess parents’ and children’s well being during a transition programme at a university
crèche in Rio de Janeiro. An observation grid and video recording have been used for data
collection. Observation is carried out when parents are still with their babies and/or toddlers in
the classroom. It seems that well being increase for both parents and children, as they get to
know the environment, routine, adults and peers. Transition programme seems to help the
progress of well being in a positive way, since much care is dedicated to welcome parents and
children in the environment of the crèche. Needless to say, teachers report that such
programmes are indeed a sound introduction to the year.
Co-author: Alessandra Sarkis, Escola de Educação Infantil UFRJ
Keywords: crèche, transition period, parents involvement, well-being
ID 459
Crossing the Cultural Boundary from Home to Kindergarten in Hong Kong:
A Case Study of a Child's Strategic Actions
Mei-Seung Michelle Lam
Department of Early Childhood Education, Hong Kong Institute of Education, Hong Kong
Transition from home to kindergarten is the first and major ecological transition in children’s
educational life in Hong Kong. In this transition, children cross a cultural boundary from home to
kindergarten and start to learn about “school” as a place to learn and about themselves as
“pupils” in kindergarten. Thus, how they cope with and adapt to the novel classroom is crucial to
their pupil career in their life-long learning. This paper is part of more extensive and exploratory
case-study research attempting to explore young children’s strategic actions during the
transition from home to kindergarten in Hong Kong. The strategic actions of a 3-year-old girl is
presented and analysed. The conceptual framework was developed from Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory, van Gennep’s notion of rites of passage, and Pollard and Filer’s notion of pupil
career. This highlights the relationships between layers of cultural context, stages of transition,
and adaptation outcomes for understanding children as agents during the transition from home
to kindergarten (Lam, 2005; Lam & Pollard, 2006). Descriptive data were mainly collected from
participant observations and semi-structured interviews to illustrate how she was prepared by
her parents for starting kindergarten and how she coped with the school experiences and
adapted to the new classroom culture as “a kindergartener” in Hong Kong. The findings showed
that the mediational means in the home context in terms of material, cultural and linguistic
resources as well as the new classroom context consisting of physical environment, play and
learning, rules and routines, and social relationships shaped her strategic actions and
adaptation outcomes. Finally, her pattern of strategic actions and sequences of adaptation will
be discussed with respect to the situated home and kindergarten classroom context within the
wider socio-cultural context of Hong Kong.
Keywords: socio-cultural theory, transition from home to kindergarten, strategic actions, pupil
career
Symposium I/9
Zone of Proximal Development
Self-organised symposium
ID 82
Principles
Video Interaction Guidance. An Effective Intervention based on Vygotskyan
Chair:
Hilary Kennedy
University of Dundee, United Kingdom
Session overview
This symposium brings together 3 very different papers, which measure the effect of Video
Interaction Guidance (VIG) on the learning possibilities for children identified with difficulties.
Video Interaction Guidance is a specific ‘coaching’ intervention which is based on a socialconstructivist framework. Here Vygotskyan principles are used to enhance the emotionalexpressive dialogue (primary and secondary inter-subjectivity) and the mediating learning
environment. It has been developed over the last 15 years in at least 10 countries with the initial
training base in The Netherlands. Strong research evidence of VIG’s effectiveness as an
intervention has come from the University of Leiden over the last 10 years and from a recent
meta-analysis by Ruben Fukkink (Free University of Amsterdam). It clearly demonstrates that
video feedback in family programmes changes parents' interactive behaviour with their children,
their attitudes, and the development of their children The first paper will show how parents and
carers involved in the Step by Step Project in Hungary can enhance their young children’s
development when their 'scaffolding’ interactions are coached using video feedback. The
second paper will describe a qualitative study of the perceived effects of giving verbal and video
feedback to children with learning difficulties, following dynamic assessment. This showed how
the child can become involved in developing their learning potential with the aid of video
feedback and hence become motivated to change. The third paper will give quantitative results
of changes as a result of VIG intervention on children’s communicative behaviour in an early
years setting and in a school for children with emotional behavioural difficulties.
Keywords: dynamic assessment, zone of proximal development, inter-subjectivity, video
interaction guidance
An Exploration of the Perceived Effects of Giving Verbal and Video Feedback to the
Child, Following Dynamic Assessment
Miriam Landor
West Lothian Educational Psychology Service, United Kingdom
Three educational psychologists (EPs) gave feedback of the results of dynamic assessment to
the child being assessed, in addition to reporting to school staff and parents at review meetings.
In some cases video interaction guidance (VIG) was used in the feedback session or at the
review meeting. Children, class teachers and EPs completed questionnaires or were
interviewed on their perceptions of change and a focus group from the wider professional
community discussed the project. The project took the form of an appreciative inquiry, and
thematic analysis was used to explore the data. The qualitative research design was reflected in
the reporting of the project, which used narrative and interpretative description of activities,
outcomes and reflection through research literature.
The evaluation data collected in this dissertation project has shown that feeding back the results
of dynamic assessment to the child leads to perceptions of positive change from children,
teachers and EPs, and that using video in feedback sessions and at review meetings is
particularly helpful. A key theme was the importance of affective factors in the cognitive area of
learning and teaching. The method has good congruence with current legislation and with
proven approaches such as solution-focused methods and formative assessment. The
epistemological and theoretical constructivist stance of both dynamic assessment and video
interaction guidance was mirrored in the project methodologies, appreciative inquiry and
thematic analysis.
The project follows in Vygotsky’s footsteps in its attempt to assess children’s potential
authentically, whilst simultaneously intervening positively in the teaching and learning cycle.
Supporting Parents of Young Children through Video Interaction Guidance (VIG)
Lena Szilvasi
University of Budapest, Hungary
VIG is a tool to guide parents to support their children’s development using Vygotskyan
Principals. The visual images provide an easy way for parents to increase their awareness of
their role in scaffolding their children’s development.
As a consequence of political-economical-social transitions in Hungary in the last 20 years the
gap of social inequalities has increased. This gap is visible in income differences, in schooling
level, in unemployment rate and in regional differences. There is a large group of children
whose parents are poor, poorly educated and who have minimal opportunities to join the labour
market. Children of these families need additional support to enhance their development.
VIG can be used to provide this support. VIG trainers can involve parents and teachers of young
children in a collaborative process of guided participation in order to build bridges of knowledge
and experience of young children, to make adults more aware of the importance of their
interrelatedness in cultural understanding and transmission. Video gives opportunity to
emphasize the importance of inter-subjectivity: sharing purpose and focus of the participating
partners, children, parents and educators.
In cooperation with VIG partners in Scotland and the Step by Step programme in Hungary the
first steps are made. What are the possibilities for a future cooperation?
Within the presentation: data about poverty of children in Hungary, short videos about the
process of VIG.
Better Interactions, Better Learning, Better Behaviour
Hilary Kennedy
University of Dundee, United Kingdom
This paper will report the findings of two studies which demonstrate real change in the
communication of children and adults when teachers are involved in video reflective feedback
aiming to enhance the adults 'scaffolding’ behaviour in order to optimise the youngsters’
communication, cognitive and social skills in an educational environment.
The first study looks at the cognitive gains of 8 pre-school children with Additional Support
Needs in an Early Intervention Nursery. The adults used Video Interaction Guidance (VIG)
feedback with staff and some parents to activate others to enhance their own communication
patterns while providing the children, staff and parents with good communication opportunities
on a moment - by - moment basis based on good communication principles.
The children’s communication skills were measured before and after using data from adults in
daily contact, standardised assessments and video analysis. The standardised assessments
confirmed the significant developmental gains recorded by parents and staff .The video analysis
showed a doubling in verbal turns and increase length of utterance.
The second study focused on identifying and extending the skills of 5 teachers in a school for
primary age children with marked Social and Emotional Difficulties. The teachers engaged in
training course which involved information about good communication and video analysis
'coaching’ of their classroom interactions, identifying and exploring examples of target
behaviours.
Comparison of observations before and after intervention show significant changes in the nature
of teacher talk with a greater focus on children’s input and an increase in the use of linking
statements between children’s ideas.
Symposium I/10
Understanding Science in Early Years
Individual papers
Chair:
Regina Sabaliauskiene
Center for Innovative Education, Lithuania
ID 116
A Knowledge Creation Approach to Environmental Education in Early
Childhood: Vygotskyan Theories in Practice
Cynthia Prince
Eastern Institute of Technology Hawke's Bay, New Zealand
The aim of the study was to create a community of learners to promote environmental education
in early childhood curriculum and to enhance children’s learning and knowledge base. This
qualitative doctoral research was conducted in two phases over one year. It employed a sociocultural/knowledge creation approach to integrate environmental education into early childhood
curriculum. Two early childhood centres (one kindergarten, one childcare centre) were used for
the research. The participants were four kindergarten teachers and eight childcare staff, with
seven focus group parents and six focus children at each centre. In the first phase the teachers
at both centres implemented a two week environmental programme. In the second phase the
teachers used participatory action research as well as a project approach based on children’s
environmental interests to guide curriculum planning. Both centres created a community of
learners comprising teachers, children and parents. The Vygotskyan concepts of the zone of
proximal development and cultural tools, as well as co-construction of knowledge, intersubjectivity about the topics of environmental interest, and a community of learners’ theoretical
perspective were integral to the process. The teachers valued parental environmental funds of
knowledge and social capital and this ensured the families’ cultural background was respected.
This parental contribution complemented the children’s domain knowledge. Although the
research acknowledged the socio-cultural concept of participation, environmental knowledge
creation by all the participants in the community of learners was a significant finding. It is argued
that this finding is consistent with and extends Vygotsky’s views on spontaneous and formal
concepts.
Keywords: zone of proximal development, cultural tools, knowledge creation, community of
learners
ID 337
Facilitating Graphicacy in Geography in the Early Years
Laura Walsh
Coláiste Mhuire Marino, Marino Institute of Education, Ireland
This paper examines the ability of early years’ children to engage with the process of
graphicacy. The philosophical orientation derives from the social constructivist theory of
Vygotsky and in particular his ‘Zone of proximal development’ (ZPD). In the context of an action
research case study, with twenty-eight children ranging from ages four to five, participating
children are facilitated in reaching their upper potential of the ZPD under the guidance of the
teacher. A number of teaching approaches as described by Wiegand (1993) and Foley and
Janikoun (1996) among others are employed. In the research a mixed methods design of
qualitative and quantitative analysis is used. The children's initial comprehension of graphicacy
is documented and their subsequent progress, having being scaffolded by an adult, is later
observed. Findings from the study provide evidence of the ability of early years’ children to
engage with graphicacy processes. The most significant finding is the children’s ability to
engage with grid referencing. This counters the current positioning of grid referencing within the
Irish Primary School Curriculum later in third class. The paper further highlights the critical role
of adults in extending early years learning thus addressing ‘The facilitative role of adults and
peers in child development’. The study concludes with some recommendations for teachers,
teacher educators, early years’ educators and curriculum developers.
Keywords: graphicacy, geography, early years, maps
ID 121
Pre-primary Student Teachers' Knowledge on Science Process Skills:
Student Teachers' Understanding of Observation
Liisa Suomela
Department of Applied Sciences of Education, University of Helsinki, Finland
Making relevant observations is one of the basic skills in science. However, there appears to be
little knowledge how to support the development of these skills. Close observation provides the
evidence that allows ideas to be checked, and it therefore needs to be detailed and relevant.
The learner must have confidence that her/his observations are valuable.
Our aim is to improve student teachers’ knowledge and skills to teach science process skills in
pre-primary and primary school. At the first phase in this development process, it is needed to
understand the ways how do student teachers see the skill of observation.
The pre-primary student teachers (n= 71) were asked to complete a questionnaire containing
five questions. Using a qualitative content analysis of the student teachers’ responses five
categories were found as a research result.1) The great majority keep interest and attention
essential 2) Observations are made with out instruments (only 2 students considered also
equipments such as lenses, microscopes or telescopes). 3) Earlier knowledge effects on what is
really observed 4) An observer must forget all existing conceptions 5) What to do with the
information obtained from the observations is not considered.
The analysis indicated that pre-primary student teachers have a rather unclear view about the
skill of observation and they don’t see the importance of observation as one of the basic skills in
teaching science. Children’s observations can be the source of concepts and play and it is
important to develop the student teachers’ understanding how to use observations as tools for
learning science thinking skills.
Keywords: observation, science teaching, pre-school
Symposium I/11
Understanding Mathematics in Early Years
Individual papers
Chair:
to be determined
ID 433
Under Threes Thinking Mathematically?
Elizabeth Carruthers
Redcliffe Children's Centre, United Kingdom
Vygotsky (1935) specified that one has to take into account that the child up to the age of three
years, ‘learns while following his own programme’ (page 35). This paper therefore focuses on a
small group of children under three and their spontaneous play episodes highlighting the
possible mathematical context of these explorations. Through individual case studies the
theoretical underpinning comes from a piagetian schema based perspective. The study took
place in a children’s centre in England over a four-month period. The staff within the centre
collected the data and their diary reflections became a further source of data. Open interviews
and targeted questions were the main source of data collection.
Central questions to this paper are:
What are children under threes mathematical interests?
How and what do they learn while following their own programme?
How can adults support young children’s mathematical interests?
Some of the main findings of this project were;

That the early years’ practitioners began to view mathematics and young children’s
learning from a much wider viewpoint.

The children’s daily self - initiated play explorations covered a wide range of
mathematical concepts including perimeter, angle, speed, rotation, number, space and
measurement.

The careful choosing of equipment, the setting up of the learning environment and
following children’s self interests supported their mathematical enquiry.

The home and setting became a source of joined up thinking about the children’s
leaning.
Vygotsky, L. (1935) Apprentissage et development a l’age prescolaire, Societe Francaise, 52(2)
35-45
Keywords: mathematics, under threes, play, thinking
ID 224
Marc Wantz
Numerical Competencies of Young Children
Université du Luxembourg, Luxembourg
Numerous studies show that wide ranges of competencies in different fields are necessary to
develop a good numerical competency. Our research tried to find an answer to the question,
which out of various factors mainly influence the numerical competencies of young children. We
focused on visuospatial, perceptive and tactile skills as determinants of the quality of early
numerical representations.
We adopted a longitudinal research design with three periods of data collection (two data
collections during the second year of kindergarten and one at the end of first grade). Our test
setting for the kindergarten included tests in the three areas mentioned above.
The evaluation of these results shows that the numerical competencies are influenced by
visuospatial competencies and knowledge of pre-numerical facts. An importance of the
perceptive and tactile skills could not be established.
At the end of first grade, after formal mathematical instruction, we made a mathematical
competency test.
A structural equation model of the subtests shows that the numerical knowledge at this stage
can be divided in two separate factors:
1. A representational numerical factor (analogical representation of quantities: Triple Code
model of Dehaene)
2. A more formal knowledge of mathematics (visual Arabic representation: Triple Code model of
Dehaene, 1992).
Predicting these two factors from the competency profile measured in kindergarten showed that
the representational numerical factor was very well predicted from a general spatio-numerical
factor found in the previous year, while the formal knowledge was predicted to a lesser degree
by tactile skills measured at the end of kindergarten.
Implications for numerical teaching in Kindergarten will be discussed.
Co-authors: Romain Martin, Christine Schiltz (Université du Luxembourg, Luxembourg)
Keywords: numerical competencies, perceptuo-tactile skills, visuospatial competencies,
mathematics
ID 330
Numerosity among 1 to 2 Years Old Children in Pre-school
Ingrid Pramling Samuelsson and Elisabet Doverborg
Department of Education, Göteborg University, Sweden
A longitudinal study called “Children’s early learning” started 2005 in Sweden with the aim of
studying the quality of pre-school related to children’s learning. The quality is described in terms
of the Early Childhood Education Rating Scale ECERS (Harms & Clifford), as an external
evaluation as well as a self-evaluation. In all, 38 pre-schools are included and their children born
2004 and 2005, altogether 155 children. One of the areas in which children’s learning are traced
has been in early mathematics. The very fist structured play task in early mathematics is carried
out in dialogue with these children. The task focused on questions like: big & small, numbers,
first & last and sorting object (in size or colour). The researcher and each child played with
objects and for about 15 minutes. The interaction was video recorded, and later transcribed and
analysed qualitatively in terms of variation of ways of dealing with the different tasks.
Since the data collection still is going on, we have in this presentation chosen to analyse
children’s acting (physically and verbally) in 7 pre-schools of various quality, (low, medium and
high rate). The aim of this presentation is to describe the various ways in which children act in
this particular structured play task on early mathematics in which a phenomenographical
approach related to early mathematics is used (Marton & Booth, 1997; Pramling, 1996).
Children’s acting will also be viewed in the perspectives of the quality of their pre-schools.
Keywords: basic mathematics, toddlers, pre-school
Symposium I/12
Multilingual Development
Individual papers
Chair:
Rose Drury
The Open University, United Kingdom
ID 255
Using Shared Reading as a Collaborative Tool to Teach English to Second
Language Learners
Josephine Deguara
University of Malta, Malta
The process to learn, understand and use a second language is complex. Therefore, the
methodology used to help children acquire a new language is crucial.
Vygotsky’s (1962) theory of social interaction has shown that learning is most effective when it
is collaborative through interaction with others. Shared reading, developed by Holdaway (1979),
lends itself to such a methodology where children collaborate to discuss, think, interact and join
in the reading with the teacher and peers, advancing their cognitive development. In such a
child-centred approach, reading is presented as an enjoyable experience which through
scaffolding of a series of strategies, skills and behaviour; it offers children possibilities to
participate in the reading process at different levels while they learn from and with each other
making them feel successful in the learning process. The outcome of such an approach will help
children become fluent and acquire positive attitudes towards the second language.
This paper provides an overview of a study carried in a Maltese classroom in an early years
school setting over a year where shared reading was introduced as an innovative tool to teach
reading while building a community of learners. A series of topic-related Big Books and activities
provided a means of examining how children’s literature could be used to contribute to the
teaching of English as a second language and how such a programme influences the children’s
cognitive development.
The findings from the study suggest that through adult support and peer interaction, children
acquire fluency and mastery in their oral and literacy skills while they became more willing to
learn second language. The results also show that the activities accompanying shared reading
enabled the children to acquire new knowledge of the world around them, as well as research
and critical thinking skills that helped them become independent readers and learners.
Keywords: shared reading, collaborative learning, second language
ID 179
Social Interaction and Second Language Acquisition in Young Children
Anne K. Soderman
Department of Family and Child Ecology, Michigan State University, USA
World wide, early childhood classrooms contain children who must learn a new language
quickly in order to succeed socially and academically. The social/cultural contexts in which
young children attempt to learn these additional languages can significantly hamper or support
acquisition. This paper will focus on the findings of a year-long study of pre-school and
kindergarten children from 18 different nationalities immersed in both Chinese and English in an
international school in Beijing, China. Based on Vygotsky's contextualist perspective of
language development and scaffolding, the aims of the study were: 1) to document the role of
children's personalities and social interaction in moving through the phases of the bi-lingual
language acquisition process and 2) to evaluate teachers' ability to structure supportive
language-learning contexts in response to observed behaviours and progress in the children.
Methodology and measures included daily classroom observation and annotation, use of
standardized assessment tools such as the PPVT-III (receptive language) and SCBE (social
competence), and informal measures such as sociograms and Concepts of Print assessment.
Findings were that children develop their own sub cultures and agendas within language
learning contexts, that language acquisition rates vary dramatically from child to child in terms of
time, quantity, and quality, and that language acquisition can be accelerated when teachers
implement particular activities that children find engaging, meaningful, and useful in their
everyday interactions with others inside and outside the classroom setting.
Keywords: language acquisition, social context
ID 242
Sigrun Sand
Ready for School? Kindergarten as a Place for Second Language Learning
Hedmar University College, Norway
In order to be able to give all groups of pupils equal opportunities in school, the Norwegian
government encourages second language teaching programmes in kindergartens.
One example of such a programme is the project “Short-stay kindergarten free of charge for all
four and five year old children in the suburb of Gamle Oslo” 1998 – 2003. The aims of this
project were better language learning before school start and better integration. I have
evaluated both the second language learning of the children after having been in these “project
kindergartens” for two years and the educational programme itself.
In the interpretation and analysis of my results, I will use theoretical perspectives, which deal
with the role and importance of both the first and the second language in pre-school education,
which aims at preparing children with minority background successfully for school. The
theoretical perspectives used in my presentation are the typologies of bilingual education
(Baker), the cognitive theories of bilingualism and the curriculum (Cummins), “the zone of
proximal development” (Vygotsky) and the results of Thomas & Collier’s analysis of the
academic achievement of minority language students in different educational programmes.
In the discussion of what can be important factors in pre-school programmes for minority
language children, I also use results from relevant research projects from Denmark (Palludan,
Gitz-Johansen, Tireli) and from the UK (Brooker, Thompson). In the light of this, I want to call
attention to some of the consequences of one-sided focusing on the lack of second language
competence and to discuss what it means to be ready for school.
Keywords: second language, assessment, programmes
Symposium I/13
Language Learning
Individual papers
Chair:
to be determined
ID 60
Enhancing Expressive Communication Skills in Young Children through a
Community of Inquiry Programme
Janet Fellowes and Elizabeth Stamopoulos
Edith Cowan University, Australia
Both internationally and nationally, research supports the link between children’s oral language
competency and future literacy achievement (Australian National Inquiry into the Teaching of
Literacy, 2005; Snow, Burn & Griffin, 1998). It identifies the importance of the teacher in
facilitating the learning process and the need for quality resources and experiences for young
children.
This paper draws on a Western Australian study, which examined teachers’ perceptions of the
effectiveness of the Community of Inquiry Teaching Programme (CITP) in improving children’s
oral language, communication and cognitive skills. It further investigated the link between preprimary children’s participation in the programme and their development in expressive oral
language and higher order thought.
The CITP is a teaching resource with a strong focus on dialogue, reflective thinking and child
initiated questioning. It consists of a teaching framework which features the ‘circle of inquiry’
and methods for scaffolding children’s oral language development within this context.
The participants in this study comprised three pre-primary teachers and their students from
three metropolitan state districts. Data is drawn from the PLAI 2 Speech Test and from picture
talks, administered prior and subsequent to the implementation of the programme. Interviews
were conducted with the teachers who implemented the programme.
The findings indicated improvement in some areas of speech and general discourse and that
the CITP had a positive effect on students’ communication confidence. The results also
revealed a need for stronger professional support for teachers as they shifted into the languagefacilitating role required by the programme.
Keywords: language, cognition, dialogue, philosophy
ID 204
Leida Talts
Achieving the Goals of the Mother Tongue by the End of the First Grade
Tallinn University, Estonia
The aim of the present study is to find answers to following question: How teachers have
evaluated children's achievements in language and interaction?
The expectations of parents and school often compel kindergarten teachers to drill children's
reading and writing skills instead of providing them with positive learning experience and
shaping learning skills of more general nature, which would help children to successfully cope at
the following stage of education. Vygotsky set out to develop a general method of study the
formation of psychological processes that were fossilized; he wanted to study the formation of
process by analysing the subjects engaging in activities.
Methodology. The sample was stratified according to eight districts in the city of Tallinn. The
researchers received evaluation data of 198 pre-school children and 117 children when the
same children had reached to the end of the first grade. Teachers rated 25 indicators showing
language and communication development. It appears that the group of children that was
stronger in the kindergarten pre-school groups is not so highly assessed by schoolteachers. The
reason may also be that children belonging to the stronger group rest on their laurels at school
without finding new stimulation that would take into account their experience and level of
development. Many problems are caused by the fact that after starting school much of the
previous experience often becomes useless. For example, a child who is skilled in reading has
to sit and feel bored by familiar learning material, being unable to use his or her earlier
knowledge and experience in this new situation. A problem in applying the concept of the zone
(Vygotsky)to the analysis of classroom instruction is that a definition of the zone emphasizing
the transfer of knowledge. The objectives of the curricula are realized through teachers`
practical activity. Estonian teachers assess objectives related to skill very highly. The question
primarily lies in the use methods of teaching, which would help children to develop a positive
self-image and learning skills.
This abstract is written in co-operation with Airi Kukk (Tallinn University) and Helle Sikka (Tallinn
University).
Keywords: children’s achievements, language, curriculum, teacher
Symposium I/14
Language as a Tool of Cognitive Development
Individual papers
Chair:
to be determined
ID 39
Vygotsky and Agency in Language Development
Jyrki Reunamo and Marja Nurmilaakso
University of Helsinki, Finland
The aim of the research is to study the agency of different aspects of language. The Vygotskyan
way of language functions can be seen in two continuums. First there is a continuum from interpsychological to intra-psychological, which means that the development of the language
functions starts between people and only after that inside the child. The second continuum is in
language as signs towards language as a tool, from semiotics towards an instrument for social
and cultural change. The mediative role of language manifests itself in the social processes,
either to be influenced or to influence others. Language thus has agentive properties. The two
continuums generate a four-way table that puts children’s language functions in four distinct
points of view. They are: 1) The zone of proximal development as a manifestation of interpsychological and non-agentive language. 2) The signs, semantics and syntax as a
manifestation of intra-psychological and non-agentive language. 3) Children’s instrumental
language tools for environmental change as intra-psychological and agentive language. 4)
Producing new tools for cultural change together with others as inter-psychological and agentive
language. The research question is: What kind of educational consequences do the four
different views of language have on pedagogy? Method: Students are presented with the same
excerpts of children’s talk, but they are asked to consider the talk from four different
perspectives. As a result, we conclude that the way we hear children’s language has an effect
on the educational setting. In the paper examples of different effects are presented.
Keywords: Vygotsky, agency, language, pedagogy
ID 386
Understanding Contextual Influences on How Young Children’s Remember:
Extending the Early Ideas of Istomina
Ulla Mauritzson
Childhood Studies Unit, IPD, Sweden
More than 50 years have passed since Istomina (1948/1975) conducted her studies
investigating how children remember. Istomina argued that in remembering the child must make
sense of the situation. In this study, 44 pre-school children were invited to participate in two
remembering activities: First, in a so-called ‘pretend scenario’ and, second, in a ‘remembering
and recall scenario’. Each child participated in only one condition. The study was conducted in
the children’s pre-school setting with their regular teacher presenting the tasks and a visitor (the
researcher) to whom they recalled the items presented in the task. 22 children participated in
each task. Children, on average, remembered almost the same number of items in both of the
conditions. The children in this study, who took part in the conversation with their teacher while
they set up the pretend scenario, remembered on average more items, than the children who
were silent while their teacher introduced the situation. When children by their comments or
questions participated in a so-called ‘negotiated interaction’ about the goal in the activity, then
this made it possible for them to understand and set a personal goal to remember items. The
remembering that takes place in these situations, must be viewed as interactive achievements
between the interlocutors in situated practices.
Keywords: communication, negotiation, interactive achievements
ID 494
Third Spaces are Interesting Places; Applying 'Third Space Theory' to
Nursery-aged Children's Constructions of Themselves as Readers
Rachael Levy
University of Cambridge, United Kingdom
The influence of children's home settings is now well recognised as being crucial to the ways in
which children develop language and literacy skills (Heath, 1983; Minns, 1997; Tizard and
Hughes, 1984). Much research has sought to understand 'family literacy' practices (Hannon
and James, 1990) in an attempt to integrate home and school experiences more effectively for
children, yet few studies have succeeded in understanding the ways in which young children
themselves attempt to integrate home and school experiences of reading.
This paper reports on one aspect of a larger study designed to investigate young children's selfperceptions of reading at the time of entry into the formal education system. Based on Moje et
al’s (2004) conceptions of 'third space theory', this paper describes how five nursery-aged
children created a 'third space' between home and school, in order to find continuity between
home and school constructions of reading. This study therefore revealed five unique stories,
each charting the ways in which these children created a space in which to merge vastly
differing social and cultural experiences with the uniformity of the school culture.
Yet this paper also warns that many of these children's own sophisticated and valuable
constructions of reading could be at risk of disruption by the demands of the primary school
curriculum. It is therefore argued that educators within the Foundation Stage must find ways to
accommodate and utilise children's own constructions of reading in order to build confidence
and initiate success in a modern generation of young readers.
Keywords: third space theory, reading, home, school
Symposium I/15
Involving Children in Research
Individual papers
Chair:
Helen May
University of Otago, New Zealand
ID 90
Meanings of a Peer Group of a Child with Motor Disorder - Experiences of
Conductive Education
Sanna Uotinen
University of Jyväskylä, Department of Special Education, Finland
Importance of a peer group is well recognized in child’s habilitation and learning. However,
habilitation of a child with motor disorder is usually implemented without peers. Conductive
education (CE) is an integrated education and therapy system that aims to assist children and
adults with motor disorders to function more independently. Goal is to develop the entire
personality. One of the main principles is that CE is provided in a peer group. The purpose of
this presentation is to discuss the meanings of a peer group in CE. The study involved 27
children with motor disorder and their families who attended four-week CE-course in year 2001
in Finland. 17 of children were 1 to 6 years olds. Six children were 7 to 12 years old. During the
courses each parent assisted one’s own child. The data were collected by interviewing parents
during the course in a group and by videotaping the training sessions. Follow-up interviews
were made for 10 families in year 2004-2005. Interviews were conducted as theme interviews
and data were analysed by using theme analyse method. The results presented in this abstract
are preliminary and the analysing process is continuing. Parents emphasized the importance of
a peer group. Peer group was understood with the diversity of meanings and not just focusing
on habilitation. Meanings of the group are categorized into four main themes: group as a model
and source of motivation, group as a learning place to work together, group as place for
friendships, group and individual goals. The results will be discussed more closely in the
presentation.
Keywords: peer group, conductive education, habilitation, learning
ID 128
Interviews with Children Attending Remedial Class
Anna-Lena Ljusberg
Department of Human Development, Learning and Special Education, Sweden
This paper is about excluded children but I see it as a contribution to inclusive education. The
aim of the empirical study was to study how younger pupils give meaning to the situation of
entering remedial classes answering the question; Why did you attend the remedial class? Data
collection consists of half structured interviews with ten children, nine to twelve years old, who
were placed in remedial class because of “concentration problems”, five of them with the
diagnosis AD/HD. The theoretical approach used in this paper is a socio-cultural perspective
(Vygotsky, 1934/2001; Wertsch, 1991, 1998). In a socio-cultural perspective the understanding
of childhood is that it is not just a phase in life but a social construction, which means
continuous changes in relation to economical, social and cultural circumstances in society
(Säljö, 2000). We cannot disregard that we are biological human beings, but our actions can be
explained only to a small degree from a genetical and biological prerequisite. We have the
ability to reflect and to go outside our routines; we do not have to rely only on what nature has
given us (Säljö, 2005). All components – the human being, the social practice and the tools –
belong together and are equally necessary if one wants to understand people’s acts, since they
determine each other (Wertsch, 1991, 1998; Säljö, 2005).
The children in this study point at their difficulties that they believe is the reasons that they have
to enter remedial classes. Most of them say that they have been disorderly and restless with
concentration problems.
Keywords: child perspective, social interaction, remedial class, AD/HD
ID 342
Why Am I Here? Bringing Children’s Voices into Research, Policy and
Practice about Physical Activity and Chronic Disease
Wendy Schiller
University of South Australia, Australia
This research study (2005/6) investigated whether children with chronic diseases are excluded
from, or currently face the barriers to participation in physical activity that were reported in
historical literature. 34 children aged 4-16 years with diabetes, asthma or cystic fibrosis
participated in interviews, discussed photographs that they took and created posters about
participation in physical activity. We interviewed their parents as well as education and health
staff involved in chronic disease services or policy. Children reported that they are not excluded
from physical activities and can do any activity they want with seemingly no barriers. One child
saw a direction sign for the ‘Children and chronic illness’ study and exclaimed “Why am I here?”
hence the title of this paper. Children felt encouraged by parents, friends, teachers and health
professionals. Teachers actively promoted inclusion in all aspects of school. Parents and
teachers supported children by monitoring and managing their signs and symptoms. Parents
were the conduits for communication between home, school and the health system and worked
hard to ensure that their child could take part in all ‘normal activities.’ Two policy stories will be
proposed to explain these findings. One is that policies promoting diversity and participation
have been very successful for these children who can now live a full and healthy life. Another is
that success is due largely to the subtle and often invisible ‘background work’ that parents do on
behalf of their child in order to enable them to live a ‘normal’ life.
Co-authors
Schiller W, University of South Australia, Adelaide
MacDougall C, Flinders University, Adelaide
Darbyshire P, University of South Australia, Adelaide, Flinders University, Adelaide, Children,
Youth and Women’s Health Service- Women and Children’s Hospital Campus, Adelaide
Spizzo M, Children, Youth and Women’s Health Service- Women and Children’s Hospital
Campus, Adelaide
Fereday J, Children, Youth and Women’s Health Service- Women and Children’s Hospital
Campus, Adelaide
Kay D, Department of Education and Children’s Services, South Australia
References
MacDougall, C, Schiller, W & Darbyshire, P (2004) We have to live in the future. In W. Schiller (ed) Research at the
edge: concepts and challenges: Special Issue, Early Child Development and Care. 174 (4), 369-388. London: Taylor
& Francis
Keywords: policy, practice, children’s perspectives, qualitative research
Symposium I/16
Art, Music and Drama
Individual papers
Chair:
Marcela Strakova
Step by Step, Czech Republic
ID 81
Music Education in the Education and Church-related Playgroup Work of
Child Instructors
Kyllikki Rantala
University of Tampere, Department of Teacher Education, Early Childhood Education, Finland
This thesis focuses on the music education of 90 child instructors and their musical activity in
the Finnish Lutheran church-related playgroups. The following questions were asked: 1. What
has the music education received by the child instructors been like? 2. What kind of changes
would the child instructors like to have in the music section of their formal education? 3. What
kind of music education provided by the employers have the child instructors received, and what
kind of education do they regard as most beneficial from their work point of view? 4. What kind
of musical activity do the child instructors use in their playgroups?
The theoretical part of the research deals with music education and the bases of music
education in the Finnish Lutheran Church and its playgroups. In addition, child instructor
education is viewed from the curricular point of view. The methodological triangulation included
studying the curricula, a survey, observations and interviews.
In the research, the wish to develop the music section of child instructor education was clearly
expressed. Increasing playing instruments and musical instruction would be a great
improvement in the future instructors’ playgroup work. In addition to this, it would be desirable to
increase positions in music education in the diocese, and to add to the contents of early
childhood music education in cantor education.
Keywords: music education, church-related playgroups, child instructor, the Finnish Lutheran
Church, music education
ID 351
Musical Learning Environments of Finnish Day-Care Centres
Inkeri Ruokonen
University of Helsinki, Finland
Early childhood education is a part of the life-long learning. Care, education and teaching form a
seamless whole, which flexibly supports the individual development of each child. Vygotsky's
socio-cultural theory (1978, 1985) and Vygotsky's "zone of proximal development" have many
implications in the educational environment. According to Vygotsky (1978) learning (a variety
internal developmental processes that are able to operate) awakens when the child is in the
action and cooperates with people in his/her environment. All children have musical potential.
Music is a language with many symbols and meanings. The development of this potential is the
right of every child. Children bring their own interest and abilities to their musical learning
environment. Children should be provided with a rich musical environment. This study concerns
the student teachers' experiences and reflections on the musical environment in day-care
centres when they were observing the environment and activities of the day care centres.
Students were asked to observe the musical learning environment of children form many
perspectives; physical and material environment, curriculum, objectives, core contents and
children's activities. The method of the study was a content analysis of the students’ essays.
The results show that there are differences in music educational environment between different
day care centres in spite of the common national core curriculum and policy definition on early
childhood education. Vygotsky’s theory and the observations challenge students for music
educational studies. The musical expertise of the kindergarten teacher seems to be the most
important in creating the musical learning environment of a day-care centre.
Keywords: early childhood music education, learning environments
ID 245
Arts Based Learning in the Early Years: Daring Discoveries
Cathy Nutbrown
University of Sheffield, United Kingdom
This paper evaluates a project to engage young children (from 6 months to 5 years) in the Arts.
The project aims were to identify: children’s learning and adult pedagogies. Key features of the
project are: the wide age range of the children; the diverse range of settings which include a
play-bus, a library, private day nursery; 378 hours of detailed documentation of sessions, and a
new theoretical arts-oriented framework for analysis.
The project developed and evaluated the ORIM and the Arts Framework (Nutbrown and Jones
2006) which distinguishes four strands of development in the arts (materials and experiences,
imagination, skills and ‘talk about the arts’) and four key roles for settings and artists whereby
they can provide Opportunities, Recognition, Interaction and a Model of users of the arts for
each strand of development identified in the framework.
Data (observations, photographs and video recording) were analysed using NVivo and applying
the ORIM framework. Key ethical issues are discussed (in particular the use of photographic
data). Examples of learning which occur when practitioners, artists and children work together
are given, and discussion focuses on adults working with individual children within their ‘zone of
proximal development’ (Vygotsky 1978) and on their schematic preferences (Nutbrown 2006).
References
Nutbrown, C (2006) Threads of Thinking: Young children learning and the role of early education London: Sage
Nutbrown, C. and Jones, H. (2006) Daring Discoveries: Arts Based Learning in the Early Years Doncaster: Asts
Council
Vygotsky, L. S. (1978) Mind in Society, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass.
Keywords: artists, ORIM framework
Symposium I/17
Assessment: Approaches and Experiences
Self-organised symposium
ID 339
Constructing Identity and Resilience through Narrative Assessment
(Learning Stories): Perspectives from Aotearoa New Zealand
Chair:
Robyn Lawrence
Educational Leadership Project, New Zealand
Session overview
As project facilitators working within the Educational Leadership Project Aotearoa New Zealand
we have put together three perspectives that consider the ways in which narrative assessment
(Learning Stories) builds identity and resilience in young children. The three perspectives we
present are:
• Restoring cultural memory through pedagogical practice in a bi-cultural setting.
• Bridging connections and building complexity within an infant and toddler setting
• Deepening thinking as children re-visit their learning experiences through documentation.
This work shows the transformational power of using narrative assessment practices. In
Aotearoa New Zealand, Learning Stories have changed the face of teaching and learning and
assessment making room for teachers and children to explore the space between teacher
intention and child intention.
Keywords: learning stories, assessment, curriculum, learning
Restoring Cultural Memory through Pedagogical Practice in a Bi-cultural Setting
Robyn Lawrence
Educational Leadership Project, New Zealand
Robyn Lawrence is a project facilitator for Educational Leadership Project, which is a Ministry of
Education funded contract to provide professional development for early childhood teachers.
Exploring the key elements of Kei Tua o Te Pae, Assessment for Learning Exemplars) and
developing the use and understanding of narrative assessment (Learning Stories) for
developing competence, continuity and community.
The research takes place in a small community-based setting in Otara, Auckland, New Zealand.
The centre is a branch of a local Maori Trust that is committed to supporting whanau (family)
within the community. Early last year the bi-cultural early childhood centre opened and began to
provide care and education for infants and young children up to five years of age. The journey is
emerging as one that is bringing together children teachers and whanau as a community that
learns from, and supports each other. We value Tikanga Maori (Maori philosophy and
perspectives) as an essential foundation to our programme and this provides a pathway to
strengthened cultural identity. As children become familiar with who they are and where they
come from, cultural memory is restored and resilience is becoming obvious in many areas of
their lives. (Bishop& Glynn, 1999) A strong sense of competence is becoming visible through
children’s assessment documentation. The research data (gathered through learning stories,
photography, oral narratives and video) is presented in a paper that explores the connections
between cultural competence, personal identity and nurturing resilience in young children.
Revisiting Narrative Assessment Deepens Children’s Thinking about Learning
Kathryn Delany
Educational Leadership Project, New Zealand
Revisiting the narrative assessments called Learning Stories has become part of the culture for
children at a number of early childhood settings in Aotearoa/New Zealand. As a Kindergarten
Teacher and latterly, a Professional Learning Facilitator, I have observed children “reading” and
sharing their Learning Stories with pride and confidence, sometimes using one Learning Story
to foster and form more learning for themselves. Such Learning Stories processes provide a
powerful image of the child as a learner. Because they have opportunities to revisit Learning
stories, children deepen their own thinking about their learning to construct identity and foster
learning. Nelson (1996, 1997a, 1997b), maintains, “children have individual episodic memories
from infancy, but it is only in the light of social sharing that both the enduring form of narrative
organization, and the perceived value to self and others become apparent”.
This paper presents data collected from children aged 3-5 years old as they “socially share”/
revisit Learning Stories about themselves to illustrate how this revisiting deepens and
strengthens the child’s own thinking as a learner.
Nelson, K. (1997) Cognitive change as collaborative construction in E. Amsel & K.A. Renninger (Eds) Change and
Development: issues of theory, method and application, Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum pp. 99-115 (this quote page
111).
Bridging Connections and Building Complexity within an Infant and Toddler Setting
Lorraine Sands
Educational Leadership Project, New Zealand
The author is the Project Leader of a Centre of Innovation in an early childhood setting in NZ.
This paper explores the impact of the introduction of socio-cultural assessment and planning
models called 'Learning and Teaching Stories' in an early childhood setting, changes that
challenged the pedagogical practice of the teachers in this early childhood centre. Lorraine
Sands works part time as a project facilitator for Educational Leadership Project, contracted to
the New Zealand Ministry of Education as a professional development provider. She also
teaches at Greerton Early Childhood Centre, Tauranga.
A Centre of Innovation, action research contract funded by the Ministry of Education has
supported teachers at Greerton to continue exploring the ways young children develop working
theories as they shape and re-shape knowledge for a purpose. As the teachers at Greerton
Early Childhood Centre, Tauranga, New Zealand heightened their understanding they began to
consider what a 'community of learners' might look like when 'participation and involvement'
were privileged within the spirit of the principles of Te Whaariki (the New Zealand Early
Childhood National Curriculum). Within this 'investigation focused' learning setting teachers
began to see learning and teaching as research characterised by curiosity, wonder, puzzlement
and exploration.
Teachers became very interested in the 'space between' teacher intention and child intention
and have explored the notion of co-constructed learning and assessment as teachers and
children work together in a responsive, reciprocal partnership to broaden and deepen learning.
This paper describes the opportunities and possibilities of working in this way infants and
toddlers.
Claxton, G. & Carr, M.(2004) A Framework for Teaching Learning: The Dynamics of Disposition. Early Years, Vol.24,
No. 1, March 2004.Carfax Publishing
Symposium I/18
Vygotskyan Theory and Assessment
Individual papers
Chair:
Elmina Kazimzade
Center for Innovations in Education, Azerbaijan
ID 499
A Socio-cultural Approach to Monitoring and Assessing Young Children's
Learning
Carmel Maloney and Lennie Barblett
Edith Cowan University, Australia
This paper reports the development and implementation of a monitoring and assessment
framework collaboratively designed by the Department of Education and Training in Western
Australia and used with children aged 4-6 years in the non-compulsory years of schooling. The
framework
has
been
structured around a
Vygotskyan
paradigm
using
a
modelled/shared/independent model in order to promote the pedagogical ideals of a sociocultural approach to early childhood education. The education system in Western Australia
supports a formal system of accountability of individual students' achievement, which includes
the non-compulsory years, and this framework has provided an alternative approach to
describing young children's learning and progress.
The framework is used in association with the Western Australian Kindergarten and Pre-primary
Profile (for children aged 4-6 years) and supports authentic assessment and monitoring of
young children's learning in six broad areas of curriculum. Monitoring children's learning and
development over time and in a range of contexts allows teachers to make meaningful
judgements about children's progress and achievements and to formulate individual learning
plans. In this model there is a focus on observations of children's behaviours and learning in
'real situations'. This type of monitoring reflects curriculum driven by reciprocal learning
relationships, and learning that is scaffolded and collaborative.
Keywords: assessment, socio-cultural approach
ID 218
Assessment, Politics and Early Literacy:
DIBELS Literacy Assessment
Nancy Knipping (1) and Sue Novinger (2)
A Vygotskyan Analysis of the
(1) University of Missouri, Learning, Teaching & Curriculum, USA
(2) Suny Brockport, Education & Human Development, USA
How might government mandated polices and assessment practices shape how young children
and teachers come to think about what counts as literacy learning and teaching? The integrated
theme/strand of this presentation is situating U.S. mandated assessment policies and practices
within socio-cultural contexts and examining children’s and teachers’ reported perceptions of
those assessment practices.
To provide a frame of reference for the mandated assessment [the Dynamic Indicators of Basic
Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS)], we compared it with a commonly-used alternative assessment
[the Qualitative Reading Inventory (QRI)]. The aims of our research were to examine the social,
political, cultural, and historical contexts in which these two markedly different literacy
assessments are situated; to explore the ways the tests position children as readers; and to
examine the ways the tests shape and constrain literacy practices.
We gave 32 3rd graders from three U.S. states both the DIBELS Oral Reading Fluency subtest
and the Passage Oral Reading test from the QRI. Our findings indicated that fully 50% of the
students tested were identified by the DIBELS as being “At Risk” or “Some Risk,” but were
identified as being at the independent or instructional reading level according to the QRI.
Qualitative analysis of student and teacher interviews indicates the strong influence of the
DIBELS assessment practice on students’ and teachers’ views of what counts as competent
reading. We will consider the influence of these socially, politically and historically situated views
on literacy practices.
Keywords: assessment, literacy practices, policy
ID 491
Vygotsky’s Understanding of Thought as related to the Construction of the
Model of Situation during Picture Interpretation in 5-7-year-old Children
Ksenia V. Zasypkina
Department of Psychology, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Learning Disabilities and ADHD Lab,
Moscow City University of Psychology and Education, Russian Federation
Our presentation will be based on the results of the analysis of sentences and stories made up by
children when presented with pictures. The first age group included 25 children aged 5;2-6;6 (mean
age 5;7). The second age group included 21 first-year schoolchildren aged 6;12-8;0 (mean age 7;4).
The neuropsychological assessment of both groups of subjects has revealed children with relative
underdevelopment of left or right hemisphere functions.
Children with relative weakness of left hemisphere functions demonstrate difficulties in the
development of their stories and miss meaningful links. Underdevelopment of planning and control
functions or verbal deficiencies could explain these difficulties. The dynamic aspect of verbal thinking
in Luria’s terms suffers in these children.
Children with relative weakness of right hemisphere functions recognized a situation incorrectly and
actualized a wrong and vague situation model, which led to difficulties in the nomination of
protagonists and key objects, led to the situation typical details omission; they include unrealistic in
the situation details. Discourse of these children lacks coherence and integrity.
The particular qualities of the situation model construction in two groups of children could be related
to two characteristics of thought L.S. Vygotsky has identified. The first one emphasizes the dynamic
aspect of thought: “Any thought tends to link one thing to another, it is moving, flowing… solving a
certain problem” (Vygotsky, vol.2, p.354). The second one characterizes thought as a holistic image:
“A thought is always something whole… the thought is represented in… our mind as a whole”
(Vygotsky, vol.2, p.356).
Co-authors:
Ksenia V. Zasypkina and Antonina A. Romanova, Dept. of Psychology, MSU, Learning
Disabilities and ADHD Laboratory of Moscow State University of Psychology and Education.
Akhutina Tatiana Vasilievna, Laboratory of Neuropsychology of the Faculty of Psychology of
Lomonosov Moscow State University; Learning Disabilities and ADHD Laboratory of Moscow
State University of Psychology and Education
Presentation is in Russian. English translation is provided.
Keywords: Vygotsky, language/speech development, individual differences, pragmatics,
neurolinguistics, right/left hemisphere
Symposium I/19
Multicultural Education
Self-organised symposium
ID 213
Cultural Diversity and the Social Construction of Pedagogy
Chair:
Gunvor Løkken
Queen Maud's College of Early Childhood Education, Norway
Session overview
Drawing on the Vygotskyan idea of the importance of cultural identity and the value of belonging
to a certain group, associate professor Anne-Mari Larsen presents a comparative study of the
culture of the minority group of the Travellers in Norway and the San people in Botswana.
Among other things, the study shows similarities in how the language and culture of the groups
have been neglected in schools and society.
With the same reference to Vygotsky (1978) in the second presentation, professor Ole Fredrik
Lillemyr, in cooperation with professor Frode Søbstad, focus on similarities and differences in
cultural profiles among Indigenous students (Aboriginal Australian, Navajo Indian and Sámi) and
Western students (Anglo Australian, Anglo American and Ethnic Norwegians). The relevance of
children's relations to peers for social motivation and social learning is discussed in particular.
In the third paper, professor Gunvor Løkken tries to explore an appropriate pedagogical notion
that matches the culturally and historically based ideas of the social constructivism within which
Vygotsky often is defined. Accordingly, the tradition of the ancient "paideia" is followed
theoretically past four historical milestones up to our time.
Keywords: socio-cultural diversity, cultural pedagogy
The San People in Botswana and the Travellers in Norway
Anne-Mari Larsen
Queen Maud's College of Early Childhood Education, Norway
This presentation will focus on the similarities in culture between the Travellers in Norway and
the San people in Botswana. It is believed that the San people have existed as hunters and
gatherers since more than 30 000 years. The Travellers have lived as sales and craftsmen in
Norway since the 1500th century. Both the Travellers and the San people are minority groups
who have faced a harsh assimilation policy. This development study has a focus on family
matters, identity, travelling, school situation, language and culture. Information is gathered by
interviewing old and young, men and women, people with and without education, those who
work for the San and the Travellers organisations, primary and pre-schools teachers and
parents. The results presented in this paper show similarities regarding the importance of family
traditions and culture with focus on trust and understanding. It shows the importance of cultural
identity and the value of belonging to a certain group (Vygotsky, 1978,) but also the challenges
of being a minority. Both groups have been mocked because of their different way of living.
They have less education, and have faced problems at school, by teachers as well as
schoolmates. Their language and culture have been neglected in schools and society. Neither
the Travellers nor the San have been taught in their mother tongue, and they have not been
allowed to speak it. Their songs and dances have not been approved in school, and they have
experienced restrictions in the society to practice their own culture.
A Comparative Perspective on Learning among Indigenous and Western Students in
Primary School
Ole Fredrik Lillemyr
Queen Maud's College of Early Childhood Education, Norway
According to theory, children’s development and sense of relatedness, is important for
development of cultural identity (cf. Vygotsky, 1978; 1986). This fact is also prominent in recent
motivational theories (Deci & Ryan, 1991; Deci, 2000; Wentzel, 2005). Vygotsky’s concept of a
“zone of proximal development” and emphasis on socio-cultural experiences to development
and learning are critical elements in the central role adults and peers have in extending
children’s learning. In this paper we present and discuss results from the study “A Socio-cultural
Perspective on Play and Learning. A primary school comparative study in Australia, USA and
Norway” In this study we examine similarities and differences in cultural profiles among
Indigenous students (Aboriginal Australian, Navajo Indian, Sámi) and Western students (Anglo
Australian, Anglo American, Ethnic Norwegian) regarding interests in free and directed learning,
free and directed play, aspects of self-concept, and motivational orientations. Do the various
cultural groups have different attitudes towards school learning? And to what extent is play
important? In this concern students’ endorsement of choice and sense of relatedness and
cultural belonging are essential. Interpretations are discussed according to relevant theories and
research (cf. Vygotsky 1978, Deci & Ryan, 1991). The relevance of children’s relation to peers
for social motivation and social learning is discussed in particular.
Co-authors: Frode Søbstad - Queen Maud’s College, Kurt Marder - University of Western
Sydney, Terry Flowerday - University of New Mexico, Camilla Bang - Queen Maud’s College
Pedagogy and Culture - A Theoretical Approach
Gunvor Løkken
Queen Maud's College of Early Childhood Education, Norway
Vygotsky is related to ideas of social constructivism grounded in culture and history. This
presentation makes an effort to explore an appropriate pedagogical construct to match such
basis. The historical origin of the word pedagogy is found in ancient Greece, put together by
pais (boy) and agogos (to guide). Originally, the first pedagogue indeed was the slave of the
wealthy Greek family, guiding the family’s young boy on the way to and from school. The
tradition of the Greek paideia also encompassed the everyday life cultivation of young students
meeting in the polis (public place). As such, the ancient roots of pedagogy are found around and
outside the school more than at school. The concept of paideia related to the public life of a
certain culture, was recaptured over 2000 years later and transformed into the German notion of
Bildung. The implied self-formation in interaction (Wechelswirkung) with the society and the
world, was further refined in modern pedagogical ideas of democracy and participation in the
1960s. Facing societal and technological processes changing at high speed, also with regard to
cultural diversity, the post- or late modern construct of the original paideia seems to be hypertransformation. In this presentation, by doing a theoretical analysis based on relevant literature
enlightening culturally grounded ideas of pedagogy, the four selected milestones within this
tradition are argued to give pedagogues of our time substantial clues for embracing cultural
diversity as well as similarity. To complement the theoretical approach, some personal narrative
reflections are added.
Symposium I/20
Policy and Practice in Inclusive Education
Self-organised symposium
ID 436
Vygotsky's Theories: Implications for Teaching Children with Disabilities
Chair:
Deborah Ziegler
Council for Exceptional Children, USA
Session overview
“A disability in and of itself is not a tragedy. It is only an occasion to provoke tragedy.” -- -Vygotsky
Vygotsky was one of the major founders of special psychology in Russia. Vygotsky argued that
as well as affecting physical abilities, disabilities also affected social relationships. Vygotsky’s
frame of reference was “the goal of the teacher is to help the child live in this world and to create
compensation for his or her physical shortcomings so that the distribution of social relationships
is repaired in another way.”
There are three central concepts in Vygotsky’s theory, and they all have direct implications for
teaching children with disabilities in the classroom. These are the concepts of the zone of
proximal development, scaffolding, and the socio-cultural nature of learning. This presentation
will focus on the work of three countries (Russia, Ukraine, and Azerbaijan) in implementing the
Step by Step programme for children with disabilities. These programs integrate the following
Vygotsky’s theories into its teaching methodology in inclusive preschool and primary
classrooms.
Research Question
How are the evidence-based theories of Vygotsky best applied to teaching methodologies for
children with disabilities?
Literature
Vygotsky, L. (1978) Mind in society: The development of psychological processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard
University Press
Lubovsky, V.I. (1974) Defectology: The Science of Handicapped Children. International Review of Education, Volume
20,3.
Vygodskaya, Gita L. (1999) Vygotsky and Problems of Special Education. Remedial and Special Education V20n6
p330-32.
Keywords: disability, zone of proximal development, scaffolding, socio-cultural
Implications for Teaching Children with Disabilities: Zone of Proximal Development
Natalia Sofiy
Ukrainian Step by Step Foundation, Ukraine
The presenter will share with participants the links from research to practice in including children
with disabilities in inclusive schools and the applications of the zone of proximal development in
preschool and primary classrooms.
Vygotsky's concept of the zone of proximal development enables teachers to consider what a
learner with disabilities can do at a particular time, as well as the "zone" within which they can
master new material. In essence, a developmentally appropriate curriculum must take into
account more than just a student's current level of functioning. Rather, according to Vygotsky,
planning must also encompass activities at the higher levels of the child's learning zone.
Implications for Teaching Children with Disabilities: Scaffolding
Ulviya Mikailova
Center for Innovations in Education, Azerbaijan
The presenter will share with participants the links from research to practice in including children
with disabilities in inclusive schools and the applications of the scaffolding in preschool and
primary classrooms.
Scaffolding: --Vygotsky's concept of scaffolding involves social supports for learning.
Collaborative learning strategies, in which learners with disabilities work together in
heterogeneous groups to solve problems, are consistent with scaffolding. Scaffolding can
include many different approaches, all of which assist the learner with disabilities in moving from
assisted to unassisted success in a task.
Implications for Teaching Children with Disabilities: Socio-cultural Dimensions of
Learning
To be determined
The presenter will share with participants the links from research to practice in including children
with disabilities in inclusive schools and the applications of the socio-cultural dimensions of
learning in preschool and primary classrooms.
Socio-cultural Dimensions of Learning: -- Vygotsky and those influenced by him consider that
learning is a culturally and socially mediated process. For teachers, this means that each child
including those with disabilities brings with him knowledge as well as a conception of learning
from his family and cultural background. In order for children to succeed, there need to be
connections between the child's in-school learning and these cultural foundations of knowledge.
Symposium I/21
Teacher Training
Individual papers
Chair:
to be determined
ID 77
Kindergarten Student Teachers’ Conceptions of Their Own Learning and
Action
Anneli Niikko
Teacher Education Department at Savonlinna, University of Joensuu, Finland
Traditionally Froebel’s pedagogy and Piaget’s psychology has been in the central role in Finnish
early childhood education and in day care centre’s action. The core curriculum for pre-school
education (National Board of Education 2000) and National Curriculum Guidelines on Early
Childhood Education and Care (CGEDC) in Finland (Stakes 2005) promote children’s growth,
development and learning opportunities. Also Finnish early childhood education studies tell that
kindergarten teachers’ main goal is support children’s development, play and their individual
learning. The study of universities’ early childhood educators (Niikko 2004) shows that the
educators focus on understanding of children’s developmental phases, play and learning
processes. In this presentation it will be described kindergarten student teachers’ conceptions of
their central learning areas, action and working with children. The key questions will be: Do the
kindergarten student teachers’ conceptions of their learning and their action represent more
empiricist, constructivist (Piaget), socio-historic (Vygotsky) or socio-cultural viewpoint (Case
1996, Rogoff 1998)? And do they prefer more basic skills than child-centred orientation (Stipek
Byler 1997)? The qualitative study will be done at the Teacher Education Department
(Savonlinna) in the University of Joensuu. The study group consists of the kindergarten student
teachers (n 34) who have finishing academic study (three years) during this spring. Data will be
collected by writings using by internet. The analysis method will be content analysis, because
the language is understood as the tool of communication and the content of communication is
here as the object (Sarajärvi & Tuomi 2006). The main results will be considered in the
conference.
Keywords: kindergarten student teachers, conceptions, learning, qualitative research
ID 304
Learning Conversations and Listening Pedagogy: The Relationship in
Student Teachers’ Developing Professional Identities
Bridget Egan
University of Winchester, United Kingdom
Recent developments in early childhood education in the UK and other parts of Europe have
emphasised the importance of dialogue between adults and children. In the UK, the EPPE
project paid particular attention to the role of extended child-centred conversations (‘sustained
shared thinking’ – Sylva et al.: 2003) as an important element or indicator of high quality in the
practice of successful early years settings. On the political front, inspired by the practice of the
Reggio Emilia pre-schools among others, Dahlberg (2005; 2006) and Dahlberg Moss & Pence
(2005) advocate a ‘listening pedagogy’ which pays attention to the concerns and constructs
which young children have, rather than imposing institutionally focused goals. How do these
21st century insights reflect and relate to the work of Vygotsky (1978) in identifying the ways in
which knowledge is developed in young children through dialogue? And how do young teachers
incorporate these ideas in a developing teacher identity or ‘professionality’ (Moriarty: 2000)? In
this paper I analyse the reported experience of two cohorts of undergraduate teacher trainees in
engaging children in pre-school settings in ‘sustained shared thinking’. This is done both
through the transcripts of ‘sustained shared thinking’ events submitted by the students, and
through the students’ subsequent reflection on the events, using a writing frame. I relate
outcomes to issues of legitimate peripheral participation in communities of learning and
communities of practice (Lave & Wenger: 1991) and discuss the implications for teacher
development.
Keywords: listening pedagogies, sustained shared thinking, teacher education
ID 423
Universally Designed Lesson Plans: Teacher Candidates Thinking and
Experiences
Mary Ellen McGuire-Schwartz
Rhode Island College, USA
This presentation focuses on a research project, which explores and documents how
participants (teacher candidates) understand and use the principles of Universal Design for
Learning (UDL) in lesson and unit planning during their practicum experiences. “The central
practical premise of UDL is that a curriculum should include alternatives to make it accessible
and appropriate for individuals with different backgrounds, learning needs, abilities, and
disabilities in widely varied learning contexts (Rose, Meyer, Strangman, & Rappolt, 2002, p. 70).
The theoretical framework includes Universal Design in architecture, Vygotsky on
apprenticeship learning, scaffolding and the Zone of proximal development, and brain research
about learner differences.
UDL provides a set of principles that teacher candidates may use to plan lessons that consider
the broadest possible range of learners. Greater classroom diversity provides challenges for
teachers to help all students achieve. UDL provides the opportunity to create flexible methods
and materials that can reach diverse learners using technology.
The participants were introduced and trained in the principles of UDL. The research study
included a focus group, introduction to UDL resources and tools, individual interviews, UDL
support, a final focus group and questionnaire. The research involved the collection of data
during three semesters. The qualitative data collection included focus-groups, individual
interviews, questionnaires, observations, and lesson plan reviews. Teacher candidates
observed that the principles and practices of UDL affected student learning and engagement.
Participants found students more actively engaged and involved in their lessons and their
understanding increased.
The teacher candidates introduced to the concepts of Universal Design for Learning were in
either the Early Childhood or Elementary Education programme. Most of the teacher
candidates in the research study worked with children from pre-school through grade 2,
approximately 4 years through 8 years of age. Some worked with children in an elementary
school, kindergarten through grade 5, approximately 5-10 years of age. The researcher
teaches in the Early Childhood Education programme, which is a part of the Elementary
Education programme.
Keywords: inclusive education, diversity, practice, teacher education
Symposium I/22
Policy of Early Education in Different Countries
Individual papers
Chair:
Ailie Cleghorn
Concordia University, Canada
ID 378
Making it Work - Improving Outcomes for Young Children
Siobhan Fitzpatrick
NIPPA - The Early Years Organisation, United Kingdom
Nippa the Early Years Organisation has worked over the last 3 years to develop and implement
a 10 -15 year programme of work to improve long term outcomes for young children in Northern
Ireland.
The Programme seeks to use innovation and experimental evaluation in early years provision to
improve health and education outcomes for children and to increase the respect children have
for others from different religious and cultural traditions in Northern Ireland and the Republic of
Ireland. The aim is to build service design, evaluation and dissemination capacity in NIPPA with
the goal of sponsoring innovation in a proportion of the 1200 providers in the NIPPA network
and subjecting it to rigorous independent evaluation. Successful innovation will then be spread
across other providers, and into other networks in Ireland and the European Union to which
NIPPA belongs.
The paper will describe NIPPA vision, values and traditional approaches to service delivery. It
will describe the development of an outcomes focus in line with the 10 Year Strategy for
Children and the use of theories of change and logical frameworks approach. The paper will
also describe the approach taken to translate high level outcomes into an organisational
programme of work.
References
Heckman, J (2002) ‘Fostering Human Capital’
- University of Chicago, Harris School of Public Policy
Heckman, J (2005) ‘Invest in the Very Young’
- University of Chicago, Harris School of Public Policy
Hayden, J (2003) ‘The Health Promoting Early Childhood Programme’
- Centre for Social Justice and Social Change, University of Western Sydney, New South Wales
Moss P & Petrie P (2004)
- From Children’s Services to Children’s Spaces, Public Policy, Children and Childhood
Keywords: vision, values, organisational, change
ID 80
School-based Inter-professional Working. Some Experiences from Sweden
Inge Johansson
IOL, Stockholm Institute of Education, Sweden
This paper summarizes some knowledge from policy and research about the first school years
in Sweden and its content for the children and for the professionals involved.
In Sweden the pre-school class (for six-year-olds), compulsory school and leisure-time centre
(fritidshem) is integrated with a mixed-professional team of school teachers free-time
pedagogues (fritidspedagoger) and sometimes pre-school teachers.
In the last ten years there have been rather many studies of what’s in an inter-professional
teamwork with various pedagogical competencies and what this mean for the pedagogues,
children and the content of the school including fritidshem. This paper will briefly summarize and
discuss some of these studies.
The conclusion from the review that is discussed in the paper is that Sweden has a rather long
tradition of care and education for children. Beside the compulsory school the pre-school have
developed its own tradition and culture. In fritidshem rather much of those traditions are
integrated in a work that aims at extend and support the traditional pedagogical content in
school. The society has changed, being more heterogeneous, multicultural and global and
school has to change in line with these major trends. The traditional concepts of education and
knowledge must be re-defined and put in a social perspective related to a socio-cultural context.
To fulfil this new task of school and schooling new competences as teachers must be
developed. A mix of pedagogical competences as well as different cultural heritages for the
professional competence is present in a mixed-team.
Keywords: professional competence, teacher, children, collaboration
ID 454
Promoting and Supporting Professional Development
Marion Brennan
IPPA, The Early Childhood Organisation, Ireland
Professional development is an emerging theme in the field of early childhood care and
education in Ireland (DJELR 2002). To date, early years practitioners have engaged in some
aspects of in-service without linking its significance to their ongoing professional development.
As an organisation IPPA has been providing a range of professional supports to the childcare
sector since its inception in 1969.
As the capacity of the childcare sector grows and the levels of qualified staff increase, the focus
now turns to understanding and providing for continuing professional development.
This study seeks to explore multiple perspectives and theoretical models of professional
development as understood by experts in the field, early years practitioners and policy makers
within the Irish context. In addition, it examines barriers as encountered by practitioners in
accessing and engaging with professional development. Through this research process, the
current status and landscape of professional development is illuminated.
The research adopted a qualitative approach drawing on a series of in-depth video taped
interviews, which provide a rich tapestry of insights and signposts for future progress within the
early year’s profession.
Patterns emerging from the research would suggest that professional development is a personal
journey, in the company of others such as peers and mentors. This reflects a Vygotskyan socio
cultural approach to learning, which must be thought of as a long-term process. Professional
development in the Irish context is complex, requiring differentiation in all programmes of
support to meet the diverse needs and learning styles of practitioners. In line with research the
findings echo the link between professional development and children’s learning. (Blenkin et al,
1996; Pascal, 1996; Abbott and Pugh, 1998; Feeney & Freeman, 1999; Moss, 2000).
The research will culminate in a multi media package, which will support early years
practitioners working at different levels within the profession.
Keywords: professional development, support, peers, mentors
Symposium I/23
Workforce, Climate, Management, Leadership
Individual papers
Chair:
Marit Alvestad
University of Stavanger, Norway
ID 305
Working Together: Policy and Practice in Early Childhood Centres
Grace Paton
University of Paisley, United Kingdom
A key policy response to continuing concerns about levels of poverty and social exclusion in the
United Kingdom has been the promotion of integrated children’s services, involving
professionals from education, social work, health and other fields working together on an interagency basis. This small scale qualitative research project, using an opportunity sample
approach, examines interview data to explore how leaders in early childhood centres in South
West Scotland construct the meaning of integrated working, its perceived benefits and the
associated challenges and facilitators for practice. It draws on the analysis of social capital
(Coleman 1966, Putman 2000, Fine 2001) to explain practice in terms of bonding, bridging and
linking and the importance of trust and reciprocity. Early findings indicate that there is some
diversity in models of working in integrated teams across the sample of centres, but
considerable consistency in views relating to challenges and facilitating factors. The study will
examine the policy implications of these findings.
Keywords: policy, early childhood, integrated services
ID 318
Grasping the Thistle: Towards a Scottish Model of Leadership in Early
Education and Care
Jacqueline Henry
University of Strathclyde, United Kingdom
This paper examines models of leadership in early childhood education and care in Scotland
through review of Scottish Executive and local government policy initiatives. It reflects on the
suitability of current systems of preparation for leadership roles and explores the implications of
recent policy initiatives for leadership practice. Comparisons are made with models of
leadership in the rest of the United Kingdom and neighbouring European countries. Over the
past decade the early childhood education and care sector in Scotland has experienced a
period of profound change. From the introduction of the pre-school voucher initiative in 1996 to
the current national early childhood workforce review, the nature and scope of early childhood
education and care has changed enormously. There is now greater emphasis on learning,
increased awareness of the needs of disadvantaged families and those with younger children,
and more rigorous staff accountability. Integration of education, health and social services is
high on the political agenda, as is the improvement of staff qualification levels. There is debate
about the role of teachers and new, emerging, professionals with regard to leadership, with
some authorities investing the teacher with a staff consultant role and others changing the
traditional nature of services entirely. The proposed introduction of new degree level
qualification for lead practitioners in the sector, coupled with the imminent requirement for other
categories of staff to register as one of three grades of practitioner, has raised the level of
anxiety and has led to increased discussion on the requirements for leadership.
Keywords: leadership, Scotland, qualification, models
ID 484
Distributed Leadership in Child-care
Eeva Hujala and Johanna Heikka
University of Tampere, Finland
The aim of the study is to analyze leadership in child-care context. Today, the main discourse in
the field of child-care in Finland is on quality assurance of childhood services. We know that
efficient leadership is the most important key to achieving quality in early childhood services.
Therefore, we are interested in studying who is responsible for the quality of child-care services
when leadership in municipalities is distributed to administrative and political level, as well as to
pedagogical level in child-care centres. The goal of the study is to find out how people involved
in administration, decision-making and leadership of child-care services understand leadership
and how leadership supports the basic task of child-care and how it improves the quality of
services.
In this study leadership is investigated by using the focus group method. The data has been
collected from child-care teachers, centre directors, administrative staff and supervisors as well
as from decision makers in municipal board of education. The main focus of the research is on
leadership discourse. We are interested in studying how focus groups discuss the goals of childcare, how they see the implementation of quality in child-care and how they see the roles and
responsibilities of leadership at different levels of leadership in municipal child-care.
The research data was collected in 14 municipalities and was analyzed qualitatively. In the
conference we will present the main findings based on the focus group data and assess what
kind of distributed leadership is democratic, efficient and effective in child-care.
Keywords: leadership, focus group
Symposium I/24
Images of Child in Society in Early Years Education
Individual papers
Chair:
to be determined
ID 299
Kristi Lekies
Children in the Community: What are the Possibilities?
Ohio State University, USA
Concern has been raised that young children are physically and socially isolated from the
geographic communities in which they live. At the same time, increasing attention is being given
to the ways in which communities can support children through services, programmes, and
financial resources. This exploratory study examines the ways in which communities engage
their youngest citizens in civic life and how these opportunities can help foster children’s
interaction with other community residents, businesses, and public space. A content analysis of
news stories, photos, public announcements, and advertisements in a USA community
newspaper over a one-year period (52 issues) was used to identify different types of civic
engagement opportunities and community resources for young children. These included special
events for children, larger community events in which children take part, sports, fundraising
activities, multi-age activities with older adults and children, efforts to make children more visible
to community residents, business support of children’s activities, and the building of sidewalks
to make the community safer and more accessible for children. The results will be used to raise
awareness of the ways young children be engaged in their communities, what additional
possibilities exist, and efforts adults and older children can make to help make communities
more inclusive of all their citizens.
Keywords: citizenship, community, civic engagement, democracy
ID 23
Child and Childhood in Finnish Pre-school Curricula
Tuija Turunen
University of Lapland, Finland
The aim of the presentation is to explore how the concept of child and childhood are expressed
in the Finnish pre-school curricula between1972-2000, and it is related to policy about early
childhood education. I used qualitative content analysis and discourse analysis to study the
curricula texts.
I divided the curriculum into two forms, the written, open form, which can be seen as text and
the hidden form, or meta-curriculum, which is behind the written form and has influenced the
way of writing. The meta-curriculum is reflecting the political, social, economical and religious
interests of society. The child is one of the curriculum determinants, but in the curriculum the
concept of child and childhood is often expressed implicit and is thus part of the metacurriculum.
In the research the concept of child and childhood were defining the content and targets of preschool education and the needs of children. They influenced the ways of teaching and learning
and the teacher’s and child’s roles. In the curricula of the 70’s and 80’s childhood was
concerned as human becoming –state and pre-school education was directed by the adult;
there was little or no space for children’s wishes and interests. In the 1996 curriculum childhood
was defined as the opposite and concerned as human being –state. The child was seen from a
romantic child-centred point of view and childhood had an absolute value. The role of the child
was to develop using his/her potential and the adult was in pre-school to help the child’s
development. In the 2000 curriculum both states are on view; the child is still valuable and part
of planning and practise of pre-school education, but the teacher is there for teaching and
guidance.
Keywords: pre-school, childhood, curriculum
ID 120
Crossing Political Borders? Social Origins of Finnish Pre-school Education
Jorma Virtanen
University of Tampere, Finland
In most countries education has been the traditional means by which people have improved
their prospects for satisfying lives. It is clear from many histories that the modern thrust of early
childhood education has been evident only since the post-Second World War period. Since
these times the social goals has been to unify educational system.
This paper looks at the Finnish educational system and pre-school system from an historical
perspective. According to earlier research the local pre-school education experiments started in
Finnish kindergartens and schools at the same time, in 1960´s. (Virtanen 1998.) However the
political debate about the pre-school education started at the same decade.
In order to gain a better understanding of how different factors have affected the formation of
the pre-school system, research has focused on political debates and on the pre-school
organization by state. The main aim of the research is to examine the social and political origins
of the pre-school system from the time of the rise of the question of pre-school for all six-yearolds up to the reform of the legislation on pre-school education, from the 1940’s to the
implementation and the assessment of the 2000’s.
The political interests representative of each historical period is analysed by using the official
and public documents as empirical data. Also the aim of the research is to develop methods
which make it possible to distinguish one political group’s goals from other group’s goals and
interests that have had an influence on the formation of the pre-school system.
Keywords: political debate, pre-school education, sociology of education
Symposium I/25
Professionalism in Early Childhood Education
Discussion group
Chair:
Mathias Urban
Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg, Germany
ID 352
Towards a Critical Ecology of the Profession? Systemic Approaches to
Policies, Practices and Understandings of Professionalism and Professionalisation in
Early Childhood
Three years ago, the international special interest group on ‘professionalism in early childhood’
set out on a journey to explore what it means to ‘act professionally’ and to ‘become a
professional’ in increasingly diverse and rapidly changing social and cultural contexts. Although
all members of the group are experienced researchers and academic lecturers with a key
interest in professionalism in early childhood and notwithstanding their longstanding
involvement in international collaborations, the group has been struggling to find a common
ground. Far from being disappointed, we find this illuminating as it reflects the need for a
cultural-historical contextualisation – and localisation – of key concepts that are often taken for
granted in an increasingly globalised discourse.
Despite the omnipresence of a terminology of ‘profession’, in the scholarly discourse as well as
in policy documents, the underlying conceptualisations are rarely made explicit. While there is
an increasing expectation that early childhood practitioners, as individuals, ‘act professionally‘ in
their day-to-day practice, there is little recognition of the embeddedness of individual practices
in complex systems of policies and power-relations in any setting/society. As these complexities
extend through all layers of a society the ‘micro’ and ‘macro’ aspects of professionalism become
inseparable. We therefore tend to refer to them as a ‘critical ecology of the profession’.
The forum will be opened by short and (we hope) provocative statements from members of the
special interest group on professionalism in early childhood. It will provide an open space for
discussion and sharing experiences and thoughts between participants. It aims at a mutual
exploration of the substance of the proposed concept of ‘a critical ecology of the profession’.
Keywords: professionalism, critical ecology
THURSDAY, 30TH AUGUST
SYMPOSIUM SET II
15:15 - 16:45
Symposium II/1
Make-believe Play vs. Academic Skills:
Approach to Today’s Dilemma of Early Childhood Education
A
Vygotskyan
Keynote session
Chair:
Elena Bodrova
Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning (McREL), Denver, Colorado, USA
Symposium II/2
Parents’ Perspective & Family Involvement
Individual papers
Chair:
Anna-Lena Ljusberg
Deparment of Human Development, Learning and Special Education, Sweden
ID 374
Improving School Readiness One Village at a Time Using the Early
Development Instrument
Catharine Tozer
Ontario Early Years Centre (Lindsay, Ontario), University of Toronto OISE, Canada
The centrepiece of the Early Years strategy for the province of Ontario in Canada is the Ontario
Early Years Centre. Located in each riding, these are places where children up to the age of six
- along with their parents, grandparents or home child-care providers - can take part in
programmes and activities together. The goal is to improve readiness to learn at the community
level before children begin full time school. We do this though bringing parent education
programmes and early learning activities directly to rural villages.
In our riding, we have four Centres and three vans that set up one-day Centres in eight villages
each month. In 2005-2006 we served almost 2,000 adults and 2,300 different children with a
total attendance of 27,000 visits.
To improve service delivery, we collected social demographic data such as poverty and
percentage of lone parent families with young children. In every school, teachers completed
eight-page surveys of five domains of development for every 5-year-old kindergarten child using
the Early Development Instrument (EDI) developed by McMaster University. Using geographic
information software, we created maps graphically showing areas that require programmes.
Sharing the maps with other community agencies, childcare centres, politicians and schools led
to increased networking and new partnerships that have further influenced policy to complete
the circle.
Keywords: school readiness, community mobilization, community engagement
ID 437
Value Guided Practice in Early Childhood: Learning Together about What
Really Counts
Gerry Mulhearn
University of South Australia, Australia
I talk with my children and ask about their feelings and share my feelings
I feel valued when I come into the school – part of it all.
Shirley
Administrators begin with the best intentions when establishing programmes but how much do
we really know about the effects on all of the players and stakeholders?
This paper provides an analysis of an early childhood initiative focussing on young children’s
dispositions and early literacy development, and on their parents’ learning.
Joan Tronto’s framework for an ethic of care and justice has prompted a colleague and me to
review the ethical dilemmas we face as senior education administrators. This work, as part of
our doctoral studies, has implications for policy intentions, especially in providing more holistic
and equitable approaches to early childhood service provision.
In reviewing programmes where parents and early childhood educators are learning together we
ask
How can paying joint attention to children’s learning help everyone?
What could an effective learning community look like in this situation?
How do some of the daily social interactions give meaning to the learning and actions that
occur?
We look at the phenomenon of early learning and how parents (and carers) see it as played out
through the Learning Together programme. In particular we look more closely at how parents
see themselves as players in supporting their children’s learning and the value attributed to that
role.
This presentation will
 provide contextual information about the Learning Together programme
 outline the methodology, a critical phenomenology, using semi-structured interviews to
gain perspectives from programme participants and managers
 describe some conclusions about the integrity and congruence of policy intentions and
current and emerging practices.
References
Barnacle, R. (ed), (2001), Phenomenology, Melbourne, RMIT University Press
Griffiths, M. (1998) Educational research for social justice: getting off the fence, Buckingham Open University Press
MacNaughton, G., Rolfe, S., Siraj-Blatchford, I. (2001). Doing early childhood research: international perspectives on
theory and practice. Sydney, Allen & Unwin.
Rogers, T., Mulhearn, G. (2004) Value guided practice: Exploring the ethics of care and justice in early childhood
settings, paper presented at the EECERA 14th annual conference, Malta
Tronto, J. (1993) Moral boundaries: A political argument for an ethic of care, New York, Routledge
Whiteman, P. et al (2007) Learning Together Research: Final Report, Newcastle, The Children and Education
Research Centre, The University of Newcastle
Keywords: policy, learning, families
ID 453
Making Visible 'Parent, Baby and Toddler Groups' within the Irish Context:
Assessing Needs to Influence Policy
Mary Quirke
IPPA, The Early Childhood Organisation, Ireland
Parent, Baby and Toddler Groups have been invisible within the childcare arena in Ireland. As
the childcare sector develops, the significant role of Parent, Baby and Toddler Groups for
families and communities is now being acknowledged through a dedicated national funding
strand (National Childcare Investment Programme, 2007). Young children are social beings,
developing through interpersonal exchanges with others (Trevarthen [1979]; Hobson [2002]).
Equally, in the early months and years of infants and toddlers, the well-being of parents or
primary carers correlates with that of their young children (Goldschmied and Jackson, 1995).
Initiatives, such as ‘Parent, Baby and Toddler Groups’, that support social interaction, inclusion
and well-being are beneficial to families and communities.
IPPA, The Early Childhood Organisation, has been supporting Parent, Baby and Toddler
Groups for the last twenty-five years through a range of services. This positions our organisation
to meet the emerging needs of these groups. This small-scale study investigates the needs of
Parent, Baby and Toddler Groups as a means of developing a range of appropriate supports
and as a tool to influence local and national policy.
This study drew on a mixed research methodology. A questionnaire was designed and a
random sample was geographically dispersed to Parent, Baby and Toddler Groups. This was
followed up with semi-structured interviews of adults working in Parent, Baby and Toddler
Groups.
Evidence to date suggests a strong need for training, specifically targeted to support adults, who
provide play opportunities for the Under 1’s and Under 2’s, along with publications relevant to
their operation and structure. Findings from this research will inform future organisational work
with the affiliated Parent, Baby and Toddler Groups.
Keywords: parent, toddlers, families, support, policy
Symposium II/3
Co-operation between Families and Teachers
Self-organised symposium
ID 187
Families
Impacting Practice Working with Children Aged Birth to Three and Their
Chair:
Clare Crowther
Earlham Early Years Centre, United Kingdom
Session overview
This presentation will address the ways in which one Centre for under fives empowered and
enabled a multi disciplinary team to act as key facilitators in an innovative approach to the
cascading and implementation of the English curriculum for children from 0-3 years , and its
underpinning principles.
Despite the national training programme and local training opportunities for the English
curriculum for children 0-3 years new published guidance for implementation, there still
appeared the need for deeply embedded ownership of the framework materials so as to offer
the greatest understanding and support to families, practitioners and the community as a whole.
This paper will explore the journey undertaken by five key facilitators of one early years centre,
in which the embracing of principles, practice, theory, inclusion and integration come together to
recognise the holistic nature of child development and how as professionals we can best
facilitate these important early years in children’s lives.
Drawing from semi-structured interview, mentoring discussions, parental and practitioner
observations, photographical and video evidence, to demonstrate how the framework materials
have impacted upon practice.
Keywords: birth to three, parents as partners, children's learning and development, childminders
Working with the Community in the Community. The Facilitative Role of Adults and Peers
in Child Development
Donna Harrold and Gina Alpe
Earlham Early Years Centre, United Kingdom
Within this paper we will address how professionals and parents together recognise the learning
being undertaken by children within their 0-5 years setting, and how this recognition has led to a
deep awareness surrounding the approach taken to young children's learning. This in turn has
enabled all significant adults in a child's life to support their learning in everyday situations at
home and at nursery.
Identification of the environments and learning opportunities offered to children, both in a group
situation and 1:1 in homes supported by the Community Health worker for 0-5 year olds. The
shared approach in documentation, and a child led planning have each impacted upon the
quality interaction between practitioners and children, parents and children, practitioners and
parents.
Drawing from an evidence base including journals, video and photographical evidence, field
notes and quotes form those directly involved. The effect upon children’s social, emotional and
cognitive development is identified and celebrated through this approach to working with the
community in the community.
Keywords: English curriculum for 0-3 year olds, parents, holistic, community
International Story Telling; Art, Culture and Development
Jackie Walker
Earlham Early Years Centre, United Kingdom
Within this paper issues of celebrating diversity will be addressed through the exploration of a
partnership group, led by the Red Cross and one early years centre with the aim of bringing
together families waiting for political asylum in the UK, living within the local community and
empowering them to share in telling their own story of their personal journeys. The identification
of how this weekly group uses art to meet the cultural differences to support not only children’s
learning but that of the whole family will be explored within this presentation. We will look at the
empowerment of families welcoming acceptance within the community and how this progressive
work is breaking down the barriers faced within inclusion.
Keywords: diversity, English curriculum for children 0-3 years, parents and practitioners
working together
Facilitating the Facilitators; The Facilitative Role of Adults and Peers in Child
Development
Carol Rix
Earlham Early Years Centre, United Kingdom
Within this paper we will address how one early years centre met the challenge of caring for and
educating babies and the youngest of children, meeting their needs appropriately through the
innovative work of using a Home based care network as 'additional community key persons' in
partnership with the provision based at the Centre for children under five. The recognition and
acceptance of young babies' need for social interaction and the impact upon their social
emotional and cognitive development when cared for in small nurturing environments will be
explored. We will also explore the role played by the English curriculum for children 0-3 and it’s
guidance to support community practitioners and Centre based practitioners. We have provided
a network and an opportunity for these practitioners from different professional backgrounds to
work together and ensure more consistency of experience for children under five and their
families.
Keywords: babies, home-based carers, parents, key persons
Symposium II/4
Play
Individual papers
Chair:
to be determined
ID 42
Parenting, Teaching and Play and Literacy Development
James Johnson
The Pennsylvania State University, USA
This research seeks to understand how play helps children's language and literacy learning
during the early years by first describing several case studies of home and parental influence,
and second by reporting questionnaire and interview results of teacher practices at school. Both
the qualitative and the quantitative studies adhere to a broad definition of literacy as semiotic
competence -- having facility with multiple modes of representation in varied social contexts.
Multiple sign systems include gestures, drawings, paintings, sculpturing, sound effects, music
and moving and still pictures. Play is seen as a medium and context for the expression and
development of semiotic competence in home and school settings with parents and teachers
serving as facilitative change agents supporting and scaffolding the child's learning and
behaviour. The study compares how children connect play and literacy at home with how they
connect the two in the classroom across the different kinds of educational play endorsed by the
teachers. Three types of educational play at school were identified as literacy-related, nonliteracy, and play-only. Play and literacy expression at home, in contrast, was more
individualized and richly textured and longer lasting. A general finding is that across settings rich
opportunities for social interaction with peers, teachers and parents enable young children to
construct and share their experiences and fantasies across different representational modalities
and contexts. I argue that this process is fundamental to both emergent literacy and the
developing imagination and creative play. Implications for practices and policies within both
parent education and teacher preparation will be discussed.
Keywords: parenting, teaching, play, literacy
ID 250
Supporting Children’s Play in School Age Settings – The Adult’s Role
Mary Moloney
Limerick City Childcare Committee, Ireland
Child-care policy in Ireland tends to focus on the provision of pre school services. Recent
attention has turned to the provision of services for older children where it is recommended that
“A strong focus on play must be a core principle and a distinguishing characteristic of school
age childcare” (NCCC, 2005).
Play creates an ideal forum for the creation of ZPD (Vygotsky). This has implications for adults
in creating appropriate learning environments, providing resources, play opportunities and
supporting children’s learning and development.
This research project involved a group of 30 children aged from 4 to seven years attending an
after school setting on the outskirts of Limerick city. It was concerned with the following
questions:
1. What is the adult’s role in facilitating and supporting children’s play?
2. What types of strategies do adults’ employ in supporting children’s play and subsequent
development and learning?
Methodologies:

Participant observation (50 hours over a 10 week period)

5 Focus group discussions with groups of 6 children.

Interviews with manager and staff.
Findings:
Three key themes emerged:
A) Structure:
1) Child initiated/ lead activities
2) Adult initiated/lead activities.
B) Adult’s role – instruction/application of rules versus facilitation, interaction,
supporting/extending play opportunities. Roles were classified into three distinctive approaches,
Facilitative, Authoritative and Passive.
C) Managing transitions between activities – linked to scheduling/ adherence to timetables.
Conclusions/Recommendations

Complexity of adult role

Quality experiences are dependent upon trained and skilled adults.

Necessity for a comprehensive training mechanism.

Value of play as a learning process
Keywords: play, positive adult/child interactions, supporting/extending play
ID 291
Ways of Working: Teachers as Play Partners
Kathy Goouch
Canterbury Christ Church University, United Kingdom
This study is an attempt to understand the intentionality of both adults and children as they
engage together in story play.
It is possible in many early years classroom settings to witness how teachers claim the play
discourse, leading, directing, redirecting, approving or rejecting children’s utterances as they
attempt to identify and work in a Vygotskyan sense, within children’s ‘zone of proximal
development’. This may take children’s performances towards pre ordained curricula outcomes
and, ‘allowing’ play, while accounting for it in nationally recognised terms, enables teachers to
be creatively compliant (Lambirth and Goouch 2006). However, this approach also appropriates
or hijacks children’s play intentions and sends direct messages in relation to choice, freedom,
control and dominance. In such circumstances, Wertsch asks the ‘Bakhtinian’ question ‘who is
doing the talking?’ and challenges the privileging of some texts and some speech genres over
others (Wertsch 1991).
However, it is also possible to find teachers who respectfully join with children in play, engage in
intimate conversations and are themselves responsive to children’s directions, language and
intentions without appropriating the play for their own intentions. This kind of organic pedagogy,
developing out of the moment may be described as intuitive (Atkinson and Claxton 2000).
This paper will report on the progress of a study, which explores the identities and activities of
teachers who engage in serious and complex play interactions and narrative co constructions
with young children, operating only within the ‘zones’ that children themselves describe and
intend.
Keywords: play, narratives, zones, intuitive
Symposium II/5
Applying Socio-cultural Theory in Play and Learning
Individual papers
Chair:
Dalvir Gill
Centre for Research in Early Childhood, United Kingdom
ID 140
Imagination as Universal Human Ability
Vladimir Kudryavtsev
The L. S. Vygotsky Institute of Psychology of The Russian State University for the Humanities, Russian
Federation
The conception of imagination as a universal human ability, which is alternative to traditional
consideration, was elaborated using logic-psychological analysis. The fundamental attributes of
imagination - sense realism and ability "to see the whole before its parts" - are discussed. The
functions of imagination in mental child's development (zone of proximal development) in
education are considered.
The imagination begins in the point where the child starts to see in a material sort of addressing
(message) - problematisation coming from other man - an adult (developer of the test,
experimenter etc.). Only due to this the child accepts the task as creative. One of the functions
of imagination appears in the ability to look at a thing "by eyes of other man", or wider by eyes
of all mankind (E.V. Ilyenkov). To imagine, to create means that even being alone, permanently
correlate (co-create) your own vision of a reality with "another's". But to create not by
straightening one under another, but by construction of the equal in rights dialogue, where
always there is a place and consent, coincidence of positions and inconsistency, dispute,
discussion. With other man, with community of people, with mankind, with an Absolute at last.
Here lies a resolution of mysterious ability to see whole before its parts.
There are concerns diagnostic methods of imagination development in the pedagogic practice
which illustrated using author's empirical data and projects.
Presentation is in Russian. English translation is provided.
Keywords: imagination, ability to see whole before it parts, creativity, mental child's development,
developing education
ID 452
How a Quality Specialist Provides Support to Child-care Practitioners on a
Quality Improvement Play Programme
Heather Godfrey
IPPA, The Early Childhood Organisation, Ireland
This study adopts an action research (McNiff 2000) approach to the question ‘How can I, in my
role as a Quality Specialist, support practitioners provide a quality service, taking account of
their diverse needs and how can I improve my practice during the course of a quality
improvement programme’? It explores the role of the Early Childhood Specialist as an agent of
change and as a reflective trainer within the context of a Quality Improvement Programme.
Vygotsky’s (1978) theory of the zone of proximal development as a way of scaffolding children’s
development can be applied in working with adults. Rogoff (1997) extended Vygotsky’s work
and identifies the ways in which, adults and young children co-construct their learning. These
theories and concepts underpin the programme approach to working with adults in supporting
their childcare practice. Children can achieve more when working within their zone of proximal
development. Child-care practitioners can also achieve more with the support of another adult
or experienced peer. This mentoring role that the adult (Quality Specialist) provides is central to
the effectiveness of the programme and the outcomes for practice. This research gathered
qualitative data from interviews, portfolios of work and evaluations emerging from the
programme. Findings suggest the need for policy to support and resource, mentoring on-site
visits in child-care services.
Keywords: support, zone of proximal development, quality specialist, practice
ID 496
Experiences from Childhood Play Environments
Anette Sandberg and Tuula Vuorinen
Malardalen University, Sweden
The purpose of this study is to describe and analyze play through a contemporary historical
perspective from pre-school teachers, students majoring in education and students at teacher
education descriptions of memories regarding play environments from their childhood. Vygotsky
([1930]; 1990) points out that the understanding of different phenomena increases as the origin
is studied. Memories of play fascinate and ask questions of its essence and relevance in the
early stages of our life. The overall method is retrospective. The data collection consists of one
hundred eleven interviews with pre-school teachers and students. The results show that in this
study, it becomes apparent that the increased welfare of the 20th century and its shift to a
society of consumption is mirrored in the play memories of the participants when it comes to
access to play environments. Women's entry into working life not only contributed to an increase
in welfare, but also to children taking part in pre-school. This means that children gained access
to more friends, and to an environment intended and adapted to children's play. The pre-school
playroom, pillow room, doll corner, and outdoor yard all became new areas for play.
Keywords: play memories, environment, childhood, pre-school
Symposium II/6
Teachers’ Practice: Interaction with Children
Self-organised symposium
ID 441
A Process-oriented Approach to Quality Assessment and Improvement in
the Early Years. Strategies, Instruments and Outcomes of Three Studies Focusing on
Well-being and Involvement
Chair:
Ferre Laevers
Research Centre for Experiential Education - Leuven University, Belgium
Session overview
One of the main contributions of the research within the Experiential Education project is its
focus on the process variables ‘well-being’ and ‘involvement’ (intrinsically motivated, intense
mental activity) as key indicators of quality in all kinds of educational contexts, from babies up to
professional development.
Assessment of the levels of well-being and involvement – based on a 5-point scale for each
dimension – is seen as a starting point for further reflection on the provided educational
environment with the objective to develop from there effective interventions.
This symposium brings together a Scottish, an English (Kent) and a Flemish project in which
this rationale and the instruments attached to it have been used. This common approach makes
it possible to compare results and to reveal how children are doing in each of the regions and
learn about how the process oriented approach can support practitioners in the improvement of
quality.
Keywords: quality assurance, well-being, intrinsic motivation, professional development
The Self-evaluation Instrument for Care Settings: Analysis of Data Collected during the
First Phase of Dissemination of the Sics in Flemish Care Facilities
Ferre Laevers
Research Centre for Experiential Education - Leuven University, Belgium
In a 3-years project funded by Kind & Gezin [the official agency covering the care sector] SiCs
was developed to support settings in their statutory obligation to assess periodically the quality
of the care they provide. In line with the mission of K&G the focus is the child and particularly
how it experiences life in the setting. As a consequence a systematic scanning of the levels of
‘well-being’ and ‘involvement’ forms the starting point of the procedure for data-collection. In the
further steps the teams identify what may explain the higher and lower scores taking 5
dimensions into account: group climate, the richness of the offer, adult style, the level of child
initiative and the organisation.
As part of the strategy for the introduction of the SiCs, data were collected by the research team
that visited more than 600 settings.
The analysis of these data (with more than 9000 children involved) revealed that the mean level
for well-being was rather satisfactory (3.61) while the level for involvement (3.29) is a reason for
concern. A multi-level analysis showed that settings with a higher score on the quality
dimensions of the approach had significantly better results than settings doing poor. In the
discussion we focus on the relations with other variables (age, gender, home ethnicity…). In
general the SiCs proved to be a user friendly tool, well accepted by the care sector that
appreciated its focus: trying to find out how each of the children is doing and take actions to
improve their condition.
Well-being and Involvement as a Key Element in a Scottish National Study on Children's
Behaviour from the Ages of 0-6
Aline-Wendy Dunlop
University of Strathclyde, United Kingdom
The ‘Positive Behaviour in the Early Years’ study was commissioned by the Scottish Executive
as part of a national focus on the behaviour of children and young people in Scotland. It aimed
to gather the perceptions of parents and early educators on the behaviour of young children
aged 0-6 years. The study design, in taking a positive approach to young children’s behaviour,
used the Leuven Well-being and Involvement Scales. Forty-four settings were approached with
the aim of gathering data on adult perceptions of the behaviour of approximately 2,000 children.
Staff from all participating early childhood settings were introduced to the Process-oriented
Child Monitoring System’ through an introductory full day conference in collaboration with the
Centre for Experiential Education. Two rounds of well-being and involvement screening were
undertaken four months apart. Children overall were found to be experiencing higher levels of
well-being (60%) than involvement (50.9%) according to the staff who work with them. This
paper provides a rationale for using the Leuven Scales, and reports the levels of well-being and
involvement found in each round of the study, relating this to other study findings. The process
and outcomes of the study confirm both the concepts of well-being and involvement, and the
use of the scales by staff trained in their use, as helpful in addressing quality issues in both preschool and early primary settings.
Empowering Early Years Practitioners to Improve the Quality of Provision through Wellbeing and Involvement
Colleen Marin
Advisory Service Kent - CFE, United Kingdom
An innovative 3-year project was launched in Autumn 2005, in response to a national Public
Service Agreement target to promote the physical, emotional, social and intellectual
development of young people. 140 settings in three areas of Kent are involved. The processoriented approach provided the conceptual framework with as key instruments the Process
Orientated Monitoring System, the scales for Well-being and Involvement and the Ten Action
Points-rating scale. These were introduced in 7 courses (each comprising 4 sessions).
Practitioners were supported to observe levels of well-being and involvement in children and
identify ways to enhance these by creating a more powerful and adapted ‘learning’ environment.
The data for the research were collected by the early years adviser who visited the settings on a
six-week basis. The notes of visit – 840 logged each year – were based on the observations by
the advisor and systematic reflective dialogues with the practitioners.
A key question in the research is how the interventions have impacted on children’s learning
and development. Analysis of the data shows a rise in children’s levels of involvement, the offer
of more effective activities to improve language skills, more independent learning and initiative
in children and a rise in levels of well-being.
The results of this work have empowered practitioners and made them realise that they can
make a difference by adjusting the provision to meet the needs of all children.
Symposium II/7
Teachers’ Practice: Applying Theories into Practice
Self-organised symposium
ID 274
Child
Study of the Social Environment of the Development of a Contemporary
Chair:
Natalia Avdeeva
Moscow State University of Psychology and Education, Russian Federation
Session overview
The research presented at the symposium was about elaborating L.S.Vygotsky’s concept of the
social situation of child development characterized by the unique and singular bonds and
relations of a child with adults, with the social environment as a whole, that are established at
this age phase of development. L.S. Vygotsky distinguished «proximate» and «remote»
relations with the society: relations with a «social adult» as a representative of the social
function, social norms and requirements, and individual, personal relations with immediate
relatives.
In her study N.N. Avdeeva addressed the issue of control behaviour of a mother and an earlyage child in various socio-cultural contexts (in Moscow and Odessa). It was demonstrated that
in Odessa mothers were predominantly focused on group values (interdependence), while in
Moscow – on individual values (independence, individualism). In their interactions with children
mothers in Moscow used mostly primary control. Moscow children were more successful in
solving tasks in mild stress situations when interaction was «event-like».
In her work E.V. Filippova studied child development in two systems of relationships: «Childsocial adult» and «Child – proximate adult». Interdependence was demonstrated between the
development of a personal attitude of a school student (new attitude of a child to self and own
place in society) and the family relations. The degree of a student’s attitude development
depends on the relationships within a dyad. Children with undeveloped attitude have improper
relationship with their mothers (they are either symbiotic or distant).
The study of L.F. Obukhova addressed the role of a ritual as a means of fostering family
coherence and interfamily bonds. Presented is the classification of family rituals, their role in
harmonious and dysfunctional families, an approach was developed to ensuring a balanced
degree of family coherence on the basis of introducing new functional rituals.
Presentation is in Russian. English translation is provided.
Keywords: social environment, development, child, family
Control and Responsiveness in Russian Mothers’ Interactions with Their Children: Intracultural Perspective
Natalia Avdeeva
Moscow State University of Psychology and Education, Russian Federation
The present study is aimed at the examination of culture-invariant and culture-specific patterns
of mother-child interactions in different social contexts (namely in Moscow and Odessa).The
theoretical foundation of the study is Vygotskyan cultural-historic concept and a theoretical
framework of “control” (primary and secondary).
Subjects: The sample consisted of 41 mother-child dyads (24 from Moscow and 17 from
Odessa) with children aged from 19 to 31 months.
Procedure: Each mother-child dyad was observed in 4 situations different with respect to
situational demands: (1) no specific demands (reading of well-known book); (2) a free play with
the meccano; (3) a free play with the new toy; (4) a difficult task for a child (mild stress).
The mother-child interactions were videotaped and analysed from the point of view of behaviour
control and responsiveness.
Mothers were separately interviewed at their homes to give an idea of their cultural values,
beliefs about child rearing.
Results
Mothers in both cities (Moscow and Odessa) demonstrated slightly different purposes and
practices in child socialization perspectives. Moscow mothers directed more efforts towards
fostering independence and individualism in children and mothers from Odessa focused more
on children’s adjustment to social expectations.
These differences appeared to have an effect on the types of mother-child interactions in both
samples. Mothers from Odessa were more responsive in 4 experimental situations. In the
situation of a mild stress practically all of them (and their children as well) used more secondary
control than mothers from Moscow sample.
Moscow mothers demonstrated mainly primary control in all the experimental probes. They
were less responsive and had regular conflicts with their children in a mild stress situation.
Children in Moscow sample were more successful in the situation of mild stress if their mothers
were involved in their task solving, i.e. guided their activity and behaved in a cooperative way.
Ritual as Means of Family Unity
Ludmila Oboukhova and I.N. Dvornikova
Moscow State University of Psychology and Education, Russian Federation
In functioning family rituals carry out function of mediation, similarly to signs in formation HPsF.
In ability to ritualisation of interpersonal relations E. Erikson saw an opportunity of creation of
new style of the life, capable to lead to overcoming of aggression and ambivalence in human
relations1966). Makarenko (1951) removed to rituals and traditions a special role in
identification of the person with collective and its rallying. Rituals as means of unity of family
were a subject of studying at Milan school of system family psychotherapy. The purpose our
research - revealing of conditions of formation of the balanced level of unity in the families,
testing difficulties. A hypothesis - rituals and traditions as means of family unity and interfamily
communications can have as functional, and disfunctional value for family; introduction of
functional rituals specially developed for family will promote formation of the balanced level of
family unity. Techniques: a questionnaire «Family traditions»; «Genogram of families»; FAST;
«The Family test of attitudes». As a result of research concepts "tradition", "custom", "habit",
"ceremony", "ritual" are differentiated; classification of family rituals in parental and matrimonial
families is submitted; the role of family rituals in harmonious and disfunctional families is shown;
definition functional and disfunctional rituals in maintenance of family unity is given; the
approach to formation of the balanced level of family unity is approved on the basis of
introduction of new functional rituals. Creation of new ritual should start with features of concrete
family and promote occurrence of constructive samples of behaviour.
Attitude towards School in regard to Child-Parent Relationship
Elena Filippova and Natalia Plotnikova
Moscow State University of Psychology and Education, Russian Federation
Association between attitude towards school (self-attitude and perception of own social position)
and family relations has been investigated. Child development has been investigated in regard
to two systems – “child-social adult” and “child-proximate adult”.
The research has been carried out under the following assumptions:
Academic success is determined by the overcoming of a direct attitude towards school,
learning, namely ability to consider school regulations, school teacher, assessment, learning
task as social requirements;
Development of decentration and ability to extract own orientation to the Other lye in the basis
of mediated school attitude;
Decentration develops in the family in the course of separation from the mother.
Forty nine–year olds and their mothers have been tested. Instruments applied were the
following “family relations test”, family drawing, child-parent inquiry, interviews. Learning
motivation, decentration, attitude towards school assessment, teacher, school regulations and
academic success indicated to school attitude.
It has been found out that students with undeveloped school attitude are also characterised by
unsatisfied child-mother relations – symbiotic or distant. Parent style is characterised by high
anxiety level, hyper protection, mothers are unsatisfied with her relations with the kid, her
behaviour is unpredictable. The child-family relations are restricted to the child-mother ones.
Differences with control group are statistically significant.
Hyper protecting mother is responsible for the emergence of “development retardation zone”,
i.e. provokes lack of ability to act independently.
One can conclude that development of school attitude is associated with child-mother diad
relationship.
Symposium II/8
Early Child Development
Individual papers
Chair:
Cornelia Cincilei
SbS Moldova, Moldova
ID 275
Companionable Learning from Birth to Three: The Foundations of Resilient
Well-being
Rosemary Roberts
University of Worcester, United Kingdom
Why do some adolescents and young adults manage to retain resilient well-being, some even
through the most challenging circumstances, whereas others tumble into school failure,
unemployment and drug-taking? Research reviews relating to the period from birth to three
suggest that very early situations and experiences may be a factor; but what kinds of situations
and experiences in the earliest years help to lay down the foundations of resilient well-being?
The research described in this paper proposes an integrated model for child development in a
new conceptual framework for resilient well-being that emphasises the diversity of children’s
companions and influences. This model was used to underpin a collaborative research process
with the youngest children and their families to investigate the processes, contexts and
influences of ‘companionable learning’ from birth to three in the home. Focusing on the
facilitative role of adults and peers in child development, the paper describes an innovative
collaborative research methodology. Linking with the work of Vygotsky, Dunn and Rogoff, and
using illustrative video material, it outlines main findings relating to ‘companionable
mindfulness’, play, and apprenticeship. The paper concludes with some indications of the ways
in which the framework may be used by people who live and work with children in their earliest
years.
Keywords: birth-to-three, well-being, collaboration, companionship
ID 294
Stability of Teacher Rated Children's Behaviour Problems During the First
Year at School. Relations to Children's Executive Functioning and Peer Rated
Aggressiveness
Kristiina Tropp
University of Tartu, Estonia
Several problem areas, especially children's aggressive behaviour and problems with attention
and hyperactivity are important topics in Estonian education field. Numerous environmental and
personal aspects facilitate children's behaviour problems. For example poor planning abilities
are shown to be of importance. In this paper the stability of teacher ratings of children's
aggressiveness, attention problems and hyperactivity during the first year at school was
assessed, concordance with peer rated aggression and relations to children's executive
functioning were investigated.
The participants were 352 7-8 year old children (177 boys and 175 girls), and their class
teachers from 10 different schools in Estonia. Children's aggressive behaviour, attention
problems and hyperactivity were assessed twice – in the beginning of the first grade, and 6
months later, Teacher Reports were used for this purpose. During second assessment the
children were administered three scales from the Peer Estimated Conflict Behaviour
Questionnaire (PECOBE); (Björkqvist & Österman, 1998) and Executive Functioning Task, a
original test by one of the authors of present paper. Different patterns of stability and change
were revealed in teacher's ratings of children's problems. Children with different problem profiles
also differed in their executive functioning level.
Co-authors: Kristiina Tropp, Eve Kikas and Mairi Männamaa
Keywords: behaviour problems, teacher ratings, executive functioning
ID 181
Emotional Attribution, Explanation and Copying Devices of Envy Situation
in Zapotec and Spanish Children
Laura Quintanilla
Facultad de Psicología, Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (UNED), Spain
One of the emotions often experienced among individuals is envy. Different cultures, however,
present singular devices to cope with envy situations (Foster, 1965, Whitecotton, 1985). That is
the case of two cultures, Zapotec and Spanish, where we have explored the envy emotional
comprehension in 3 -5 years old children. The Zapotecs consider envy “threatening” within
relationships, whereas Spanish people view it as a form of “pride”. Most researchers that study
emotions in cultural contexts claim that emotional experience and comprehension are
influenced by culture. (Mesquita & Fridja, 1992; Mesquita & Walker, 2003). Under this
suggestion, we explore if children belonging to those cultures interpret situations of characters
implied within an envy context differently. 82 participants (37- Zapotec and 45 -Spanish; range
of age 3 to 5 years old) were interviewed. Three tasks were drawn which asked to children
articulate the story, supported with vignettes, with the experimenters. These tasks allow
obtaining characters’ emotional attribution, explanations about their emotional state, and
strategies of solution when the participants should end the story. The results showed that
children of both cultures performed similar emotional attribution, but explanations and strategies
varied by interaction effect of age and culture. Qualitative analyses suggest Zapotec and
Spanish children use different reasoning for explain the behaviour in envy context. We discuss
these results considering the importance of cultural background in so-called emotional
competences that are promoted in formal education.
Co-author: Encarnación Sarriá
Keywords: emotional attribution, envy, cultural context, child development.
Symposium II/9
Individual papers
Supporting Development through Scaffolding
Chair:
Jean Ashton
University of Western Sydney, Australia
ID 246
A Child and Parents behind a Book
Marija Grginic
University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Education, Slovenia
This research dealt with the emergent literacy in the pre-school period and the activities that
encourage it. The development of a pre-school child is substantiated according to the
development theory of Vygotsky and Piaget. Based on research by Teale (1981), Lomax and
McGee (1987), Mason (1980) and Hiebert (1981), this emergent literacy is defined by
capabilities such as print awareness (the concept), graphic and phonological awareness, the
awareness of the connection between sounds and letters and reading by decoding.
The six-month family reading project called A Child and Parents Behind a Book included
kindergarten and family activities in which children, assisted by parents, recognised various
signs in the environment containing letters and markings. Participants included 413 five-year old
children (the older being born in the first quarter of the year and the younger in the last) and
their parents.
The research has corroborated the impact of family reading on the development of pre-literacy
skills. Discriminatory analysis revealed statistically significant differences in the recognition of
environmental print and letter knowledge.
The influence of the mother's education on pre-school literacy achievements also proved to be
statistically significant. There is a significant connection between the amount of reading in a
family and the education of the father and mother. Research has also demonstrated statistically
significant differences between the older and younger five-year old children in their graphic and
phonological awareness and in their reading-writing skills, while the size of the town and the
number of children in the family have no significant impact on the development of emergent
literacy.
Keywords: family reading, emergent literacy, pre-literacy skills, family reading project
ID 292
‘The Swamp Monster with 18 Heads’. Young Children’s Narratives and
Outdoor Spaces: In Search of the Possible
Tim Waller
Swansea University, United Kingdom
This paper will report on the findings of a long-term project investigating young children’s
learning and the outdoor curriculum. The project is ongoing and involves children aged 3 to 7
years in two different settings: a nursery school in England and a primary school in Wales. The
children are given regular access to extensive wild outdoor environments and are afforded the
opportunity to explore and play in the environment with minimal adult direction and intervention.
The focus of the enquiry is to investigate how the children interact with the natural surroundings,
the effect of these experiences on their levels of well-being and the evolving outdoor pedagogy.
The study is designed around a multi-method framework adapted from the well-known ‘Mosaic
Approach’ developed by Clark and Moss. A range of methods is therefore used, including
observations, video film and photographs taken by the children. In addition, the observational
data is analysed using a framework based on the ‘Well Being and Involvement Scales’ derived
from Laevers. The paper will analyse the research findings from a socio-cultural perspective
focussing on transformations of participation and understanding arising from outdoor
experiences. In particular, the paper will discuss the construction and development of children’s
narratives located around their outdoor experiences. The role of peers and adults in supporting
and enabling children to sustain and document their narratives will be critically considered.
Reference will be made to the concept of ‘sustained shared thinking’ and the implications of
these findings for early childhood curriculum and pedagogy discussed.
Keywords: outdoor learning, narratives, role of the adult, pedagogy
ID 418
Co-constructing Children's Literacy through a Socio-cultural Pedagogy
Lavinia Tamarua
Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand
Vygotsky’s socio-cultural perspective emphasised the importance of adults and peers in the
child’s environment that influence their cognitive development. Collaboration with more
knowledgeable persons enables children to learn to think and behave in ways that reflect their
community’s culture especially, the development of forms of expertise appropriate for specific
activities. The transference of children’s expertise developed out of these shared activities and
internalised by the child is central to understanding Vygotsky’s ‘zone of proximal development’
(Vygotsky, 1978). This presentation reports findings from a larger study that examined
explanations and descriptions of teaching/learning processes from four Māori pre-school (4:6
years of age) children’s development of early literacy in Aotearoa, New Zealand. These
descriptions and explanations can be linked to the psychological processes of Vygotsky’s notion
of development that children’s literacy learning derives from their social and cultural contexts.
The study reported that the ways by which literacy activities were constructed were inherent in
parents' ideas about teaching and learning reflected out of their pedagogical practices. These
pedagogical practices highlighted multiple pathways to learning that children developed and
experienced in becoming an expert. The primary locus of learning occurred through
‘whanaungatanga’ (families), who in the context of this study were vital contributors to children’s
learning and the construction of literacy activities. The study is embedded in a Kaupapa Māori
framework of explaining teaching/learning processes whose philosophy reflects the practices of
‘being and acting’ Māori (Smith, 1990). Qualitative data and explanations how literacy and
language activities were co-constructed by whānau (family) and children are presented here.
References:
Smith, G. H. (1990) Taha Māori: Pakeha capture. In J. Codd, R. Harker and R. Nash (Eds.), Political Issues in New
Zealand Education. (pp.183-197). Palmerston North: Dunmore Press.
Vygotsky, L. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. London: Harvard
University Press.
Keywords: co-construction, literacy, cultural pedagogies, socialisation
Symposium II/10
Transitions
Self-organised symposium
ID 280
Four European Countries Involved in “Parent-Teacher Partnership for
Children’s Transition to School” European Project
Chair:
Teresa Ogrodzinska
Comenius Foundation for Child Development, Poland
Session overview
Parents and teachers are ‘expert’ models and guides for children. The role of these social
agents (parents, teachers and more competent peers) is very important, according to Vygotsky
(1978), in supporting children in making their own choices in their lives, in providing their access
to social life and in contributing to their intellectual development. Therefore a partnership
between Parents-Teachers is necessary for one of the most difficult period of children’s life: the
transition. During the proposed self organized symposium, experiences gathered in the course
of implementation of a “Parent-Teacher Partnership For Children’s Transition To School” project
will be discussed. Representatives of five organizations (NIPPA from Northern Ireland, OMEP
from Czech Republic, Unia Materskich Centier from Slovakia, EADAP from Greece, Comenius
Foundation for Child Development from Poland) will present results of an open survey that has
been conducted in their countries as a part of the project supported by the European Union
within Socrates-Grundtvig 2 programme. The project itself aims at preparing a workshop
scenario that – in the second year of our cooperation – will be introduced by trainers and
educators that work with parents and teachers in Czech Republic, Northern Ireland, Slovakia,
Greece and Poland. During a collective meeting that took place in Warsaw in October 2006, all
partners decided to organize an international investigation in order to get to know better
expectations, needs and fears that children, their siblings, parents, teachers and other parties
involved have while dealing with the transition. In the conduct of our research, members of our
organizations have been asking several questions to the people mentioned above. A common
questionnaire has been developed in order to create a widely applicable tool for training needs
analysis.
Keywords: transition, young children, parents, co-operation between school and family
Different Experiences in Children’s Transition to School. The Polish and Northern Irish
Perspective
Monika Rościszewska - Wozniak (1) and Joanne Morgan (2)
(1) Comenius Foundation for Child Development, Poland
(2) NIPPA, Northern Ireland, UK)
Comenius Foundation and NIPPA are going to present results of qualitative researches
conducted in their countries. Although both surveys were carried out basing on the common
questionnaire, methodological approaches differed depending on the country.
In Poland, questionnaires were sent to pre-schools, schools and local authorities. Moreover, a
number of one-to-one interviews with children and adults was performed. Project learners
(parents and teachers, as well as qualified psychologists), were requested to conduct interviews
with children of different ages. The adults themselves were asked to share their experiences as
parents, teachers, etc. and describe their role in children’s transition to school. This helped to
separate the main problems to be solved by all the parties involved in the transition processes in
Poland.
In Northern Ireland, NIPPA practitioners organized meetings in small groups of 3-5 with
children, parents, teachers and school support staff (each grouping was dealt with separately) in
order to discuss the emotions towards transition to primary school. Due to the lowest school
starting age in Europe, four-year old children were playing the role of experts being interviewed
through ‘feelings box’ and puppets.
After analysing the outcomes of the research, we have identified several barriers, which hinder
the process of adapting children to school both in Northern Ireland and Poland:
 Lack of programmatic continuity between different levels of education.
 Lack of partnership between teachers and parents
 Stereotypes and false assumptions influencing family-school relations and children’s
attitude towards school
Experience and Views of Adults and Children on Transition to School
Milada Rabusicova
Masaryk University, Faculty of Arts, Czech Republic
The paper will present results of a research that has been conducted in The Czech Republic as
one of the five countries (partners) involved in the Socrates-Grundtvig 2 programme entitled
“Parent-Teacher Partnership For Children’s Transition To School”.
The aim of the research is to answer to basic questions: (1) What are the problems
accompanying the adaptation of children leaving kindergartens to primary school education? (2)
What efforts are made in the Czech Republic to facilitate the adaptation of children leaving
kindergartens to primary school? To get answers to these questions we have asked teachers in
kindergartens, primary school teachers teaching in the first grades, parents, and children on
their opinion, feelings, and needs.
As a research method, we have used semi-structured interviews and questionnaires as a
combination of qualitative and quantitative methodological approach. We expect that our data
will show very different perspectives of all partners involved in the process of transition from
kindergarten to school.
Possibilities to transform results of our research to a workshop scenario, which will be
introduced by trainers and educators for project work with parents and teachers in five countries
involved, will be discussed. The discussion on such a topic we see as a very important part of
establishing (searching for) useful links between research and practice in pre-school education.
Investigation of Views of Those Involved in Children’s Transition to School. The Greek
Experience
Vassiliki Riga
EADAP, Greece
The Society for the Development and Creative Occupation of Children (EADAP) has carried out
and supported researches as to the smooth adaptation of children to primary school. The
findings of these researches prove that individual attempts are less effective than a collective
one based on the cooperation of diverse educational institutions and on the cooperation
between school and family.
One way to achieve this cooperation is the planning of a training programme, which will be
directed to educators who want to cooperate with the parents, will meet the needs and
expectations of all the participants and also being linked with their everyday practice.
For the design of this training programme, we organized a scientific research based on semistructured interviews of all persons involved in the process of transition (children, parents,
educators, state).
Through the qualitative and quantitative results of our methodological approach our aim is to
study:
the personal experiences of all participants,
their views related to their role in the transition and their wishes,
their prejudices towards others,
the up to now extent of their involvement in the process of transition,
the factors that obstruct the communication and cooperation of all.
The findings of the research will help us form:
the methodology of the training programme,
the activities of the programme,
the type of evaluation of the programme and
further suggestions in order to overcome the difficulties faced by a significant number of
children in Greece.
Symposium II/11
Zone of Proximal Development
Self-organised symposium
ID 457
Chair:
Vygotsky; Theory and Practice: Two East West Examples
Rumen Stamatov
University of Plovdiv Bulgaria, Bulgaria
Session overview
The purpose of the symposium is to bring together an explication of some of Vygotsky’s
theoretical innovations, especially his notion of mediation, with two empirical studies. The
theoretical discussion situates Vygotsky within the Marxist tendency known as Western
Marxism. Marx concepts are taken as a bridge to the theories of Froebel who shared with Marx
a background in German Idealism. Froebel is best known for his emphasis on the role of play in
learning in early years and the second paper reports on a study conducted in London on
children’s play needs that adopted an explicitly Vygotskyan framework as transmitted in the
Bulgarian context. The final paper reports on a project on curriculum implementation in Bulgaria
also based on Vygotsky’s theories of child development and the place of practical activities such
as design, block building and labour. This paper completes a circle as it returns the symposium
to key themes that connect the work of Vygotsky to that of Marx and Froebel.
Keywords: mediation, play, Vygotsky, Froebel, Marx
Vygotsky, Marx, Froebel and Early Years Education
Kevin J. Brehony
Roehampton University, United Kingdom
Interest in Vygotsky in the West has rarely extended to a consideration of his relation to
Marxism. When it does, it usually presents official Soviet ideology as Marxism. This paper,
based on conceptual analysis and research in the history of ideas, begins by examining the
relation of some of Vygotsky’s key concepts to Marxist theory as understood in the tradition of
Western Marxism. It focuses on Vygotsky’s notion of mediation but it also examines Vygotsky’s
theories of play in relation to Marx’s view of labour and alienation.
Not surprisingly, since Froebel and the young Marx shared an intellectual context comprising of
Romanticism and Idealism, Froebel’s ideas regarding activity, play and self-development bear
many similarities to those of Marx and Vygotsky. Also, all three employed a dialectical method.
Going beyond the bracketing of Froebel and Vygotsky merely as play theorists, the paper
explores in some depth their respective theories and the homologies observable within their
work especially their philosophical commitment to forms of monism and to their respective
understandings of the role of socially organised practical activity.
In the final section of the paper, some of the implications of Vygotsky’s Marxist, ‘background
assumptions’ for policy and practice in early childhood education are considered.
Structuring Play: Children’s and Teachers’ Interpretations of Playing as a Tool for
Classroom Learning
Yordanka Valkanova
Roehampton University, United Kingdom
Drawing on Vygotsky’s writing on play, this paper examines the interpretation of play in the
context of school practices of the transition of pre-school children to the primary school.
The study was conducted in two primary schools in London, UK. Interviews with 5 year old
children, teachers and head teachers, were undertaken in two points of time– before and after
the start of the school year. They were analysed in order to highlight children’s experiences
during the transition. It explores the understanding of play and its implementation in schools in
the context of the English National Curriculum.
The study also examined video-recorded discussions between children and their Reception
class teachers, focussing on the children’s own personal experiences regarding the transition.
The analysis centres on the nature of the children’s play, in the light of the interpretation that the
teachers made of children’s behaviour. It argues that the teachers used two basic interpretive
frameworks: play vs. work and individual play vs. collaborative play. The analysis of the
children’s evaluations of their experiences during the transition reveals that they consider play to
be a major issue in the transition thus confirming Vygotsky’s view of the value of play for early
years’ learning.
Practical Activities and Child Development – The Implementation of the Programme for
Educating Children Aged 2-7 in Bulgaria
Maria Baeva
University of Sofia, Bulgaria
This paper discusses the implementation of an early years education curriculum, in Bulgaria,
known as the Programme for Educating Children aged 2-7. Following Vygotsky’s conception of
social development speech is regarded as a core moment in child development and it is
considered as a key mediator in the process of the functioning of children’s practical intellect.
Accordingly, the practical activities such as labour, design and block building are regarded as
socially contextualised in this programme. Each of the modules, which concerned children’s
practical activities, was thought as a family and school situated activity. Subsequently the
textbook package for each module consisted of A Teacher’s Book and A Parents Book.
This paper elaborates results of a study addressing the attitude of the teachers and of the
parents towards the developmental value of children’s practical activities. Randomly selected
teachers and head teachers were interviewed and their narratives examined in order to identify
the key issues in their understandings of the philosophy of the programme and its management
as a school-home based programme.
Home-situated activities with parents and their children were observed. The results were
analysed with regard to the parents’ experience in order to identify how they regarded
themselves as key players in the process of the collaboration between ‘teachers-childrenparents’. In addition, their understanding of the framework of the programme was also
examined.
Symposium II/12
Understanding Science in Early Years
Self-organised symposium
ID 112
The Construction of Children's Ideas about the Moon: Case Studies from
Three Region
Chair:
Robert Stake
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA
Session overview
Case studies in three regions (U.S.-Minnesota, U.S-Texas, and Australia) explored how children
develop their understandings about the natural world through cognitive development as well as
through their cultural experiences. To what extent are children's conceptions influenced by their
culture; e.g., by adult explanations or experiences with children's books and television? When
children revert to their naive conceptions (Gardner, 1991) from more schooled ones (Vygotsky,
1962), are their ideas influenced by “spontaneous” thinking or by cultural influences? We
conducted a Piagetian interview (Piaget, 1929) with each child and followed by having the child
tell a story about the topic of the interview. Finally, we interviewed the child\'s parents--and
sometimes, teachers--to determine possible influences on the child’s ideas. Stories were
important because of their narrative--as opposed to paradigmatic--nature (Bruner, 1986, 1990,
2002), and were analysed for developmental complexity (Applebee, 1978). Findings reflected
the complex relationship of individual to culture in the child's construction of ideas. Implications
included: Parents should be interviewed in order to give a richer picture of the child's thinking,
children’s stories should be studied in order to assess the complexity of the child\'s rendering
abilities, and researchers must persistently sleuth out those cultural artifacts that influence the
child as she develops her ideas; otherwise, they may miss key clues to the child’s true ideas.
Relevant conference strands include: the facilitative role of adults and peers in child
development; language as a tool of interaction and cognitive development; and art, culture, and
development.
Keywords: development, culture, conceptions, stories
Children's Stories about the Moon: An Exploration from Multiple Perspectives
Robert Louisell
St. Cloud State University, USA
We explored how children develop their understanding of the natural world through cognitive
development as well as through the stories and experiences of their culture. To what extent are
children's conceptions influenced by their culture; e.g., by adult explanations or experiences
with children's books and television? When children revert to their naive conceptions (Gardner,
1991) from more schooled ones (Vygotsky, 1962), are their ideas influenced by “spontaneous”
thinking or by cultural influences? Triangulation of multiple researchers, data sources, and
theories-especially those, which have roots in Vygotsky or Piaget--were utilized for the early
stages of this study. We conducted a Piagetian interview (Piaget, 1929) with each child and
followed by having the child tell a story about the topic of the interview. Finally, we interviewed
the child's parents--and sometimes, teachers--to determine possible influences on the child's
ideas. Stories were analyzed for developmental complexity (Applebee, 1978). Stories were
important because of their narrative--as opposed to paradigmatic--nature (Bruner, 1986, 1990,
2002), and were analyzed for developmental complexity (Applebee, 1978). Findings reflected
the complex relationship of individual to culture in the child's construction of ideas. Implications
included: Parents should be interviewed in order to give a richer picture of the child's thinking,
children's stories should be studied in order to assess the complexity of the child's rendering
abilities, and researchers must persistently sleuth out those cultural artifacts that influence the
child as she develops her ideas; otherwise, they may miss key clues to the child's true ideas.
The Child’s Conception of the Moon: A Case Study from Australia
Grady Venville
The University of Western Australia, Australia
An in-depth case study of one child was conducted to shed light on the process a child
undergoes in developing her understanding of the natural world. Developmental factors are one
influence on the child’s conceptions, but the stories and experiences of the child’s culture are
another. Research questions were primarily concerned with: 1. the extent to which children's
conceptions are influenced by their culture; e.g., by experiences with children's books,
television, music, computers, and the stories or explanations of adults and siblings? 2. When
children revert to their naive conceptions (Gardner, 1991) from more schooled ones (Vygotsky,
1962), are their ideas influenced by “spontaneous” thinking or by cultural influences? A
Piagetian interview (Piaget, 1929) was conducted with one child and then the child was asked to
tell a story about the topic of the interview. Finally, the child's parents were interviewed to
determine possible influences on the child's conceptions. Stories were analyzed for
developmental complexity (Applebee, 1978). Findings reflected the complex relationship of
individual to culture in the child's construction of ideas. Implications included: The context of the
family milieu should not be ignored when researching children’s conceptions about their natural
worlds; parents should be interviewed in order to give a richer picture of the child's thinking; and
researchers must persistently sleuth out those cultural artifacts that influence the child as she
develops her ideas. Otherwise, they may miss key clues to the child's true ideas.
Children's Stories about the Moon: Case Studies of Three Children
Jennifer Wilhelm and Sonya Sherrod
Texas Tech University, USA
Case studies of three children were conducted to shed light on the process that children
undergo in developing their understanding of the natural world. Developmental factors are one
influence on children’s conceptions, but the stories and experiences of the children’s cultures
are another. Research questions were primarily concerned with: 1. the extent to which children's
conceptions are influenced by their culture; e.g., by experiences with children's books,
television, music, computers, and the stories or explanations of adults and siblings? 2. When
children revert to their naive conceptions (Gardner, 1991) from more schooled ones (Vygotsky,
1962), are their ideas influenced by “spontaneous” thinking or by cultural influences? A
Piagetian interview (Piaget, 1929) was conducted with each child and then the child was asked
to tell a story about the topic of the interview. Finally, the child's parents were interviewed to
determine possible influences on the child's conceptions. Stories were analyzed for
developmental complexity (Applebee, 1978). Stories were important because of their narrative-as opposed to paradigmatic--nature (Bruner, 1986, 1990, 2002), Findings reflected the complex
relationship of individual to culture in the child's construction of ideas. Implications included: The
context of the family milieu should not be ignored when researching children’s conceptions
about their natural worlds; parents should be interviewed in order to give a richer picture of the
child's thinking; and researchers must persistently sleuth out those cultural artifacts that
influence the child as she develops her ideas. Otherwise, they may miss key clues to the child's
true ideas.
Symposium II/13
Understanding Mathematics in Early Years
Self-organised symposium
ID 413
Exploring Teachers' Approaches to Mathematics Teaching and Learning in
Early Childhood Education
Chair:
Olof Bjorg Steinthorsdottir
University of North Carolina, USA
Session overview
The role of the teacher for children’s mathematical learning is undoubtedly an important one. He
or she supports children’s development in numeracy/mathematics by choosing appropriate
pedagogical approaches and classroom materials and by facilitating classroom interaction and
discourse. In order to be able to guide and challenge children in their mathematics
development, teachers need to be able to identify children’s current individual knowledge and
skills, their strengths and possible difficulties (as well as strategies on how to help children to
overcome these difficulties). Furthermore, they need to have knowledge about certain
‘milestones’ or growths points with respect to the acquisition of mathematical knowledge based
on psychological research. This connected professional knowledge forms the basis of the
development of learning environments and scaffolding leading children into their zone of
proximal development.
The three papers in this symposium explore different teacher approaches to mathematics
teaching and learning. They examine teachers’ views on pedagogy, their strategies to foster
mathematical language development and discourse skills as well as their development of
individual learning plans based for pre-schoolers that have been identified as ‘at risk in learning
school mathematics’.
Keywords: pedagogical strategies, mathematics learning, teacher’s role, teacher knowledge and
beliefs
Exploring Teachers Views of Mathematics Pedagogy for Young Children in the First Year
of Primary School in Ireland
Elizabeth Dunphy
St. Patrick's College, Dublin, Ireland
Literature from the early childhood field defines a range of general pedagogical strategies and
approaches that are considered particularly appropriate and effective in promoting young
children’s learning in early education settings. With regard to the development and learning of
mathematics, and numeracy in particular, it is now generally accepted that certain experiences
and practices are necessary to ensure that all children have access to what Perry and Dockett
(2004) term powerful mathematical ideas. However, we know very little about teachers’ views in
relation to the value and use of particular pedagogical strategies in developing young children’s
mathematical ideas, skills, understandings and attitudes (Ginsburg & Goldbeck, 2004; Ginsburg
et al, 2005). For instance, is there a discrepancy between what scholars in the field of early
childhood mathematics pedagogy would like teachers to do with young children and teachers
own views of what is appropriate/possible? The study reported here set out to ascertain
teachers attitudes to a range of pedagogical strategies generally recommended in relation to
promoting young children’s mathematical understanding. It also sought to investigate if teachers
were generally teaching mathematics in ways that are consistent with young children’s unique
styles of learning.
This paper will report the initial findings of a nationally representative questionnaire survey of
teachers of four- and five-year-old children in school settings in Ireland. The results will be
examined and discussed using established pedagogical norms (e.g. Clements, Sarama &
DiBiase, 2004; Australian Association of Mathematics Teachers, 2006; Gifford, 2004).
Teachers’ Role in Developing Students’ Mathematical Discourse
Olof Bjork Steinthorsdottir
University of North Carolina, USA
This study focuses on the learning and teaching of numeracy in a pre-school setting involving
four and five year old students. It is an ongoing project involving two pre-schools in Iceland, with
approximately sixty children and eight teachers. This paper will address the role of the teacher
in student’s development of understanding. Particularly, we will discuss how teachers scaffold
their students in developing vocabulary to explain their thinking and understanding and how
students’ discourse develops over the school year.
That data that is collected includes pre- and post-tests given at the beginning and at the end of
the school year, videotapes from sessions along with field notes, and video recordings of
reflection sessions with teachers. For this paper the data from observations and teachers
reflection meetings will be used.
During this work we have seen how students’ way of explaining them selves develops over the
course of the school year. The data supports that importance of discourse in mathematical
learning.
Early Numeracy in the Transition from Kindergarten to Primary School – Individual
Learning Plans based on Diagnostic Findings
Meike Gruessing
University of Oldenburg, Germany
Recent psychological and didactical studies (e.g. Kaufmann 2003; Krajewski 2003) highlight the
significance of early numeracy skills for the child’s performance in mathematics at the end of
primary school. Furthermore, these studies suggest that early intervention prior to school can
help to prevent learning difficulties for ‘children at risk’ in learning mathematics.
In this context, the development of individual learning plans that take into consideration the
‘zone of proximal development’ requires further information regarding the next stage of
development: What kind of tasks can the child already do with teacher or peer assistance?
What kind of activities help to foster the child’s development in his/her zone of proximal
development? Thus, parents and teachers play a central role in the learning process, offering
the child scaffolding for his/her next stage of development through joint activities in early
numeracy.
The identification of suitable activities and learning environments for the development of early
numeracy skills is the goal of a longitudinal study at the University of Oldenburg. Based on
diagnostic findings of 1000 pre-schoolers (5-year-olds) 74 children potentially at risk in learning
mathematics have been identified. These children took part in an early intervention programme
conducted either by their kindergarten teacher within their groups or by a pre-service teacher
during weekly individual sessions. Further data collections at the beginning of primary school
and after the first year of schooling allow the evaluation of the training effects. First results of
this on-going study will be presented and discussed supported by illustrative case study data.
Symposium II/14
Language Learning
Self-organised symposium
ID 393
Extending Meanings of Language in Early Childhood Education
Chair:
Haeryung Ryeu
Yeungnam University, Republic of Korea
Session overview
This symposium aims at extending meanings of language in early childhood education.
The first presentation will discuss meanings of young children’s lived language experience at
the message centre in a Korean kindergarten 5-year-old classroom inspired by Reggio Emilia
Approach.
The second presentation will identify the meanings children themselves attribute to the act of
writing/sharing poetry and the supporting strategies.
The third presentation will provide an alternative perspective for understanding the publicity of
early childhood education in Korea, which has been developing under a private-institutiondominated educational system, by extending the meanings of ‘documentation’, the pedagogical
foundation of Reggio Emilia approach.
Keywords: children's lived language experience, children's poetry writing, documentation, Reggio
Emilia approach
Phenomenological Understanding of Children’s Language
Shunah Chung
Sookmyung Women's University, Republic of Korea
The purpose of the study is to inquire young children’s lived language experience at the
message centre in a Korean kindergarten 5-year-old classroom inspired by Reggio Emilia
Approach. The message centre at Reggio Emilia Schools in Italy offers freedom and room for
experimentation of life by exchanging signs, objects, graphics, and words. In typical Korean
kindergarten classrooms, messages or letters should contain words or signs to be
communicable. Language stands for a tool of transparent communication rather than
intersubjective communication. Language becomes a task to master. Children’s lived language
experience is overlooked. Phenomenological approach used in this study is to capture children’s
lived and direct experience as “the things themselves” and to understand lived meanings of
language. The data were gathered by participant observation of children’s language experience
at the message centre and informal interviews with children and teachers during the school year
of 2005. The result first showed that children naturally understood their messages as the text in
which they experienced the dialectic cycle of lived communication. Second, children with
limitation of language created and recreated new words, signs, and graphics to construe
meanings. Third, children in the classroom encountered a new experience and the new
experience required children to be expressed by language. Children’s language became their
lived experience. Finally, the message centre allows children to express their thought and
feelings through objects, signs, pictures, and words rather than written language and to make
relations with other children. The message centre was a space to experiment language in
children’s lived experiences.
Co-author: Hee Yeon Kim, Sejong University, Republic of Korea
Children’s Group Poetry Writing as a Communication Act
Moonja Oh
Korean Centre of Children and Teachers, Sejong University, Republic of Korea
Children have the capacity to construct meanings out of their experience, using the language as
a tool for interaction, learning and development. Following the Vygotskyan perspective of the
language as a mediator of human action and the poetry as one of cultural tools, children’s
poems and discourse around poetry writing/sharing were analyzed within the framework of
considering poetry writing as a communication act or a ‘language’. The aim of this study is to
identify the meanings children themselves attribute to the act of writing/sharing poetry and the
supporting strategies.
A class of 35 5-year-old Korean children was engaged in free poetry-writing and sharing their
own with others throughout one whole academic year. The teacher supported them by exposing
them to various types of poems as necessary, participated in sharing and reflective discussion,
and documented the whole process producing transcripts and its interpretations for further
support. As the result of discourse analysis, four communication purposes for children’s poetry
writing emerged: finding catharsis, building relationships, inquiring and leaving traces of past
experiences. The children’s concept of poetry writing progressed from that of depositing one’s
existing thoughts to that of using it as a tool for renewing thoughts. They also came to
understand that new ideas can be generated by going through the recursive process within
themselves and also with others, which resonates the concept of dialogicality by Bakhtin.
Teachers need to focus on the process of writing poetry not the product and make visible and
shareable children’s ideas in the classroom through documentation.
Co-author: Hee Yeon Kim, Sejong University, Republic of Korea
Reconceptualizing the Publicity of Early Education through Documentation
Heeyeon Kim
Sejong University, Republic of Korea
This study attempted to provide an alternative perspective for understanding the publicity of
early childhood education in Korea, which has been developing under a private-institutiondominated educational system, by extending the meanings of ‘documentation’, the pedagogical
foundation of Reggio Emilia approach. Literature related to public-ness, educational publicity,
Korean early education, and documentation was reviewed. While existing notions of educational
public-ness were criticized in terms of their value-free explanation, extended notions that deal
public-ness as normative values were emphasized. Documentation was interpreted as an
essential principle by which educational institutions incubate the public-ness value. Implications
of documentation were discussed from four points; it contributes to embed 1) a public-ness
value for de-egocentrism by participation, 2) a public-ness value for building respectful
relationships under children's learning, 3) a public-ness value for recognizing openness in the
process of knowledge construction, and 4) a public-ness value for making learning experience
visible in the process of education. In conclusion, it was stressed that the members of early
education professionals should reflect on why and how they pay attention to children’s
languages and teachers’ languages that have (being) documented in the context of here and
now.
Co-author: Moonja Oh, Korean Centre of Children and Teachers, Republic of Korea
References
Bakhtin, M. (1986). Speech genres and other late essays. Austin, TX: The University of
Texas Press.
Dahlberg, G., Moss, P., & Pence, A. (1999). Beyond quality in early childhood education and
care: Postmodern perspectives. London: Routledge.
Koch, K. (1970). Wishes, lies and dreams: Teaching children to write poetry. New York, NY: Harper Collins
Publishers.
Lindfors, J. W. (1999). Children's inquiry: Using language to make sense of the world. New York, NY: Teachers
College Press.
Project Zero & Reggio Children. (2001). Making learning visible: Children as individual and group learners. Reggio
Emilia: Reggio Children srl.
Reggio Children s.r.l (1996). The hundred languages of children. Municipality of Reggio Children.
Rinaldi, C. (2006). In dialogue with Reggio Emilia. London: Routledge.
Searle, J. R. (1970). Speech acts: An essay in the philosophy of language. New York, NY: Cambridge University
Press.
Vygotsky, L. S. (1986). Thought and language. (A. Kozulin, Ed.). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Wertsch, J. V. (1991). Voices of the mind: A socio-cultural approach to mediated action. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard
University Press.
Symposium II/15
Language as a Tool of Cognitive Development
Individual papers
Chair:
to be determined
ID 85
The Semantics of Power: Exploring Language as a Construct of
Negotiation and Collaboration with Children and Families
Deborah Harcourt (1) and Heather Conroy (2)
(1) EtonHouse Education Centre, Singapore
(2) EtonHouse Pre-Schools, Singapore
Language is a powerful tool which both shapes and generates meaning. As pedagogical
advisors and teacher educators in Singapore, the researchers began to explore practitioner
perceptions of reciprocal relationships within their day-to-day interactions with children and their
parents. From early encounters with both beginning practitioners and more experienced
educators, the researchers began to recognize an imbalance of power evidenced within
interactions, which intended to invite negotiation and collaboration. However in reality
demonstrated a well-defined (and often unquestioned) power-base existed. The researchers
identified apparent collisions in semantics related to constructs of collaboration, reciprocity, and
negotiated power within the early childhood classroom setting.
The researchers examined how teachers’ pedagogical language, and in turn classroom
practice, exposed the actual power relationships which existed between educator, child, and
family. What is the a difference in intention when we allow a child to interact with peers or let a
child choose from limited choices as opposed to inviting participation and potential collaboration
in decision making processes?
This paper explores semantics as a means of reflective practice. How does the language used
by practitioners reflect their construct of image of child and as a result their image of educator
and the educator’s role. How does our language shape and define our thinking and as a result
our practice?
Keywords: semantics, reflective practice, construction of shared meaning (inter-subjectivity)
ID 360
A Study on the Development of the Narrative Ability of the Child Using
Story as a Learning Tool
Joan Kiely
Coláiste Mhuire, Marino institute of Education, Ireland
The purpose of this study is to develop children's narrative ability using story as a learning tool.
The study is a suggested process to implement the oral language element of the Irish Primary
School Curriculum, 1999. Its philosophical orientation lies in the social constructivist theories of
Lev Vygotsky, and Jerome Bruner.
What is noteworthy about this study is the attempt to work with an emergent curriculum. It is the
students who dictate the pace, direction and content of the curriculum.
This study is an Action Research Project and was conducted and analysed according to the
tenets of Qualitative Research Methodology.
The participants in the study are a group of five, six-year-old, children attending Learning
Support classes three times a week for assistance in the area of Language Development.
As this study is ongoing the findings noted here may well change as the storytelling sessions
evolve. What can be stated thus far is that there is evidence of an improvement in narrative
fluency in some cases. Narrative contributions are generally found to be more fluid when
children are controlling the dialogue. The group was more comfortable narratively in role-play
scenarios than in third person narratives. It would seem, therefore, that role-play should precede
storytelling as part of narrative training.
Given Vygotsky’s theory that language shapes thought and that this process aims to assist
children to shape their own stories, practitioners might consider using this process as part of a
language development programme.
Keywords: narrative, child, emergent curriculum
ID 338
Story Grammar: Visual-Spatial Modelling as a Tool for Cognitive
Development
Galina Dolya
Key to Learning Educational Centre, United Kingdom
This paper presents finding from a two-year study evaluating the effectiveness of the Story
Grammar programme from Vygotskyan Developmental Cognitive Curriculum 'Key to Learning'
as a tool for cognitive development and interaction in UK pre-schools. Story Grammar
programme follows a specific set of procedures to help young children develop a love of story,
ownership of story language and a profound understanding of story structure. It uses a very
effective process called Visual-Spatial Modelling developed by Russian psychologists Olga
Diachenko and Nickolai Veraksa. Visual models are visual plans for telling stories; they are
prompts for a complex cognitive performance.
It is complex because children are using a spatial sequence to represent a temporal one. The
concepts are complex but the practice is not. The steps are straightforward and the activities
enjoyable. As the children internalise the visual model they come to ‘own’ the story’, they are
better equipped to remember and retell it.
Observation in the settings suggested that the impact of this programme was greatest on the
child’s vocabulary, creative language and focussed attention. This was confirmed by
experimental data, which was collected at three time points and involved 83 children (aged 3
and 4). There were significant differences in the children’s vocabulary and creative language.
One group made on average 20 months progress during the 12 months of the intervention.
Some children advanced three years. A second group on average made 18 months progress
after 7 months of intervention. Clearly ‘Key to Learning’ has a marked impact on the child’s
cognitive development and language skills.
Keywords: visual-spatial modelling, cognitive, mediators
Symposium II/16
Involving Children in Research
Self-organised symposium
ID 72
A Dialectical Method for Child Research: A Cultural-Historical Approach to
Researching Children's Development
Chair:
Marilyn Fleer
Monash University, Australia
Co-chair:
Mariane Hedegaard
University of Copenhagen, Denmark
Session overview
This symposium will begin with a discussion on what development is and what this means for
undertaking research with pre-school and school children. In particular, the beliefs and
assumptions about being researchers will be made explicit, as this frames how we think about
research and why we believe something is important to investigate. A new approach to research
will be introduced, entitled the Dialectical method for childhood research. This approach draws
upon cultural-historical theory and foregrounds the dialectical nature of framing research. In this
approach the child’s project, the teacher’s project, and the researcher’s project are considered
within the investigative context. The papers in this symposium will give examples of a Dialectical
method for childhood research. In the first presentation the theoretical perspective will be
outlined in full. In particular, the theoretical conceptions will be introduced, and illustrated
through case examples taken from research in Denmark. In the following presentations
examples of a wholeness approach to undertaking research in families and centres will be
shared. The first illustrative presentation will draw upon a study, which used a dialectical
approach to researching children’s scientific play in an Australian early childhood centre. The
second illustrative presentation will focus on a study, which was undertaken in Denmark with 9
and 12 year old children. The presentations in this symposium will provide examples of using
cultural-historical theory for constructing study designs, which draw upon the dialectical
approach to studying development.
Keywords: development, research methodology, families
A Dialectical Method for Childhood Research - Intervention into Everyday Practice
Mariane Hedegaard
University of Copenhagen, Denmark
This presentation will begin with an introduction to the theoretical perspective and
methodological approach to capturing the genesis of the children’s activity in their everyday
social situation. A general dialectal methodology which is inspired by the cultural-historical
approach of Vygotsky and the phenomenological approach of Alfred Schutz have been the
frame for evolution of a methodology to study children’s everyday life. In this session it will be
argued that it is simply not enough to focus on individual development without considering the
values, motives and goals of those institutions in which the child participates – such as preschool, school and family. It will be shown that children’s development takes place through
participating in societal institutions. In addition, it will be argued that institutional practices and
children’s development are connected to conceptions of a “good life” and these conceptions can
vary within the different types of institutions. Finally, it will be shown that a child’s development
takes pace as qualitative change in her/his motives and competences occurs, which are
connected to the child’s social situation. This theoretical discussion will be followed by a
demonstration of this new approach to research. In particular, the Interactive Observation
(Hedegaard, unpublished) will be featured through case example of learning in Denmark. A
range of examples taken from a study, which investigated the social situation of children’s
development within the home, pre-school, school, and community will be shared. Five families
were closely observed over twelve months involved in everyday practice across a range of
contexts. Close observation of transition points was noted. Through these examples, a new
view of undertaking childhood research will be exemplified.
A Dialectical Method for Researching Everyday Practice in Australia
Marilyn Fleer, Avis Ridgway and Gloria Quinones
Monash University, Australia
Children participate in different institutional collectives in their everyday life. Home, school and
pre-school are the institutional contexts that most children share. Each institutional collective
has practice traditions that though they vary between the single institutions, they also have a
shared core, a core that is framed by societal values. In trying to move beyond a functional
description of children’s development and learning, this presentation will show how a dialectical
approach to researching children provides a more dynamic context for understanding the social
situation of children’s development. In this presentation an elaboration of the child’s motives
and participation is presented alongside of a close study of the pre-school context and the
family values, motives and goals. Pre-school children attending a Jewish early childhood centre
will be discussed in this presentation to illustrate the dialectical methodology. Over twelve
months children’s science play was videotaped, and staff was interviewed periodically about
planned learning. In addition, families took photographs and videotaped scientific play at home.
The children and parents were interviewed in relation to the photographs and video material. In
addition, staff was brought together to discuss with the researchers the motives, goals and
values of learning in the Jewish school alongside of a discussion of examples of data extracted
by the researchers. It will be shown how it was not possible to understand the child’s project
without also understanding the institutional perspective and societal values for learning.
Developmental Research with Children - The Case of Interview
Pernille Hviid
University of Copenhagen, Denmark
The paper departs from the basic constraints of empirical developmental research. If research
aims at studying development, it must be constrained in specific ways that tolerates and even
promotes developmental processes – also in the concrete zone of empirical research. This
argument is not new. In his experimental genetic method, Vygotsky proposed long time ago to
study genetic processes in the concrete empirical research. Piaget also took into account, that
children could develop evoked (new) understandings while being interviewed, and considered
these as valuable to research on children’s development of thinking. More recently Hundeide
and Aaronsson have argued that research must study children’s understanding of what they are
participating in, when in research, and are thus touching upon the meta-contracts or lack of
meta-contracts between children and researcher in the concrete empirical research.
My argument is built on a developmental premises, that goal seeking and goal generation are
inherent to developmental processes, and that these processes are likely to occur, whenever
children are participating in social situations that engage them. Following that, the Zone of
Potential/Proximal Development in the child’s development corresponds to a conception of
research as a Zone of Potential Research. Here the constraints of the zone are co-constructed
by children and researchers, in a shared guidance of the empirical research, aiming at studying
children’s developmental processes.
The paper refers to two different pieces of empirical research with 9 and 12 year old children
participating in the development of suitable research methods, aimed at studying their lives and
their development.
Symposium II/17
Art, Music and Drama
Self-organised symposium
ID 215
Children’s Learning and Thinking in the Arts: Dialogue, Interaction, and
Social Relationships
Chair:
Susan Young
University of Exeter, United Kingdom
Session overview
This symposium brings together three papers with a common interest in children’s learning in
arts-based activities, including music, dance, poetry, mark-making and painting.
All three studies take the view that the activities in focus need to be understood within a context
of social relationships – both relationships in the acts of making and relationships between
children and the professionals who frame the activities. In addition, the presentations will draw
attention to variations in how the objects of learning are discerned. Verbal interactions are
important, but the studies also acknowledge the importance of non-verbal forms of engagement,
interaction and communication in arts activity. They then ask what conditions are necessary to
enable these forms of engagement to evolve into meta-cognitive understanding on the part of
the children. This in turn raises interesting questions about the nature of enabling relationships,
the nature of intervention by adults and the kinds of knowledge and skills professionals require.
In addressing issues concerned with the facilitative role of adults and peers, with verbal and
non-verbal forms of interaction and education in the arts, the symposium connects closely with
the conference themes.
Keywords: arts, interaction, dialogue
Working with Meta-cognitive Dialogues to Develop Children's Understanding of Music,
Dance and Poetry
Ingrid Pramling-Samuelsson
Göteborg University, Sweden
The aesthetic subjects or the arts have so far not been regarded in research as objects of
learning but more like dimensions of the act of learning, in children’s learning of other objects. In
this project we intend to work with learning objectives in music, dance and poetry. Another
aspect of aesthetic learning hitherto overlooked is the aspect of interactivity. We want to study
children as they encounter music, dance and poetry in pre- and primary school. The purpose of
the project is to develop knowledge in cooperation with teachers about aesthetics as an object
of learning.
In the project we follow nine work teams while they are working with children and music, dance
and poetry in a meta-cognitive way. We record the work with a camcorder and in the analysis of
data we focus on the interplay between children as well as between adults and children, but
also on the variation in experience as central dimensions of children’s interaction. The purpose
is to capture children’s acts in a wide sense, in bodily as well as verbal expression and in
different ways of interacting in play and other activities in connection with music, dance and
poetry. Since teachers establish the necessary prerequisites for children’s learning, the teachers
take part in in-service education, which is a necessary requirement for working meta-cognitively
with children and music, dance and poetry.
This research project runs from 2006 to 2008, so here we will present a few particular aspects
and preliminary findings.
Co-authors: Maj Asplund-Carlsson, Bengt Olsson, Ingrid Pramling-Samuelsson, Niklas Pramling
& Cecilia Wallerstedt
How Do Social Relationships in Early Childhood Settings Support and Influence
Children’s Creative Thinking?
Susan Robson
University of Roehampton, United Kingdom
This paper reports on the work of the Froebel Research Fellowship, ‘The Voice of the Child:
ownership and autonomy in early learning’ (2002-8). The current phase of this work is
investigating the effects of social relationships on children’s creative thinking, from the
perspectives of children, parents and professionals, and adopting a Vygotskyan theoretical
perspective. Twelve 3-4 year olds were videotaped during episodes of child-initiated play and
aesthetic activities such as mark making, painting and music. These recordings were jointly
viewed and discussed in ‘reflective dialogues’ between professionals and children. The
perspectives of parents (n=40) were investigated through a questionnaire and interview study,
which considered parents’ views of their children’s engagement in creative thinking. The
professionals’ perspectives (n=8) were examined using questionnaires and interviews, and
Pianta’s (2001) Student-Teacher Relationship Scale was used to investigate their perceptions of
their relationships with the children, along with their evaluations of the children’s creative
thinking.
The results highlight the complexity of social relationships in early childhood settings and the
skills and knowledge required by professionals to support children’s creative thinking and
aesthetic learning. Teachers experience diverse degrees of closeness with children, and this
seems to be associated with the ways children engage in new activities and ask questions that
demonstrate curiosity. Reflective dialogues between children and professionals can provide
opportunities for the development of such engagement, in ways, which may support children’s
meta-cognitive understanding. The parent study suggests some discrepancy between their
experiences and the professionals’ evaluations of children’s creative thinking.
Co-authors: Sue Robson, Hiroko Fumoto, Sue Greenfield and David Hargreaves
Musical Dialogues
Susan Young
University of Exeter, United Kingdom
This paper will add to the proposition that meta-cognitive dialogues not only take place through
verbal means – but also take place in forms of non-verbal dialogue. The influence of sociocultural theories has drawn attention to the value of talk for children’s learning, but its emphasis
on language can detract from other communicative channels of sound, bodily movement and
visualisation.
This presentation will focus on music by way of illustration but will theorise ideas which I
propose are widely applicable to other domains; dance, non-verbal dramatic movement, activity
with three-dimensional media such as clay. It will show and describe examples from practice in
a research project in which we evolved an approach to working with children based on musical
dialogues. In the study we compared the lengths of time the children played with an adult who
did not have formal musical expertise but was well-known to them in contrast to an adult who
had musical expertise but was not familiar to them. The children played for longer with the adult
who was well-known to them, thus implying that the nature of the relationship between the adult
and child is a key factor in how children engage in creative activities.
In these musical dialogues the adult listens to the child’s spontaneous musical play, endeavours
to interpret and understand their ideas in order to join in, to extend and sometimes to challenge.
Can this be a form of meta-cognitive communication? I will suggest that under certain
conditions, it can be.
Symposium II/18
Assessment: Approaches and Experiences
Individual papers
Chair:
to be determined
ID 66
Assessment in Early Childhood Education – Children Follow-Up Instrument
Gabriela Portugal
Dep Ciências da Educação, Universidade de Aveiro, Portugal
To work in a qualitatively superior way in early childhood education presupposes that the early
childhood teacher is able to respond to the diversity of childhood experiences, which is patent in
the different educational contexts. Nevertheless, it also presupposes that the early childhood
teacher has a deep knowledge of the content areas he/she approaches and that he/she uses
documentation and assessment strategies that can fundament the curriculum development and
the teaching-learning processes.
In our presentation we want to present a project focused on the construction of instruments to
aid the pedagogical practice, to facilitate the relation between the practices of documentation,
assessment and curricular edification. The construction of these instruments is structured
around the principle that assessment should be processed based and should make possible the
development of practices that are oriented not only by the future benefits and effects, but also
by the current quality of life of children, having as inspiration the work of Laevers et al. (1997).
Co-authors: Paula Santos, Ofélia Libório, Aida Figueiredo, Natália Abrantes
Keywords: assessment and curriculum development, involvement and emotional well being,
children follow-up instrument
ID 302
Risk for Reading Difficulties in Pre-school Age: Identification and
Assessment Using Rapid Automatic Naming (Ran) Tests
Kadi Lukanenok
Tallinn University, Graduate School of Educational Sciences, Estonia
Identification and assessment are crucial in special / remedial education, especially in early
years. It is very important to identify and assess risk group children as early as possible.
Teachers and other specialists use range of quantitative (including tests) and qualitative tools
for the purpose.
RAN Tests are used to assess and identify reading difficulties and risk for it. RAN Test are
based on qualitative analyses. The usage of the RAN Tests:
- short time to testing, approximately 10 min per person
- possibility to implement testing process in ordinary environment of child-care
- easy provide and use.
There are no science-based tests for investigating children with specific reading problems
and/or with risk for in Estonia. Lack of science based tests causes subjectivity and problems in
research area as well as in practical evaluating and teaching children with reading problems.
Aims of current research:
1. investigate RAN skills of Estonian speaking children and research connections between RAN
skills and reading difficulties
2. adapt into Estonian language Finnish version of RAN test “Nopean sarjallisen nimeämisen
testi” (Ahonen, T. et al 2003).
Method: 4-year longitudinal research during 2006-2009 in Oct – Dec. Research group: app. 400
children.
This presentation intends to:
- discuss about general theoretical background in testing/measurement area
- discuss about RAN Tests
- present the results collected and analysed since Oct 2006
Keywords: reading difficulties, testing, rapid automatic naming, early assessment
ID 371
Sharing Assessment Information with Parents Using Report Card
Templates
Sarah FitzPatrick
National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, Ireland
Parents play a key role in nurturing children’s learning during their early childhood and primary
school years. This role is made more effective when information is shared between parents and
teachers. During phase 1 of the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment’s (NCCA)
review of the Primary School Curriculum parents highlighted their need for more information
about their children’s learning in primary school. In addition, teachers requested advice on
methods of reporting assessment information to parents.
Responding to these findings and drawing on good reporting practice internationally, the NCCA
developed a range of draft Report Card Templates to support teachers in recording information
and communicating it to parents. The purpose of these templates was to enhance home/school
partnership so that parents could better support their children’s education. Six draft templates
were designed to support reporting in the case of children aged 4-6 years—three templates for
mid-year reporting (formative focus) and three for end-of-year reporting (summative and
formative focus).
The NCCA designed a school-based developmental initiative to gather information on the
accessibility, usability and manageability of the draft templates. Teachers and parents of 4-6
year olds in 12 primary schools were invited to share their experiences with the templates with
the NCCA during the 2006/2007 school-year. The NCCA will use this information to refine
and/or redevelop the templates so that they better support the sharing of assessment
information between home and school for the benefit of young children. The templates will be
made available to all schools in the 2007/2008 school-year.
Co-authors: Arlene Forster (NCCA), Lorraine Harbison (NCCA), Pat Naughton (NCCA), Hal
O'Neill (NCCA)
Keywords: assessment, home/school, parents, reporting
Symposium II/19
Multicultural Education
Individual papers
Chair:
to be determined
ID 101
Curriculum Development for Multicultural Education
Alev Önder and Özgül Polat Unutkan
University of Marmara, Turkey
Migrations inside a country and migrations from one country to another country has been the
reality of today's world. Because of this reason educating young children should include some
qualities like accepting differences, recognition of different cultural heritages, accepting
differences. On the basis of this idea the study was planned and done as an example of a
curriculum aiming to educate children from different cultures side by side as a consequence of
multicultural life styles. The study is an experimental research in which the effects of a
curriculum aiming to introduce German Culture to 5-6 years old Turkish pre-school children
were tested. As a result of the experimental research the positive effects of the curriculum which
introducing German Culture to Turkish children was statistically significant in the experimental
group than the control group. That result is important because it indicates that the curriculum
reached at its goals. Because of this reason the study may guide the later studies, which will be
done in the feature.
Keywords: curriculum for multicultural education, accepting differences, 5-6 years of children,
recognition of different cultural heritages
ID 103
Early Childhood Educators Acting for Social Justice
Veronica Pacini-Ketchabaw
University of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
Theme, Relevant Conference Strand.
This presentation will address the theme Inclusive Education: Embracing Diversity, and the
inquiry of how early childhood educators use today’s diverse cultures, languages, and
ethnicities to support children’s development and learning.
Aims of Research.
The presentation will report on the findings of a project in which a group of Canadian early
childhood educators transformed their practice to embrace children’s multiple cultural, social
and linguistic positionings through a process of questioning 'mainstream’ developmental
theories and conceptualizing children’s development within the context of cultural communities.
Theoretical and Conceptual Framework.
The presentation will be framed within social, historical cultural understandings of children’s
lives. The role of culture in the socialization process is key, particularly how culture and
socialization become interrelated in a reciprocal manner. The framework on which this
presentation will be based recognizes the importance of situating learning processes in
particular contexts and emphasizes the relationships established between language, learning
and cultural and social positionings as primary.
Methodology.
The project employed an action research methodology in which educators actively investigated
and reconceptualized their own practices.
Main Findings.
Early childhood educators transformed their practice as they began to engage in critical
understandings and reflections of children’s multiple cultural, social, and linguistic positionings.
Such critical engagement with children’s multiple positionings led educators to create dynamic
practices that created opportunities for children to learn and act critically in the name of social
justice.
Keywords: social justice, practice, diversity
ID 359
Sára Pap
Educational Equity from the Educator’s Point of View
Ec-Pec Foundation, Hungary
Our data exploring survey intended to take a snapshot of the present state of Hungarian
education, of the circumstances and attitudes of educators, administrators, local authorities and
decision-makers with the intention to draw attention to existing prejudice and their
manifestations.
The special aim is to explore opinions about integration of Roma and non-Roma children in
schools and the contradictions around the education of disadvantaged students.
The researches up till now have shown that the educators aren’t prepared for teaching children
from different ethnic or cultural groups, and furthermore mostly frontal teaching doesn’t give
opportunity to recognise and deal with individual characteristics.
Since the institutional expectations towards the communities of children coming from different
backgrounds, regarding skills and preparation highly affect the children’s school career, we
need to have the whole perspective changed.
Questions related to the hypotheses
• Could the initiatives in education policy promoting equity or the rebirth of education in contents
and methods reduce prejudice against Roma students? How deeply the educational equity
could pervade the practice?
• Is there a connection between the selected educators’ general prejudice and their prejudice
against Roma students?
In the course of the survey we examined the opinions of educators regarding the above
mentioned questions, by sending self-completed questionnaires to 25 schools by mail.
The results have proven that big fraction of the sampled educators show prejudiced attitude in
relation to the education of Roma students. The educators aren’t dismissive or prejudiced
against equal chances in general or only slightly prejudiced against other groups.
Educators poorly sign their unpreparedness among the obstructive factors but they admit that
they need to be trained. Those who signed their needs to methodical reform the measure of
prejudice against Roma students is lower.
Keywords: prejudice, disadvantaged students, equity, integration
Symposium II/20
Policy and Practice in Inclusive Education
Individual papers
Chair:
Nazarkhudo Dastambuev
OSI – Assistance Foundation, Tajikistan
ID 249
Päivi Pihlaja
Meeting Inclusive Challenge in Finnish Early Childhood Education
University of Turku, Finland
In special education the discussion has been going on for more than a decade on inclusive
education. There have been different kinds of opinions and it is clear that not all special
educators or special education scholars have the same opinion of it. There has been emotional
tuning around this concept, also in research. There has also been critic about special education
science among special education researchers (Kauffman 1999; Rhodes 1995, 2000; Heshusius
2003). In Finland special education and early childhood education have historically their own
paths in research and education. But nowadays in academic discussion with the new concept
early childhood special education we are attempting to integrate these two branches of
knowledge. Research of special education has focused mostly on basic education, and ECE
has not directed research to children with special needs. So there is a certain need to discuss
seriously about inclusion in the early years of childhood. The challenge of inclusion is in its
multileveledness. There are many different elements that should come true if we can really
speak about inclusion in ECE. Bricker (1995; 2000) and Jones (2000) write that the basic
element lies in services that are meant to all children near their homes. Every child has access
to the nearest day-care centre. This is the ground. After this some other elements should come
true: attitudes (emotional and cognitive) among professionals, common curriculum and
resources for a child who has special needs and also consultation to personnel. The idea of
inclusive curriculum is to promote friendship and involvement with peers, to create possibilities
for participation. In my paper I shall examine how inclusive our day-care system and ECE are. I
am doing a review of Finnish early childhood special education researches from past ten years
period.
Keywords: early childhood education, children with special needs, special education, inclusion
ID 272
Embracing Diversity through Inclusive Education
Chandrika Devarakonda
University of Chester, United Kingdom
Curriculum Guidance For the Foundation Stage (core reference document for implementation of
the foundation stage – 3-5 years) refers to one of the key principles of early years education as
‘no child should be excluded or disadvantaged because of ethnicity, culture or religion, home
language, family background, special educational needs, disability, gender or ability’ (QCA,
2000). Recent initiatives to promote an awareness of diversity in Early Years provision in the UK
have emphasised the importance for children in early childhood settings, to be supported
through interactions from peers and adults within a socio-cultural context (Vygotsky, 1978). This
paper explores the perceptions of Early Years practitioners about diversity and inclusion and
how they draw upon the diversity of that specific context to support their learning and
development. The paper is founded on small-scale research project conducted using a case
study of an Early Years setting in the North West of England, UK. A range of staff working in the
Early Years settings was interviewed using semi-structured interviews. Observations of the
children in different contexts were made within a research design informed by Vygotsky’s theory
- Zone of Potential Development. The data from the observations and the recorded interviews
was analysed by developing themes.
The research design for this small-observations scale project attempts to triangulate methods
through interview and observation. It is intended that the data gathered will provide evidence to
demonstrate that opportunities provided in early childhood settings to embrace diversity through
inclusive education may be a positive experience not only for children but also for the adults in
the early childhood setting.
QCA (2000) Curriculum Guidance for Foundation Stage, London, QCA, pp.11-12.
Vygotsky, L.S. (1978) Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard
University Press.
Keywords: diversity, inclusion, socio-cultural context
ID 445
Cultural Transformation of Educational Organisation as a Pre-requisite of
Inclusive Education
Zenija Berzina
Centre for Education Initiatives, Latvia
The purpose of this presentation is to review a study on inclusive education as it relates to
organisational culture. The discussion of organisational culture's importance in institutional
transformation will be organized around the following aspects: 1) inclusive education as part of
the educational reforms, 2) main reasons of resistance to inclusion, 3) applicability of Vygotsky's
idea of human growth as a cultural activity to inclusive education, 4) Vygotky’s ideas in practice
of inclusive Step by Step schools in Latvia.
The tremendous political and socio-economical changes, which took place in Latvia within last
two decades, have caused an incredible number of educational reforms. The reform efforts
have been more or less successful, most of them – proactive, too many of them – unprepared
and ignoring the decades-long traditions and culture of the soviet period. The most significant
resistance in schools, and in society as a whole, still exists toward inclusive education. In this
paper the arguments and evidence are provided to prove that the cultural component is critical
to understanding and implementing inclusive education in schools. In fact, the comparative
study of more than hundred pre-schools and primary schools in Latvia reveal that the
organisational culture is determinant to structural changes toward inclusive school. Lev
Vygotsky's idea of human growth as a cultural activity, and based on that - the idea of cultural
transformation of education are clearly evident in most successful inclusive schools.
Keywords: inclusion, organisational culture, transformation
Symposium II/21
Teacher Training
Individual papers
Chair:
Radmila Rangelov Jusovic
Center for Educational Activities Step By Step, Bosnia and Herzegovina
ID 126
Diversity as a Positive Asset for Professional Competence
Elin Oedegaard (1) and Liv Torunn Eik (2)
(1) Telemark University College, Norway
(2) Vestfold University College, Norway
According to the Norwegian National Curriculum for Teacher Education, pre-school teachers are
expected to acquire a versatile competence to face the challenges of the profession concerning
pedagogical work with children with different cultural, linguistic, ethnical and religious
backgrounds.
Due to research and experiences from the Norwegian national project ” Mentoring newly
qualified teachers in primary school, secondary school and pre-school” we would like to give
individual paper presentations about research methods and theories deriving from our project.
From a socio-cultural perspective we focus on how newly qualified pre-school teachers build
their competence. Vygotsky`s and Engeström’s theories on activity learning constitute our
theoretical framework. From a theoretical and empirical point of view we shall discuss to what
extent pre-school teachers consider diversity as a positive asset for their professional
competence which contributes to their pedagogical work in multicultural groups of children. We
shall discuss how the newly qualified pre-school teachers build their competence while
encountering a diverse set of complex challenges.
Keywords: newly qualified pre-school teachers, mentoring, diversity, competence
ID 256
Crossing National Borders in Education: The Case of Palestinian
Kindergarten Teachers in Nazareth, Israel
Nira Wahle (1) and Dorit Roer-Strier (2)
(1) Kibbutzim Organization, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Early Childhood Studies, Schwartz Programmes;
Educational Department, "Kibbutzim College of Education", Tel-Aviv, Israel
(2) The Paul Baerwald School of Social Work and Social Welfare, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
The major theme of Vygotsky's theoretical framework is that social interactions in the cultural
context play a fundamental role in development. Teachers' role in these interactions is
significant. This presentation aims to explore the training of kindergartens' teachers to
incorporate their unique cultural context in the curriculum.
As in many other countries, training programmes for early childhood professionals in Israel are
based on a universal perspective. Very little emphasis is given to the cultural context of the
teachers and their prospective students.
Most educational programmes in Israel neglect an acknowledgment of the national cultural
identity of Palestinians, thus deepening their exclusion and hindering the opportunities of what
Vygotsky thought as best for children's development in their cultural context.
The presentation is based on the results of a 3 -year Participatory Action Research with 20
Palestinian Kindergarten teachers in Nazareth. The intervention aimed to change the
educational curriculum in the context of their culture, to investigate the influence on teachers'
professional identity and on policy makers.
The data includes documentation of group and individual training sessions, documentation of
the kindergartens' curriculum and settings, and individual and group in-depth interviews.
Findings show a dramatic change in inclusion of cultural elements in the kindergartens'
curricula. The participants report a "revolution" in their professional and personal identity. This
change was achieved by connecting the universal with the particular, along with on-going
practice and organizational-systemic cooperation. The process also involved cultural
encounters, socialization into the culture of origin, and role-perception. Results also show
changes among policy makers.
Keywords: cultural context; professional identity; professional training
ID 241
A New Professional: Reflections on the Pilot Phase of the Early Years
Professional Status in England
Eunice Lumsden
The University of Northampton, United Kingdom
The work of Vygotsky impacted on the understanding of child development and the importance
of practitioners in extending learning. It is over seventy years since his death, yet the British
Government has only recently actively embraced raising the quality of early years’ provision.
The distinction between education and care for 0-5 year olds has been removed (Department
for Education and Skills, 2006). This change brings with it the development of a new early
years’ professional with Early Years Professional Status, which is broadly equivalent to
Qualified Teacher Status (Children’s Development Workforce Council, 2006). They will have
responsibility for leading and developing practice in meeting the holistic needs of young children
from an inter-disciplinary knowledge base.
This paper reports on the doctorial studies into professional identity. It considers candidates’
experiences, gained through ongoing quantitative and qualitative research on the pilot stage of
the Early Years’ Professional Status at an English University. Initial findings indicate that, while
the professionalisation of the early years is welcomed, there are many concerns about the
validation process, the relationship with teaching, the quantity of paperwork, omission of a
professional dialogue and direct observation with children.
Children’s Workforce Development Council (2006) Early Years Professional Prospectus. Leeds: CWDC.
Department for Education and Skills (2006) The Childcare Act. [online] Available on:
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2006/ukpga_20060021_en.pdf [Accessed 12th February 2007].
Keywords: early years professional status, early childhood education and care, qualifications,
inter-disciplinary
Symposium II/22
Policy of Early Education in Different Countries
Discussion group
Chair:
Linda Miller
The Open University, United Kingdom
ID 47
A Day in the Life of an Early Years Practitioner
Internationally, early childhood education and care has gained a high profile in recent years and
has increasingly been linked to policy agendas. The expansion of early childhood institutions is
inseparable from workforce issues. Struggles about recruitment, retention, qualification and
status of the early childhood workforce (OECD 2006) are only a manifestation of the basic
question: who should the future practitioner be? National pedagogical and regulatory
frameworks have been introduced as a means to foster and control practices and their
outcomes. They are often linked to a terminology of 'profession’, thus, raising questions about
the notion of 'profession’ in early childhood in general and about professional autonomy in
particular. This symposium offers a forum for dissemination and discussion of the first phase of
a collaborative research project between participants from seven countries. Not simply a
comparison, it strives to identify common features of professional practices in different contexts
through tracing one day of one early childhood practitioner from each country in their specific
local context. The discussion will explore professional habitus (or attitudes, and dispositions)
and professional epistemologies – 'origins and ways of knowing’ – in relation to professional
practices.
Members of the research group will present an overview of the key themes emerging from
Phase 1 of the project and will facilitate discussion of key questions such as:
• What does being a 'professional’ in early childhood mean?
• Are there common features of professional habitus across different socio-cultural contexts?
• What does it mean to 'act professionally’ in a particular context?
Co-authors: Linda Miller, Carrie Cable, Gill Goodliff, The Open University, UK; Carmen Dalli,
Wellington, New Zealand; Christine Woodrow, University of Western Sydney; Kirsti Karila,
University of Tampere, Finland; Jarmo Kinos, University of Turku, Finland; Mathias Urban,
University Halle-Wittenberg, Germany; Nóirín Hayes, Dublin Institute of Technology; Anette
Sandberg, Malardalen University, Sweden; Maelis Karlsson, Göteborg University, Sweden;
Marja Kuisma, Uppsala University,Sweden; Yael Dayan, David Yellin College of Education,
Israel
Keywords: professionalism, early childhood practitioners, habitus, early childhood policy
Symposium II/23
Theoretical Approaches and Findings
Individual papers
Chair:
to be determined
ID 139
Higher Mental Functions in Ontogenesis
Gennady Kravtsov
Russian State University for the Humanities, Russian Federation
The key concept of L.S.Vygotsky’s theory is the idea of higher mental functions. They are
mediated, systematic and voluntary. Will as a tool of free action expands the field of personal
self-realization. The transformation of elementary functions into the higher ones means a
subject’s acquisition of his/her own mental processes, which become consciously controlled.
Meanwhile, child’s psychic development studies showed that these are not only the children of
pre-school age who do not have will in an explicit form (V.K. Kotyrlo), but also people of older
ages. At the same time the conation is the main line of personal development in ontogenesis.
This kind of contradiction can be solved if we understand the central age formations – such as
speech, imagination, etc. - as co native functions of psyche. In these functions will display itself
in a special “transformed” form, while during the children’s ontogenesis it doesn’t exist in “pure”
form. They are higher and voluntary from the very beginning and greatly differ from other mental
functions, such as memory, emotions etc., which initially exist as elementary ones and only later
are transformed into higher and cultural ones. Will in its pure form is characterized by
meaningful initiative.
We can add to the theory of the higher mental functions the following two statements. First, all
the higher mental functions are divided into those which have been higher initially; they belong
to the volition and are central age formations, and into those which primarily exist as elementary
processes. Second, elementary mental functions become higher ones when influenced by the
relevant volitive functions.
Presentation is in Russian. English translation is provided.
Keywords: higher mental functions, ontogenesis, psychological tools
ID 206
A Potential of Lev Vygotsky Theory for Building of Educational Systems
Veniamin Kolpachnikov
Moscow City University for Psychology and Education, Russian Federation
The power of Lev Vygotsky’s cultural-historical theory is that it may be used not just for
understanding, but also as a methodological basis for conscious constructing and building of
educational practices.
The following complex conditions as introduced by Vygotsky should be taken into careful
consideration:
1. Culture as a source of development. Choosing from the enormous cultural scope WHAT
(content) to teach is a crucial for building effective educational systems. Questions of
concrete versus general, academic (scholastic) versus practical (knowledge, skills) should
be resolved by educators before and during the process of building educational systems.
2. Other people and relationships with them as a crucial condition of human development. It is
essential that adults not just teach children some cultural content. They reveal a model of
cultural being in their relationships with a child. The way adults relate to children significantly
affects the whole process of child’s development. All these make it crucial to take into
consideration WHO and HOW teaches and relates to kids. Modern psychology provides
different models as a potential basis for providing better relationships with students
(Amonashvili Sh., Bandura A., Lazarus A., and Rogers C. and others).
There are a lot of educational systems in Russia, built on the basis of Lev Vygotsky approach.
Just to mention some of them: Developing Teaching by P. Galperin and V. Davidov, School of
A Dialogue of Cultures by V. Bibler and S. Kurganov, School of Self-determination of A.
Tubelsky, Diversity Education by A. Lobok and many others.
Keywords: cultural development, educational systems
ID 373
How Might the Vygotskyan Concept of ‘Crises’ Be a Useful Analytical Tool
to Explore Shifting Phenomena in Contemporary Childhood?
Elaine Mitchell, Russell Jones and Bridget Downing
Manchester Metropolitan University, United Kingdom
A recent study of childhood (Morpurgo 2006) has revealed that the single most important
concern of young children was ’staying safe’. This finding by Morpurgo raises questions about
the meanings of safety and risk and how they may impact on young children’s lives. This study
sets out, with this question in mind, and to examine the significance of Vygotsky’s recognition of
crisis in relation to young children and their socially constructed environments, which we
believe, may reveal their ideas of safety and risk. The study explores the contemporary dialogue
of heightened risk awareness and its impact on defining young children’s environments. This will
be facilitated by applying Vygotsky’s notion of crises to the way in which contemporary early
childhood is socially constructed, lived and experienced in modern societies.
The study adopts a methodology from an interpretive approach; hence it will examine and
theorize ’socially constructed, negotiated and shared meanings’ (Naughton et al 2001) of young
childhood. While there were no specific research questions the discussions were based upon
themes of young children voicing their experiences and concerns. The research was originally
aimed at broader issues of child identity and development but informal discussions with young
children in primary education, has identified risk and anxiety over ‘safe’ space as a major theme
in personal identity.
Keywords: childhood, 'crises', risk anxiety, space
Symposium II/24
Teachers’ Reflective Practice
Self-organised symposium
ID 58
Teachers Reflect on Their Training and the Challenges of Their Work
Chair:
Lilian Katz
University of Illinois, Champaign, USA
Session overview
This symposium features three researchers, two from the USA and one from Portugal,
presenting information related to improving the skills, abilities, and dispositions of teachers in
pre-service and in-service training. This issue remains a daunting question in early childhood
education. A major goal of the research was to learn how practicing teachers evaluate their
training retrospectively with the purpose of learning how to improve the preparation of teachers
of young children for the challenges they are likely to encounter. In addition, one study
examined closely how the final practicum offered in their training was able to improve their
training and to enhance the roles of all staff who were involved in that practicum.
A brief overview of the issues will be presented by the discussion leader, Prof. Lilian G. Katz/
Two presentations will present summaries of a large number of surveys of practicing teachers
indicating their challenges and possible solutions from their points of view. One session will
focus on the important learning occurring before and after practicum and ways to enhance this
experience for children, student teachers, and cooperating teachers.
Keywords: teaching young children, teacher training
Teachers' Views of Challenges in Their Work
Tess Bennett
Eastern Illinois University, Charleston, IL, USA
This research is a continuation of a research line initiated in 2005 (some was presented at the
EECERA conferences in 2005 and 2006), investigating the many ways teachers of young
children struggle in their daily work and ways that teachers can be supported. Based on the
work on Katz and Raths (1992), Allen (2003) and Cochran-Smith (2005), the research is aimed
at finding out what challenges teacher face in their daily work, and to find out how they think
teacher training programs could help future teachers to respond to those challenges.
Many teachers of young children do not feel prepared for issues they face in their work with
families and young children. In order to find ways to better prepare teachers, surveys were sent
to teachers of young children in Illinois in 2007.
This newest research report will present findings from the most recent surveys of teachers of
young children who have different levels of training and different amounts of experience
concerning their definitions of the major challenges they face. At this point in time, we have
about 90 surveys and more are coming in. Information about their views of how their needs can
be met, and the potential contribution of teacher training experiences to meeting these
challenges will be discussed.
Pre-school Teacher’s Beliefs about Challenges of Inclusion and Strategies to Support
Them
Sallee Beneke
University of Illinois Champaign Urbana and STARnet Western Illinois University, Macomb, IL, USA
Illinois is the first state in the U.S. to legislate Pre-school-for-All for 3- and 4-year-old children.
Pre-school-for-All classrooms are state-funded pre-school programs that are embedded in
community settings, such as child-care centers and pre-schools, rather than in public school
settings. One of the eight guidelines for Pre-school-for-All classrooms states that children with
disabilities are to be included in the classroom population. Pre-school teachers agree that
inclusion of children in classrooms with typically developing children is desirable, but they are
often unsure how to handle the challenges of implementing inclusive practices in community
settings. State-funded pre-school teachers of at-risk children were surveyed in 2006-2007 to
identify teacher’s beliefs about the specific challenges they believe they face in including
children with disabilities in their classrooms. Their beliefs about the types of pre-service training
and/or ongoing technical assistance they believe would have helped them to be more
successful in including children with disabilities in their classrooms will be shared. These
teachers were also asked to describe strategies and supports that they believe have helped
them to be successful in including children with disabilities in their pre-school classrooms, and
these findings will also be presented. Current research on practices that contribute to successful
inclusion will be shared. Recommendations for pre-service and ongoing technical assistance
that will help early childhood teachers successfully include children with disabilities will be
provided.
Evaluating Students’ Final Practicum: The Perspectives of Students, Cooperating
Teachers and Teacher Educators on the Uses of Interdisciplinary Project
Teresa Vasconcelos
Lisbon School of Education, Polytechnic Institute, Portugal
Following the research presented at EECERA last year (Practicum as a Transdisciplinary
Process in Teacher Education: The Uses of Project Approach for the scaffolding of students,
cooperating teachers and teacher educators) we will provide more recent results of the research
being developed by Lisbon School of Education.
A course named Interdisciplinary Project – Integrated Methodologies, developed in the last year
of the university training for early childhood teachers, precedes and follows the practicum of
student-teachers. All participants involved go through a process of learning about Project
Approach (Katz and Chard, 1997), doing themselves projects as adults and then developing
projects in their practicum sites. According to the needs of the co-operating early childhood
centres, trainers of different disciplinary areas (Math, Science, Language, Arts…) visit the
student-teachers and “scaffold” the projects. This process has proved to be an excellent tool to
contribute to -self and hetero-development of teacher educators in their different areas of
expertise, namely finding better ways to scaffold student-teachers’ practicum, as they contribute
for the overall development of the early childhood centres.
We will be presenting preliminary results from different points of view about the work developed
during the academic year of 2006-2007: cooperating teachers affirm they want to be more fully
involved in the process; university methods professors acknowledge their learning process as
methods teachers; university supervisors, consider that there is still a risk of fragmenting
curriculum and that project approach needs to be deepened; and students consider that there is
still a need for university professors to work as a team. Reflections on the transdisciplinary
knowledges emerging from this process will be described and implications for teacher education
will be drawn.
Keywords: early childhood teacher education; final practicum; cooperating-teachers´
development; training of trainers
Symposium II/25
Innovation: Implementing Theory into Practice
Individual papers
Chair:
to be determined
ID 284
An Audit of Research on Early Childhood Care and Education in Ireland,
1990-2006
Peadar Cassidy
Centre for Early Childhood Development and Education, Ireland
This presentation overviews an audit of Irish research undertaken by the Centre for Early
Childhood Development and Education (CECDE) in the area of early childhood care and
education between 1990 and 2006. The audit updates a previous edition, which was published
in 2003 and the findings of the original audit, as well as differences between the two, will be
highlighted and discussed. The methodology employed in assembling and analysing the
research will be briefly described. Comprising in excess of 1,800 research documents, the
presentation identifies trends in research in Ireland over the last sixteen years. It focuses on
salient themes such as curriculum, educational disadvantage, special needs, quality and cultural
diversity, depicting graphically the key areas of research. The target audience for this audit
includes policymakers, practitioners, students and academics amongst others. The publication
is complemented by an online searchable database, which will allow research that has been
carried out in various areas to be identified – thus bringing it to a wider audience. Furthermore,
the impact of the research on policy and practice in the Irish context will be evaluated, focusing
in particular on its impact on the quality of early childhood care and education provided for our
youngest children. Gaps in the research are also highlighted and recommendations for further
research are indicated, with a view to ensuring that research impacts positively on quality
practice within the sector. The exercise of compiling the audit will be evaluated and its inherent
challenges and advantages highlighted. The presentation will conclude with an analysis of the
opportunities provided by the collated research for future policy, practice and research in early
childhood care and education in Ireland.
Keywords: audit, research, policy, practice
ID 384
Observation and Reflection - Evaluating Organisational Transfer Processes
in the Pestalozzi-Fröbel-Haus Berlin
Anke Eichrodt
Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg, Germany
This paper presents the interim findings of a two-year evaluation project regarding the transfer
of the Early Excellence Centre model in the Pestalozzi-Fröbel-Haus Berlin (PFH). The EECmodel has been implemented in the PFH since 2001 and, while it takes into account the
particular cultural conditions of Germany, PFH has also been in active exchange with the Pen
Green Centre for under fives and their families in Corby/England.
An essential objective is recognition of children’s potentials and competencies by means of
resource-oriented observation. It is especially the stimulation of the children’s self-learning
processes that the pedagogical endeavours of the pre-school teachers are focused on. This is
ensured by proven research-based practices such as observation, its documentation, as well as
close parent-teacher partnerships.
Key aspects of the research are:
Assistance regarding knowledge transfer in all kindergartens of the PFH
· Opportunities for teachers to review their own pedagogic activity
· Systematic, team-based reflection
· Acknowledgement of pedagogic activity so far
· Continuation of the professionalising process
· Improvement of the methodological soundness of future pedagogical work
The empirical methods used for the collection of relevant data comprise semi-structured
interviews with practitioners, as well as analyses of documentations.
Furthermore, recent research has shown that the most effective way to effect change in the
practices of pre-school teachers is to encourage their active and equal participation. The results
of the evaluation study with regard to the effects of the transfer on the process of
professionalisation will be discussed in connection with the conference topic “Policy and
Practice”.
Keywords: knowledge transfer, evaluation, critical reflection, professionalisation
ID 186
Exploring the Quality Issues in the Early Years Care and Education Policies
Eva Laloumi - Vidali
Alexandrio Technological Institute of Education, Thessaloniki, Greece
The aim of the present study is to highlight political aspects, unresolved problems and
educational challenges related with the provision of early childhood care and education in
Greece.
Theoretically the study is based on Vygotsky’s socio-cultural theory focusing on the process of
the wholeness approach.
Data were collected through interviews from early year’s care and education professionals’ from
North Greece and analysed against the provision of early childhood policies.
The paper present and analysed professional views about:
a) approaches to the role of pre-school services focusing on the way these approaches reflect
the impact of professionals’ different conceptions on the quality aspects of provision.
b) the importance of cultural context in the policy process.
Through an analysis of the identified factors and their influence on the quality aspects, the study
seeks to reveal the political impact in early childhood education policies
Keywords: childhood, care, education, policies
FRIDAY, 31ST AUGUST
SYMPOSIUM SET III
Symposium III/1
Chair:
9:45 - 11:15
To be determined
To be determined
Symposium III/2
Parents’ Perspective & Family Involvement
Self-organised symposium
ID-416
Chair:
Supporting Parents as Children’s First Educators: Theory in Practice
Alison Street
Peers Early Education Partnership (PEEP), United Kingdom
Session overview
Vygotsky viewed young children’s development as a dynamic process, inseparable from the
kinds of activities and social interactions in which the individual is engaged, and argued that
children acquire tools for thinking through engagement with other more skilled partners in the
‘zone of proximal development’. This theoretical foundation has influenced educational
initiatives for young children in the UK especially over the last 10 years. It drives practice in
those projects working with parents and carers in supporting them with their children’s early
learning. This symposium presents findings from recent research in ways of supporting parents
in their role as children’s first educators. Firstly, evidence is presented from the REAL (Raising
Early Achievement in Literacy) project in Sheffield, UK, based on the ORIM framework,
(Hannon, 1995) that builds on how parents facilitate development through providing
opportunities, recognition, interaction and role models for learning. Following this, we present
issues arising from the evaluation of a ‘drop-in’ model of support for parents and young children
in Peers Early Education Partnership (PEEP), in a disadvantaged suburb in central UK. Here
practitioners apply the ORIM framework creatively, offering support to families who might not
otherwise access a parenting or literacy-based initiative. Finally the symposium reports on a
recent study of maternal singing to babies. This research focuses on the role of musical aspects
in mother-baby interactions, and asks mothers about the purposes of using singing with their
babies. The findings have implications for ways of supporting parents’ interactions and
recognition of their role in enhancing communication and early learning.
Keywords: parents, disadvantage, communication, curriculum
A Framework to Bridge Theory and Practice in Work with Parent
Peter Hannon
University of Sheffield, United Kingdom
A socio-cultural view of learning, informed by Vygotskyan theory, provides valuable insights into
how parents help children develop. How can educators share such insights with parents,
particularly those in disadvantaged circumstances, to enhance parents’ capacities to facilitate
their children’s development? One way is through the ORIM framework, proposed by Hannon
(1995) and subsequently developed and used in several early education programmes. The
acronym, ‘ORIM’, refers to the opportunities, recognition, interaction and models that parents
ordinarily provide to facilitate children’s development. For a framework to be useful to educators
working with parents it needs to value what parents already do and to identify ways in which, if
they wish, they can be enabled to understand and extend what they do. By viewing strands of
development in relation to ORIM it is possible to generate a curriculum for parental involvement
and to enhance parents’ awareness of their power as educators. This presentation describes
the theoretical basis for ORIM and reviews its application in early childhood settings, including
the REAL (Raising Early Achievement in Literacy) Project. It will report findings from two
studies. In the first, the use of ORIM was investigated through a qualitative study of
practitioners in 24 early childhood settings developing support for parents as their children’s first
literacy educators. In the second study, a pre-school, parent support, literacy intervention
programme based on ORIM was evaluated by means of a randomised control trial involving 176
families. Implications for practice, policy, and future research will be discussed.
Early Education Partnership: Learning from 'Drop-in' Provision
Sally Smith
Peers Early Education Partnership (PEEP), United Kingdom
This presentation will focus on an early intervention, which has Vygotksy’s “Zone of proximal
development” at the heart of its theoretical basis. The Peers Early Education Partnership
(PEEP) is a birth to five intervention aimed at supporting parents to understand more about their
children’s development and learning and how this can be encouraged through everyday
activities at home. The PEEP model includes key principles, the ORIM framework, the ‘Learning
Together’ curriculum and flexible delivery modes. The latter includes the Sutton Trust Shopping
Centre Project, a drop-in style provision underpinned by the PEEP model. Based in a shop in a
community shopping centre in a deprived city suburb, the project aims, not only to welcome and
value all parents/carers, but to extend their existing parenting practices. It is hoped that it will be
of particular value to families with children whose life chances may be compromised by the
circumstances in which they live but who would be unlikely to engage with a curriculum-based
programme. An evaluation of the initial stages of the project was carried out by Evangelou,
Smith and Sylva (2006) http://www.peep.org.uk/section.asp?id=15. Based on staff interviews
and participant observation, it was designed to document and critically appraise the process of
setting up the provision and the first months of its operation in the light of its aims and objectives
and to identify any unexpected outcomes / successes / shortcomings. It isolated key research
issues, which will be discussed, with implications for practice, in this presentation by the project
manager.
Using Songs and Rhymes to Support Young Children’s Communication
Alison Street
Peers Early Education Partnership (PEEP), United Kingdom
Music is a key aspect of the PEEP ‘Learning together’ curriculum. It is used both in group-based
activities and in one-to-one situations to support interactions between parents and young
children. The presentation will report on a recent research that investigated parents’ views on
the usefulness of singing and its purpose in their everyday interactions. In this case all the
participants were mothers. The research was in two parts, the first being a survey of 104
mothers conducted in well baby clinics in Oxfordshire, UK, to establish frequency and mothers’
reasons for singing. The second part, the subject of this presentation, was an observational
study of sixteen mothers interacting with babies between four and eleven months old. Each
mother was video-recorded for three minutes, talking, playing and singing to her baby at home
or in a familiar room in a community setting. The recording was then played back to the mother,
who was asked to recall significant moments and their meanings in the context of her
relationship with the baby. Analysis of the mothers’ commentaries revealed that different types
of singing and vocal play could be helpful in regulating both the babies’ and the mothers’
emotional states. An in depth observation of one dyad is used to illustrate the relationship
between singing types and levels of engagement between mother and baby. The findings will be
presented and implications drawn for practice that supports parents to encourage their babies’
early communication, with emphasis placed on elements of recognition and interaction.
Symposium III/3
Co-operation between Families and Teachers
Self-organised symposium
ID-402
Chair:
Parents and Workers in Partnership. Models of Engagement on 3 Different
Levels - Organisational, within Study Groups and Between Individuals
Kate Hayward
Pen Green Research Base, United Kingdom
Session overview
This symposium consists of three strands of work carried out at the Pen Green Centre for
Children and Families.
The first strand critically reviews the parental involvement work which has been part of Pen
Green's approach since its inception and how parental involvement programmes can be
sustained in Children's Centres.
The second strand looks at the key elements, which lead to successfully engaging with parents
in the context of study groups, which introduce them to child development theories. This is done
by applying theories about adult learning and group dynamics.
The third strand considers whether 'reflective parenting' may be encouraged through the use of
video drawing on Slade's (2005) concept of 'mentalization.
Keywords: parental engagement, dialogue, reflection
Parents and Workers: Sustaining a Shared Dialogue
Kate Hayward
Pen Green Research Base, United Kingdom
‘Parents and professionals can help children separately or they can work together to the great
benefit of the children (Athey, 1990, p66).
Parental involvement has been at the heart of the work at the Pen Green Centre for Children
and Families ever since it opened in 1983. A comprehensive programme of parent–worker
partnership has been developed. Undertaking a critical review of this programme this paper
looks at the key factors in the sustainable development of parental involvement programmes in
Children Centres. Using a methodology of semi-structured interviews with parents and workers
and two detailed case studies this research poses the following questions:
• What are the key elements of sustainability for this parental involvement initiative?
• The degree to which the core elements of this parental involvement programme have
remained the same (1997-2006)
• The degree to which it has evolved in response to changes in family life in 21st century?
• How does this programme encourage the important adults in a child’s life to facilitate child
development and learning?
The results of the study will be discussed and, in the light of considerable investment in Parent
Support Workers in settings in the UK, the key elements for sustainability of parental
involvement initiatives will be explored.
Parents and Workers: Transformations through Dialogue in a Group
Annette Cummings
Pen Green Research Base, United Kingdom
One of the methods of engaging parents at the Pen Green Centre for Children and Families has
been to set up study groups for parents. These groups run at different times during the day and
parents attend each week to share information with the centre workers about their children.
Building on the work of Athey (1990), Bruce (1997) and Shaw (1992) workers and parents apply
child development theories to their children’s actions to help them to understand what the
children are learning. Video sequences from home and nursery are used to assist in these
reflections.
This paper looks at the key elements of working successfully together in this way in a group
situation. Drawing on the work of adult learning theorists and group dynamics we explore the
question, 'What are the adult learning processes when working in groups that assist adults in
facilitating children’s development and learning?' Two parent-worker groups are studied over a
ten-week period. Semi-structured interviews with parents and workers and a focus group of
group members are used to reflect on the processes that have taken place. We explore how the
experience of the group has impacted on the learning of parents and workers and what
implications this has for their role as facilitators of children’s development and learning in early
childhood settings.
Thinking about Feeling: Facilitating Reflection
Colette Tait
Pen Green Research Base, United Kingdom
In this presentation the researcher considers how, and if, it is possible to facilitate reflection, and
to encourage ‘reflective parenting’, through the use of video film. The researcher works
alongside a parent over a period of three months, and films the parent with her child. Parent and
worker view the video material together and consider what they see.
The researcher’s fascination was with the idea that through reflection change could occur for the
better. Slade, (2005, p271) refers to “…the capacity to think about feeling and to feel about
thinking” as ‘mentalization’. A parents ability to ‘reflectively function’; to ‘mentalize’ (Fonagy
&Target, 1997, p679) is likely to enable an infant to feel ‘held in mind’ (Winnicott, 1965).
Can viewing video material together contribute towards a developmental partnership (Easen,
1992) in which a parent's capacity to reflectively function may be enhanced?
Symposium III/4
Play
Individual papers
Chair:
To be determined
ID-254
Forming Ethical Identities in Early Childhood Child-Adult Play
Brian Edmiston
Ohio State University, USA
Between the age of about 18 months and 7 years I played with our son and entered into
whatever imagined worlds he wanted to explore. These began in dinosaur lands, moved into
folk tale territories, and then into horror landscapes. In this presentation I will use core examples
as I report on several aspects of this longitudinal case study of child-initiated play in which I
actively participated. I will draw on the ideas of Vygotsky as extended by Bakhtin and
supplemented by other post-structural and post-modern thinkers to theorize that through childadult play we were co-authoring ethical, as well as socio-cultural, identities. I will use Vygotsky’s
theories of play and the ZPD to argue that our playing created a ‘workshop for life’. I will use
Bakhtin’s theories to argue that child-adult play can create aesthetic, dialogic, co/authoring
spaces where meaning, selves, and identities are created and productively contested. In doing
so, I will briefly critique the dominant Piagetian, Kohlbergian, and Freudian assumptions that
underlie the dominant discourses of early childhood theory and pedagogy. Finally, I will briefly
note some of the implications for early childhood care settings if play were recognized as an
ethical pedagogy.
Keywords: play, moral development, identities, post-modern theory
ID-322
Jacqué Fee
Evaluation of ‘Play @ Home’ in the Highlands
University of Strathclyde, United Kingdom
The purpose of the research was to evaluate the impact of the play @ home programme on
families and professionals in the Scottish Highlands. This programme is jointly financed by the
Health Improvement Fund and Highland Council through Sure Start Scotland funding and aims
to encourage parents to play regularly with their children, provide resources, increase parents
understanding of child development and promote exercise as fun. The programme promotes the
benefit and importance of play through the dissemination and training based within a series of
age-related booklets. Research questions focussed on eliciting the impact of the programme on:
children, their parents and professionals as well as local and national policy and practice. The
research study utilised both quantitative and qualitative methods, including: a review of existing
literature; sampling from the target population which was approximately 6,000 children and their
parents over a three-year period; semi-structured interviews with stakeholders; questionnaires
for parents and professionals; family case studies; focus groups including a collaborative inquiry
group. The purpose of this particular research instrument was to document the experiences of
key personnel of distributing the resource and supporting parents to interact with their children
in playful activities and to triangulate this with the perceptions of their client group. The main
finding of the evaluation of the play @ home programme was that it had succeeded in
supporting parents through providing a resource that was not professional led. A critical factor
had been the commitment of professionals to recognising parents as the prime educators of
their children and empowering them in that role but also that professionals collaborated at both
management and implementation level to ensure the success of the programme.
Keywords: parent as prime educator, play, child development, early intervention
Symposium III/5
Applying Socio-cultural Theory in Play and Learning
Self-organised symposium
ID-252
The Zone of Proximal Development and Transitions in Play
Chair:
Pentti Hakkarainen
Kajaani University Consortium, Finland
Session overview
“How can a competent adult “lend” consciousness to a child who does not “have” it on his own?”
asked Bruner in his attempt to understand the concept of the zone of proximal development. His
own answer was “consciousness for two”, which was attained by turning the task into play and
narrative and “loan of consciousness” from the more able to the less. We can ask about the
relevance of these statements in play, which “always creates the zone of proximal development”
according to Vygotsky. In play there may not be present a competent other (or adults are not at
all competent). How two or more incompetent participants of play are able to promote
development? How they create a joint consciousness and from where they “loan” it? “Cognitive
change” or appropriation or learning in the traditional sense may not be useful concepts for
describing the ZPD in play. We try to construct the developmental trajectory of play in three
stages over two transitions or crisis periods: the beginning of pretend play (before 3 years),
social pretend play (3 - 6 years), and imaginative play combined with problem solving (6 - 8
years). Our interventions focus on constructing age appropriate cultural activity environments for
children provoking joint play. We will report how children\'s construction of the ZPD and
transitions are carried out in different age groups adopting available symbolic resources and
sense making tools.
Keywords: zone of proximal development, play, developmental transition
Development of Cultural Creativity in Play
Milda Bredikyte
Kajaani University Consortium, Finland
A competent adult cannot ”lend” or ”import” his consciousness to a child but he can support the
development of the child's own consciousness. For Vygotsky a central fact in human
psychology and higher mental functions was cultural mediation. For us language is the first what
comes to our minds when thinking about different forms of mediation, but it is obvious that
Vygotsky talks about different mediation means. Among them are all sorts of conventional signs,
works of art, writing, and systems for counting, maps, diagrams and so on. Our research
problem is what kind of cultural tools can support the development of social pretend play in 3-6
years old children? Dialogical drama with puppets method incorporating co-creative storytelling,
music, singing and painting is used in our experimental site already for five years. University
students are actively involved in children's play activities. Their tasks are changing from
observing to planning, organizing and guiding to mediating, supporting, and helping and
stepping aside. Our purpose and goal is to reveal why play creates the zone of proximal
development for the child. What forms of cultural activities best nourish and guide play
development and how play experiences are transformed into symbolic and artistic expressions?
These developmental trajectories are revealed in a case study of a child's ”movement” from first
probes of block building and role-playing, to painting and at the end ”transforming” his play story
into a picture book.
Transition from Imitative Play to Joint Imagination
Hilkka Munter and Kaisa Jakkula
Kajaani University Consortium, Finland
Our aim is to reveal the mechanism of transition from imitative play to pretend role-play and joint
imagination. The research site is a play environment, where twelve children (aged 6 - 28
months), their parents and university students are playing together 2,5 hours weekly. The
problems of the study are: 1. From what elements and how children construct their joint
imagination? 2. How imagination and pretending develop in the group and what is the mediating
role of the adults? 3. What are the most important narrative tools in this mediation? We try to
discover the narrative elements, from which children construct joint fantasy proceeding from
early emotional interaction to duplicate social roles at the end of the third year when “as if”
behaviour and negotiations for a joint understanding of a situation appear. We have collected
systematically video data during play sessions. Children’s individual developmental trajectories
of imitation, creation of images and joint pretending will be analysed during one year. Imitation
has a special role in child development, and as Vygotsky says, it is one of the basic paths of
cultural development of the child. We see imitation as a double task: as a way to social "we" and
as a first form of imagination. These both are intertwined. The younger the child, the more
important is the adult support, but peers will have also specific developmental importance very
early. The key factor is adults' ability to change their own behaviour according to the children's
developing potentials.
The ZPD between Narrative and Logical Rationality in Play
Pentti Hakkarainen
Kajaani University Consortium, Finland
The famous claim of Vygotsky argues that play always creates the ZPD, but in rational problem
solving this miracle does not happen so often. As we know Vygotsky did not have at his
disposal a fully developed concept of human activity and thus did not see development as a
product of activity systems. We have understood the ZPD as a series of qualitative changes
leading to reorganization of the system of psychological functions at crisis periods in human life.
Our case is “the crisis of the seventh year” or transition from play to “realistic” learning. In our
experimental work we have constructed “transitory activity systems” combining elements of play
and rational problem solving. We argue that overcoming the developmental crisis presupposes
parallel transitions of psychological tools oriented towards acting selves and problem solving
tools oriented towards rational world. Our claim is that children cannot solve “neutral” problems,
but problems are embedded in symbolic and narrative content. We will demonstrate how
children meet these two parallel challenges in a play-world project based on the classic folk tale
“Rumpelstilskin”. The story line creates challenges to overcome one’s own limitations and fears
by creating new psychological tools and children’s realistic problem solving changes the story
line of the play-world. Our empirical results give occasion to ask about the explanations of
motivational change in human development and developmental transitions in general.
Symposium III/6
Teachers’ Practice: Interaction with Children
Self-organised symposium
ID-210
Men in Education and Professional Care for Young Children in Norway
Chair:
Kari Emilsen
Queen Maud`s College, Norway
Session overview
In Norway there is a consensus about the importance of men taking part in young children’s
lives, both in the family and in professional care. The papers presented in this self-organised
symposium focus on men working in a woman-dominated arenas, such as primary schools and
pre-schools in Norway.
All children in Norway between 1 and 5 years of age have the opportunity of attending day care
before they start school. This arrangement is called “barnehage”. We have not found a proper
translation but will refer to it as pre-school. The government has urged remedial action to
increase the percentage of men working in pre-school and schools. The government aim is 20%
men in pre-schools. Today there are 64700 employees in pre-schools in Norway and 9 %
(5700) are men. App. 70 % of the staff in Norwegian schools is women. “Forest day-care” or
“outdoor pre-schools”, are now popular in Norway. In an earlier project we found that there are
more men in outdoor pre-schools (19%) than in ordinary pre-schools (Løge Hagen, 2005).
In this symposium we want to highlight men's motivation, their room for action and job
satisfaction in educating and care for young children in schools and pre-schools.
Keywords: men, outdoor, pre-school, nature
Men's Motivation, Well-being and Acting Possibilities in Female Dominated Working
Environments
Rune Storli
Queen Maud`s College, Norway
Male pre-school teachers and male teachers are considered to be a minority in Norwegian preschools and primary schools. We have investigated whether being in minority in an organisation
where men are represented less than 15 % are decisive for well-being, motivation and
experience of acting possibilities. Former studies have demonstrated that men in minority in preschools have experienced significant pressure in occupying stereotype masculine roles. This
phenomenon of minority suppression is more precisely described in Rosa Beth Kanter’s theory
of relative numbers.
By questioning 48 male pre-school teachers and 109 male primary school teachers in the
Norwegian county of Sør-Trøndelag, we have surveyed to which degree being in minority as a
male pre-school teacher or teacher in primary school, influence their experiences of well-being,
motivation and acting possibilities.
Both pre-school teachers and primary school teachers report that they experience high degrees
of occupational meaningfulness, even when they are in minority less than 15 %. Male teachers
in pre-school report significant higher level of well-being and acting possibilities than male
teachers in primary school.
Findings in our study confirm the positive connection found in motivation theory between
experience of meaning and personal investment. Being in minority less than 15 % seems to
have no effect on motivation, well-being and action possibilities. Being in minority and visible
and in some degree stereotyped (Kanter, 1993), seems to affect men’s comprehension of
gender less than former studies have shown. The results of our investigation contribute more
complex understandings on how male teachers active create their own role identity.
Men or Woman in Pre-schools - Does It Matter?
Kari Emilsen
Queen Maud`S College, Norway
Gender inequalities have great present interest in Norway. Men joining the work forces in
professional care for young children are of current interest. The government has urged remedial
action to increase the percentage of men working in pre-schools and the goal is 20 % men
among the staff. The questions to rise are therefore what kind of differences can be found
between male and female workers in pre-schools, and what are the consequences?
A new kind of “forests’ day care” also called “outdoor pre-schools”, are now popular in Norway.
We find many men in these pre-schools, 19 % contra 9% in ordinary pre-schools; this is in
correspondence with previous research (c.f Løge Hagen, 2005). Currently there are over 300
such pre-schools in Norway (Lysklett 2006). In our project we want to find out more about the
men and woman working in outdoor pre-schools. We sent questionnaires to 79 men and 48
women (from) in outdoor pre-schools, and 42 men and 103 women in ordinary pre-schools all
over Norway. Our findings show that male workers are more physical with children, and they
see themselves as more playful. The importance of complementary between genders also is
emphasized by both sexes. We find that male workers see outdoor pre-schools as an exiting
new arena for them as professional caretakers for young children.
What Do 19% Men among the Staff in the Outdoor Pre-schools in Norway Imply?
Olav B. Lysklett
Queen Maud`s College, Norway
The government in Norway has been focusing on men in pre-schools, and one of the goals has
been to reach 20% men ratio in the staff. At the moment there are 5700 men in pre-schools in
Norway, which is 9% of all the staff. In the outdoor pre-schools there are almost 20% men. The
number of pre-schools, which call themselves outdoor pre-schools, has increased rapidly the
last five years. These institutions use nature as a pedagogical playground and spend most of
the time outdoors. They usually use “reference areas” located in close surroundings outside the
fences of the pre-schools.
The purpose of this study was to investigate the characteristics of the men working in outdoor
pre-schools in Norway. 79 men from 44 outdoor pre-schools and 42 men from 21 ordinary preschools participated in filling out a questionnaire.
Even though there were men in all the investigated pre-schools, there were more men in the
outdoor pre-schools (24%) than in the ordinary pre-schools (16%). Men who work in the outdoor
pre-schools are very conscious about their choice of work. They really want to work with
children outdoors and they want to give the children good experiences and knowledge about
nature.
The question to raise is: What implications the 19% men among the staff may have?
Symposium III/7
Early Child Development
Individual papers
Chair:
Milena Mihajlovic
CIP - Center for Interactive Pedagogy, Republic of Serbia
ID-340
Jane Bone
Young Children and Spirituality: Creating Relational Spaces
Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand
This doctoral research addressed the question of how the spiritual experiences of young
children might be supported in early childhood educational settings. Qualitative case study
research took place in three different settings: a Montessori casa, a Rudolf Steiner kindergarten
and a private pre-school. Children (aged 21/2 – 6), their parents and teachers participated in
this research that used multi-methods in this exploratory study. This question acknowledged
the spiritual dimension of holistic development/kotahitanga that is one of the principles of Te
Whāriki (Ministry of Education, 1996), the early childhood curriculum in Aotearoa New Zealand.
In this research spirituality was conceptualized as an aspect of the socio-cultural context that is
inclusive of others.
This paper gives local definitions of spirituality and introduces the theme of spiritual withness.
Thematic analysis was supported by cultural theories of everyday life and practice. Working
with the central concept of ‘everyday spirituality’ enabled intersubjectivity and the
inter/intramental to be interpreted in spiritual terms as a merging of self/other and I/thou.
Evidence from the research showed that spirituality can be encouraged by adults involved in
early childhood education. Spirituality can be experienced collectively and it became clear that
certain communities construct spaces for relationships that support shared understandings of
spirituality as part of a holistic approach to education. This presentation will include a video
segment and a poem constructed from the words of a teacher.
Keywords: spirituality, holistic, intersubjectivity, everyday life
ID-138
The Story So Far ... “A Cry for Justice: The Use of Children's Literature in
Facilitating Pre-schoolers' Awareness of, and Sensitivities to Social Justice Issues”
Karen Hawkins
University of Southern Queensland, Australia
This paper will discuss the preliminary findings of a doctoral study that is investigating ways in
which children’s literature (picture books) may help pre-schoolers’ to reflect upon, clarify and
articulate their awareness of and sensitivities to social justice issues. The study is underpinned
by a constructivist paradigm that makes the assumption that children are active participants in
the construction of their own socio-cultures (Vygotsky, 1978; Hatch, 1995). The paper will
discuss the research process so far: the topic’s background and literature review, purposeful
participant recruitment, Participatory Action Research (Torres, 2004; Fine et al., 2004), data
gathering and initial findings and how they may contribute to early childhood education as a
whole and specifically to teaching for social justice. However, this research story is a work in
progress as data gathering has only recently been completed and synthesis and thorough
analysis are now in progress. As the title suggests this research story is “To be continued …”
Keywords: social justice; children's literature
ID-332
Young Children Playing Together and Coping with Conflicts. A Training
Programme for Educators
Anke van Keulen
Bureau MUTANT Change agents - respect for diversity / European network DECET, The Netherlands;
The research ‘Young children playing together and coping with conflicts’ carried out by Elly
Singer and Dorian de Haan (University Utrecht, The Netherlands) focuses on early social and
moral learning and development in child-care centres.
Based on Vygotsky’s concept on the critical role of peers and adults in children’s learning
processes, the research addresses:
1) peer relations: when and how young children make contact and create a sense of
togetherness; and how they learn and construct rules in peer conflicts. Imitation,
recurrent actions, relational language and humour appear to be important means in peer
relationships of young children.
2) teacher’s role: how teachers can foster and co-construct positive relationships and a
feeling of group cohesion with young children. The teacher’s interventions in children’s
play and conflicts are addressed from the perspective of democratic social life in the
peer group.
The results of this research form the core of a training programme and a publication for
practitioners in child-care settings that aims to promote playing together in a children’s group
and to use various strategies to prevent and to cope with conflicts. Reflecting on the teachers’
own coping styles and their values and norms is part of the training.
Experiences with the training programme in The Netherlands show major changes in teacher’s
awareness, their observation skills and intervention competences.
In the workshop we aim:
- to inform about the research, the training programme and the experiences with the
training;
- to observe diverse strategies of constructing togetherness and of coping with conflicts
(videotapes of the research),
- to exchange strategies (effective and ineffective) children and adults use,
to show instruments supporting educators in promoting togetherness and coping with conflicts in
a children’s group.
Anke van Keulen (Bureau MUTANT, The Netherlands),
in cooperation with: Elly Singer (University Utrecht, The Netherlands)
Keywords: peer relations, conflict solving, training programme
Symposium III/8
Supporting Development through Scaffolding
Discussion Group
Chair:
Moncrieff Cochran
Cornell University, USA
ID-404
Scaffolding Families with Very Young Children: Policy Tensions and
Implications for Practice
This discussion group will address the extent to which ECE-related public policies, and the
practices flowing from them, scaffold the childrearing efforts of parents and other significant
adults in the lives of children. Focus will be on policies and practices related to very young
children (age 0-3) and their families. Dr. Rebecca New (Tufts U., USA) will set the stage with
thoughts about what cultural tensions must arise - in parents, in communities, in policy-makers when the state approaches the issue of non-parental care for very young children. Dr. Milada
Rabusicova (Masaryk U., The Czech Republic) will share insights into the sharp reduction in
crèche services for infants and toddlers in the Czech Republic over the past several decades,
and the turn toward market-oriented strategies and general family supports. Dr. Lars
Gunnarsson (Göteborg University, Sweden) will discuss parental leave, father involvement, and
the possible impact of the recent change of government in Sweden on family and child-care
policies and programmes in that country. Thoughts about traditional and changing views in
Italian infant and early childhood education will be offered by Dr. Susanna Mantovani (U. of
Milan-Bicocca, Italy). Dr. Mon Cochran (Cornell U., USA) will describe some of the
unanticipated consequences for infant/toddler care of the great rush to prekindergarten services
in the American states. All contributors listed have participated in creation of the recently
published 4 volume Early Childhood Education: An International Encyclopedia (2007, Praeger
Press). Involvement in the discussion by other participants will be encouraged.
Keywords: infants/toddlers, policies, international, cultures
Symposium III/9
Transitions
Individual papers
Chair:
Marika Veisson
Tallinn University, Estonia
ID-355
School - A Place with Invisible and Unspoken Boundaries?
Ingmarie Munkhammar
Department of Education, Sweden
In 1998 Swedish pre-school classes, for six-years-olds were introduced as part of the
compulsory school system. These pre-school classes share the same curriculum with primary
schools. Basically, this means that the local authority can organize children so that six- and
seven- year olds can work together in school. During their first year in school these children
have been co-operate in joint activity in mixed group with six- and seven year olds. The aim of
this study is to illuminate and discuss the encounter between six year olds and school. What
happens when younger children enter school? Are the children able to practice learning
according the earlier experiences and abilities? In what way can the educational setting give
away expectations of what the children are able to do or not to do? Data were collected through
individual interviews with the children after their first year in school. Theoretically the study is
based on social constructionism perspectives and the discourse concept of Foucault.
The findings from this study will discuss how children understand being in school comparing
with their previous time in pre-school. According to the concept of discourses I want to raise the
question whether the school is a place with invisible and unspoken boundaries.
Keywords: six year olds, school, experiences
ID-220
Ann Lovrien
Public School and Child-Care Partnership
Saint Paul Public Schools, St. Paul, MN, USA
The public school system of St. Paul enrols 42,000 students of which 69% are from low-income
families and 43% have a home language other than English. Five years ago St. Paul initiated an
education reform model in grades kindergarten through sixth. Subsequently, achievement has
risen in third grade reading from 26% at proficiency to 62% and in mathematics from 27% at
proficiency to 61%. Project Early Kindergarten (PEK), initiated in 2005, is charged with
developing academically rigorous early childhood programming aligned with the district's
elementary model and implementing it in both schools and community child-care settings. The
intent of PEK is to make significant structural changes in public schools and private child-care
environments, which will improve educational outcomes for specific student populations. Nearly
90% of PEK's 550 students are low-income, learning English and/or assessed as needing
special education services. Alignment with St. Paul's elementary model includes: philosophical
adoption of effort based learning; a foundation of standards-based curriculum and instruction;
standards-based assessment to monitor progress; extensive, continuing professional
development; and sustained on-the-job coaching of early childhood staff and administration.
PEK is a six-year research project following students through third grade and comparing results
nationally. Findings are intended to demonstrate to public policy makers the value of early
childhood education in schools and the value of schools linking with child-care. This paper
elaborates the PEK education model, explains the process of development of school and childcare partnerships and relates initial favourable achievement data.
Keywords: partnerships, standards, coaching
ID-381
Changing Practice: The Effect of a European Study Visit on the Practice of
Scottish Early Childhood Teachers
Aline-Wendy Dunlop and Jacqueline Henry
University of Strathclyde, United Kingdom
This paper evaluates the effect of a European study visit to Amsterdam Vygotskyan schools in
developing practice amongst a group of Scottish teachers. A focus on early childhood
transitions led to an innovative Teacher Looping project, funded by the Scottish Executive, in
which pairs of pre-school and early primary teachers are working with tutors in the Department
of Childhood and Primary Studies, University of Strathclyde, to develop shared practices
through their study towards a postgraduate combined diploma. This paper draws on qualitative
data collected as part of the research project linked to the course, including teacher and tutor
written reflections, tutor observation of practice and semi-structured discussion groups. It
explores how teachers’ ideas can be developed through first-hand experience of different
educational practices and how this is translated into their own work with children. It also
examines the changing social cohesion within the group during the trip and suggests that such
visits are beneficial for part-time students who have little time for social contact with fellow
students. Transition between the informal, active learning encouraged in nursery education and
the more formal curriculum that has been traditional in Scottish primary schools, can have a
deleterious effect on young children’s learning and self-esteem (Fabian and Dunlop, 2002;
Dunlop and Fabian, 2006). This has been recognised by the Scottish Executive (2004) and a
new curriculum has been developed which will bring greater cohesion in learning 3 – 18 and
which highlights the need for more appropriate teaching methods in the early levels of primary.
Keywords: transitions, pre-school, primary, teachers
Symposium III/10 Zone of Proximal Development
Self-organised symposium
ID-406
Zone of Proximal Development
Chair:
Elena Yudina
Moscow City University of Psychology and Education, Russian Federation
Session overview
Zone of proximal development (ZPD) is one of the most important and popular concepts of
Vygotskyan theory of educational psychology. The term is used widely in a lot of textbooks and
studies on the educational issues. At the same time ZPD can be evaluated in contemporary
educational context as one of the most unclear and mythological notions. This is related to the
fact that Vygotsky gave only brief and metaphorical definition for this notion. It is well known that
ZPD reflects the relations between teacher’s instruction and child development, but there is no
exact information about this relation, which is needed for practical teacher’s action. A problem
arises: who is the real “master” of the ZPD? Is it child or teacher? Sometimes teacher doesn’t
know what to do to create a ZPD of different children, and often she/he does not know why it’s
necessary to pay attention to individual child’s initiative.
Indeed, the Vygotskyan conception of ZPD suggests that the role of intimate adult is very
important for the creation of developing learning process, i.e. for creation and extension ZPDs.
There should be very specific process of interaction between teacher and child that allows to
create the joint adult-child activity in ZPD. Another problem deals with the choice of an
appropriate activity (play, problem solving, drawing etc.), which specifically effects the ZPDs of
different children. The presentations are concerned with different aspects of this issue: 1. the
results of comparative study of Russian and Lithuanian pre-school teachers’ position in
interaction with children are reported; 2. the conditions when children start to take initiative as
well as the new theoretical space-time model of ZPD are described; 3. the problem of
“scaffolding” as an instructional strategy in classroom is discussed; and 4. the issue of different
contributions of different factors within play in a ZPD creation is discussed.
Presentation is in Russian. English translation is provided.
Keywords: teacher position, scaffolding, child's initiative, play
The Teacher's Position in Adult-Child Interaction in Its Relation to Child's Zone of
Proximal Development (ZPD)
Elena Yudina
Moscow City University of Psychology and Education, Russian Federation
The contemporary scientific and practical view on the classroom educational process tends to
pay attention to the Zone of proximal development (ZPD) of every child. It’s especially popular
regarding the early childhood education since the younger the child is, the wider is his ZPD.
One of the problems related to the ZPD is: can an adult direct the ZPD of every separate child?
If so, how to manage it, taking into account that ZPD is the result of joint adult-child activity?
Which kind of teacher assistance would be effective for creation of ZPD appropriate to the child
and for the teacher’s educational tasks? Literature suggests that there is a fundamental
difference between Western and Eastern teachers on this point: Western teachers are afraid to
intervene to child development, whereas Eastern teachers try to lead any developmental
process. For example, one of the myths of educational practice in Russia is that any kind of
instruction creates or extends ZPD of a child. Meanwhile, the real teacher’s work in the ZPD of
child (let it be classroom evaluation, or instruction, or classroom management) demands some
special efforts in building the adult-child interaction. Teacher’s position toward the child is the
main factor impacting the kind of the interaction.
The presentation reports the comparative study of the pre-school teachers’ position in the
Lithuanian and Russian kindergartens. The concept of teacher’s position in adult-child
interaction was elaborated. It turned out that the position consists of three main categories:
“goals of teachers’ activity”, “tools of teachers’ activity” and “image of child”. The questionnaire
on teacher’s position in the interaction was created and used to conduct the study. The results
of the study are discussed at length.
Using the Concept of Scaffolding to Promote Practical Applications of the Zone of
Proximal Development in an Early Childhood Classroom
Elena Bodrova
Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning (McREL), United States
Although the concept of the Zone of proximal development (ZPD) has become fairly popular
among Western educators, its impact on Early Childhood practice is still relatively small. One of
the challenges facing Early Childhood practitioners in their attempts to implement the idea of
ZPD is the present lack of mechanisms explaining the transition between the levels of assisted
and independent performance. As a result, the teachers are concerned that once having
reached the “level of assisted performance” with the help of an adult, children will become
dependent on this adult and will not be able to function independently. Another obstacle to the
use of the idea of ZPD in designing instructional practices is the need to gear instruction to
different children’s ZPDs, which might seem unfeasible within the constraints of a typical Early
Childhood classroom. The idea of "scaffolding" introduced by Wood, Bruner, and Ross in 1976
to specify the kinds of assistance that make it possible for a learner to function at a higher level
of his/her ZPD can be used to describe how an expert can facilitate the learner's transition from
assisted to independent performance. At the same time, expanding the notion of scaffolding to
include its “universal” as opposed to “individualized” forms might prove useful in helping
teachers to better address multiple children’s ZPDs present in their classrooms. The
presentation will discuss examples of specific instructional strategies that provide “universal” as
well as “individualized” scaffolding in the areas of self-regulation and early literacy acquisition.
Joint Activity of Child and Adult in the Space ZPD
Inna Korepanova
Moscow City University of Psychology and Education, Russian Federation
In the concept of Vygotsky, ZPD is determined by the dosed aid from adult, such as prompts,
leading questions, etc. It is shown that the aid is not reduced to this only. It includes the
updating of the child’s activity in the mastering a new object action, which is realized by adult in
the different positions. Conditions of child’s initiative growing are described. The motives of the
contact of child with the adult in the process of the mastering the action are described. The level
of the aid of adult, the stages of the integral structure of object action mastering, the level of the
urgent development of child compose ZPD basic lines, its width and depth, in which it is
possible not only to characterize ZPD, but also to project its psychological content. On the basis
of analysis a time-spatial ZPD model was built. This model describes the structure and the
content of the zone. During the process of the object productive action development, child’s
ZPD is assigned in the joint activity with the adult, which is changing its forms and content
during the process of mastering a new action by the child. The goal-directed activity of child,
simultaneously meaningfully changes. The aid of an adult supports these changes, it is directed
to the expansion of the possibilities of child, to the creation of the conditions, which ensure
isolation and realization of the connection of the purpose of action and means of its reaching.
References:
Bodrova, E., & Leong, D. J. (2005). Vygotskyan perspectives on teaching and learning early literacy. In D. Dickinson
& S. B. Neuman (Eds.), Handbook of research in early literacy development. 2nd ed. New York, NY, Guilford Press,
243-256.
Bodrova, E., & Leong, D. J. (2006). Tools of the Mind. 2nd ed.Columbus, OH, Merrill/Prentice
Hall.Bruner, J. S.
(1983). Vygotsky's zone of proximal development: The hidden agenda. New Directions for Child Development, 23,
93-97.
Elkonin D. B. K probleme pereodizasii psihicheskogo rasvitija v detskih vozrastah// Psihicheskoe rasvitie v detskih
vozrastah. M. 1995
Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher mental processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard
University Press.
Vygotsky L.S. Mishlenie i rech. Sobranie sochineniy. T. 2. M., 1982
Vygotsky L.S. Problema vosrasta. Sobranie sochineniy. T. 4. M., 1984
Wood, D., Bruner, J. C., & Ross, G. (1976). The role of tutoring in problem solving. Journal of Child Psychology and
Psychiatry, 17, 89-10
Yudina, E . Pozitsija pedagoga: avtoriyarism i partnerstvo.// „Voprosy Psichologii”,. (Journal of Psychological Issues),
2005, № 4
Symposium III/11 Understanding Mathematics in Early Years
Individual papers
Chair:
To be determined
ID-405
How is Early Years Practice linked to Theory? Mathematics as a Case in
Question
Penny Munn
University of Strathclyde, United Kingdom
EY professionals now have a number of sophisticated models derived from developmental and
educational theories that guide practice and policy in the delivery of the general curriculum.
However, an increasing emphasis in (UK) schools on early numeracy can put pressure on the
EY maths curriculum. This is especially so where managers do not have a good understanding
of the field and imagine that they can save time and resources by starting what they consider to
be ‘the real teaching’ at ever-younger ages. Especially in institutions where EY professionals
are in a defensive role with regard to the EY curriculum, they need information and support on
how to defend an appropriate EY curriculum for mathematics that may appear to a school
manager to be a waste of resources. In this paper I shall outline the role that both Piagetian and
Vygotskyan theories are currently playing in the development of well-justified and appropriate
EY mathematics curricula. I shall outline the unreasonableness of expecting EY practitioners to
develop curricula directly from theoretical principles, and illustrate the success of the
collaborations that theoreticians and practitioners have developed to produce their joint work in
schools and pre-schools. I shall conclude with a blueprint for relating theory to practice, with a
discussion of how complex a process this is, and what is required to do it successfully. This
paper will provide practical information on current EY mathematics curricula as well as a
theoretical perspective on the relation between specific theories and the development of EY
practice.
Keywords: Vygotsky, curriculum, practice, mathematics
ID-483
Children-Technology-Maths Activity as a Unit of Analysis: Exploring the
Challenge of Maths and Technology in the Early Years
Anna Chronaki
Department of Early Childhood Education, University of Thessaly, Greece
Vygotsky (1962) has claimed that understanding the development of scientific concepts in
childhood supports our attempt for devising successful teaching methods. Within this realm, the
interrelation of scientific and spontaneous concepts is linked with school instruction and child’s
mental development. With particular reference to mathematical concepts, he points out, that
when a child learns some mathematical operations, ‘the development of that operation or
concept has only begun’, and continues arguing that ‘…the curve of development does not
coincide with the curve of school instruction; by and large, instruction, precedes development’
(p. 102). This perspective relates the studying of the development of scientific concepts with a
type of analysis that is based on units. The term ‘unit’ is used here to emphasize that the
product of analysis is not about the single elements of a situation but mainly about its
wholeness. For example, a word meaning can be the unit of verbal thought and it is in ‘word
meaning’ that thought and speech unite into verbal thought. Taking the above into
consideration, the present paper takes as a unit of analysis the system children-technologymaths activity. This unit is related to the construct of subject-mediated tool-object as proposed
by Leont’ev (1978) and discussed later by Tikhomirov (1981). It enables to interpret child’s
mathematical activity and technology use as part of a complex whole and not as isolated and
separate actions or operations. And, in parallel, assists to explore how technology (i.e. a Cabri
microworld) mediates the development of mathematical concepts (i.e. abstracting geometric
properties) by creating an instructional context based on ‘word meanings’.
References
Vygotsky, L.S. 1962. Thought and Language. Cambridge. The MIT Press
Leont’ev, A.N. (1978), Activity, consciousness, and personality. Engewood Cliffs. NJ:Prentice-Hall
Tikhomirov, O.K.1981. The psychological consequences of computerization. In J.V.Wertsch (Ed.). The concept of
activity in Soviet psychology. (pp. 256-278). New York: M.E. Sharpe Inc.
Keywords: mathematics, technology, word meaning, scientific concepts
ID-307
Assessing the Scientific Concept of Number in Primary School Children
Peter Moxhap
Portland (Maine) Public Schools, USA
Davydov's mathematics curriculum is aimed at developing a scientific (theoretical) concept of
number starting in Grade 1 (age 6-7 years). The question arises of how to assess the level of
development of the concept of number in such young children.
A theoretical concept is a general method of acting – a method for solving an entire class of
problems – and is related to a whole system of object-oriented actions.
Devising an assessment of a general method is problematic because it would seem that the
child has to perform an infinite set of tasks correctly to show that he or she can solve all
problems in the given class. An assessment has to be especially carefully designed in the case
of first graders, since lengthy assessments, especially of the pencil and paper type, may not be
appropriate.
I will present some results of three different assessments of the concept of (whole) number in
Grade 1 students in public schools in Portland, Maine. The first assessment is based on the
children’s performance, over the course of the school year, on a set of 20 computer
programmes that simulate the object-oriented and modelling actions underlying the concept of
number. The second assessment involves a small set of object-oriented tasks that the child has
not previously encountered. The third assessment is a brief pencil and paper assessment.
Correlating these three assessments will indicate the possibility of measuring the level of
development of the concept of number at the end of Grade 1.
Keywords: Davydov, concepts, assessment, computer
Symposium III/12 Language Learning
Individual papers
Chair:
To be determined
ID-83
Scaffolding Emergent Readers with Teacher's Interactions
Patricia Kostell
Educational Consultant and Curriculum Facilitator, USA
Children's natural ability to acquire language can be a catalyst as the teacher takes the child's
lead and extends the child's verbalization through statements and questions. Empowering the
child in a small group setting (4-6 children) to use the sounds they know to create new words
promotes a sense of reading success with both the child who speaks the same language at
home and at school as the child who does not. The language used by the facilitator/teacher
promotes not only the child's success with new words but also gives the child specific language
that promotes a continual use of strategies that as Bruner suggests, "transforms into symbolic,
rational thinking." Vygotsky recognized the critical role of speech in development in the 30's and
today we are reaffirming the critical need to support a child's verbalization even more than in
past years. It is apparent that strategies to increase verbalization are needed along with
acquisition of emergent reading skills. This presentation will show the children and teacher
engaged in the interaction to support emergent readers (5 year olds). This approach has been
successful in a district nominated for having the very best reading programme in the state of
South Carolina.
Keywords: emergent readers, teacher interaction, creating words
ID-394
The Facilitative Role of Adults in the Language Development of Afrikaansand Sesotho-Speaking Pre-school Children
JJE Messerschmidt, CM Vorster, JCF Venter, MJ Ramabenyane
University of the Free State, South Africa
Afrikaans and Sesotho are two of the 11 official languages of the Republic of South Africa. Data
on the acquisition of these languages are scarce. It is interesting to compare the acquisition of
the two languages because they are very different in grammatical structure. In addition, cultural
differences may possibly be visible in the style of interaction between adult and child.
The research reported on in this paper is part of a larger project in which the language
acquisition of Afrikaans- and Sesotho-speaking children between the age of 18 months and 3
years is being investigated. Longitudinal data are obtained from video-recordings of the
interaction between the children and adults during normal daily activities. Within the framework
of Vygotsky’s theory on the zone of proximal development, the aim of the research described in
this paper was to determine if the participating adults aimed to raise the level of development of
the children. Similarities as well as differences between the roles of the adults of the two
language groups were found.
On the basis of this research we recommend educators and caretakers in multicultural
situations be aware of cultural differences and adapt their interaction style to incorporate
appropriate scaffolding in order to maximize cognitive development.
Keywords: facilitative role; early language development; pre-school children; Afrikaans; Sesotho;
Vygotsky
ID-434
Improving Language and Literacy Opportunities in an Early Years Setting
Annette Kearns
IPPA, The Early Childhood Organisation, Ireland
Children need the support of parents and other adults to become proficient in language and
literacy (Vygotsky 1978). The importance of being literate and linguistically competent is vital for
young children to manage in their lives. Many strategies have been documented as being
effective in promoting children’s early language and literacy. These include reading aloud to
children and providing an environment where children will interact, through play, with reading
and writing materials on an ongoing basis (Whitehead 1999).
This piece of research considers the impact of a range of practical strategies that support the
development and enhancement of language & literacy skills in early childhood. The programme
was developed in conjunction with our international partners Penn Literacy Network and
delivered by IPPA to practitioners working in a childcare service in a disadvantaged area of
Dublin. Within this targeted location over one third of all households in the area are headed by a
lone parent (over twice the national average) and 29% of the children live with one or both
parents who have no educational qualifications (Dartington Social Research Unit, 2004). In this
geographical area, young children struggle with issues of language and literacy. The role of
early education within the context of a play-based curriculum becomes critical in supporting
language and literacy experiences.
Drawing on an action research approach, and combining findings from a focus group, an
interview and the tutor’s observational records, this study explores the impact of practical
strategies on the provision of language and literacy opportunities in an early years setting.
References
Vygotsky, L.S. (1978). Mind in Society. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Whitehead, M. R. (1999). Supporting Language and Literacy Development inthe Early Years (Supporting Early
Learning). Buckingham: Open University Press.
Axford, N., Little, M., Duffy, L., Haran.N., Zappone, K. (2004). How are our kids? Children and Families in Tallaght
West, Co. Dublin. Dartington: Dartington Social Research Unit and The Childhood Development Initiative.
Keywords: practical strategies, language, literacy
Symposium III/13 Language as a Tool of Cognitive Development
Individual papers
Chair:
To be determined
ID-476
The Functional Analysis based on Vygotsky’s Approach: Functions of
Egocentric Thinking
Alexandr Romaschuk
Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russian Federation
The analysis of works by Vygotsky demonstrates that his investigation of egocentric speech is
based on a number of interconnected principles where the central principle is the analysis by
function. Unlike the tradition of American functionalism in psychology (Dewey, James, Carr,
etc.), anthropology and sociology (Radcliffe-Brown, Merton, Parsons, etc.) in the investigation of
egocentric speech this principle obtains the specificity of culture-historical approach. It means,
that psychological structures are to be analyzed by their functions (useful results), which are
determined by culture.
We propose to apply this type of functional analysis to egocentric thinking. This type of the
analysis of the key characteristics of thinking (mainly animism and artificalism) allows to
suppose that acquisition by child of sense field (term proposed by Vygotsky) of understanding
other people’s actions is a specific function of egocentric thinking. This hypothesis is in line with
Elkonin’s thesis that achievement of understanding of motivational, sense sphere is a priority for
pre-schooler (Elkonin, 1972), and with a number of research proving anthropomorphic
characteristics of egocentric thinking to appear only when subject is little familiar to a child (see,
e.g. Berk, 2003).
In order to test the hypothesis, that has important outcomes for early childhood education, a
research was conducted based on large corpus of investigation about experimenter’s intentions
as the main reason of nonconservation phenomena (McGarrigle, Donaldson, 1975; Moore, Frye
1986; Galpert, Dockrell, 1995, etc). The participants were 70 older pre-schoolers and 64 pupils
of the first form. Each was to do classical and modified Piaget's conservation tasks, test H.
Witkin EFT and classification task.
Presentation is in Russian. English translation is provided.
Keywords: analysis by function, Vygotsky's approach, egocentric thinking, function of egocentric
thinking, "sense field", conservation tasks, nonconservation phenomena, directing attention to
experimenter's intentions
ID-74
Invisible Children: Picture Books and Disability
Karen Argent
Newman College of Higher Education, United Kingdom
This paper will propose that the picture book is a key learning resource that can influence social
constructions of disability in children aged 3-5 years. The power of the visual image in helping
individuals internalise social values and in shaping attitudes towards race and gender has been
well established. The issue of disability has been explored in less detail. Inclusive education
needs to address the needs and backgrounds of all children, including those with a range of
disabilities, who are increasingly part of mainstream education.
Although particular learning resources are tools in achieving this, they need to be used
appropriately. Practitioners need knowledge and confidence about how to use picture books as
a vehicle for exploring social issues such as disability because their own understanding of the
subject may, in itself, contribute to perpetuating negative stereotypes and a medical model of
disability. It will also be necessary in the research to explore whether their initial and ongoing
professional training allows these attitudes to be challenged.
Illustrators and publishers of children’s picture books in the UK appear to be slow in responding
to the legislative and policy context that supports a social model of disability. A representative
sample of both groups will be consulted and focus group responses to picture books that have
emerged as good examples of the genre will be discussed.
Knowledgeable practitioners are more likely to request better resources and perhaps influence
production of these materials and translate policy into practice more effectively.
Keywords: inclusion, disability, picture books
ID-271
The Vygotsky-Luria Neuropsychological Approach to Remediation of
Executive Functions Deficit in Children with ADHD and Learning Disabilities
Tatiana Akhutina
Learning Disabilities and ADHD Lab, Moscow State University of Psychology and Education. Department of
Psychology, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russian Federation
Based on Vygotsky-Luria theoretical background, the programmes of executive functions
remediation in 5-7 and 7-9 year old children were developed. These programmes suggest
transition from joint child-adult co-actions to the child’s individual actions (in accordance with the
rules of internalisation process). The psychologist’s actions are aimed at the weak component of
the child's functional systems: s/he starts with taking on the role of the weak component and
then hands it over to the child. The interactive scaffolding is gradually withdrawn. In other words,
the psychologist works in the child’s zone of proximal development, helping him/her in the weak
“link” of the functional system. A necessary condition for successive remediation is the child’s
emotional involvement into the interaction.
A series of 50 tasks was developed for 5-7 year old children on the basis of numerical
sequence. A series of 51 tasks was worked out for 7-9 year old children on the basis of
multiplication tables. The programmes were verified experimentally both at individual lessons
and group (2-7 children) lessons, and after the remediation courses children showed progress in
fulfilling trained and untrained tasks.
Keywords: children with ADHD, the Vygotsky-Luria neuropsychological approach, functional
systems, interaction
Symposium III/14 Involving Children in Research
Individual papers
Chair:
To be determined
ID-297
Many Children, Many Voices
Anja Tertoolen (1) and Wieke Bosch (2)
(1) Educatieve Federatie Interactum, The Netherlands
(2) Ipabo, The Netherlands
During a number of years we have researched ways of interviewing children. Discussions in
which children exchange ideas with their teacher about e.g. a specific pedagogical theme, like
autonomous behaviour or cooperation. The theme raised by the teacher is in the eyes of the
pupils a part of the daily routines of the class. These conversations are video taped and then
verbatim recorded on paper and the images analysed by us.
To retrieve what young children try to express exactly, is not a simple task. Moreover, as adults
who analyse the language of the child, unwillingly interpret the output and naturally involve their
own perspective.
We follow in this sense the opinions of Vygotsky and Wertsch (including multivoicedness) and
the ideas of Reggio Emilia (A hundred languages of children).
In this presentation of our paper we aim to report the next phase in our research, in which we
present our raw material –video images of conversations with small groups of young children
and their classroom teacher to:
The teacher who held the conversation;
Students of a University Institute for Teacher Education in the final stages of their training and
specialize in teaching young children;
A teacher trainer.
We have developed a kind of protocol to be able to compare the various participants. All the
above-mentioned participants applied this protocol in the analysis of the video images.
We report on the major findings of this research.
Keywords: children's perspectives, practitioner's related research, multivoicedness
ID-44
Young Children's Voices in Legal Settings
Celia Doyle and Gill Handley
Northampton University, United Kingdom
Many children in the UK are subjects of family proceedings. For example 136,332 children were
involved in divorce cases in England and Wales in 2005. Article 12 of the United Nations
Convention on the Rights of the Child states that children should have 'the opportunity to be
heard in judicial proceedings’. In view of this, the researchers looked at how far younger
children’s voices are acknowledged by Family Court Advisors, part of whose role is to be the
voice for the child in Court.
The researchers conducted a study, which looked at whether children from 2-8 years could
express their views with some clarity and reliability. The findings were then compared with the
results of a survey ascertaining the opinions of Family Court Advisors on the ability of very
young children to state their views.
It was found that, as Vygotsky’s theories suggest, with appropriate support from adults or older
children, and a facilitative environment, even the youngest children could present their views
with clarity and reliability. In contrast, many of the Family Court Advisors, had reservations
about directly representing children’s views because of concerns about clarity, reliability or the
burdens of responsibility.
The study concludes with recommendations for policy and training with reference to Family
Court Proceedings. The emphasis of the recommendations is on the training needs of the
childcare workers who represent children in judicial and administrative proceedings. The study
highlighted the need for more training in child development theories, especially the relevance of
those of Vygotsky.
Keywords: children's rights, developmental theories, children's views, legal settings
ID-315
A Creative Methodology for Consulting with Young Children
Nanette Smith and Isobel McClean
University of Worcester, United Kingdom
This presentation will focus upon creative methods for practitioners and researchers to use
when consulting with young children, in order to inform practice and policy. An inclusive
approach to listening to young children demands innovative research methods, which are able
to capture the imagination of the young child and provide them with a 'voice'. This practitioner
research adopts the principles of the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child (1989), Every
Child Matters, The Children Act (DfES, 2004) and the Ten Year Strategy for Children and Young
People in Northern Ireland (2006). Through the theoretical framework of the Mosaic Approach
(Clark and Moss, 2001) visual and verbal approaches are used in order to gather the views and
experiences of young children. By adopting such approaches children's perspectives have
already been used to inform government policies in relation to Bullying, Developing a Play
Policy and Improving Quality of provision in Northern Ireland. The use of the 'Wish Catcher'
(Lancaster, 2003) gave children the opportunity to evaluate their pre-school settings and local
community. Other creative methods used for consulting and listening were,

the polo mint (McClean 2006)

graffiti board

puppets

cameras
 Box of Feelings (Kog, Moons and Depondt, 2004)
In order to foster a pedagogy of listening (Moss, 2001) we need to value and respect young
children's views, listen carefully to what they think and be mindful of the power relationships that
exist. This presentation identifies the supportive interaction between adult and child as in
Vygotsky's (1962) theory of learning. Preliminary findings suggest that practitioners need
training in this active process, so that a framework for listening can be developed which
embraces creative, age-appropriate, child centred techniques. Northern Ireland has begun to
listen and respond to its young children.
Keywords: voice of the child, creative methods, participation
Symposium III/15 Art, Music and Drama
Self-organised symposium
ID-211
Creativity in Multiple Perspectives
Chair:
Anna Craft
Exeter University and Open University, United Kingdom
Session overview
This symposium will present a set of studies on creativity that are being developed in different
countries (Cyprus, Greece, Israel and the UK) and from different perspectives. All four studies
draw from a socio-cultural perspective and seek to understand, describe and suggest children's
and adults involvement with creativity within the education system. Creativity is seen within the
following strands:
a. Artistic and conceptual incongruities as produced by kindergarten children
b. Movement activities and games that show children's abilities to express their creative
potential in different ways.
c. Musical creativity and the intention to share musical ideas as a resource for
improvisation.
d. Altering ways of learning and teaching, indoors and outside, due to the transformation of
the external space; an opportunity for creative teaching, teaching for creativity and
¨possibility thinking.¨
e. Multiple methods of data collection mainly qualitative, such as interviews, observation,
participant observation, drawings etc., are used by the researchers.
The aim of the symposium is to theoretically and practically provide a space where we can
consider creativity as a tool to enhance learning and teaching.
Keywords: creativity, music, movement, humour
Perspectives of Children, Teachers, Parents and Governors in a North of England
Primary School
Anna Craft
Exeter University and Open University, United Kingdom
This paper draws on a study in a region of the national project Creative Partnerships, funded by
the Arts Council England, 2006-2007 involving work with creative partners to enhance children’s
learning, collaborating with two research teams; one internal (comprising teachers and children)
and one external (comprising researchers). Together, a shared research question, or
‘Throughline’, has been developed around curriculum innovation, to guide collaborative enquiry.
The research described here is being conducted a primary school site working with architects to
transform the external space altering ways in which learning and teaching take place, both
indoors and outside. The Throughline is: How does transforming the external space alter ways
in which learning and teaching take place, both indoors and outdoors? The study documents,
explores and interprets perspectives of children, teachers, parents and school governors. The
findings, triangulated across research and development teams, will inform the development of
practice in teaching creatively as well as teaching for creativity, in this site.
The project is interpretivist, taking a socio-cultural view of learning. The methodology is largely
phenomenological. A range of methods include direct observation, participant observation and
interviewing, also the creative outputs of projects, e.g. aerial and mind mapping, photographic
images, cumulative logs, drawings, audio recording.
This paper reports analysis to date (the conference occurs two-thirds of the way through the
project), in relation to creative teaching and teaching for creativity. Findings are linked to work
on fostering ‘possibility thinking’ (Craft, 2000, 2001, 2002) – in other words the move from ‘what
is this?’ to ‘what can I/we do with this?’ - for both child and teacher (Cremin et al, 2006, Craft et
al 2007).
Co-authors: Patrick Dillon, Exeter University
Penelope Best, Roehampton University
Do Movement Activities and Games Facilitate Creative Thinking?
Evridiki Zachopoulou
Alexandrio Technological Educational Institute of Thessaloniki, Greece
Creative thinking is something we can find in every child, not just the gifted or highly intelligent
children. Divergent thinking skills are important parts of creative thinking, and is a kind of
thinking that aims not at producing correct answers, but rather at coming up with a variety of
unusual, original, or even off-the-wall ideas. The answer to the question if movement activities
and games facilitate creative thinking is of vital importance for early educators. It speaks to
whether or not movement intervention programmes should be developed in order to facilitate
creative ability.
Movement activities and games should facilitate divergent thinking by providing children with
opportunities to practice divergent thinking skills by using their whole body, parts of their body,
various objects to represent different things and by role playing different scenarios (Singer &
Singer, 1990). In order to theorize about the links between movement activities and creativity,
one must be specific about the types of processes involved in creative thinking, like cognitive
and affective processes.
Brockmeyer (1987) believes that movement activities could facilitate creative thinking through
three types of cognitive processes – varying, improvising and composing process. Children
would be able to be involved in these processes if teacher’s behaviour fostered their creativity.
Prieto et al. (2006) emphasized 10 key- points in the teacher’s role. These include: facilitation of
resources that enhance creativity, children’s encouragement to express their ideas, recognition
of new ideas, appreciation of children’s individuality, etc. Examples of movement activities and
games would be presented to show how children are able to express their creative potential with
many different ways.
Creativity in Performance Arts
Susan Young
Peers Early Education Partnership (PEEP), United Kingdom
Music in early years education, although often designated a creative subject, is all too often
presented to children in a way, which is far from creative. It tends to be dominated by the
collective performance of songs and other musical activities in which children participate by
conforming. The dominance of Western art music as the epistemological basis to music practice
in education has resulted in the devaluing and even obscuring of certain forms of musical
creative activity.
We will present a view of musical creativity, which is fundamentally social and collaborative and
explore the idea that the intention to share musical ideas provides a resource for improvisation.
The presentation will be illustrated by examples drawn from practice in the UK and Israel. We
will go on to make the case that improvisation through the sequencing of non-verbal ideas in
time and space is neglected in educational practice. More importance is given to verbal
interaction than non-verbal, to static artistic activity than performance-based and dynamic, and
to activity with concrete materials rather than sound and movement.
Co-author: Ilil Keren, Music Practitioner, Israel
Creativity in Artistic and Conceptual Incongruities Produced by Kindergarten Children
Eleni Loizou
University of Cyprus, Cyprus
This study aimed in investigating the ability of kindergarten children to produce humour through
art and the relationship of this production to creativity. Semi-structured interviews and the actual
drawings of ninety kindergarten children were the main sources of the data. The children were
asked to draw a funny picture, describe it and specify what made it funny. The data was
analysed using the framework of creativity and its elements within a humorous context: fluency
(the number of funny items/situations/actions the child creates in her drawing and their
explanation), originality (unique ideas used in the drawing and their explanations), flexibility (the
themes used in the drawing are not within the expected context of humour, e.g. a drawing of a
clown) and finally elaboration (the drawing and its explanation provide expanded details).
Findings of this study suggest that children are capable of producing one or more incongruities
(fluency) when drawing a funny picture. Originality is seen in the content of the funny picture
and in the artistic perspective (e.g. incongruities of colour and/or features) as well. Also, there
were cases where flexibility was not strong since children created and talked about the common
humorous themes such as clown, jokes and laughter. Finally, very few pictures presented
elaboration and this was done mainly in their verbal explanation rather than in their actual
drawing. This paper asserts that humour is a tool that can enhance creativity in linguistic and
artistic forms.
Symposium III/16 Assessment: Approaches and Experiences
Individual papers
Chair:
To be determined
ID-325
Assessing Well-being and Learning Processes - Is Learning in Playschool
Powerful?
Kristin Karlsdottir and Bryndís Gardarsdottir
Iceland University of Education, Iceland
This study explores children’s well-being and learning dispositions in an Icelandic leikskoli, a
pre-school for children up to six years old. Well being refers to children’s self-respect, prestige,
strength and esteem (Carr, 2001). Learning dispositions are cultivated by participation in social
communities that value thinking and independent judgement. The aim being to support young
people to become ready, willing and able to cope with change successfully: that is, to be
powerful and effective learners (Carr, 2001).
The purpose of this study was to explore children’s well being and learning dispositions in
leikskoli and to examine and develop further a method Carr (2001) and her colleagues
developed to assess children’s well being and learning dispositions.
The theoretical underpinning of the research supports two main lines of thought. Firstly the
views that children’s learning is mutually constitutive by the social context and the child’s
personal factors (Wells and Claxton, 2002). Secondly the child is seen as a competent, strong
individual making knowledge in co-construction with other human beings (Dahlberg, Moss and
Pence, 1999).
Data was collected in a leikskoli were the curriculum emphasise children’s emotional literacy.
Information was gathered by multiple methods, interviews, observations and documentation.
Children’s learning stories (Carr, 2001) were collected by the researchers in co-operation with 45 years old children and their teachers. The learning stories were analysed using Carr’s five
domains of learning dispositions (Carr, 2001). The results show what happens in a setting,
which values children’s emotional literacy when the research focus is on children’s learning and
their well-being. Also in what way these assessment methods can be used in pre-schools and
as a research tool.
Keywords: well-being, socio-cultural assessment, pre-school, emotional literacy
ID-143
Diagnostics of the Crisis at the Age of 3 as the Basis of Educational
Programme Design
Natalia Razina
Russian State University for The Humanities, Vygotsky Institute of Psychology, Russian Federation
It is very important to research the crisis that takes place at the age of 3. On the one hand, it is
the upper edge of the child’s early years’ period that clarifies the specific features of the child’s
development during the ante-pre-school years. On the other hand, the crisis means the
beginning of the pre-school age.
Modern psychology usually uses the tests that examine children’s motor development, their
cognitive sphere, etc. These kinds of tests do not cover the whole field of the child’s
development; moreover, they are hardly useful for the design of the further education. For
example, some tests results can show a high level of subject-oriented activity. These may make
the parents be proud of their child or, at best, attract thorough attention of educators.
According to Vygotsky, the main characteristics of the age are connected with a new
psychological formation, which is intrinsic of this or that crucial and lytic age. In his opinion, new
formations in the period of crisis disappear when a new formation in a lytic period is of a great
importance in the child’s development.
Diagnostics of imagination (which is a new formation at the pre-school age), speech (a new
formation at the crucial age of three) and the manipulative activity of 2,4 to 4,5 years olds (a
new formation at an early stage of development) allowed us to divide children according to
different psychological ages, such as pre-school, crucial and ante-pre-school ones.
In this case, in one group of children their psychological and biological age coincided, while the
psychological age in another group was slightly behind the biological age. For example, the
child’s age was 3,5 and he/she could be included into a pre-school group, but the test results
showed that according to the psychological age he/she is still at the early stage of development
or the crucial age of 3.
The test results have become the basis of the educational programme. Due to these, the
children both managed to acquire what they were taught to and change their psychological age.
Presentation is in Russian. English translation is provided.
Keywords: age crisis, educational programme, new psychological formation, manipulative activity
Symposium III/17 Vygotskyan Theory and Assessment
Individual papers
Chair:
Sonja Rutar
Developmental Research Centre for Pedagogical Initiatives Step by Step, Slovenia
ID-198
Assessment for Learning: Motivation for Teachers to Personalise Learning
Jeanette Clarkin-Phillips
University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand
The findings of this study showed the powerful impact of assessment for learning in motivating
teachers to enter a professional development programme and throughout their involvement
make fundamental shifts in their practice, which have continued far beyond their involvement in
the programme. The shift in teachers’ theoretical perspectives towards assessment for learning
from a Piagetian lens to a socio-cultural and Vygotskyan approach was a key factor in providing
enthusiasm and enjoyment in assessing and documenting children's learning. Assessment for
learning has, for the teachers involved in this study, become the most significant aspect of their
learning and teaching philosophy, allowing them to provide personalised learning for themselves
and children and their families.
The study involved eleven teachers from three different early childhood services in
Aotearoa/New Zealand who had been involved in the same professional development
programme, the Educational Leadership Project.
Using a case study methodology and gathering data through unstructured interviews with a
narrative inquiry approach, the eleven teachers were individually interviewed about their
experiences with the professional development programme.
The data was analysed using a framework of gateways for personalising learning constructed
by Hargreaves (2004a) and Engestrom’s (1999) Activity theory. Gateways or Entry-points to the
professional development programme are identified and further gateways for sustained
involvement and further learning opportunities are also identified.
Assessment for learning features as both an entry-point, a motivator for sustained involvement
and a provider for further learning opportunities.
Keywords: assessment, professional development, leadership, personalising learning
ID-425
Development
Perspective on Vygotsky
Nalize Marais
for
Assessment
Quality:
An
Education
Management
University of the Free State, South Africa
The advent of democracy in South Africa inaugurated the restructuring of the former education
system, introducing outcomes-based education as alternative to traditional teaching methods.
Transformation has lived through its growing pains, resulting in numerous teachers desperately
in need of development concerning outcomes-based assessment.
In the latter context a parallel to Vygotsky’s model of human development becomes valuable. A
preliminary study among teachers (teaching learners between 7-10 years) revealed a need for
guidance, pertaining to assessment practices. If the latter is rephrased in terms of Vygotsky’s
constructivistic frame of mind, it means that guidance from an experienced person/leader will
enable a person to attach new meaning to the object of concern. Vygotsky’s theory requires
collaboration between the teacher (the principal) and the learner (the teacher) resulting in a
reciprocal relationship, accessing the zone of proximal development.
The purpose of this paper is to reveal the relationship between the principal’s task to guide the
empowerment process and the extent to which the teachers take the responsibility of
assessment upon themselves, as little evidence in this regard exists.
In revealing such a relationship a valuable contribution to theory building and praxis in
Education Management is made. In order to reveal possible correlations, a questionnaire was
developed and completed by both principals and teachers.
Linear regressions and scatter plots revealed a positive correlation between the principals’
empowerment practices and the quality of classroom assessment. From the latter correlation it
became evident that principals who are effective empowerment mediators succeed in creating
an aligned teaching corps that would contribute to quality teaching and assessment.
Keywords: assessment, empowerment, quality, leadership
Symposium III/18 Multicultural Education
Self-organised symposium
ID-462
Children Crossing Borders Project: The Challenges and Potentials of
Coding as a Means of Handling Large Cross National Data Sets
Chair:
Christine Pascal
Centre for Research in Early Childhood, United Kingdom
Session overview
The Children Crossing Borders Project is in its third and final year of action. The research builds
on from Joseph Tobin's seminal work on 'Pre-school in Three Cultures' (Tobin et al., 1989).
Using the innovative, anthropological, methodologies of Tobin's study and working with the
author himself, the research is examining the practices, values and expectations of pre-school
practitioners, and the aspirations, expectations and views of children and parents from
'immigrant' communities, in multicultural cities in five countries, with the intention of improving
the quality of pre-school experiences for these children. Our focus is on the children of those
families whose presence in the host country is new, whose status is vulnerable, and who face
the difficulties of overcoming cultural, linguistic, and sometimes racial and religious differences,
between their home and host culture.
This self-organised symposium focuses on the analytical method being developed by the
international research team. Data generated though 100+ focus interviews has been
transcribed, translated and collated in preparation for the analytical process. It is important that
the process of analysis and interpretation is rigorous, systematic and transparent. We wanted
consistency in the way each country team approached the analysis process so that we could,
with confidence, search, retrieve and interpret data across the international project. This meant
we had to work together to agree a common approach to recording the transcripts, coding them
and logging them into a central database that we could all access for interpretation.
Keywords: qualitative method, data coding, cross-national research, migratory experiences
To Code or Not to Code? That is the Question!
Gilles Brougère
Université Paris 13, France
There is no code in nature, i.e. for us the flow of the discussion in the focus groups. There are
different kinds of solution to analyse the data, and coding the data with software (in our case
Hyperresearch) is one solution among others. But when we have a lot of discourses from
parents, immigrants or not, teachers, in 5 different countries (England, France, Germany, Italy,
USA) we need a way to gain general access to this data for all researchers. Coding seems for
us a means to share the data and it is an ethical issue.
It is not natural, the coding frame is a construction of a tool to work together. In this process of
construction of the tool we encountered not only methodological questions but also
epistemological ones because we needed to negotiate the meanings using for the codes, a mix
between a priori and grounded codes, to create something that it is not perfect for each country
but acceptable by all the country’s.
The process needs time (investment for the future development of the research). It is the price
for international work, which is not only the addition of national studies. We gained some other
benefits: accountability, methodological rigour and transparency of the process of analysing the
data.
This paper will present these questions without hiding the limitation of this approach.
Keywords: methodology, ethic of research, epistemology, meanings
The Science and Art of Developing a Coding Frame and Protocol
Jennifer Adair
State University of Arizona, USA
The Children Crossing Borders Project is an international comparative research endeavour.
Within the project are 5 countries, 15 languages, 30+ immigrant groups and over 200 focus
groups. In order to compare data sets across national and international lines (not to mention
language groups, gender, teacher/parent, etc.) we decided to invest in a coding software
system to organize and make searchable our data. The system we selected was
Hyperresearch.
This presentation and resulting paper will outline the process of developing the international
coding framework and how technology shaped the decisions and compromises we made as an
international team. There was a continuous negotiation between rationality and intuition, linear
logic and creativity. This negotiation followed the same struggles found in most ethnographic
methodology and proved challenging. As in any coding process, there were limitations to the
software. However, these limitations were often compounded by technological issues
surrounding language, cross-national reliability, and computer knowledge.
This presentation will address 1) How the software shaped our decisions about the coding
framework and how the coding framework was negotiated and organized, 2) the benefits and
limitations of coding and 3) the coding protocol we have been using for the CCB project and
how it fits into the data organization and analysis phase of the project. This presentation is
meant for those interested in the coding process and in the balance of technology and
ethnographic research. It will be a realistic view of the coding process in a cross-national
context.
Keywords: ethnographic method, data analysis, culture and research, international collaboration
in research, coding software
The Power and Potential of Coding as a Connecting Process
Chris Pascal, Guilia Pastori and Annika Sulzer
Centre for Research in Early Childhood in Birmingham, England, United Kingdom
Negotiating a cross-national agreement of the coding framework and the coding protocols was
an enormously challenging but rewarding experience. Meeting together, under considerable
time pressures, and as representatives and therefore the mouthpiece of our fellow country team
members introduced an added ethical and political dynamic into the work we were undertaking
collaboratively. This presentation will explore and explain the processes we experienced as we
worked together to develop the coding framework and protocols. It will provide three intercultural
narratives of the negotiation process, the lived reality of how and when we managed to meet
together, the contexts of our meetings and our preparations for them. It will share the crossnational and intercultural tensions and excitements of joint working, the power relations that
came into play, and the social and emotional intelligences we each employed to make progress
and keep us all on track in our joint endeavour. The three narratives will set out from three
perspectives what we gained and what we gave up, how the process of developing the frame
led to deeper reflections on the data and how we have grown through the experience to
understand and respect each other in a deeper and more authentic way in the five country
teams.
Keywords: qualitative method, coding, data analysis, cross-national working, focus groups
intervie
Symposium III/19 Policy and Practice in Inclusive Education
Individual papers
Chair:
Natalia Sofiy
Ukrainian Step by Step Foundation, Ukraine
ID-148
It Takes Two to Tango - Including the Including?
Goran Lassbo
Department of Education, Göteborg University, Sweden
The presentation reports the findings of an interview study carried out with a number of Swedish
special education pedagogues. As members of a basically new profession they were trained to
practise a new way to arrange pupils' and children's well fare programmes in schools and in preschools. New ideologic ideas on the inclusion of children in special needs within the regular
practices were expected to be implemented by replacing the old special needs teacher, mainly
directed to single children's problems, by a new professional who would rearrange the local
educational system's scene and, mainly by the systematic support of regular teachers, prevent
children from exclusion. The pedagogues report severe resistance from various levels in the
education system when trying to alter it into a more inclusive practice. In the theoretical terms of
Giddens their professional situations are analysed and related to the power structure of their
systems' power structure. In a situation where they feel deserted and unwanted in their
professional role, the special pedagogues invent a number of strategies in order to survive in
the school system. Several serve children in problem situations well, but few if any, work in line
with the expected role they were trained for by a long, university level in-service training.
Teachers' normal resistance to systems' changes with a resulting 'ontological anguish', in
combination with an unanchored top-down implementation process are brought forward as
possible sources of the results. Effects for children's and pupils' well fare programmes are
discussed.
Keywords: inclusive education, Giddens, strategies, special needs education
ID-217
Inclusion in Early Childhood Education: A Rich Tapestry of Diversity
Clouded by Considerable Challenge
Kathleen Clark and Frances Ross-Watt
University of Strathclyde, Faculty of Education, United Kingdom
Recent legislation in Scotland takes cognizance of diversity in ensuring equality of opportunity
for all children. Inclusion and equality are national priorities for schools and nurseries in the
21st. Century and a robust framework of connected bands of legislation supports the rights of
every child to reach his/her full potential. This paper presents the findings of a research project
which set out to highlight the impact of legislation on nursery and school staffs' understanding of
and response to children's diverse needs. The project's goal was to create materials that would
enable school staff to have ownership of the process of change required to support inclusive
practices. In turn, this would help to better support or "scaffold" children’s learning and
development. Survey results within one education authority highlighted that there was indeed a
rich tapestry of diverse needs across the school population of children particularly with regard to
early childhood education but that gaps in nursery and school staffs' understanding of needs
and their attitudes towards inclusion in general, raised questions about the appropriateness of
the educational experiences of the children. It became clear that staff viewed inclusion as
presenting considerable challenge. Some examples of good inclusive school practices were
illuminated in the study and these were examined in more detail to identify how perceived
challenge could be reduced/ overcome to the benefit of staff and children in early childhood
education. Where effective teaching and learning was in place, it was evident that all children
were valued equally and were accepted within the rich tapestry of diversity that represents
schools and classrooms of the present and the future.
Keywords: inclusion, diversity, needs, challenge
ID-235
Children with Disabilities: Improving Attitudes, Practices and Policies
Ulviya Mikailova
Centre for Innovations in Education, Azerbaijan
A four-year long pilot project on Inclusive Education launched by Centre for Innovations in
Education (CIE) has started in June 2004 and still continues. During this period 165 children
with various mental and physical diagnoses receiving home education were integrated into
regular classrooms. The overall goal of the evaluation was to assess the impact of inclusive
education project on its participants (children with special needs, their parents as well as
teachers, children without special needs and their parents). The evaluation study has aimed to
identify (1) what changes occurred among all participants of the pilot project and especially their
classmates (2) what factors of inclusive educational environment promoted and what factors
hampered the development and adjustment of participants.
The study analysed both educational and psychological aspects of the new educational
environment. The project participants were assessed for changes in their attitudes, knowledge,
skills, and behaviour toward children with special needs. Cognitive, emotional and social areas
of child’s development were also measured to track the progress of child throughout the project.
The main finding of the evaluation study clearly indicated that the pilot project has the potential
to make significant contributions in the developing democratic environment through the range of
educational and related interventions and services they receive, and the functioning of children.
Based on the outcomes of the pilot project, the recommendations for introducing the nationwide
programme on inclusive education are being developed to be included as a part of the national
ECD policy.
Co-authors:
Elnara Gani-Zade and Lamiya Baylarova, Centre for Innovations in Education
Kamil Aliyev, Brown School of Social Work, Washington University in Saint Louis
Keywords: children with disabilities, inclusive education, evaluation, pilot project
Symposium III/20 Policy and Practice in Inclusive Education
Individual papers
Chair:
To be determined
ID-61
Multimodal Meaning Making in Special and Inclusive Pre-school: The
Experiences of a Young Child with Learning Difficulties
Rosie Flewitt
Centre for Research in Education and Educational Technology, The Open University, United Kingdom
Recent wide-ranging policy reforms in UK early years education have included moves to
intervene early in the lives of young children with learning difficulties and to expand inclusive
education. Despite these moves, many parents of young children with special educational
needs remain unconvinced about the desirability of mainstream placements, and opt for a
combination of both mainstream/inclusive and special settings to 'get the best of both worlds’.
This paper reports on the experiences of a 4-year-old girl whose parents had opted for her to
attend a local inclusive pre-school and a specially resourced 'children’s centre’. The data is
taken from a small-scale study, (funded by Rix, Thompson, Rothenberg Foundation), that
adopted a socio-cultural approach to learning (Vygotsky, 1978) to investigate how children
negotiated the three different communicative and social environments of home, special and
inclusive settings. Using ethnographic case studies, video observations captured the multisensory, multimodal dynamism of the children’s meaning-making, and semi-structured
interviews with staff and parents revealed different constructions of particular events and child
needs. Data were collected during one week in Spring and one in Summer 2007. The study
findings give insights into how the macro processes embodied in the organizational structures
and practices of different settings impacted upon the micro processes of children’s everyday
learning, and will be of interest to researchers, policy makers and to parents facing decisions
about whether or not to combine settings
References
Vygotsky, L.S. (1978) Mind in Society: the development of higher psychological processes, Cambridge, MA: Harvard
University Press.
Keywords: early years, inclusive education, multimodality, special educational needs
ID-185
Portfolios, A Tool of Inclusive Practice
Bronwyn Glass
Botany Downs Kindergarten, Manukau Institute of Technology, New Zealand
"You can't be a little bit included anymore than you can be a little bit pregnant," (Forest, 1989).
The Salamanca Statement (UNESCO, 1994) noted that inclusive educational settings have
specific aspects in place that aid their inclusiveness; they will be child centred, respond to
children both individually and within a group, paying attention to how each child learns. Most
significantly, inclusive settings are welcoming, building collaboration between its members
(UNESCO, 1994).
Botany Downs Kindergarten is one of six current Centres of Innovation in New Zealand. Their
three- year action research examines how an inclusive environment enhances the learning of all
children and how visual tools invite and extend engagement with children and their families?
The research is qualitative in approach (Holstein & Gubrium) and interpretivist in tradition
(Schwandt, 2003). The research began with a questionnaire to parents seeking feedback about
their child's learning portfolio. Four key themes emerged: insight into their child's day and
learning; record of their child's achievements; memories and opportunities to revisit; valuing
teacher input into their child's portfolio. The children were interviewed with regards to their
portfolios and two resounding connections emerged: they valued the entries from home; they
valued the documentation that had familiar connections for them. The extended teaching team
filled out questionnaires and taken part in a focus group; past pupils were interviewed. Data is
currently being analysed. Feedback from digital portfolios is now being sought and exit
interviews developed. As a result of the research a wealth of new initiatives have been
implemented in their kindergarten programme.
Keywords: inclusion, engagement, connections, collaboration
ID-221
The Crossing Borders Project: “A Passport in Hand, Competent Learners
Go to School”
Carol Hartley
Mangere Bridge Kindergarten, Centre of Innovation 2006-2008, New Zealand
In 2006, Mangere Bridge Kindergarten was chosen as a Centre of Innovation for the Ministry of
Education, New Zealand Centre of Innovation project 2006- 2008 (Ministry of Education, 2002).
Their innovation “Crossing Borders” has revolved around the development of a relationship with
Mangere Bridge School which explored ways of building more reciprocal relationships between
the two sites and improving the value and use of documentation that travels with children when
they start school (Carr, 2006; McNaughton, 1998). The study takes a socio-cultural (Vygotsky,
1978 Rogoff, 1990) and ecological (Bronfenbrenner, 1979) perspective and explores the ways
in which documentation, using ICTs became a tool for building relationships and strengthening
literacy acquisition for new entrants at school.
This presentation using one or two case studies shares work in progress and illustrates the
value of early childhood documentation in assisting oral, visual and written literacy for new
entrants.
References:
Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979). The ecology of human development: Experiments by nature and design. Cambridge, MA:
Harvard University Press.
Carr, M. (2006). Learning Dispositions and Key Competencies: a new curriculum continuity across the sector? SET:
Research information for Teachers,2.
McNaughton, S. (1998). Activating Developmental Processes Over the Transition to School. Children Issues.2(1). 3438.
Ministry of Education, (2002). Pathways to the future: Nga Huarahi Arataki; A Ten Year Strategic Plan for early
Childhood Education. Wellington: Learning Media.
Rogoff, B. (1990). Apprenticeship and thinking: Cognitive Development in social contexts. New York: Oxford
University Press.
Vygotsky, L, S. (1978). Mind in society. Cambridge: Harvard University Press
Co-Authors:
Carol Hartley, Frances Boyce, Mangere Bridge Kindergarten; Norma Gibbs and Emma
Ritzema-Bain Mangere Bridge School; Margaret Carr and Sally Peters, Waikato University.
Keywords: transition, continuity, documentation, literacy
Symposium III/21 Teacher Training
Individual papers
Chair:
Marina Mrktchyan
Step by Step Benevolent Foundation, Armenia
ID-197
Crossing Borders: The Transition to Higher Education
Hilary Fabian
The North East Wales Institute, United Kingdom
This research seeks to explore ways of harmonising the transition to Higher education for Early
Years students. This paper describes a project devised to identify concerns of Welsh and
English early years students as they made the transition to Higher education. It addresses ways
of providing support to help develop resilience at times of change and ways to draw on the
diverse backgrounds of students to help one another in their learning. The research aimed to
find ways to diminish anxieties and increase confidence at transfer for students; and to identify
issues that staff could address for future year-groups. It explores transition questions
concerning:
• expectations of, and support for, learning;
• social aspects during transition;
• acculturation into new settings;
• improvements that could be made to the transition process for future groups.
The paper draws on the work of Bruner, Bronfenbrenner and Vygotsky to explore cultural
acculturation during transition and ways of supporting individuals’ social well-being, emotional
resilience and cognitive development.
As part of an introductory module, thirty-five Early Childhood Studies students were asked to
write about their experiences of transition to Higher education and send this as an attachment to
their tutor.
The analysis resulted in the identification of several common themes including work load,
communication, level of support, friendships, and home/study balance. The most positive
aspects were highlighted as social in nature and the most negative aspects were organisational
and academic.
The paper draws parallels with, and explores common theoretical principles of, the transition
that children make at the start of schooling such as bringing together diverse cultures and
languages; links Every Child Matters (http://www.everychildmatters.gov.uk) to the Higher
education sector; and identifies possible procedures to address transition concerns.
Keywords: transition, change, support
ID-119
Reshaping Early Childhood Teacher Education: Who is in Charge of Policy
Reform?
Manjula Waniganayake
Macquarie University, Australia
The role of early childhood teachers is undergoing major revisioning in Australia. Increasingly,
they are expected to move away from being a teacher of young children, to adopting leadership
roles within their communities. For many years now, teacher education quality has been the
subject of government reviews and public commentary. Within the current wave of government
led reform reshaping teacher education in Australia, it is unclear what will happen to early
childhood teacher education programmes.
So far, external drivers have been dominating the reform agenda in teacher education. There is
consensus among stakeholders consisting of government, teachers, and teacher educators that
early childhood teacher preparation requires revisioning in keeping with future workplace
demands. It is important that the early childhood profession lead this policy debate and direct
the change agenda. This presentation will begin with a critique of evolving trends in early
childhood teacher education policy in Australia, highlighting traditional, taken-for-granted beliefs
and assumptions about teacher preparation. During this dialogue, conference participants will
be drawn into reflecting critically on early childhood teacher education in their own countries
through personal perceptions, practices and provocations. Research data looking at graduate
teacher attributes based on perceptions of early childhood teacher educators and students will
be used to highlight challenges of policy reform. These conversations are a necessary first step
in establishing a graduate profile that can be used as a framework to guide early childhood
teacher education in the future.
Co-authors: Associate Professor Manjula Waniganayake, Associate Professor Alma Fleet and
Ms. Marianne Fennech
Keywords: policy reform, teacher education in early childhood, workplace reform
ID-130
The Effects of Turkish Curriculum of Teacher Training for Supporting
Language Acquisition: The Turkish Example of TESSLA Project
Ayla Oktay, Alev Önder and Özgül Polat Unutkan
University of Marmara, Turkey
TESSLA (Teacher Education for Supporting Second Language Acquisition) is a Comenius 2.1
Project for an interdisciplinary and holistic approach towards language acquisition. The subject
matter of “TESSLA” is teacher education in pre-school and primary education in the domain of
language development. The project partners are; France, England, Germany, Turkey, Sweden,
Estonia. This study describes the results of Turkish pilot course.
In the Turkish pilot course, whole language approach, communicative teaching methods (such
as educational drama), constructivist approach and parental involvement have been
concentrated on since these approaches are beneficial because they emphasize that the
learning person should be the active participant of her/or his learning.
It is generally assumed that during teacher training, the courses which consist of language
activities requiring sensitivity to language use, presentation of different contents by using
various methods may equip student teachers with abilities which will give them readiness for the
professional work with children. Cultural and intercultural sensitivity of teachers related to
language development and language use of young children seems also an important quality,
which student teachers should acquire. Due to this idea, the course also targeted to make
student teachers more aware of cultural and intercultural factors related to effective language
supporting.
The results of the study indicated that the pilot course had positive effects on the awareness of
student teachers on cultural and intercultural factors related to effective language supporting in
Turkish language.
References
Aktan Kerem, E. (2001) “Okul Öncesi Dönem Çocuklarında Okuma Gelişimi Ve Okumaya Hazırlık Programmeının
Etkisinin Değerlendirilmesi," Yayınlanmamış Doktora Tezi. Marmara Üniversitesi Eğitim Bilimleri Enstitüsü, 1996.
Oktay, A. (1983). School Readiness. Istanbul: Istanbul University, Publications of Faculty.
Önder, A. (2004). Educational Drama in Pre-school. Istanbul: Mor-Pa Publications.
Unutkan,
Özgül
P.
(2005)
Stories
Based
on
Activities,
Istanbul:
Mor-Pa
Keywords: teacher training, curriculum development, language acquisition
Symposium III/22 Policy of Early Education in Different Countries
Publications
Individual papers
Chair:
Zorica Trikić
CIP - Center for Interactive Pedagogy, Republic of Serbia
ID-296
ZOP²: Critical Thinking, Untested Feasibilities and Zones of Professional
Development
Mathias Urban
Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg, Germany
Early childhood education and care has moved up international policy agendas, driven by
common concerns about employment, competitiveness, gender equality and, to a lesser extent,
about children’s rights and social inclusion. There appears to be a consensus on the need for
more and higher quality services, increasing integration of ‘care’ and ‘education’, and enhanced
training and status for the workforce whose members are seen as essential to quality provision.
But this consensus does not extend to how to achieve these goals: national policies towards the
early childhood profession vary to a great extent.
Internationally, an emerging discourse on professionalism in early childhood emphasises the
importance of critical reflectiveness, professional autonomy and habitus over the mere
acquirement of skills and techniques.
Coincidentally, early childhood practitioners in many countries are facing a parallel and
increasingly influential discourse on ‘outcomes’, ‘quality’, ‘curriculum’ and other means of
regulation which leaves them with a fundamental dilemma: They are expected to achieve
predetermined outcomes in a working context that is increasingly diverse and less predictable.
Drawing on qualitative data and preliminary findings of the ‘Strategies for Change’ project – an
international study of processes of change in early childhood systems – this paper explores
notions of professionalism in the light of the work of two thinkers who have been most influential
for shaping our understandings of early childhood practices: Lev Vygotsky and Paolo Freire. It
discusses the possibility of policy-practice-relationships that allow for and encourage the
development of critical thinking and embrace ‘untested feasibilities’ rather than predetermined
outcomes.
Keywords: professionalism, critical thinking, change
ID-263
Competing Professional Identities in Contemporary Early Childhood
Education: The Hegemony of Children’s Chronological Age in Early Childhood
Educators’ Sense of Identity
Susan Krieg
School of Education, Flinders University, South Australia, Australia
As early childhood professionals we draw from many discourses about what it means to work
with young children and communities. The analytical work that is presented in this paper
involves an exploration of how some interview participants, ‘hook into’ discourses of what is
involved in ‘being early childhood teachers’ (Smith, 1999). In the paper I examine and discuss
how a discourse of the ‘developing’ child, with its emphasis on chronological age, constructs
particular identity positions for children and the adults who work with them. I also demonstrate
how a discourse of ‘normality’ constructs teacher’s work with children who are assigned to
categories of ‘difference’.
Using critical discourse analysis, I explore how some beginning early childhood educators'
position themselves, and are positioned, by understandings of the ‘child’. This focus on children
is particularly relevant to understanding teacher identity for, in educational contexts, teachers
and children are inextricably linked. My analysis explores and adds to the conclusion reached
by Comber and Cormack (1996) that the early childhood teacher is for the ‘most part
constructed as a secondary and contingent subject in relation to how the curriculum and the
child are understood’ (p.3).
Keywords: professional identity, early childhood educator, social construction of childhood,
diversity
ID-92
Professional Identity in the Early Years Workforce in England: Introducing
Voice and Visibility
Gillian McGillivray
Newman College of Higher Education, United Kingdom
Policy in England has created a new status of Early Years Professional’ thus imposing
professionalisation of the workforce. What views are held by members of the workforce of such
professionalisation and their existing professional identity? The research aimed to investigate
notions of professional identity within the workforce using interviews and discussions, building
on previous text based research. Prior research revealed a lack of voice and visibility of the
workforce in texts, policy and reports, and the use of interviews and discussions is intended to
redress such imbalance. A theoretical framework identified by Tucker (2004), where macro and
micro levels of roles, relationships, day to day lives and expectations as aspects of experience
that influence professional identity were considered for potential conflict and tension.
Emerging findings suggest that significant change may have created levels of uncertainty for
some, and that there are complex and enduring aspects of professional identity that influence
perceptions. Imposed changes in training, assessment and qualifications, long held beliefs
evident in discourse, ideology and day to day practices also contribute to constructs of
professional identity.
The implications for practice are a need to recognise the complexity of professional identity and
therefore the needs of some members of workforce as they move towards professionalisation.
Keywords: professional identity, self identity, early years workforce, professionalisation
Symposium III/23 Workforce, Climate, Management, Leadership
Individual papers
Chair:
To be determined
ID-29
Reflections on
Development
Mike Gasper and Paul Watling
Leadership
Mentoring
and
the
Zone
of
Proximal
Centre for Research in Early Childhood in Birmingham, United Kingdom
This reflective presentation will explore the experiences of two leadership mentors working in
the field of Integrated Children's Centres in the United Kingdom. The co-presenters will explore
the ZPD in relation to both mentees and mentors and implications for practice. Areas to be
explored include the mentor as: learner; leader; mirror; shoulder; ladder; critical friend and agent
provocateur, in facilitating the ZPD. The reflective discussion will be grounded in literature
including the perspectives offered by (inter alia) Vygotsky, Friere; Goleman; Clutterbuck and
Knowles. The discussion will aim to include aspects of concepts and themes such as: the praxis
of mentoring; the influence of professional heritage on the leadership mentoring experience; the
non-deficit approach to andragogy; the mutuality of the mentoring experience. The discussion
leaders aim to promote dialogue which will enrich, develop and extend the understanding of
participants of issues around leadership mentoring and how this knowledge may influence and
be used in practice.
Keywords: mentoring, leadership, children's centres
ID-222
“Get Back in Your Box”: How an Interpreted Culture Impacts Leadership
Aspirations and Behaviours
Louise Hard
Charles Sturt University, Australia
This paper relates to the conference strand of Policy and practice. Across areas of policy and
practice, the notion of leadership is contentious, particularly if one aims to define it as a stable
concept applicable to multiple situations. It emerges as a concept very much defined by the
context in which it occurs as well as the social and cultural expectations of those within that
context. This presentation is based on a research project which explored how early childhood
practitioners understand and enact leadership within the field of early childhood education and
care (ECEC) in Australia. Through the use of interviews and leadership artefacts (including
documents, policies), data were collected and analysed using the framework of symbolic
interactionism. Participants’ understandings illustrate a complex interpretation of leadership
heavily influenced by the social and cultural contexts of their workplace and the political
contexts of the broader ECEC field. For some participants, aspects of horizontal violence,
conformity and compliance define the context and subsequently constrain leadership
aspirations. These understandings can also translate into various leadership behaviours such
as need to retain field credibility, avoid notoriety and a strongly articulated team approach.
These behaviours are often the result of the perceived expectations of others. In some cases
participants’ interpretations of the social and cultural context result in avoidance of leadership
activity.
Keywords: leadership, horizontal violence, social and cultural influences
ID-480
The Pre-school Director and the Problems in the Staff Group
Arna H. Jónsdóttir
Iceland University of Education (IUE), Iceland
In the presentation I will introduce a case study, which is a part of my doctoral study in The
Institute of Education, University of London. The background of the case study is interviews with
two pre-school directors where the findings revealed that the problems in the staff group
affected their leadership work considerably and can be talked about as adversities in their job
performance. In an interview the more successful director said: ‘what happens in the staff group
is always the most difficult part of the job, conflicts are hard and boring and the turnover rate ...if
the parents and kids were the only ones here the pre-school would be heaven...‘. The case
study is performed in one pre-school in Iceland, where the data are gathered by interviewing
focus groups, meetings are documented, and the pre-school director is shadowed. The main
focus in the study is on problems in the staff group, the communication nets, conflicts, power
relations, interests, rumours and leadership emphasis. I will especially be aware of the
communication and power relations between the unskilled staff and the professionals. In the
presentation I will discuss the research findings related to literature about the micro-politics of
educational leadership in pre-schools where mainly women are leading women.
Keywords: leadership, micro-politics, gender, case study
Symposium III/24 Images of Child in Society in Early Years Education
Individual papers
Chair:
Tim Waller
Swansea University, United Kingdom
ID- 501
Introducing Free Early Childhood Care and Education in New Zealand:
Politics and Practice 2007
Helen May
University of Otago, New Zealand
In 2007 the NZ government introduced 20 hours a week free early childhood care and education
for 3 and 4 year olds in teacher-led childcare centres and kindergartens. Children from birth to
three years will continue to receive up to 30 hours a week of subsidised care and education.
Over the past 20 years successive governments have implemented a range of policies aimed at
integrating care and education within administration, teacher education and curriculum.
Similarly, in the industrial sector where there is now a single union for teachers in, primary
schools, kindergartens and childcare centres and with (almost) equal pay coverage. The
professionalising of the early childhood sector is a remarkable story of contest and collaboration
by the government, unions, early childhood organisations and academia. This paper provides a
political - historical overview of this latest policy development and commentary on the practices
of its early implementation. There are issues to consider regarding the consequences of the
incorporation and increasing control of early childhood under the state education umbrella. The
potential standardisation of the childhood experience in similarly regulated institutions is
something to be resisted, yet many of us have campaigned for a professionalised early
childhood sector and for the state to play an active role in benchmarking quality and financing its
costs. This analysis builds upon the presenter's ongoing publications documenting early
childhood history and policy: Mind that child (1985) Discovery of early childhood (1997) Politics
in the playground (2001) Concerning women considering children (2004).
Keywords: policy, history
ID-366
Early Childhood in a Political View
Kurt Hein and Gunhild Vestergård
CVU Lillebælt Fyns Pædagogseminarium, Denmark
Modern Childhood and Learning are politically defined matters in Denmark curriculums are
formulated by the state. Social relationships are often made in institutional contexts, and social
relationships also become pedagogical and educational relationships. More and more contexts
become learning contexts for both children and adults in the development of the required
identity: competent citizens. Learning must develop individual and social competences. There
are political demands about creativity and innovation but at the same time the institutional
frames narrow and are dominated by conservation and reproduction (national cultural canon
and national tests). The parents are made responsible in the learning processes of the children
and the question is: Where does the intervention of the state stop in private life? In this context it
is interesting to notice that children with other social, cultural and ethnic backgrounds than the
white middle class are considered vulnerable, and special efforts are necessary. As teachers we
have to create conditions for learning, which are characterized by diversity and self-governance.
We must be resilient and resource-orientated, develop competences in communication,
negotiation and decision-making, which are conditions for participating in modern democracies.
How to make coherence and a separation between the educational demands and the private up
bringing? Through comparative analysis and qualitative interviews with parents and social
educators we will put into perspective this challenge in modern parenthood and educational
practice.
References:
Bente Jensen, Lars Dencik, Üzeyir Tireli, Marianne Nøhr Larsen, Iben Jensen, Jan Kampmann.
Keywords: childhood, learning, competences, democracy
ID-326
Governance of Early Care and Education: Politics and Policy in France and
Sweden
Michelle Neuman
Columbia University, USA
Early care and education (ECE) soared onto the policy agendas of OECD countries in the
1980s and 1990s. Research on the benefits of quality early childhood education for children’s
school readiness and later educational success, as well as the strong demand for child-care to
support working parents, spurred this interest in the early years of education. Despite other
cutbacks to the welfare state, many countries focused on expanding access, improving quality,
and developing more coherent early childhood policies and programmes during this period. Yet,
there has been little attention to countries’ diverse strategies for early care and education
governance – how nations allocate responsibility for decision-making and delivery within and
across administrative departments, levels of government, and public and private actors. I
hypothesize that decisions about governance shape the quality, access, and coherence of early
childhood policies and programmes. Given that most children will attend an early childhood
programme before they begin primary school, there is a need for longitudinal and cross-national
analysis on the political and policy implications of different governance arrangements. This
paper explores patterns of governance since 1980 in France and Sweden – two countries with
highly developed early childhood policies but distinct approaches toward governance. Based on
elite interviews and document analysis, I analyze the evolution and consequences of
governance decisions for quality, access, and coherence of early care and education. In
addition to its scholarly relevance, the study provides a comparative perspective on current
policy debates about integrating pre-school into the education system, decentralizing
responsibilities to lower levels of government, and expanding the private sector.
Keywords: politics, policy, governance, decentralization, privatization
Symposium III/25 Teachers’ Reflective Practice
Self-organised symposium
ID- 54
Teachers as Participants in Children's Learning Processes
Chair:
Inge Johansson
Stockholm Institute of Education, Sweden
Session overview
This symposium explores how children’s learning may be influenced by the beliefs and actions
of adults. Berit Bae, from Norway, describes narrow and spacious dialogic patterns of adult-child
interactions that may either validate children as learners or restrict them in this endeavour. Liv
Gjems, also from Norway, looks at how adult attendance in children’s construction of meaning
helps children’s learning and understanding of events. In Australia, Jo Brownlee, Donna
Berthelsen and Gillian Boulton-Lewis investigated what child-care students’ thought about their
own and children’s learning. Such beliefs may be an important factor influencing how adults
interact with children.
Keywords: children's learning, participatory learning, teacher's beliefs, epistemological beliefs
Children’s Participation: Focus on Dialogical Patterns in Early Childhood Institutions
Philos Berit Bae
Høgskolen Oslo, Norway
After a brief overview on how the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child has influenced
changes in legislation and the Norwegian national curriculum, I will discuss how dialogical
patterns of varying quality create different conditions for children’s participation in early
childhood centres. The paper will focus on how the adult’s role is qualitatively different in two
contrasting dialogical patterns.
The presentation is based on my research on interactions in pre-school settings. The
methodology is eclectic, and the empirical source material is based on participant observation in
two centres (children aged 3-6) from September to May. Everyday interactions between
teachers and children were video-filmed in three different situations (mealtime, circle-time and
free play period). Theoretically the research takes a critical stance towards the one-sidedness,
which dominates much thinking about interaction in early childhood education. Concepts like
mutual recognition and inter-subjectivity are emphasized.
Analyses of the data have brought forth much variation. Two contrasting patterns, described by
the metaphors of spacious and narrow dialogical patterns, were created as analytical tools to
highlight differences. The spacious patterns are interpreted as validating children’s' vitality and
experiences. In contrast the narrow patterns seem to constrict the children's possibilities for
expressing themselves. Spacious patterns thus contribute to an atmosphere characterized by
mutual recognition and inter-subjectivity. My conclusion is that such an atmosphere enhances
children's right to participation and contributes to democratic learning processes.
Adults as Context for Social Learning in Kindergarten
Polit Liv Gjems
Vestfold University, Norway
In this paper I will discuss the importance of adult attendance in children’s construction of
meaning. The presence of an acquainted adult will help children’s learning and understanding of
events. How a child understands an event, will depend upon how the context communicates
with the child’s experience. In a familiar context even small children can understand complex
events and abstract tasks (Nelson, 2004). I will present a study where two children, 3.2 years
and 4.2 years failed to master a test to uncover their understanding of another person’s belief
(false belief test by Perner & Wimmer, 1987). When they explained a personal experience to a
kindergarten teacher in a narrative context, they clearly expressed that they understood that she
did not share their understanding. One of the children expressed in her narrative that ghosts
scared her, and she was curiously asking what the teacher meant about this. The other child
understood that the teacher had the wrong information about what his daddy was doing at work,
and therefore misunderstood his narrative. Kindergarten teachers represent an important part of
children’s learning about other people’s beliefs and their understanding of social interaction.
Through narrative practice children will experience that people may think and believe different
things, and that they will act according to their thoughts
Exploring Beliefs about Learning and Knowledge of Students in Child-Care Training
Programmes: Beliefs about Children’s Learning and Personal Epistemology
Jo Brownlee, Donna Berthelsen and Gillian Boulton-Lewis
QUT, Australia
Epistemological beliefs (beliefs about knowing and learning) have provided interesting insights
into how adults support effective learning in children, however to date, little research has taken
place in early childhood settings. The aim of this research was to investigate child-care
students’ beliefs about their own and children’s learning. Thirty-three 1st and 2nd year students
completing a Diploma of Children's Services were invited to participate in this interview study,
which used a child-care scenario as stimulus for reflection.
Some students described their own learning as tentative, evolving and needing to be backed up
with evidence. These beliefs were referred to as complex evaluativism. Such students
conceived of children as competent learners who constructed their own understanding of the
world. Other students described Practical evaluativism, which is similar to complex evaluativism
however the focus of analysis is on practices rather than theoretical knowledge. These students
did not describe children as competent constructors of knowledge, but believed they needed to
be active in their own learning. Another group of students thought that learning for them was
about using one’s personal opinions that did not need to be substantiated with evidence
(subjectivism). Such students described children’s learning as a process of observing and
repeating others behaviours.
The study demonstrated that how child-care workers think about their own learning is related to
how they think children learn. This suggests that in order to promote constructivist beliefs and
practices in child-care, professional preparation programmes need to promote complex
evaluativistic beliefs about knowing and learning. Helping students to reflect on both experience
(including skills and practices) and personal beliefs in the light of evidence and theory may
move epistemological beliefs and practices beyond practical evaluativism to ensure that both
practice and theory are connected and evidenced based.
Symposium III/26 Innovation: Implementing Theory into Practice
Individual papers
Chair:
Rosemary Roberts
University of Worcester, United Kingdom
ID-17
Narratives about “The Best Practice” in Pre-school
Annica Löfdahl and Héctor Pérez Prieto
Karlstad University, Sweden
This paper is part of an ongoing project with the purpose to contribute to an increased
understanding of the Swedish pre-school as a societal institution and how its actors perform in
different situations. The decentralized and goal directed pre-school seems to be built on
relations between policy technologies, demands of performativity and the professionals’
positioning.
The theoretical framework is based on two parallel and interrelated theoretical strands,
technologies and positioning, in order to inform about the underlying ideologies (policies,
rhetoric and theories) that guide the professionals. A further theoretical strand is narrative theory
that we use to regard technologies and positioning as narratives about the pre-school.
Analyses of teachers’ planning- and evaluation documents and interviews with the teachers and
their school leader show their common efforts to perform “a best practice”. This is in
correspondence with both external demands from local and governmental policy-makers as well
as own interests in shaping an activity built on children’s needs and teachers’ competence and
interests.
Keywords: policy technologies, performativity, best practice, narratives
ID- 57
Wartime Nursery, Nursery, Neighbourhood Nursery, Children's Centre: the
Changing Role of Early Years Provision
Jane Murray and Eunice Lumsden
The University of Northampton, United Kingdom
England is currently facing a plethora of policy initiatives aimed at raising the quality of services
for children and their families (Children’s Workforce Development Council, 2006). This paper
reports on a study of one local authority early years’ setting that not only reflects historical
changes in provision but also the importance of being responsive to policy initiatives. It has had
to compete with the growth of private, voluntary and independent settings offering full time day
care aimed at meeting changing workforce patterns.
It has focused on future direction to ensure that it continues to have a role in providing the
highest quality early childhood education and care in a changing and competitive market place.
Therefore it has made the transition into becoming a children’s centre (Department of Education
and Skills, 2004).
This paper reports on the two-stage small-scale research project aimed at capturing the views
of staff prior to, and one year after, becoming a children’s centre. It aims to enable their
experiences to be disseminated so that they can impact on future development. Initial findings
indicate a positive response to the change but considerable concerns relating to the practical
and financial support provided.
Children’s Workforce Development Council (2006) Developing the Early Years Workforce. [online] Available from:
www.cwdcouncil.org.uk [Accessed 5th January 2007].
Department of Education and Skills. (2004) Every Child Matters: Change for Children. London: HMSO.
Keywords: policy, children's centres, finance, support
ID-248
Evaluating and Improving Quality of a Network of Infant-Toddler Day-Care
Centres in a Metropolitan Area
Tullia Musatti
Institute of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies, Italy
This paper will present a project of evaluation of infant-toddler day-care centres realised on
demand of the City of Rome. In Rome, in the last five years, the local government has
undergone a process of accreditation and subsidization of 75 private centres and requested an
evaluation of their educational quality. The project implemented an articulated system of
monitoring and evaluation aimed at building up an integrated network of public and subsidized
centres and at improving the quality of all the centres in Rome. In the system the function of
monitoring and controlling was thus changed into a shared process of discussion on the
definition and evaluation of quality by a variety of participants. The local government agents and
the private managers of the centres were requested to share the documentation, analysis, and
evaluation of the different components of the quality of each service. The evaluation judgements
were based on the documentation realised during a continuous process accompanying the
educational process in the service and discussed with the teachers of the centres. The
children’s parents were also involved in the process of evaluation. This paper will discuss the
value of an approach to the evaluation of early educational services based on inter-subjectivity
and participation of many stakeholders.
Co-authors: Isabella Di Giandomenico & Mariacristina Picchio, Institute of Cognitive Sciences
and Technologies, Rome, Italy
Keywords: evaluation, participation, inter-subjectivity, local welfare
FRIDAY, 31ST AUGUST
SYMPOSIUM SET IV
Symposium IV/1
14:00 – 15:30
Vygotsky on Human Nature and Human Development
Keynote session
Chair:
James Wertsch
McDonnell International Scholars Academy, Washington University, USA
Symposium IV/2
Parents Perspective and Family Involvement
Individual papers
Chair:
Marcela Strakova
Step by Step, Czech Republic
ID-93
Affordances; Crossing the Border from the Personal Perceptual Schemas
to Socially Mediated Learning Dispositions
Martin Needham
University of Wolverhampton, United Kingdom
The aim of the study is to research partnership between parents and early childhood education
staff. The purpose of the thesis is to find out discursive meanings and interpretations teachers
give to partnership. The presentation focuses on a home visit as a partnership / relationship
constructing practise. The functioning partnership between parents and day care personnel
does not evolve by itself, but requires mutual commitment. Far too often collaboration begins
first when a child has entered the centre. The staff rarely discusses with parents before the
start. In the Finnish partnership model a caregiver is encouraged to visit child's home and have
an introductory discussion with parents in good time before the start. At the same time a child
and a teacher get a chance to become acquainted with each other at the child's developmental
environment at home. The ecological theory of child development as well as theories of
professional communication and partnership forms the theoretical basis. The data consists of
six theme interviews, three peer interviews and eleven group discussions of six early childhood
teachers. As a research method is used qualitative discourse analysis. A discourse analyse of
the teachers' talk reveals, that teachers interpret the role of the home visit in various ways. The
tentative results reveal service-centred talk, home-centred talk, parent-centred talk, childcentred talk and professional-centred talk. The results imply that visiting child's home as part of
the early childhood education partnership process requires good professional communication
skills and re-evaluation of caregiver's professional role.
Reference
Barlow, J., Broclehurs, N. Stewart-Brown, S., Davis, H., Burns, C., Cagghan, H. & Tucer, J. (2003). Working in
partnership: the development of a home visiting service for vulnerable families. Child Abuse Review, 12, 172-189.
Brofenbrenner, Urie (1979). The Ecology of Human Development. Experiments by human and nature. Cambridge.
Hicks, Deborah (ed.) (1996). Discourse, learning and schooling. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press.
Keywords: partnership, professional, parent, home-visit
ID-94
The Role of Parents in the Early Years: The Relationship between
Research, Ethics and Politics
Michel Vandenbroeck
Department of Social Welfare Studies, Ghent University, Belgium
Recent research (e.g. EPPE) has again stressed the importance. Consequently, the relationship
between families and the state regarding parental support is again a point of discussion. In
English speaking countries, the discourse on parental support seems to be embedded in the
concept of the social investment state. In France, it is dominated by the concept of prevention
(of adolescent delinquency) in the early years. In Flanders, later school achievement is the
central concern. In all these cases it seems that the focus on children as being “in need” is
contingent with a suspicious look at parents as being deficient. Parents have seldom been part
of the definition of problems they are believed to be causing.
Ongoing research in Italy, (see for instance the contribution of Tullia Musatti at the EECERA
conference in Glasgow) an example of how the meaning making by parents is taken into
account in relation to the socialisation of children and parents. Inspired by this work and the
work of Jo Hermanns in The Netherlands, a study is developed Brussels and Ghent. In this
paper, I propose to critically discuss dominant paradigms in research on parental support and to
elaborate the paradigms that are founding this ongoing research in Brussels and Ghent. In the
Brussels’ study, data from 250 mothers are obtained through interviews and a survey
questionnaire. Parents vary according to ethnicity and SES. The survey looks at socialization of
young children as well as of mothers and how these make us of formal as well as informal
networks in this respect.
Keywords: parent support, prevention, socialisation, policy
ID-203
Role of an Adult in the Development of a Child: Evidence from a Homebased Intervention Program
Deniz Senocak
Mother Child Education Foundation, Turkey
The paper presents the results of an evaluation research on a nation wide home intervention
programme, namely the Mother-Child Education Programme, which is implemented in low SES
contexts. The component of the programme, which aims to foster the cognitive development of
the child is based on literacy and numeracy activities where the mother as a mediator is
involved in scaffolding dialogues to make the child function in the zone of proximal
development. The research aimed to study the impact of the programme both on children and
mothers right after the termination of the programme and at the end of their first year of formal
schooling. A pre-post control group quasi-experimental design was used. There were 102
experimental and 115 control mother-child pairs, the total sample being 217. The results
revealed that the programme has important effects on the cognitive development of the child as
reflected in the significant increase in the performance of the trained group with respect to preliteracy and pre-numeracy skills. When the children were followed in their first year of schooling
the experimental children were found to be better in literacy and numeracy skills at school and
had started to read earlier. Their end of year passing grades were better than their counterparts
and teachers perceived them more socially and cognitively ready. The findings, which indicated
a positive change in child rearing practices of the trained group, reflects the presence of certain
mother-child interactions which lead to more adequate growth and development of children.
Co-author: Sevda Bekman, (Bogazici University & Mother Child Education Foundation)
Keywords: home intervention, family literacy, home environment
Symposium IV/3
Co-operation between Families and Teachers
Self-organised symposium
ID-334
Trust and Co-operation between Pre-school Teachers and Parents
Chair:
Eve Kikas
University of Tartu, Estonia
Session overview
The essential role of parents, teachers, and other competent persons in children’s development
was stressed already by Vygotsky. Today, the value parents’ involvement in their children’s
educational process on developmental and educational outcomes is widely acknowledged by
researchers but still not fully realized in practice. Involvement presumes co-operation between
parents and teachers, which, in turn, presumes trust from both sides. Building co-operation and
partnership needs effort and knowledge, but it is also influenced by cultural and personal values
and beliefs.
In the symposium we analyse and discuss family-(pre)school co-operation and trust in teachers
and parents from Estonia and Finland – the countries with similar Finno-Ugrian roots but
different histories after World War II. Estonia has been independent only last 15 years. The
earlier soviet ideology valued authoritarian parenting and teaching, relationship between family
and school was official but not substantial. Today, both teachers and parents have learnt more
about modern democratic ideas of upbringing and educating; still, values are not easily
changed. Finland has been a democratic country with highly developed social, health care, and
educational system for a long time. The role of parents and the importance of home-school trust
and co-operation has been acknowledged by parents and teachers but also officially supported.
Due to these differences between cultures, we expect differences between Estonian and
Finnish parents’ and teachers’ co-operation and trust in partnership. Due to greater changes in
Estonia, there is more variety may be expected in Estonian participants’ answers.
Keywords: cooperation, trust, family involvement
Family Involvement and Trust in Kindergarten and School
Airi Niilo
University of Tartu, Estonia
It has been shown that family involvement in children’s education (including involvement in
home- and kindergarten/school-related academic activities, and conferencing with teachers) is
positively related to children’s achievement and well-being. Additionally, trust between parents
and teachers is an important component of family’s involvement in children's education. In
independent Estonia, kindergarten- and school-family relationship has changed in the last
decade when we started to speak about a child-centred approach and stressed the importance
of co-operation and partnership. Some kindergartens (e.g., with Step by Step methodology)
specifically stress the parents’ involvement.
In the study, we investigated the family involvement and trust in kindergarten and primary
school children’s parents. Family Involvement Questionnaire (Fantuzzo et al., 2000) and Trust
Scale (Adams & Christenson, 2000) were adapted into Estonian. As in the original scale, factor
analyses revealed three involvement dimensions: school-based involvement, home-based
involvement and home-school conferencing. The participants were parents of kindergarten
(N=531), grade 1 (N=39), grade 2 (N=61), grade 4 (N=41), and grade 6 (N=55) children. A part
of the kindergartens used Step by Step methodology.
Results indicated higher level of trust in kindergarten than in elementary school children’s
parents. A decline in levels of trust for teachers across the grade levels emerged. Study
revealed that kindergarten-related involvement was higher than school-related involvement,
conferencing with teachers was lower in grades 4 and 6, parents were involved in home-related
academic activities most frequently in grades 1 and 2. Differences between Step by Step and
other kindergartens were not found.
Co-authors: E. Kikas, M. Veisson, M. Hinn, K. Kööp
Parent-Teacher Trust and Possibilities of Co-operation
Marita Kontoniemi
University of Jyväskylä, Finland
The socio-cultural theory emphasizes the role of the culture, family and parents in children’s
development. It has been acknowledged both by parents and professionals that trust is an
important prerequisite when building family-teacher relationships. The aim of the study is to
compare the trust in partnership between Estonian and Finnish parents and pre-school
teachers. The data were collected from Estonian and Finnish children’s parents and pre-school
teachers by questionnaires about parent-teacher co-operation and trust (Trust Scale by Adams
& Christenson, 2000). The sample consisted of 139 Finnish and 302 Estonian pre-school
children’s parents and 16 Finnish and 70 Estonian teachers.
Despite cultural differences, the results in both countries were quite similar. In both countries,
parents reported high trust in teachers and teachers in parents; it was a bit higher in parents
than in teachers. Also, in both countries, both the parents and teachers regarded their
relationships very satisfying. The current paper analyses and discusses these results, taking
into account the cultural background and peculiarities of educational system.
Co-authors: P-L Poikkonen, E. Kikas, M. Kontoniemi, H. Rasku-Puttonen, M.-K. Lerkkanen, A.M. Poikkeus, M. Veisson, M. Hinn, K. Kööp
From Co-operation to Partnership between Parents and Pre-school Teachers
Pirjo-Liisa Poikonen
University of Jyväskylä, Finland
The central object of Finnish pre-schools and basic schools is to support children’s growth,
development and learning by emphasizing co-operation between parents and teachers. Role of
parents is one of the current topics in educational practice both in pre-school and in basic
school. Also national guidelines emphasize that early childhood education (including pre-school
education) and basic education should form a continuum where children should experience a
smooth, coherent, and secure transition from pre-school to school. This requires home-preschool-school partnership. The aim of the present study is to investigate the co-operation
between parents and teachers. The study is a part of the larger research project Learning
interactions between teachers, parents and children which belongs to the Centre of Excellence
on Learning and Motivation situated in the University of Jyväskylä for years 2006-2011. At the
first year the data was collected from 139 pre-school children and their teachers and parents.
This presentation will focus on and discuss views and experiences of co-operation between the
pre-school teachers and parents: forms and contents of co-operation, teachers and parents
desires concerning co-operation and possible difficulties in realizing it.
Co-authors: M. Kontoniemi, H. Rasku-Puttonen, M.-K. Lerkkanen, A.-M. Poikkeus
Symposium IV/4
Play
Self-organised symposium
ID-166
Different approaches to play in the outdoors
Chair:
Ellen Beate Hansen Sandseter
Queen Maud’s College for Early Childhood Education, Norway
Session overview
This Self-organised symposium includes three paper presentations: 1. Trond L. Hagen, Queen
Maud’s College for Early Childhood Education, Norway; 2. Jane Waters, Department of
Childhood Studies, Swansea University, Wales; 3. Ellen Beate H. Sandseter, Queen Maud’s
College for Early Childhood Education, Norway. The topic of the symposium is different
approaches to play in the outdoors, all three presenters having Gibson’s theory of affordances
in the environment and Vygotsky’s theory of the zone of proximal development as a background
for their presentations. This self organized symposium will consider how the outdoor
environment affects children’s play and behaviour in terms of physical activity level,
communication patterns, and challenging- / risky play. As chair of the symposium, my
introduction will relate shortly to play in the outdoors opposed to play indoors. What are the
special features of playing outdoors, and is the environment outdoors expected to influence
children’s activity, communication and play? The symposium has presenters from two different
countries, thus possible differences in approach to outdoor play in practice between the two
cultures will be discussed.
Keywords: risky play, physical activity, spacious communication, affordance, outdoor environment
Levels of Physical
Environments
Trond L. Hagen
Activity According to
Affordances of
Pre-school Outdoor
Queen Maud’s College for Early Childhood Education, Trondheim, Norway
This presentation will focus on different features of pre-school outdoor environments and how
they influence children’s level of physical activity in play.
Children understand and seek opportunities in their surroundings from their own point of view,
and they choose activities according to the affordances of the environment (Gibson 1979).
Kampmann (1998) put forward a set of factors to evaluate the quality of space, considering the
children’s perspective. The main purpose of the study presented is to develop a method for
classifying and categorizing different features of pre-school outdoor environments using
Kampmann’s factors and Gibson’s ecological theory of affordances. In addition, the question of
how affordances in the pre-school outdoor environment will affect the level of physical activity
will be considered. Gender-determined differences will be explored in relation to different
affordances in pre-school outdoor environments.
The method will consist of exploring the outdoor environment in 12 pre-schools in Trondheim,
Norway. A tool to describe and categorize features of an outdoor environment will be
developed, and reliability of this tool will be tested. The activity level related to different outdoor
environments will be measured by using accelerometers, an electronic instrument indicating
activity level.
The study will be completed during the spring of 2007. The presentation will therefore consist of
preliminary results from this study.
Spacious’ Communication: A Socio-cultural Consideration of the Affordances of the
Indoor and Outdoor Environment for Different Communication Patterns between Children
and Their Teachers
Jane Waters
Swansea University, Department of Childhood Studies, United Kingdom
This paper reports on the preliminary findings of an ongoing study that aims to consider the
affordances (Gibson 1979, Greeno 1994) of the interactional space (Payler 2005) in the indoor
and outdoor environments of an early years setting. The research asks two main questions:
‘what kinds of communication patterns exist between teacher and children in the indoor and
outdoor spaces of an early years setting?’ and ‘what is the contribution of the location to the
form of the interaction?’
This paper considers how adult-child interaction can be analysed in terms of Bae’s (2001)
description of patterns of communication as ‘spacious’ or ‘narrow’, and how the socio-cultural
environment contributes to such patterns.
The methods of data collection included audio and video recording of teacher: child interaction,
audio recorded interviews with the teacher and groups of children. The data were analysed
using Rogoff’s (2003) three ‘lenses’ of analysis; the interpersonal lens of analysis is foregrounded by microanalysis of the audio and video material. This paper considers the extent to
which such close attention to the various aspects of the interaction (verbal, body movement,
gaze) during analysis allows for robust identification of spacious episodes.
The findings to date indicate that it is possible to reliably identify ‘spacious’ communication
patterns and that such patterns may allow for ‘sustained shared thinking’ (Sylva et al 2004) and
co-construction of ideas. Environmental features that contribute to the affordance of such
patterns may include the extent to which the content of the interaction adheres to the teacher’s
explicitly specified or personally held learning objectives.
Challenging and Risky Play Outdoors in Pre-school; Affordances of the Play
Environment
Ellen Beate Hansen Sandseter
Queen Maud’s College for Early Childhood Education, Trondheim, Norway
This presentation focuses on children’s disposition for risky play in the outdoors, how the play
environment affords this (Gibson, 1979) and considers functionally significant properties’
influence on play (Heft, 1988).
The research questions are: What kind of risky play do the children prefer? Are there
differences in the kind and occurrence of risky play on the pre-school’s playground compared to
the nature areas? This is also explored with a focus on sex differences and differences between
one ordinary pre-school and one “outdoor pre-school” in Norway.
The methods of data collection included video recording and field notes of children’s free play in
the outdoors, both on the pre-school playground and outside the “fence” on hikes in nature
areas. In addition audio-recorded interviews were carried out with staff members and children
involved in the study: eight pre-school staff members and 23 children. The data collection was
carried out in two pre-schools during a period from February – June 2006. The data are
currently being analysed using a thematic approach (Langdridge & Tvedt, 2006; Miles, &
Huberman, 1994; Silverman, 2005).
The findings so far indicate that the children have very good opportunities to undertake risky
play outdoors, but that there are differences in how the play environment affords this kind of
play. More highly physical, challenging and risky play occurs in nature areas. Further analyses
are to be made on the data material, and these will be presented in this symposium.
Symposium IV/5
Applying Socio-cultural Theory in Play and Learning
Self-organised symposium
ID-88 Constructing and Critiquing Approaches to Cultural-Historical Research
Chair:
Marilyn Fleer
Monash University, Australia
Session overview
In recent times, researchers of early childhood education and development have actively sought
new ways of investigating young children, their families and the institutions, which support
learning and development. Post-modern theory with its roots in Western philosophy where
Cartesian logic dominates, has provided an important direction for researchers of early
childhood. However, another perspective, which draws upon dialectical logic from the works of
Spinoza, Il’enkov and Vygotsky, provides a new direction for researchers working in early
childhood education and development. Over the past five years, researchers at Monash
University (specifically the Centre for Childhood Studies) have collectively focussed their energy
on finding innovative ways of using cultural-historical theory to inform their study designs. In this
symposium three case examples of research, which has been framed by cultural-historical
theory will be introduced. The theoretical writings of Vygotsky, Leontiev and others will be
discussed in the context of researching children, professionals, and families. In the context of
the limited published early childhood studies framed from a cultural-historical perspective, this
symposium will discuss the diversity of approaches to constructing research designs following a
cultural-historical perspective and will provide a critique of the advantages and limitations of this
research orientation
Keywords: development, research methods, professionals
Greener and Safer – How Do Children Play in Their Communities?
Marilyn Fleer and Gloria Quinoness
Monash University, Australia
In this first presentation, Marilyn Fleer and Gloria Quinoness will focus primarily upon the
complexities of constructing a cultural-historical study design using dialectical logic. The
principles of cultural-historical research will be discussed within the context of a study, which
sought to investigate children and family views on their play (contextualised as sport,
recreational and leisure needs) in one community within Australia. Over 600 children and their
families across 5 school communities (five year olds to eleven year olds) were given disposable
cameras and were asked to document what they did after school hours and through interviews
and a ‿children’s think tank’ to provide insights into their existing and projected needs.
Environmental walks where children were positioned as researchers working alongside of the
research team (using video and digital cameras) provided further insights into how and where
they played in the community. The challenges faced by the research team when working
dialectically will be discussed alongside of the innovative data gathering techniques piloted in
this case example. Some of the insights gained in relation to cultural-historical research
included better understanding the data generated from the children’s documented play
experiences when families also interrogated the data; repetition of data gathering with children
so that the purpose and opportunity for expressing views could be maximised; children
practising to be researchers with support before they worked independently at home and in the
community gathering data; and viewing data generation and analysis as a dynamic rather than a
static process
Stories of Practice: Teachers’ Narratives as Mediating Artefacts in Fostering Professional
Learning
Joce Nuttall
Monash University, Australia
This presentation begins from the premise that collective human activity, rather than the
development of individual humans, is a fundamental unit of analysis within cultural-historical
research. Data is reported from an ongoing project designed to foster teachers’ professional
learning within the long-day child-care programme at Melbourne’s Lady Gowrie Child Centre. In
examining this large, complex, activity system, we – the researcher and teacher-researchers
participating in the project – have sought to find suitable entry points into the analysis of shared
activities, in order to make sense of collective learning and development. We have found
teachers’ shared stories of practice to be a particularly fruitful tool in examining past and present
practice, and in imagining future activity. Drawing, in particular, on the work of Leont’ev and
Il’enkov, the presentation discusses the ways in which aspects of 'contradiction’ and 'change’
can be operationalised methodologically, through the identification and exploration of narrative
vignettes. The presentation concludes with discussion of some factors that frame teachers’
accounts of practice and which, paradoxically, appear to both afford and constrain teachers’
shared cognition: these include the processes of 'enculturating’ new staff; the need to concretise
new understandings through shared practice; and the wider cultural and historical status of work
with very young children.
The Third Space: In Search of the Emotional Context of Children’s Play and Development
Marie Hammer
Monash University, Australia
The notion of the third space as a meeting of cultures or an intersection of two normative
patterns of interaction is used in this study to explore the interconnectedness of language,
culture and learning. Through video tapes of episodes of play in an Australian Indigenous
people’s playgroup and the application of the Social Competence and Behaviour Evaluation
(SCBE) (LaFreniere and Dumas, 2000) rich data of the quality of interactive styles that are
conducive to conceptual development is gathered and analysed. The notion of ‿emotional tone’
is an exploratory concept developed here to understand the styles of interactions between
adults and children utilising the conceptualisations of Hedergaard and Chaiklin that children’s
development is a “cultural process in which a child appropriates motives and knowledge through
participation in institutional practices” (2005, p 61). This paper explores the intersection of
several cultural institutions, that of the family, traditional westernised schools and a community
based, culturally specific playgroup to interpret the impact this intersection has on children’s
social and emotional well – being or resilience in order to better understand behavioural coping
strategies adaptable to both home and school contexts. The results of the study show a marked
contrast in the coping strategies and joyfulness of children in the playgroup when compared to
Indigenous children in other studies of behaviour in traditional educational institutions.
Symposium IV/6
Teachers’ Practice: Interaction with Children
Self-organised symposium
ID-447
Education
Body and Movement as Fundamental Categories for Early Childhood
Chair:
Ulrike Ungerer-Röhrich
Department of Physical Education and Sport, University of Bayreuth, Germany
Session overview
There is an increasing amount of public and professional interest about early childhood and the
respective institutions for education and care, because the importance for health and
educational development of every individual due to the experiences made in this early age is
being recognized.
Body movement, awareness and bodily communication are elementary components for quality
and performance capacity in life. They are not only important for learning, but furthermore
essential for a successful progress of growing up and a positive transition into a responsible and
powerful individual as an adult.
Physical activities and movement should not be reduced to certain hours, single projects or
special days, but must become a part of every day life and should be integrated in the
organisational development progress of these institutions.
We will present and analyse three concepts in this symposium.
Keywords: bildung, body, movement, learning
Physical Space and Corporeality - Pedagogical Implications of the Organisation
Kindergarten Rooms on Children’s Play and Activity
Thomas Moser
Early Childhood Education Research Centre, Faculty of Education, Vestfold University College, Tønsberg,
Norway
Childs corporeality, understood as an holistic entity of movement and sensory experiences,
comes into expression in all kinds of actions in child-care institution. The physical environment,
as well as the social and cultural environment, may supports and limit children’s possibilities for
action, learning and creating meaning in their every day life in chid care institutions.
Accordingly, physical space in terms of spatial organisation and furnishing of rooms in
kindergartens, has in recent years gained increased interest not only in both architectural and
pedagogical perspectives. Young children meet and interact with the social and the physical
world in a bodily matter. Perception and experience, action and reflection are closely related to
sensory motor activity. But still there is reason to believe that the bodily aspects of relating to
the physical world are not satisfactory taken into consideration in early childhood education
institutions.
The presentation is based on an intervention study in three Norwegian Kindergartens
(approximately 120 children age 1-6) and conducted in cooperation with Learning Lab Denmark
(The Danish University of Education). A specific tool for a pedagogical space analysis was
developed and applied before the intervention, Observation, log and group interview were used
for evaluation. Six staff members (two in each institution; four pedagogues and two assistants)
were involved as main co-workers in the project.
The intervention has positively affected the children’s possibilities to act and relax, their physical
play, and their relations to each other and the staff. The staff has become more aware of the
importance of the physical environment and the use of space and artefacts has become more
active and pedagogical reflected.
Keywords: physical space; furniture; body movement and relaxation; pedagogical and didactical
considerations; play and meaningful actions
Kinaesthetic Learning
Ilse Marie Mortensen
Aarhus Municipality, Department for Children and Youth, Denmark
In the last few years a new focus upon Vygotsky’s understanding of learning and development
has emerged in Nordic Day-Care Institutions. Vygotsky’s pedagogical concept about the Zone
for Proximal Development (ZPD) has gained interest footing especially in relation to the
kindergarten child. This focus has sharpened the awareness of the early childhood educator’s
active facilitating role and professional skills in relation to the child’s process of bodily
coordination learning and process of development.
In 2003-2004 a research and development project including video-observations of 32 children 06 years of age and interviews of the staff (7 pedagogues and 3 assistants) were carried out in a
Day-Care institution in Aarhus (Municipality), Denmark. In subsequent studies of the video more
examples of the children’s imitations of the adults’ learning and action strategies were found.
This imitation was facilitated by the early childhood educator’s verbal and non-verbal/bodily
communicative skills in attuning and harmonizing her interaction with the children.
Examples from the daily practise in the institution showed how the early childhood educator’s
awareness of the child’s preoccupation supports the child’s motor learning processes. It also
showed how the early childhood educator with his/her body language creates and keeps a
focused awareness in the ‘learning room’ and this way guides and supports the child in its own
learning process.
The starting point for the proposal will be the video examples from the above-mentioned
practise.
References:
Kjeldsen, L.P. Bech, Jensen J.-O., Borup, H., Marcher, L., Mortensen I.M. & Wiegard, L. (2005). Kinæstetisk læring
blant børn og voksne i daginstitutioner [Kinaesthetic learning among children and adults in day care centres]. Aarhus:
Aarhus Municipality: Magistratens 1. Afdeling, children and youth.
Keywords: awareness, imitation, bodily communication and zone for proximal development
Education and Movement
Ulrike Ungerer-Röhrich
Department of Physical Education and Sport, University of Bayreuth, Germany\
Children want to jump in puddles, balance on branches and climb over obstacles. Movement
helps them to experience themselves and their environment, to be independent, to gain selfconfidence as well as build up social competence and their first basic knowledge of how the
world works.
That is why movement should be encouraged at home, in school and of course also in
Kindergarten. Studies show that in this age emotional, social and cognitive development is
inspired by sensoryl experiences. We do find an emphasis on movement as part of the new
education plans for the elementary level. But this area – just like the other developing areas –
remains separated from the others. But as children in this age mainly learn by moving, moving
should be connected to the other desired objectives in their development.
Early childhood educators are faced with the challenge to connect movement activities with
further educational topics and thereby create an exercise friendly environment, which is suitable
for children and encourages their development. The environment has to give the chance to
children to acquire learning and speaking skills, to make experiences in the field of science and
mathematics, to improve their social skills as well as their health resources through, with and via
movement and exercise.
In this presentation we want to introduce practical examples, which show the realization of this
connection in Kindergarten with the help of a “Bewegungsbaustelle” (construction site in motion)
and of “Kletterwände” (areas for climbing). Furthermore we will present results of a study
evaluating the realization in Kindergarten.
Keywords: movement experiences, learning in kindergarten, "Bewegungsbaustelle", climbing in
kindergarten
Symposium IV/7
Early Child Development
Individual papers
Chair:
To be determined
ID-56
Peer Collaboration as Aim and Resource in Early Education
Heli Makkonen
North Karelia University of Applied Sciences, Finland
Working together at the computer in open composing tasks gives children a possibility to plan
and reach joint goals, to solve different kinds of conflicts together, and to participate in social
activity with their peers. This case study was conducted in a Finnish kindergarten in one group
of pre-school aged (6-year-old) children. The study focused on collaborative interaction between
peers: Are children working collaboratively? What aspects are hindering and/ or enhancing peer
collaboration? Collaborative interaction was seen as a dimension ”from compromise to true
collaboration”. In some interaction situations children were trying to reach a joint goal. Children
compromised, and they justified their proposals (e.g. conflict resolutions) by equal participation.
In true collaboration children used their cooperation as a resource; they gave cognitive and
emotional support for each other. In these situations children were engaged in reaching a joint
goal, and they were composing challenging tasks together.
The aspects that hindered and/ or enhanced children’s peer collaboration in this case were
associated with children’s previous experiences, the computer as a tool, an open task, the
kindergarten environment, and the differences between children in their social status and in their
ability to use the computer. When the children participated in different interaction situations with
different partners, they gained new experiences of collaboration. Through these experiences
they began to ponder together what they thought collaboration was and whether they were
working on the exercise together. The children began to co-construct mutual understanding of
peer collaboration.
Keywords: peer collaboration, early childhood education, computer
ID-96
Children's Collaboration during Free Choice Activities
Merja Koivula
Department of Early Childhood Education, University of Jyväskylä, Finland
Recent years many researchers have studied the role of peers in child development and
learning. One specific area of interest has been children’s peer collaboration. There is
convincing evidence of the potential benefits of collaboration especially when ZPDs’ are
constructed. Yet so far there is not much information of the collaborative abilities of small
children and the relations and mechanisms between collaboration, play activity and learning.
Efforts are thus made to pinpoint the skills that facilitate effective collaboration (Ding & Flynn
2000). The aim of this paper is to explore children’s activity and collaboration during free choice
activities in the day care centre. The interest is on what kind of activity children are engaged in,
what kind of collaboration occurs and what is the role of activity and collaboration in children’s
learning. The theoretical and methodological orientation of this study is linked to the culturalhistorical activity theory. Special focus is on activity systems (Engeström, 1987). This is a
relatively little used method in analysing children’s peer collaboration and thus some new
insights can be introduced. A total of 41 three- to six-year-old children from two child groups of
one ordinary Finnish day care centre participated in this qualitative case study. The data were
collected mainly by observation. Results show the multitude and richness of collaboration in the
day care centre. Children are eagerly collaborating with each other. The outcomes of
collaboration are various, including for example constructing meanings, creating new knowledge
and learning social skills.
Keywords: activity theory, collaboration, learning
ID-233
Listening to the Voices of the Socially Marginalised: Perceptions, Reality
and the View from the Playground
Richard Taffe
Charles Sturt University, Australia
The role of peers and adults in social-emotional development is well documented. When
children first experience care and education settings, they must come to terms with the
interpersonal structure and expectations of these settings. Children who display behaviours
inconsistent with these expectations can find themselves quickly labelled. These labels can be
used by other children and adults in ways that tend to consolidate reputations.
This paper reports on part of a Social Skills Training (SST) intervention study involving 6 and 7
year old children who were identified by peers as aggressive and rejected. These children, their
intervention partners, and the participants’ classroom teachers were interviewed at various
points over the duration of the study.
The interview and observational data showed that aggressive children experience rejection on a
number of different levels within the school, including at the level of peers, teachers, and the
institutional. This multi-layered experience of rejection contributes to the development of
reputational stability and can make aggressive-rejected children more resistant to traditional
programmes of behaviour change such as SST. Such stability creates particular difficulties for
traditional interventions designed to treat aggressive-rejected children because treatment
programmes must not only address target children’s behaviour and social cognitions, they must
also modify reputational effects found at each level of the school ecology.
Keywords: social development peer relations rejection teacher-child relations
Symposium IV/8
Supporting Development through Scaffolding
Individual papers
Chair:
to be determined
ID-141
Health-Constitutive Developing Pedagogic – A New Trend in Multidiscipline
Investigations in the Field of Pre-school Education
Gulshat Urazalieva (1) and Vladimir Kudryavtsev (2)
(1) Russian State University for the Humanities, Russian Federation
(2) The L. S. Vygotsky Institute of Psychology of The Russian State University for the Humanities, Russian
Federation
Under clarification
Presentation is in Russian. English translation is provided.
Keywords: health-constitutive developing pedagogic, development of health, creative imagination.
ID-424
Social Origin of Mathematical Thinking: As-if Discourse as a Basis for
Scaffolding in Pre-schools
Minati Panda
Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India
Play, according to Vygotsky, is the leading educational activity of the pre-school years. It is also
one of the most significant semiotic activity through which symbols are appropriated and
meanings are made in oral cultures. The fundamental way in which a child's higher mental
functions are formed is the use of "psychological tools" in "mediated activities" shared with an
adult or more competent peer. Language, here, provides critical links between the social and
the psychological planes of human functioning. Taking this perspective, the present paper seeks
to address the following questions: What roles adults and older Saora children play in an
interdiscursive context of game/play for creation of intradiscursive resources that support
mathematical thinking among pre-schoolers? Can some of these inter-discursive resources be
used for scaffolding Saora children’s mathematics learning in pre-schools? In a study carried
out in Saora area, the conversations were documented between the young Saora children (age
below 7 years), young children and adults and between young children and more competent
older Saora children while playing two folk games- Tangdih and Tanurjal. The analysis of these
conversations revealed that a number of as-if assumptions (this concept has been adopted from
Dorfler, 2000) that underlie each of these game provide cognitive (and epistemic) bases for
mathematical thinking. Adults and older children help in mediating these notions/ideas, which
lead to development of an as-if attitude among young children. Having acknowledged that this
as-if attitude provide cognitive and emotional support for further mathematical thinking, this
paper suggests different strategies (cross-cutting disciplinary boundaries) through which as-if
discourse can be used as a basis for developing as-if attitude through a process of scaffolding
in Anganwadis and Balwadis (pre-schools in Saora areas).
Keywords: as-if discourse, scaffolding, interdiscursive resources, as-if attitude
Symposium IV/9
Transitions
Self-organised symposium
ID-311
Transition from Kindergarten to Primary School: Different Discourse,
Different Perspectives between Early Childhood and Primary School Teachers
Chair:
Riyo Kadota
Seinan Gakuin University, Japan
Session overview
Transition from early childhood education to primary school education could be discussed from
the perspective of activity theory as transition between different educational activities
(Engestrom, 2004). Tools, objects, unstated rules, categorization of themes are not coherent
between two institutions. Therefore, learning theories supporting the system and discourse
patterns referring learning may differ as well. Such continuity and discontinuity between early
childhood and primary education had been formed through socio-cultural practices, and thus
have possibilities of change.
Some studies discussed stresses and different experiences by children and parents. However,
this symposium focuses on teachers who create different activity systems. At first, an analysis of
meanings of the same terminology interpreted by early childhood and primary teachers will be
presented, in order to speculate how discourse practices in early childhood and primary
education vary between the two. Secondly, a study on teachers' perspectives and discourse
patterns will be presented, when they were given the same practical context with showing video
clips. Thirdly, the researchers present what emerges from teachers' collaborative activities,
aiming for continuity and connectivity of the curriculum in a school system for minimizing gaps
and stresses concerning the transition. We will discuss through these three levels, and different
approaches, taking examples from Japanese education system, analysing differences and
transformation of the discourse among teachers, and transition between two levels of activity
systems.
Keywords: transition, early childhood, primary education, teachers’ discourse
Study on the Images of Practical Terms Used in Teachers’ Narratives; Comparative
Analysis between Kindergarten and Elementary School Teachers
Takako Noguchi (1) and Riyo Kadota (2)
(1) Jumonji University, Japan
(2) Seinan Gakuin University, Japan
Ways in which images of the practical terms are related to Japanese kindergarten and
elementary school teachers’ teaching experiences and reflect their practical knowledge are
compared and analysed in this study. Questionnaires were distributed to 92 Japanese
kindergarten teachers in 9 kindergartens (avg. years of experiences=6.33, SD=7.27) and 101
elementary school teachers in 6 schools (17.1, 9.68) to identify images associated with the
terms. Based on our previous study, eight terms were chosen. Contents of each term were
categorized. The frequency in use of the all terms in kindergarten teachers is significant as
compared with elementary school teachers. In general, kindergarten teachers tend to regard
children’s autonomy and spontaneous attitudes as important, interpret children’s inner feelings
and actions continuously, and engage in constructing activities with children, whereas
elementary school teachers are more likely to consider teachers’ ways of instructing and
directing activities as important and have direct dialogues with children. Despite of uttering the
same terms, these two groups of teachers conceive and perceive them differently.
Transforming Teachers' Discourse over Transition from Kindergarten to Primary School
in Japan: Video Viewing as a Research Tool
Minowa Junko (1), Ashida Hiroshi (2), Suzuki Masatoshi (3)
(1) Kawamura Gakuen Woman’s University, Japan
(2) University of Hyogo, Japan
(3) Hyogo University of Teacher Education, Japan
In order to speculate how kindergarten and primary school teachers differ from each other
regarding their tacit, practical knowledge. The participants viewed 6 video clips. Those 5-minute
long clips were taken from 3- and 5-year old classrooms in kindergartens (3 clips), and 1st
graders (6 year olds) classroom in primary schools (3 clips). They were asked to describe their
overall impressions, how children's activities are connected to their development, and
comments on teachers' behaviours.
Both kindergarten and primary school teachers could describe more about their own situation.
Besides that, the kindergarten teachers tend to focus on social-emotional aspect of children's
behaviour. Also, many of them, especially experienced teachers, were critical about showing
teachers' intention for the activity. On the other hand, primary school teachers found
kindergarten children were more capable than they expected. They also focused on teaching
techniques of the colleagues, as well as of their kindergarten counterparts.
For teachers, it was productive experience to view other teachers' practices as well as their
own. It enables the participants to be more reflective upon their own practices, viewing another
context of the educational system. We will discuss more details of differences in discourse
patterns, and at the same time, the video as tools for transforming teachers' knowledge of their
own system.
Collaboration and Transformation of Activity Systems of Kindergarten-Primary School
Akita Kiyomi (1) and Oda Yutaka (2)
(1) The University of Tokyo, Graduate School of Education, Japan
(2) The National Institute of Special Education, Japan
Studying transitional experiences of young children has been concern for the international
community as well as in Japan. Early childhood education system and primary school system
are different as socio-cultural activity systems. Thus, all aspects of educational activities are
also very different, such as perception of education, teaching methods, behaviours and
language of teachers, tools supporting children's learning. In order to bridging these gaps,
teachers of many public kindergartens and primary schools collaborate with each other. This
presentation describes how these activity systems of 4 kindergartens/schools in a ward of
Tokyo syncretised throughout their collaboration, and how teachers' thinking and discourse
transformed through the process. Both kindergarten and primary school teachers recognized
commonality between Curriculum Guideline for Kindergarten Education and Course of Studies
in Primary Schools as parts of National Curriculum. Then, they thought of 'connecting period' to
be set up during the transition. The instructional contents were selected from guidelines of both
sides, and each school composed its own bridging curriculum. In doing so, teachers went
through frequent dialogue, becoming able to use their own terms. Next, when they plan for open
lessons to other teachers, teachers improved their lesson plans to be understood by the others.
Also, they focused on individual children to examine developmental paths of each individual.
This process shows the possibilities of establishing a new system from resolving tensions and
conflicts between two different systems. At that time, teachers' discourse and perspectives are
suggested to be the keys of such transformation.
Discussant
Wertsch, James V. (Department of Anthropology/the McDonnell International Scholars
Academy, Washington University in St. Louis, USA) Sharp, Caroline (National Foundation for
Educational Research, UK)
Symposium IV/10 Zone of Proximal Development
Self-organised symposium
ID-182
Interaction between Children's Life Conditions and Their Co-constitution of
Each Others ZPD
Chair:
Ivy Schousboe
University of Copenhagen, Denmark
Session overview
As Vygotsky pointed out children can be important development conditions for each other’s
ZPD.
This symposium discusses the interplay between societal and institutional conditions for
children’s everyday activities and their co-constitution of each other’s ZPD.
Ditte Winther-Lindqvist’s research follows children in kindergarten and through their obligatory
transition into school. She analyses how this change in institutional conditions influence
children’s negotiations about social identity and positions in their community.
Ivy Schousboe discusses how age typical forms of play can be seen as addressing themes that
are controversial in Western cultures. Children from these cultures often play games that
include aggressive themes. It is argued that the reason for this is that Western moral cultures
are characterised by moral ambiguity and that adult’s guidance about moral issues is limited.
Daniela Cecchin points out that professionals in day care institutions arrange developmental
and learning contexts for the children and that there are great differences between countries
and institutions in the way they do it. She presents a methodological approach that emphasizes
a cooperative relationship between children and adults: The professionals arrange zones for
proximal development starting from the children’s own interests and commitment.
Keywords: identity, play, methodology
Young Children's Identity Formation in Transition to School Life
Ditte Winther-Lindqvist
University of Copenhagen, Denmark
There have been radical societal changes the last 40 years, leading, among other things, to a
situation in which young children in Western Societies, live among peers a substantial part of
their everyday life, in some form of non-maternal care (pre-school/day-care). This study seeks
to understand how this environment affects young children’s social identity formation, in line with
a cultural-historical approach, expecting a close connection between societal life-conditions and
personal development.
In order to understand the practise and process of young children’s social identity formation, as
it takes places in everyday life among peers, I entered the natural flow of time, in micro-genetic
interactions of day-care. An ethnographic field study was conducted in a Danish day-care, in the
countryside, following 5-6 year olds, in their last four months of day-care and through their first
three months of primary school. Interviews and observations focused on the children’s ways of
participating and conducting social life with peers, and construct social identities in different
activities and groups. Following the children in transition between institutions highlight the social
identity formation when new groups, social positions, leading activities, tools and orientations
are in the making. Two groups of four children were chosen as focus, and followed in transition.
Results points at the importance of social identity among pre-schoolers of today; not only as
perceived by a first person perspective, but also in the outcome of more or less
successful/critical transitions into school life.
Children's Co-constitution of ZPD
Ivy Schousboe
University of Copenhagen, Denmark
Society has a prevailing moral codex, a “doxa”, which adults seek to motivate the next
generation to adopt. This paper focuses on the ZPD children can create among themselves and
in order to expose the relative autonomy of children’s groups it will discuss children’s
engagements in activities, which are beyond or opposed to doxa and thus supposedly concerns
their not-sanctioned “opinion”. In play, Vygotsky noted, the child seems to be a head taller than
himself. - How can children explore realities of social behaviour from this position?
Research in play often illuminates how each type of play has a function for the development of
specific psychological capacities like turn-taking and the learning of rules. I try to illustrate that
many play formats can also be interpreted as having even more complicated and “dangerous”
questions about social relationships as their theme. Such themes invoke strong feelings and
playing children can even inflict real harm on each other. This is illustrated by examples of
pretend play and it is discussed why it can happen. Western children play more games with
aggressive elements than children in some other cultures. The reason may be that it is a serious
task for them to learn to handle good and evil in a morally very contradictory culture. To
paraphrase Geertz: It’s a story they tell themselves about themselves and the society they live
in about “untellable” matters that do exist and have great influence.
Children and Pedagogues in Co-operative Interaction
Daniela Cecchin
BUPL Pedagogues' Trade Union), Denmark
Most young children in European countries spend most part of their daily life in some form for
day care centres or pre-schools. In modern society these institutions represent significant
arenas for children’s development as societal subjects. Although the names differ in different
countries: kindergarten, scuola dell’infanzia, ecóle maternelle, børnehave, the institutions have
in common the fact, that they are established and arranged with certain pedagogical or
educational purposes. Professional teachers or pedagogues in these institutions are supposed
to arrange developmental and learning contexts for the children. But across countries and
institutions there are great differences in the way the relationship between child and adult are
taking place. I would like to present a methodological approach that emphasizes a cooperative
modality for an interactive and interdependent relationship between children and pedagogues in
creating pedagogical contexts in praxis. That is an approach where the role of professionals is
to arrange zones for proximal development starting from the children’s own interests and
commitments. Thereby it is possible to make connections between children’s diversities and
between the perspective of the children and the perspectives of pedagogues. This implies not
only developmental perspectives and possibilities for the children but also for the pedagogues.
Symposium IV/11 Understanding Mathematics in Early Years
Self-organised symposium
ID-414
Language as a Tool for Young Children's Mathematics Learning
Chair: Andrea Peter-Koop
University of Oldenburg, Germany
Session overview
The three papers in this symposium follow Vygotsky’s traces with respect to the exploration and
investigation of the inter-relationship between the development of language/speech and
thought/ understanding in children’s mathematical development. In his book “Thought and
Language” Vygotsky (1962) concludes that “thought development is determined by language,
i.e. the linguistic tools of thought and by socio-cultural experience of the child”.
Language/speech is understood as a tool to explore the world – in this case the world of
mathematics. Furthermore, this tool is learned in a socio-cultural environment through imitation
and (co-)construction. The author of the first paper investigates the interplay of language
abilities in the first and second language of children from families with migration background and
their number concept development by analysing data from a longitudinal study on young
children’s mathematical development. In contrast, self-initiated play is the context of a study by
the second author examining the relationship between the everyday vocabulary of young
children and concepts/ language taught in school mathematics. The third author discusses the
findings and implications of a research project in which children’s play is stimulated through
uniform objects in large quantities, fostering children to “invent” mathematics. Thus, the inner
dialogue of imagination and structuring observed and its expression in language, concepts and
schema is the focus of the data analysis.
Keywords: mathematical concepts, language development, play, diversity in early childhood
education
Children from Families with Migration Background – The Relationship of Language and
Number Concept Development in Early Childhood Education
Angela Schmitman gen. Pothmann and Andrea Peter-Koop
University of Oldenburg, Germany
In his writings Vygotsky points out how language guides and drives on thought. The cumulative
implications of language ability for all school subjects – including mathematics – have been
described widely. Solving a mathematical problem requires understanding of the task, thinking
about the solution and verbalising the answer. Furthermore, mathematical concept development
is highly speech-related.
In this context, the socio-cultural background of children plays an important role as well. With
respect to the learning of mathematics the differences between everyday and technical
language provide further difficulties for the learner. Children from families with migration
background additionally experience interactions between their first and second language.
In the context of a longitudinal on young children’s mathematical development, the special
abilities, difficulties and requirements of children from families with migrant background have
been investigated regarding the following questions:
Are there differences in the early numeracy abilities of pre-schoolers from families with and
without migration background?
What constitutes the relationship between language and early numeracy abilities?
What are the requirements and special chances with respect to early childhood education in
early numeracy for children from families with migration background?
The discussion of quantitative data from the study is supported by case studies that illustrate the
importance of the first language for the development of number concept as well as possible
interactions with the second language. Qualitative data from expert interviews with kindergarten
teachers provide additional information.
The Latitude and Longitude of Play in School: The Development of Mathematical
Concepts and Language in Early Childhood
Maulfry Worthington
The Free University, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
From a socio-cultural perspective play is widely regarded as an appropriate medium for young
children’s learning; in Vygotskyan terms, it is a ‘leading activity’ for the young child. However,
whilst it is accepted that play can facilitate children’s cognitive development, the mechanisms
that allow this have been less clear. Vygotsky’s theoretical framework of conceptual
development allows insights into ways in which young children explore their deep mathematical
concerns through spontaneous concepts within their play. Athey’s recent work on schemas
(1990/2007) points to a relationship with the spontaneous concepts Vygotsky identified and
characterised by thinking in complexes.
This paper draws on data gathered from observations of behaviours, language and
representations arising within children’s self-initiated play and relating to their personal
mathematical interests, from children aged 4 – 6 years during one academic year in school. The
findings highlight the ‘dynamic nature of word meanings’, revealing the relationship between the
everyday vocabulary children use within their play and how this meshes with taught scientific
concepts and language of school mathematics. Importantly the activity-orientated observations
provided rich insights into young children’s personal mathematical concerns and conceptual
development, suggesting they have a central role in supporting learning and meaning-making in
early childhood.
This paper argues that play offers ideal opportunities for children up to six years of age to
explore spontaneous mathematical concepts. Through collaborative and mediational means
play allows children to begin to make conceptual connections between personal language and
thought, and the scientific language and concepts of the school mathematics curriculum.
References:
Athey, C. (1990, 2nd edition: 2007) Extending Thought in Young Children, London: Paul Chapman
Cole, M., John-Steiner, V., Schribner and Souberman, E. (Eds.) (1978) L.S. Vygotsky, Mind in Society: the
Development of Higher Psychological Processes, Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press.
Vygotsky, L. (1986) Thought and Language, London: MIT Press
‘Children Invent Maths’ with Uniform Objects in Large Quantities – An Inner Dialog of
Imagination and Structuring
Kerensa Lee Huelswitt
University of Bremen, Germany
When there is a tool stimulating an inner dialog of imagination and structuring, a group of
children (or adults) does not need specific tasks to invent mathematics.
Possible tools inviting kindergarten and primary school children to create and acquire structures
are uniform objects in large quantities, e.g. 4000 1-cent-pieces, 3000 small cubes, 2000 little
cardboard squares or 1000 little ice-cream spoons. Depending on the children’s productions the
teacher/facilitator decides how to organize the learning environment without interrupting the
individual learning process. Besides offering material with specific mathematical characteristics,
she/he observes and supports communication and also the connection of geometry and
arithmetic with discreet prompts.
Celéstin Freinet's pedagogy and in particular his idea of ‘enquiry-based learning’ (tâtonnement
expérimental) provided the idea for the Children Invent Maths Project. Analyses of children’s
creations and inventions suggest that two connected processes seem to be fundamental for
conceptual development – the collective “idea challenge" and the individual “process of
perfection”.
The data gathered from children aged 6 - 8 years during the first to years at school and several
workshops with groups of kindergarten children aged 5 - 6 years show products with typical
schema and problems such as producing symmetries, regular forms or creating the centre in
patterns with an equal number of squares.
Connecting these results with Vygotsky's contribution concerning the inter-relationship of
language development and thought one focus will be the definition of “tool”/”thinking-tool” for a
mathematical learning material. The parallels of the explicit and profound connection between
speech itself and the tool function of a material representing and stimulating structural
(mathematical) ideas will be discussed.
Symposium IV/12 Multilingual Development
Individual papers
Chair:
Dawn Tankersley
International Step by Step Association, USA
ID-400
Translating as a Situated Activity
Marjorie Faulstich Orellana
University of California at Los Angeles, USA
Theme & Theoretical Framework: Translating – both in the form of written and spoken language
- is commonly conceptualized as a highly individualized cognitive skill. In this paper we employ
theories of situated cognition to understand how naturalistic translating events unfold in
immigrant households. We view translating events as socially situated learning tasks engaged
in by bilingual immigrant youth in collaboration with other family members. We show that child
language brokers often co-construct translations, relying on distributed knowledge, with
expertise both solicited and offered by adult co-participants. We consider as well how translating
events depend on socially situated and distributed cognitive tools.
Main Findings:
During language brokering events parents provide knowledge about how to go about
accomplishing the task as well as linguistic knowledge needed to do so. Parents often possess
additional knowledge about the world and about the social and practical meaning of the
translating tasks their children are involved in. In addition, child language brokers use cognitive
and linguistic strategies as well as tools in order to translate text and spoken language. The
strategies and tools used by language brokers are discussed as artifacts in the sense of this
term as used in cultural-historical activity theory. All of these findings indicate that a
conceptualization of “translation-in-the head”, or via input-output models, does not accurately
represent the empirical data.
Methods: We draw on data from a longitudinal study on the children of immigrants from Mexico
to the USA who are family translators (aged 8-12). We present a qualitative and quantitative
analysis of everyday translating engaged in by three child translators from families living in the
Midwestern USA.
Keywords: language and literacy practices, translating, situated cognition, distributed cognition
ID-410
Biliteracy in Two Different Alphabets: Does it Make You Smarter?
Muzeyyen Sevinc
Marmara University-Istanbul, Turkey
This study aims to investigate the cognitive consequences of bilingualism in relation to different
alphabetic systems. Different writing systems may impose further cognitive demands on their
learners. Mainstream teachers in the monolingual education system tend to be concerned that
bilingual children might become confused when dealing with a second language even more so
with languages using different alphabets.
The rational of this study is to look into whether the task of learning a second language with a
different alphabetic system has any effect on the cognitive development of children at an early
age.
270 children at 6 to 10 years attending kindergarten and primary schools of three types were
tested: a) Armenian and Turkish, b) Turkish and English, c) Turkish monolingual.
All three samples of children (N=90 in each sample) were individually tested using various
Piagetian tasks and operations to test for their logical-mathematical skills at the concrete
operational stage of cognitive development.
In addition, a questionnaire was prepared for parents to obtain demographic information for
each child. The results were analysed in relation to age of the child, type of school, bilinguality
and different alphabetic system.
The findings show that bilingual children have an advantage over the monolingual children on
Piagetian tasks. No significant difference found on the performance of the two bilingual
samples which may be interpreted in terms of socio-economic background of their parents.
Keywords: bilingualism, biliteracy, cognitive development
Symposium IV/13 Language Learning
Individual papers
Chair:
To be Determined
ID-115
Language Experiences of Preverbal Children in Australian Child-care
Centres
Berenice Nyland
RMIT University, Australia
This paper explores the language experiences of pre-verbal infants in Australian child-care
centres with the aim of examining cultural regulation within the child-care context. Language is
understood, for the purposes of this paper, to be a social and communicative act that is related
to the development of voluntary action (Vygotsky, 1962; Lock 1980; Leontiev, 1994). Language
plays a critical role in our lives and there is much research on the relationship between
language and culture and language and cognition. This study uses naturalistic observations of
language and communication as a method of recording infants experiences and analysing daily
events, framing the child-care context as a developmental niche.
The developmental niche is the interface between the self and culture. Knowledge is socially
constructed and can be liberating or constraining. The infants in this research were gaining a
conceptual knowledge of the social world of child-care as constructed within the Australian
community. Their experiences reflected cultural attitudes towards infants, towards particular
infants as defined by age, personality, actions and probably gender. Findings from the study
indicated the focus children initiated more communication than adults in the setting and their
communicative messages were frequently misunderstood, even when repeated and diverse
strategies were used to repair the message. That the settings were more reactive than
reciprocal and the adults had a limited range of abilities for reading children’s preverbal
language acts has implications for the social design of group care and pre-service training for
adults who will work with very young children.
Keywords: preverbal infants, child-care, communicative language acts, language and culture
ID-191
The Beauty of Computers. A Case Study
Linda Arnott
Northlink College, South Africa
This research presentation outlines the empirical investigation into the cognitive and social
influences of computer technology on a profoundly deaf young learner called Beauty.
Having identified a problem of the profoundly deaf young learner using South African Sign
Language (SASL) to be manually free to manipulate the computer mouse and requiring all
instructions to be mediated in SASL, I began this scholarship with a case study on seven
profoundly deaf Grade R learners (aged 5-6 years) at a special needs school in the Western
Cape. The researcher’s key concerns focused on assessing the ability of the profoundly deaf
child to learn cognitively and socially from computer technology.
The research was an empirical investigation within a qualitative research paradigm. The
researcher sought meaning through observation, interviews and immersion in both literature and
data. The exploratory research will be used to develop insight into a new learning area where
there is clearly a dearth of knowledge. A descriptive study is appropriate for this methodological
design. A detailed case of a historically disadvantaged young girl child in South Africa who
came to a special educational needs school at the age of three without any expressive language
will be described.
The researcher used a Vygotskyan theoretical framework to explore the efficacy of the
computer as a tool for learning in the profoundly deaf. Beauty received mediated instruction and
collaborative learning with peers was investigated.
Keywords: early childhood development, profoundly deaf, collaboration
ID-144
Experimental Study of Speech Development Precognition in Pre-Lingual
Period (Normal and Abnormal Development)
Galina Mishina
Russian State University for the Humanities, Vygotsky Institute of Psychology, Russian Federation
According to L. Vygotsky, it becomes possible to change personal behaviour and acquire it
when symbolic signs, including speech, start to be used in manipulative activity. He believed
that, symbolic activity’s specific role begins with its penetrating into the usage of tools when it
provides the emergency of principally new forms of behaviour.
The aim of our experiments was to compare normal and abnormal development of speech as a
sign system in the process of its formation, as well as the precognition of this. The study was
based on one of Vygotsky’s main ideas about similar laws of normal and abnormal
development; the cases of abnormal development allow us to most evidently observe the
divergence in the development of cultural and natural matters, which also reveals itself in the
normal development.
We carried out individual video sessions to study the dynamics of changes in the functional
content of gestures, having placed children in their habitual environment. We videotaped the
children for one hour every 2-3 months.
More then twenty children having various developmental delays were shot in the films, which
later were analysed by three independent experts.
We came to the following conclusion:
· The leading function of 16-24 months’ children with normal mental and language development
is the informative one. The hierarchy of other functions reflects individual traits of the child’s
development. This allows us to make probable conclusions about the character of the
developmental delay.
· We observed the gestures which were made only by the children with delayed development
and which were not intrinsic of the kids whose development is normal.
· The total number of gestures of 12-18 months’ kids who developed in the normal way, within
the definite time unit, exceeded those of the children with developmental delays. These data
sharply decrease or increase (depending on the level of language development) in the course of
transition to another age stage.
Presentation is in Russian. English translation is provided.
Keywords: speech development, abnormal development
Symposium IV/14
Language as a Tool of Cognitive Development
Individual papers
Chair:
To be Determined
ID-260
Activity Theory Supporting the Co-construction of Understandings during
Within-Centre Boundary Crossing
Barbara Jordan
Massey University College of Education, New Zealand
The co-construction of understandings about activity theory in relation to within- centre
transitions is described between participants in the Massey Child-care centre and
internationally, between New Zealand and Australia.
The focus of the research in Massey Child-Care Centre’s Hoiho (under twos) Section is the
impact that a collaborative teaching structure (Community of Practice) and the Attachment
Based Learning (ABL) programme have on children’s dispositions to inquire. The question
addressed in this paper is how the child’s inquiry interests are maintained during the transition
to the Kiwi (over-twos) Section. Engestrom’s (2001) 3rd-generation activity theory and boundary
crossing concepts are utilised to examine the ways in which children’s inquiry interests are
supported during the transition period. The Hoiho (under twos) Section is a Centre of Innovation
in the New Zealand Ministry of Education’s 2005-2007 round, involved in a three-year action
research project. All the teachers and managers in this section of the four-section centre are
developing their experiences as action researchers, as co-constructors with two university
research associates. A further expected outcome of the research is the development of
resources and the sharing of knowledge and understandings with the early childhood sector and
parents/whānau, through various modes of dissemination. Action research has supported the
centre’s policies and practices of transition while also providing “contradictions”, which are being
utilised to transform potential boundaries into crossroads “where the dialectics of difference
make way for intimacy” (Lawrence- Lightfoot, 2003).
Co-author(s): Faith Martin, Natalie Cook, Raewyne Bary, Olivia Waugh, Caryn Dean, Heather
Hullett, Libby Martin, Susan Clare, Angela Shailer, Tania Forman, Monika Charlton, Paulette
Moana - Massey Child-Care Centre; Cushla Scrivens
Keywords: activity theory; transition; toddler inquiry; attachment-based learning
ID-510
A Knowledge Creation Approach to Environmental Education in Early
Childhood: Vygotskyan Theories in Practice
Cynthia Prince
Eastern Institute of Technology, New Zealand
The aim of the study was to create a community of learners to promote environmental education
in early childhood curriculum and to enhance children’s learning and knowledge base. This
qualitative doctoral research was conducted in two phases over one year. It employed a sociocultural/knowledge creation approach to integrate environmental education into early childhood
curriculum. Two early childhood centres (one kindergarten, one childcare centre) were used for
the research. The participants were four kindergarten teachers and eight childcare staff, with
seven focus group parents and six focus children at each centre. In the first phase the teachers
at both centres implemented a two-week environmental programme. In the second phase the
teachers used participatory action research as well as a project approach based on children’s
environmental interests to guide curriculum planning. Both centres created a community of
learners comprising teachers, children and parents. The Vygotskyan concepts of the zone of
proximal development and cultural tools, as well as co-construction of knowledge, intersubjectivity about the topics of environmental interest, and a community of learners’ theoretical
perspective were integral to the process. The teachers valued parental environmental funds of
knowledge and social capital and this ensured the families’ cultural background was respected.
This parental contribution complemented the children’s domain knowledge. Although the
research acknowledged the socio-cultural concept of participation, environmental knowledge
creation by all the participants in the community of learners was a significant finding. It is argued
that this finding is consistent with and extends Vygotsky’s views on spontaneous and formal
concepts.
Keywords: knowledge creation, learning communities, cultural tools, environmental education
Symposium IV/15
Art, Music and Drama
Individual papers
Chair:
Milda Bredikyte
Kajaani University Consortium, Finland
ID-176
La Rotation Artistique
Dominique Hudicourt
Tipa Tipa (SbS Haiti), FOKAL (OSI Haiti), Haiti
A comparative presentation of the work of Tiga (Jean Claude Garoute, 1935-2006) a Haitian
Artiste who, thought his own art teaching method, "La Rotation Artistique", observed and
developed a developmental theory in early childhood graphic development and emergent
literacy. "La Rotation Artistique" is an art teaching method developed by Jean Claude Garoute,
a well-known Haitian artist who died December 2006. He was nationally celebrated around the
country during Mardi Grad 2007.
His child development theory as expressed in children's art work covers children 0 to 12, with
milestones every 4 years, at 4, 8 and 12 years of age. 4 years old being the age of
"celebralisation" as he called it when "signs" start appearing spontaneously in children's art
work... He also described his method as being "Le prescolaire de l'Art" or Artistic pre-schooling.
Having myself studied Art Education in 1983/84 at Northern Illinois University I worked along
side Tiga from 1993 though 1997 and came to understand his method. My students at
Quisqueya University always visited his “laboratoire de creation” from 1996 through 2004 when
he became sick.
The format of our presentation will be as followed:
A brief presentation of Tiga’s experimental work as a researcher, an art teacher and an artist
(“chercheur, animateur, artist”)
Presentation of his developmental theory and how it compares to main stream theories in early
childhood artistic and graphic development.
The relevance of the method and finding for early childhood art teaching.
Keywords: "La Rotation Artistique" for artistic pre-schooling
ID-261
Kathy Ring
Making Richer Sense: Young Children Using Drawing as a Mediating Tool
York St John University, United Kingdom
This paper draws upon evidence from a three-year longitudinal study of seven young children
drawing across home, pre-school and school (Ring, 2003; Anning and Ring, 2004). Sociocultural theory, derived from the work of Vygotsky (1962, 1978), informs the theoretical
framework of the study. Focussing upon mediation as 'the core of Vygotsky's theory' (Meadows,
1993:243) this paper recognises the potential of drawing to be a powerful mediating tool for
young children. Although studies of young children as 'meaning makers', e.g. Wells, 1986, have
supported understanding of language as 'the psychological tool par excellence' (Meadows,
1993:243), there are few studies which consider the impact of the socio-cultural context upon
children's use of drawing, particularly over any length of time. The work of Matthews (1992),
Dyson (1993) and Kress (1997), identifies drawing as a way in which children actively
restructure their knowledge and make new signs in a two dimensional form through the
interaction of their mind and body with the environment. Within this paper analysis of data from
the study shows young children to be co-constructors of culture, using drawing 'to make richer
sense' (Egan and Gajdamaschko, 2003) and being profoundly influenced by their interactions
with and perception of their environments. Drawing, in common with language, is recognised as
a 'socially created and socially determined system of communication', and a child-appropriate
tool that enables young children 'to represent reality as well as act on it' (Meadows, 1993:244).
Keywords: Vygotsky, young children, drawing, mediation
ID-110
It Rains Colours: Art as a Pedagogical Tool in a Social Intervention
Programme
Anastasia Houndoumadi
Centre for Artistic and Pedagogical Training “Schedia”, Greece
The present report is based on the “Elele” social intervention project designed and implemented
by the Centre for Artistic and Pedagogical Training “Schedia” and funded by the Bernard van
Leer Foundation and the municipality of Elefssina. The project is taking place in the multicultural
industrial city of Elefssina, Greece targeting younger children and their families. It includes a
short presentation of the project aims, the basic ideology and theoretical assumptions, while it
focuses on some observations regarding the effectiveness of using artistic activities as an
inclusion strategy promoting respect for diversity. Inspiration is drawn among others from
humanistic psychology, Vygotsky’s emphasis on the ways culture and social interactions affect
knowledge construction, and the work on diversity, equity and social inclusion of the European
network DECET. An attempt is made to answer the following two research questions: (a) can
artistic activities be an effective tool in promoting understanding and acceptance of the “other”'?
and (b) can artistic activities increase the collaboration between culturally and religiously
different groups? Experiences with “Elele” showed that artistic activities that unfold in a climate
that supports freedom and encouragement of expression, cultivates respect for individual needs
and diversities, and advocates the absence of criticism, provide a powerful tool for the
promotion of communication and cooperation while bolstering self-esteem.
Keywords: artistic activities, social intervention, intercultural communication
Symposium IV/16
Art, Music and Drama
Individual papers
Chair:
To be Determined
ID-290
Cultural Literacy of Icelandic Pre-school Children: Children’s Experience of
Folktales, Classical Literature for Children, Popular Culture and Computers
Thordis Thordardottir
Iceland University of Education, Iceland
The aim of this ongoing Ph.D. study is to describe the pre-school children’s cultural literacy and
to understand how they construct meaning out of common children’s material. Cultural literacy is
an adaptation and comprehension of existing cultural values, historical facts, and arts and is
actually an individual investigation into the social coherence of the language and its various
uses in divergent institutions and conditions, allowing one to share knowledge with others. It is
presumed here that the cultural literacy of pre-school children is built up through children’s
material in interaction with adults (pre-school teachers and parents) and peer groups. The kind
of material and the way it is introduced to children can affect their cultural literacy. The cultural
resources in this research rely upon children’s material: Folktales and fairy tales. Classical
children's literature. TV programmes. Video/CD and computer games. Two pre-schools
participate in the research. They are both situated in a stable neighbourhoods in Reykjavík but
have different emphasizes in their curriculum. The first emphasize traditional Icelandic heritage
but the other multiculturalism. Sixty-eight children 4 and 5 year olds were interviewed in groups
of four. Eight teachers, three assistants and parents and pre-school teachers were interviewed
individually. Participant observations with field notes and 12 videotapes recorded in traditional
story times. The preliminary conclusions indicate that children use stories to communicate in
their daily life in the pre-schools, and in play and creative work. Girls and boys develop different
cultural literacy in coherence with stereotypes of gender roles and prevailing middle class
values.
Keywords: cultural literacy, pre-school, children's literature, popular culture
ID-295
Co-constructing a Sense of Place: Curriculum that Reflects the Shared
Understanding of Life in the Agricultural Intermountain West
Tricia Giovacco-Johnson
University of Wyoming, USA
“The creation of curriculum is a human endeavor, and like all human endeavors involves the
cultural values, beliefs, assumptions, theories and languages of its developers in its very
construction” (Edwards, 2003). This research seeks to understand how adults and children at an
early care and education centre in the intermountain Western USA co-construct meaningful
curriculum that reflects their participation in a local culture, i.e. engages children in learning
experiences that reflect the contexts, practices, traditions, histories, values, and beliefs within
their community. In addition, we address how children attain and demonstrate shared
understanding and meaning in their culture.
Our theoretical grounding draws on Vygotsky’s notion of development as a function of social
interaction contextualized according to the particular cultural setting in which it occurred (JohnSteiner & Mahn, 1996; Rogoff, 1998). Rogoff summarizes: “People develop as participants in
cultural communities. Their development can be understood only in light of the cultural practices
and circumstances of their communities – which also change” (2003, p. 3-4). Trying to
understand how and children in this rural agricultural community demonstrate meaning and
understanding of the world in which they live, we reviewed two year’s documentation of
curricular experiences, artifacts, and teachers reflections.
This research examines the experiences of infants, toddlers and pre-schoolers as they observe
and interpret their world using their unique cultural lens. Initial analysis indicates that children
demonstrate meaning through expression in art, music, storytelling and dramatics. Themes that
emerge include a strong connection to the environment, family, and the life cycle.
Keywords: curriculum, early care and education, rural culture
Symposium IV/17
Assessment Approaches and Experiences
Individual papers
Chair:
To be Determined
ID-293
Authentic Assessment for Children in the Early Years
Avril Sweeney
National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, Ireland
In recent times, the early childhood profession in many countries has been asked to implement
assessment procedures that document children’s learning and progress. Many see assessment
as simply another word for testing, designed to sum up the child’s knowledge or skill from a
predetermined list designed to highlight deficits. This paper considers assessment in a wider
sense - as an interactive and social component of teaching and learning which starts with a
positive image of the young child as a learner, with unique interests and strengths. A sociocultural approach to assessment is explored drawing upon Vygotsky’s work on educational
theory and in particular his claim that higher mental functioning is social in origin. The paper
considers a dynamic approach to assessing young children’s learning and development, which
empowers the child to develop a sense of control over his/her own learning and places learning
in a particular social and cultural context. Authentic information is gathered through multidimensional, collaborative methods involving the child, parents and the practitioner. Key
messages from this paper are supported by, and interweaved with, information collected as part
of an individual case study, which documents the learning experiences of a four year old child in
a pre-school setting in Ireland. An adaptation of Carr’s (2001) Learning Story Approach was
used to frame the assessment structure and elements of the Mosaic Approach (Clark and Moss,
2001) were employed as a means of documenting evidence of the child’s learning and
development.
Keywords: assessment, authentic, narrative, collaborative
ID-205
Teachers` Ratings of Children's Achievements at the End of Pre-school
Year: Children with Special Requirements
Ene Mägi
Tallinn University, Estonia
The main aim of this study is to identify children `s special educational needs as early as
possible and according to their needs to plan prospective ways of supporting children in
managing their difficulties. The results can allow to do proposals for developing teacher
education towards positive attitude to those children experiencing SEN and on teacher `s
general teaching as well.
An unequal starting position at the beginning of school education affects child's social and
cognitive development in the following stage of study. The theoretical basis of the current study
derives from L. Vygotsky's theory of socio-cultural development, which relies on child-centred
pedagogy. The objective of the study is to find out how educational environment supports the
development of children with different abilities coming from varying socio-economic conditions in
achieving the educational and subject-related goals formulated in the curriculum. The current
study does not deal with defining special needs but relies on the assessment of the teachers of
preparatory groups.
Methodology. Assessments of children's skills and development at the end of pre-school based
on the questionnaire "Transition from pre-school to school". 17.0 per cent out of the contingent
studied were with special needs. Teachers of preparatory groups assessed the achievements of
children prior their commencing school relying on curriculum aims. Teachers were asked to
evaluate children's individual achievements in nine target areas: learning skills (15 items); social
skills (12 items); language and communication (25 items); mathematics (27 items); ethics and
world view (8 items; science and the environment (8 items; health (8 items); health (8 items);
physical and motor development (8 items); art and culture (20 items).A comparative overview of
the level of children's achievements indicate that children with special needs rate lower in all
learning skills than the rest of the contingent. The differences in the skills of acting according to
one's aims, acting on one's own initiative and being active are the most essential.
The Abstract is written co-operation with Maia Muldma, docent (Tallinn University) and Maie
Vikat , professor emeritus (Tallinn University).
Keywords: special educational needs, inclusion, teachers' rating, pre-school child, special
requirements
Symposium IV/18 Multicultural Education
Self-organised symposium
ID-398
Young Children Participating in Research
Chair:
Christa Preissing
International Academy at Free University Berlin, Germany
Session overview
First experiences and questions from the cross-cultural study “Children Crossing borders” [CCB]
(Joseph Tobin and research teams from France, Germany, Italy, U.K. and US): The study
"Children crossing borders" is focused on the question how the early childhood education and
care (ECEC) systems of five countries are responding to the challenge of serving the children of
immigrants and about what immigrant parents want for their children in ECEC settings. Using
the methodology Joe Tobin developed in his "Pre-school in three cultures"-study we worked
with videos of a "typical" day in a pre-school of each of the 5 countries. Focus-group
discussions with parents and teachers had been conducted in all the countries discussing as
well the video of the own country and at least the videos of two of the other countries. Our
intention was, to include children's voices, their ideas, phantasies, wishes of a pre-school to get
a more complete image of the challenges, ECEC Settings have to consider. In 2006 pilot
studies with 4 to 5 years old children had been conducted in France, Italy, U.K. and the US. The
German team did a literature review on participating children in research. The symposium will
show the results from the literature review - more questions than answers -and will present first
experiences from the pilots.
Keywords: children’s voices, diversity, methodology, migration
French Children’s Voices about Pre-school
Sylvie Rayna
Université Paris Nord, France
The aim of this paper is to discuss some data gathered within the ongoing CCB project on
beliefs about immigrant children in pre-school in 5 countries. Apart from teachers’ and parents’
voices, the focus will be here on children’s voices.
Following J.Tobìn s methodology, children’s voices were stimulated, as well as adults ones, by
edited videos - a "typical day" in pre-school of their own country and of others -. Content
analysis was made of children’s free comments of these images as well as of their own
experience in pre-school.
According to recent literature on children’s perspectives, children’s voices were gathered within
small groups of 2-3 children. The composition led on teachers’ choice in relation with our
indications - privileging friendships and own choices. Analysis focuses here on 24 groups of 4-5
years olds, including migrant and non-migrant children. Main themes as play-learning,
classroom-recess, language issues, etc. were explored and compared with adults’ perspectives.
Methodological Issues in Video-based Research with Children
Chiara Bove
University of Milano, Italy
We will discuss methodological questions and first emerging data based on pilot focus group
discussions with small groups of children aged 4-6 on their intercultural experiences and their
discourses and ideas about them. We have showed a video of a day in an Italian pre-school to
individuals or small (2-4) groups of children, in family and school settings and discussions have
been videotaped and transcribed. Clips of videos and transcripts will be presented and
discussed with a particular focus on the role, stimuli and interventions of the adult leading the
group. The research is inscribed in a broader international project ‘Children crossing borders’
that involves five cities (Phoenix, Paris, Berlin, Birmingham and Milan) and has in its first phase
concentrated on the voices of teachers and parents and aims to experiment ways significant
both from a methodological and pedagogical point of view to give voice to young children on
emerging issues. It represents an attempt to develop a methodology that combines theoretical
reflection on doing research on children ideas originally developed by Piaget with more recent
methodological experiments (Pontecorvo, 2006), the video-cue method introduced by Joseph
Tobin (1989) and the ethnographic approach (Corsaro, 2003)
References
Piaget, J. (1926) La representation du monde chez l’enfant, Presses Universitaries de France-PUF, 2003
A. Clark, A. T. Kjorholt, P. Moss, Beyond Listening: Children's Perspectives on Early Childhood Services, Paperback,
2005
G. Rose, Visual Methodologies: An Introduction to the Interpretation of Visual Methods, Sage Publications, 2nd
edition, January 2007
J. J. Tobin, Good guys don’t wear hats, Teachers College Press, 2000.
J. J. Tobin, Pre-school in Three cultures. Japan, China, USA, Oxford University Press, 1989 (tr.it. 2000)
Corsaro, W. The sociology of childhood, Indiana University, 2004
Pontecorvo, C. Famiglie all’italiana. Parlare a tavola, Cortina, Milano, 2007
‘Seen but Never Heard’ Children's Voices in England
Dalvir, Gill
Centre for Research in Early Childhood Birmingham, England
This international research project is examining the practices, values and expectations of preschool services, and the aspirations, expectations and views of children and parents from 'newly
emerging' communities, in multicultural cities in five countries. The focus for this paper will be on
the interest in capturing the views of young children; within the context of respect for diversity
and the social construction of identities. For our project we believe that young children’s sense
of belonging and identity is a very important aspect of learning during and after transitions. Our
core method is the use of video to stimulate reflection and dialogue with 3 to 5 year olds. This is
a method developed by the principal investigator Professor Joseph Tobin for his study Preschool in Three Cultures: Japan, China, and the USA (2000). Other methods used in this
context were Personal dolls,(Brown: 2001) and role-play observations(RAMPS 2005). This
symposium will present, what are the ethical considerations in interviewing children? This will
include issues relating to confidentiality, anonymity, protocols, consent, assent, intrusion,
cultural appropriateness and responsive feedback.
We conducted pilot interviews and will present some of the lessons learnt and key findings.
How are practitioners connecting with children’s identities? Can children make sense of their
identities? Answers to these questions and the reason why we need to be rigorous in
acknowledging and probing the complexities of child interviews in the cultural negotiation
context and how to use interviews as ‘attempts to understand the world from the subjects' point
of view.
References:
Blatchford, Siraj J (2000) Supporting Identity, Diversity and Language in the Early Years (Supporting Early Learning)
Trentham books (Paperback)
J. J. Tobin, Pre-school in Three cultures. Japan, China, USA, Oxford University Press, 1989 (tr.it. 2000)
Lancaster, Penny Y (2005) RAMPS: a framework for listening to children, Daycare Trust
Brown, B (2001) Combating Discrimination: Persona Dolls in Action: Trentham Books
Clark, A & Moss, P (2001) Listening to Young Children: The Mosaic Approach,
Hall and P. du Gay (eds), Questions of Cultural Identity, London: Thousand,
Brah, A. (1996) Cartographies of Diaspora: Contesting Identities. London: Routledge.
Connolly, P. (1998) Racism, Gender, Identities and Young Children. London: Routledge.
Holmes, R. (1995) How Young Children Perceive Race. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage
Young, Robert J.C, Colonial Desire: Hybridity in Theory, Culture and Race. London: Routledge, 1995
Bhabba, Homi K, The Location of Culture. London Routledge 1994
Symposium IV/19 Policy and Practice in Inclusive Education
Self-organised symposium
ID-482
Language Development and Inclusive Education
Chair:
Rebekka Jónsdottir
Múlaborg Pre-school Reykjavík, Iceland
Session overview
Our school is located in Reykjavík Iceland and our motto here at Múlaborg is “Leikskóli fyrir
alla”, which means “A pre-school for everyone”. We operate a fully inclusive pre-school where
our main goals are related to the idea that all children learn as they develop. Here at Múlaborg
our core staff is made up of special education therapists and early childhood professionals
working hand and hand to build and continually develop a curriculum, which all children benefit
from. Our school is widely sought after for children both with and without disabilities here in
Reykjavík. We have developed a system using both non-traditional and traditional
communication and language development methods. This system has fostered communication
between children with disabilities and children without disabilities. This system has also further
advanced language development in all children who attend our school. The methods we use
entail the use of signing with spoken words (similar to Makoaton which is used in the UK) and
PCS pictures combined with traditional methods such as song, discussion, or reading. These
methods used in combination have resulted in a strong base for inclusive education where
children with disabilities learn alongside and are often assisted by children without disabilities.
We are now taking our work a step further in order to meet the growing changes in Icelandic
society today involving cultural diversity. Due to the increase in emigration to Iceland we are
seeing an increasing level of bi/multi-lingual children in our pre-schools. We are now further
developing these methods, which we found to work in inclusive education to bridge the gap
between the native and second language in bi/multi-lingual children. We believe that the work
we are doing here at Múlaborg are relevant to this conference due to links with at least four of
the presented strands; “Language as a tool of interaction and cognitive development”, “Art
culture and development”, “Inclusive education: embracing diversity” and “The facilitative role of
adults and peers in child development”.
Keywords: inclusive education, language development, diversity, peer assistance
Múlaborg a Pre-school for Everyone
Guðmundsdottir Gyða
Múlaborg Pre-school, Iceland
Here at Múlaborg pre-school we have developed a model of inclusive education which meets
the developmental needs of all our students; with our without disabilities. We employ both
special education therapists and early childhood educators to work together as equals. The
reasoning behind this being that the expertise that such professionals bring to the field is equally
important in developing a curriculum which not only meets the needs of our children with
disabilities, but also allows us to create an environment which fosters development in all
children. This environment we have created not only meets the developmental needs of children
to thrive but also allows them to surpass developmental benchmarks, which are often deemed
unachievable. Our education model employs both adults and peers as facilitators of
development. Using the ideas set forth by Vygotsky with ZDP and Howard Gardner and multiple
intelligences. We have developed a special system, which combines the use of non-traditional
and traditional methods for communication and language development, which further enhance
the use of ZDP and inclusion. This system will be discussed in further detail by our next
speaker.
Non-traditional Communication Methods and Language Development in Inclusive
Education
Guðmundsdottir Brynhildur
Múlaborg Pre-school, Iceland
Here at Múlaborg we have crated a system combining the use of non-traditional and traditional
methods of communication and language development. This system is used to help children
both with and without disabilities communicate and develop language skills. We use a
combination of signing with words (similar to Makaton which is used in the UK) and PCS
pictures along side traditional methods for language development such as song, reading, and
discussion. These methods are used throughout the entire school and daily schedule with all
children. We have created this system for use in all areas of our curriculum such as song time,
free choice time, review of daily schedule for children, weather expert, lunch/snack time, and
circle time. Through the use of this system we therefore enable every child to develop and
understanding and the opportunity for mastery of language and communication skills. This
system has proven valuable to both children with and without disabilities. This system has
enabled us also to bridge the gap between what children are able to do today and what they are
able to master with assistance tomorrow. We have developed this system for use at home, at
the pre-school between both staff and children in addition to occupational therapists, physical
therapists and other professionals who work closely with disabled children in our care. We
consider this system for communication and language development as the backbone to our
inclusive educational model.
Cultual Diversity and Language Development
Nichole Leigh Mosty
Múlaborg Pre-school, Iceland
This is one of our newest projects under development here at Múlaborg. This project weaves
together our methods for communication and language development with cultural diversity
through bi/multi-lingual children attending our pre-school. As is a widely accepted fact we
recognize language to be one of the strongest traits related to ones culture. In this project we
have designed a method, which employs our system for communication and language
development combined with parental cooperation in fostering native language development at
home. We use our system for communication and language development to help bi/multi-lingual
children build a solid base to build upon in Icelandic (second language). Whilst at the same time
we assist parents in strengthening their ability to foster language development at home in the
child’s native language. We do this through empowering parents through information provided in
a Parent Handbook. In addition to this we have developed a communication book, which tells
the story of the child both at home and school, which is used in language development in both
languages. Through this project we are bringing the child’s home culture into the classroom
therefore increasing the scale of inclusive education to include culture.
Symposium IV/20
Policy and Practice in Inclusive Education
Individual papers
Chair:
To be Determined
ID-500
Inclusive Bilingual Education: Ethnographic Case Studies from the
Palestinian Jewish 'Front'
Zvi Bekerman
Hebrew University, Jerusalem
Dual language programmes can be classified on a continuum between weak and strong
bilingualism with additive bilingual approaches emphasizing symmetry between both languages
in all aspects of instruction (Garcia, 1997). In one way or another, all bilingual approaches would
agree with Skutnabb-Kangas and Garcia's (1995) account of the main benefits of an effective
bilingual programme: 1) a high level of multilingualism; 2) equal opportunity for academic
achievement; and 3) a strong, positive multilingual and multicultural identity including positive
attitudes toward self and others. When successfully implemented, bilingual programmes
progressively achieve these goals (Crawford, 1997). The present study examines the influence
of socio-historical and political contexts in conflict-ridden areas on the implementation of
bilingual educational initiatives geared towards encouraging socio-cultural tolerance while
encouraging student bilingualism. More specifically, I will analyze ethnographic data gathered in
the 1st and 3rd grades of one of the four bilingual binational schools functioning in Israel; an
initiative whose main purpose is to offer dignity and equality to the two Israeli groups who have
been engaged in one of the most intractable and intense conflicts of modern times (Bar-Tal,
2000): Palestinians and Jews. The paper uncovers some of the ways in which discourse
practices are organized in the schools and help perpetuate the symbolic subordination of
minority languages and speakers of those languages at schools and in society. The paper
suggests that solutions to the problems discussed cannot be found in the narrow limits of the
school and their surrounding communities but in the wider socio-political context.
Keywords: inclusion, bilingualism, peace education, ethnography
ID-502
Starting Primary School in Ireland: the Experience of Refugee Children and
their Families
Philomena Donnelly
St. Patrick's College, Ireland
The aim of this research project (May 2005-June 2007) is to inform Irish educational policy and
practice by documenting and analysing the educational experience of twelve children and their
families who have been granted refugee status in the Republic of Ireland. The families are from
Nigeria and Ghana. From May 2005-August 2006 the parent/s - the majority of the research
population are women on their own - and the children were interviewed on three occasions, in
the Mosney Accomodation Centre in August 2005 before the children started school, in
January/February after their first term in school and by which time the majority of the families
had moved out of the accomodation centre to rented housing, and again in the summer months
of 2006 when the children had completed the first year of primary schooling. The methodology
involves documenting ethnographic case studies and is implemented through a narrative,
qualitative approach. The ethical issues surrounding such processes are informed by the work
of Farrell (2005), Dalberg and Moss (2005), Clough (2002) and by the work of Rutter (2006).
The twelve children and families will be interviewed again in May/ June 2007. Initial analyses
show the families that coped best with the transition into the Irish system are the families who
had built a network of friends within the accomodation centre, had moved to the same area/
town and were still in touch with each other. Others who moved to areas on their own were
finding the whole process more demanding. The majority of the children and parents were very
pleased with their school experience although there were expectations to this. As part of the
project a number of teachers teaching children from the refugee community will also be
interviewed in 2007.
Keywords: refugee, transition, starting school
Symposium IV/21 Teacher Training
Self-organised symposium
ID-446
Making Learning Visible
Chair:
Theodora Papatheodorou
Faculty of Education, Anglia Ruskin University, United Kingdom
Session overview
Despite the acknowledgment of theoretical and policy frameworks which see learning as the
processes of knowledge construction that is context-bound and relevant, top-down, narrowlydefined and extraneously imposed learning paradigms dominate higher education policy and
institutional literacy. This Self-organised symposium aims to unpack and contest the process of
students\'learning in teacher education and early childhood programmes in Flanders, Finland
and the UK. In different ways, each of the presentations focuses on the struggles of both
educators and students to make their learning visible to themselves and others by negotiating
conflicting pedagogical paradigms in the light of their own life and learning experience. A
common theme across all three presentations is the argument that learning cannot be defined
and understood in single (and simple?) paradigms and policies. Instead, such paradigms should
be examined and interrogated through learners’ own life and work experience, their theoretical
and practice-based learning, and personal engagement and questioning of what is known and
what is required to be known.
Keywords: learning, experience, competencies, graduateness
How do Student Teachers Consider Their Learning in Practice
Anneli Niikko
Teacher Education Department in Savonlinna, University of Joensuu, Finland
Typically teacher education consists of theoretical and practical study. The purpose of both
forms is to support student teachers’ professional development and growth.
As the goal of the consideration in the professional growth and development, is to support
student teachers to become teachers and professional people, to develop their conceptions and
understanding of children, pedagogical work and early childhood education. The key element in
this process is learning. In this paper I consider three student teachers’ narratives (Boomer
1992; Kelchtermans & Vandenberghe 1994; Halmio 1997). The study is follow-up inquiry which
has been started one half year ago when these three students started their study in
kindergarten teacher education (Bachelor’s degree). During first year I studied what kind of
things student teachers focused on their study. The results of the first study year showed that
role models in their childhood, different life experiences and work experiences had been big
influence their study and learning. These students had changed a little. Some differences it was
found between students. Now I am interested to know what kind of things student teachers
focus on when they have studied half of their study programme. Also I am interested their
theoretical and practical learning experiences.
Paradigm Shift Not Yet Accomplished
Ludo Heylen
Centre for Experiential Learning, Catholic University Leuven, Belgium
Teacher education in Flanders and Holland has made a change towards a competency-based
curriculum. But for many lecturers it is hard to bring this paradigm shift into practise. The centre
for experiential education has been asked to support lecturers to implement this innovation. In
our paper presentation we will (1) first focus on the theoretical framework of competency based
education and (2) give a short overview of some research findings on effects of new learning
environments in line with competency based education. We will also give some indications of
the impact of learning communities (social constructivism) on the knowledge building of
students. Afterwards we will present the process of two different teacher education settings
where we will highlight two different elements: (a) the struggle of educators to create a rich
learning environment in line with the new paradigm and (b) the impact of students’ perception
on taking fully responsibility for their own life long learning.
Co-constructing Knowledge- Facilitating Graduateness
Theodora Papatheodorou, Paulette Luff and Christine Such
Faculty of Education, Anglia Ruskin University, United Kingdom
In the UK, the notion of “graduateness” was introduced in Higher education learning by the
Dearing report (National Committee of Inquiry into Higher education 1997) to refer to generic
and transferable skills (such as learning how to learn, critical thinking and ability to re-search)
required and expected to be achieved by students at the completion of their studies. In 2005,
the Personal Development Planning (PDP) was introduced to facilitate students to achieve
“graduateness” by reviewing, planning and taking responsibility of their own learning (HEA
2005). However, previous research has shown that undergraduate students see PDP as an end
product rather than as a means of reflection and action on learning (Papatheodorou 2005).
Following from the findings of this initial study, we have introduced systematic documentation as
a means of making visible the process of knowledge construction in learning. Documentation
has been introduced in three modules in year one to facilitate students to (i) understand the
impact and importance of their previous experience in knowledge construction and meaning
making and (ii) to articulate their understanding and meaning of the concept of “graduateness”
introduced by institutional literacy.
In this presentation we will (i) provide background information about the concept of
“graduateness” and its usage in institutional literacy, policy and structures and (ii) discuss how
documentation can be used to unpack and contest conflicting, ambiguous and extraneously
imposed paradigms by a process of deconstructing, constructing and re-constructing meaning.
Symposium IV/22 Policy of Early Education in Different Countries
Discussion group
Chair:
Margaret Clark
Newman College of Higher Education, United Kingdom
ID-65
ECEC Policy and Practice across UK, the Republic of Ireland and in the
Nordic Countries: Implications for Early Childhood
To set the scene:
Margaret Clark, Newman College of Higher education, Birmingham will compare policy
developments across the UK (England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales) and the Republic
of Ireland:
Thomas Moser, Vestfold University College, Norway will consider developments in the Nordic
countries (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden.
Policy, provision, the curriculum offered to young children from birth to eight and the role of the
State all have implications for families, and not least the self-esteem of parents. It is hoped to
stimulate a continuing dialogue between those who attend, possibly leading to a publication.
`Short stories` contrasting possible lives to age six of young children born in 2000 in UK and
Ireland will be available (reprinted from Clark and Waller eds 2007). Such case studies reveal
the impact of changes in policy on families depending on where they live, even within a country.
Participants will be encouraged, following the discussion, to develop and share similar
resources. We hope this will bring alive the impact of policy developments such as those
reported in Starting Strong II (OECD 2006).
References
Clark, M.M. and Waller, T. eds (2007) Early Childhood Education and Care: Policy and practice. London: Sage.
Einarsdottir,J., and Wagner,J.T.eds(2006) Nordic Childhoods and Early Education. Greenwich, Connecticut:IAP.
OECD (2006) Starting Strong II:Early childhood education and care. Paris OECD.
Keywords: policy, transitions, childhood, curriculum
Symposium IV/23
Policy of Early Education in Different Countries
Individual papers
Chair:
To be Determined
ID-328
Examining E-learning in Socio-cultural Communities of Early Childhood
Teachers: 21st Century Learning Approaches for Professional Development
Linda Newman
University of Western Sydney, Australia
Under clarification
ID-390
'If It Takes a Village' - - - The Impact of the Global Village on Learning
Opportunities
Marion Flett
Bernard van Leer Foundation, The Netherlands
The impact of new technologies has accelerated considerably in the past decade and is now
having a fundamental effect on the ways in which people communicate and conduct their lives,
not only in industrialised countries but possibly even more significantly, in the 'developing' world.
This presentation will provide a historical perspective on the development of learning
opportunities for young children and their parents as the pace of technological change has
gathered momentum during the latter part of the 20th century and start of the 21st. It will explore
major issues in relation to these changes including the adaptation of learning materials; the
creation of different types of learning opportunities; the use of new technologies in education,
health and childcare settings; differential access to information and to services; and implications
for both policy and practice in terms of ensuring enhanced learning opportunities particularly for
disadvantaged young children and their families. The paper is based on a review of literature in
the academic press, web based sources and ‘grey’ literature from the policy and practice field
as well as selected case studies of innovations in the use of technology in countries ranging
from Scotland and Finland to Uganda and Mexico, among others. Sources include Christine
Stephen and Lydia Plowman on the use of ICT in pre-schools; Larry Sanger on the new politics
of knowledge; Garry Marcus on metacognition for Kids’; David Dalrymple on technology in
education; Tessa Livingstone on Child of Our Time; Kay Tisdall on policy in relation to
disadvantaged children, Judith Harris on child development in relation to the nature /nurture
debate and Barbara Rogoff on young children’s learning.
Keywords: technology, information, services, learning
Symposium IV/24
Theoretical Approaches and Findings
Individual papers
Chair:
To be Determined
ID-33
Always a Bridesmaid, Never a Bride: A Review of the Research on Bakhtin in Early
Childhood Education Research
Amy S. Johnson
The University of Georgia, USA
In this paper presentation, we present our findings of a review of the research on how Bakhtin
has been employed in early childhood education research. In recent decades, Bakhtin’s
contemporary, Vygotsky’s work has profoundly shaped and informed research and teaching in
early childhood education, deepening insights into the role that social and cultural contexts play
in a child’s development (e.g., Vygotsky, 1978). Notably, Vygotsky’s thinking on the relationship
between language development and cognition (e.g., Vygotsky, 1934) has offered early
childhood researchers and teachers a framework for understanding the social aspects of
children’s language development.
Given that Vygotsky has left such an impression on the field of early childhood education, we
were curious about the impact of that his contemporary Bakhtin has had on the field. The focus
of Bakhtin’s philosophy is ethics and the act (e.g., Bakhtin, 1990, 1993), as well as the use that
humans make of language (e.g., Bakhtin, 1981). Through systematic analysis of over 300
articles published in peer-reviewed journals, we share with conference participants the uses
toward which Bakhtin’s theories on ethics and language have been put in the study of young
children and/or teachers of young children. Our analyses has led us to frame Bakhtin as usually
cast in the supporting role in Early Childhood research – that is, from our analyses we have
come to see Bakhtin metaphorically as being the “bridesmaid” to Vygotsky’s “bride.” After
sharing our findings, we present possibilities and opportunities that Bakhtin’s work present to
early childhood researchers and teachers.
Co-authors: Amy S. Johnson, Jinhee Kim, Sukyoung Park, Deborah Tippins
Keywords: language, literacy, Bakhtin
The other presentations are under clarification.
Symposium IV/25 Teachers’ Reflective Practice
Individual papers
Chair:
Berit Bae
Høgskolen Oslo, Norway
ID-102
A Foundation Stage Learning Network - Extending and Building on
Practitioner's Knowledge through Accredited Professional Development
Carole Goodchild and Margaret Francis
City of York Council - Learning Culture and Children's Services, United Kingdom
The overarching theme for this paper is the impact of the professional development of a target
group of teachers involved in the education and care of young children within eight primary
schools in the City of York.
The need for a network of highly skilled foundation stage teachers working within a quality
environment was recognised as a key driver for influencing the practice of others across the
city. This was also seen as an opportunity to explore an alternative model of quality professional
development, co-constructed using the expertise of an external early years consultant.
The methodology and methods of enquiry used were designed to measure the impact of the
programme both in individual settings and across the network, utilising case studies to exemplify
good practice.
A flexible design, based the learning needs of the adults within the network supported the
evolving nature of this research. In investigating key lines of enquiry, other questions evolved:
How does reflective practice impact in the short and longer term?
What needs to be in place to sustain initial impact?
What are the implications for policy and practice?
How will the Local Authority use this pieced of action research to challenge and support
practitioners in moving forward their learning and practice within the context of local and
national change.
It is planned that as the research evolves into the second year further networks will be created
and the impact of collaborative learning monitored and evaluated.
Keywords: learning network, professional development, foundation stage (3 - 5 years), quality
environment
ID-122
How Preschool Teachers in Sweden Experience their Educational Work
Inger Hensvold
Stockholm Institute of Education, Sweden
The aim of this study, based on interviews with 15 pre-school teachers, is to describe how preschool teachers experience their educational work with children. The theoretical framework is a
life-world phenomenological approach - and Vygotsky´s concepts of development. The result is
presented in relation to three aspects.
The first aspect, the teacher's posture toward children, focuses on the capabilities of children
and the importance of proceeding from the child's interest and life-world. Children learn from
their own activities in a social context. They are active participants in their own learning with
support from experienced learners.
The second aspect deals with the actions of pre-school teachers. The teacher supports and
challenges the children in their thinking and problem-solving. The most important tool is the
language and the teacher emphasizes dialogue and the role of experienced learners. The
concept of the zone of proximal development is not used, but when talking about their actions
the meaning of the concept is embedded in their language.
The third aspect deals with the teacher's educational intentions in relation to children's
development: social capabilities and skills, problem solving and compensatory perspectives.
The children should gain knowledge and adjust to everyday life in pre-school - and in the
community around them. The role of the experienced learners is emphasized as well as the
culture of the pre-school and of the community.
Keywords: pre-school pedagogy; experienced learners, problem-based learning, children’s
activities
ID-227
Gerda Sula
Where Did This Practice Come from?
Step by Step Centre, Albania
Ever since the system changes in the post communist countries, several child-centred models
have been presented to the early childhood classrooms, and have proven themselves
successful in the education of young children. But do teachers know on what theoretical basis
their education practices are based upon? This study aims at exploring the theoretical
knowledge of practitioners in early childhood settings, both child-centred and “traditional” (even
though all schools and teachers have had exposure of some sorts with the child-centred
practices), as well as the theoretical knowledge of students aiming at becoming early childhood
teachers. It also explores some of the practices observed in the classrooms, which are based
on specific theoretician, and tries to understand whether teachers have knowledge of some
sorts related to the theory that they are putting into practice.
The study uses active observation, semi-structured interviews and focus groups as tools. The
teachers involved have been selected from several cities in Albania, as well as from one
Teacher Preparation University.
Keywords: theories, practices, early childhood education
Symposium IV/26 Innovation: Implementing Theory into Practice
Self-organised symposium
ID-375
Working on Innovation in Early Childhood: An Experience from Poland
Chair:
Henriette Heimgaertner
Internationale Akademie für Innovative Pädagogik, Psychologie und Okonomie (INA) GmbH an der Freien
Universität Berlin, Institut für den Situationsansatz (ISTA), Germany
Session overview
The Self-organised symposium presents the experiences of two Polish organizations: Astrid
Lindgren Institute for Early Childhood Development and the Comenius Foundation for Child
Development focus on the creation of good quality developmental and educational setting for
young children. Presentation shows how it is possible to cross the borders of traditional thinking
of ECD and create child-centred environment for young children.
The first part of the presentation shows the way the communist ideology shaped the early
education in Poland, in particular the attitude towards young children, perceiving their needs
and rights and their place in the society. Also, it underlines that good quality programmes following Vygotsky’s approach - teaching style focused on child autonomous learning and
interest in the child’s zone of proximal development (family and pre-school) may be an efficient
way of dealing with post-communist context of upbringing and education.
The second part gives the results of complex diagnosis of the situation of the early education in
Poland, which led to the identification of the main problems in pre-school and early school
education.
The third part presents the activities proposed by both organizations as the solution to key
problems in early education in Poland. The Comenius Foundation presents programmes that
help rural municipalities to create high quality educational activities for children. The Astrid
Lindgren Institute presents the project, which focuses on pre-school headmasters and teachers
as well as the local communities.
Keywords: quality development, pre-school education in Poland
Overcoming Pre-transition System and Behaviours: What are the Issues for Early
Childhood Programmes?
Magdalena Helman-Barylska
Astrid Lindgren Institute for Early Childhood Development, Poland
The totalitarian system heritage is still clearly visible in all areas of social life in Poland. New
social order is often based on the rules of previous system because of lack of adequate legal
regulations, coherence of regulations, adequate structures and ways of action. In the same
time, the new order rules are not well understood by the society, not well received and
internalized. This leads to disorganization of public life, anxiety in various social groups and
return of old habits that originated in times of communist system.
Communist system influenced profoundly the shape of early education in Poland, especially the
attitude toward children and perceiving their needs, rights and place in the society. A teacher
has the dominant and controlling role while a child is in the submissive position, is the object of
teacher’s activities, and his/her activities and natural activity needs are limited. A teacher
focuses on transferring the programme content and not on supporting a child’s development. A
child is not perceived as an independent and competent entity who actively builds his/her
knowledge about the outside world. Such an approach to development and education of young
children doesn’t satisfy his/her basic needs, nor prepared to current challenges and changing
circumstances.
The Astrid Lindgren Institute for Early Childhood Development was founded and still works to
overcome the post-communist effects of upbringing and education of young children. To our
minds through the promotion of the new image of child in the society and increased accessibility
of good-quality programmes for young children and their nearest environments (a family and
pre-school) we contribute to the creation of the young child culture, which is one of the elements
of the democratic society culture.
Young Children in Poland: A Report on Early Education
Teresa Ogrodzinska
Comenius Foundation for Child Development, Poland
The Comenius Foundation for Child Development has been established to create the best
developmental and educational conditions for young children in Poland. Foundation works
closely with parents, teachers, non-governmental organisations, local authorities and childserving institutions promoting modern educational approaches and high educational standards.
In Poland the significance of early education is underrated. Access to pre-school education is
extremely poor, especially in rural areas, where social contexts are particularly difficult. Because
birth rates are highest in the rural communities, it is the rural children’s education levels that will
determine the future levels of human capital in Poland. Programmes to equalise educational
opportunities for rural children are therefore urgently needed. There are no institutions
responsible for collecting data about the situation of young children, and there are no research
studies or situation diagnoses in that field.
To fulfil this gap Comenius Foundation prepared Young Children in Poland: A Report on Early
Education. The chapters were written by prominent scholars and academic experts on special
commission from the Comenius Foundation. In addition, the Advisors’ Team composed of NGO
leaders working in the early education field prepared NGO recommendations to accompany
every chapter. The Report is the first Polish publication that attempts to offer an all-round
diagnosis of the education available to children aged 3-10.
The presentation will show the most important findings of the Report in the area of: educational
legislation, policy formulation, the training of early education teachers, school-home cooperation, financing of early education, education for children with special needs, education for
minority and disadvantaged children.
Implementing Early Childhood Programmes: Issues and Challenges
Anna Blumsztajn (1) and Antonina Bojanowska (2)
(1) Comenius Foundation for Child Development, Poland
(2) Astrid Lindgren Institute for Early Childhood Development, Poland
The Comenius Foundation for Child Development worked out model programmes that allow the
local communities to increase the quality of early education and to promulgate it. This
presentation shows two such programmes. The first one, “Where There Are No Pre-schools”,
helps local governments to create pre-school centres in rural areas, offering education activities
for children of 3-5 years of age. The centres are financed by the communities, and the
Foundation prepares teachers as well as monitors the quality of the centres’ work. In the time
being there are 300 of such centres in Poland.
The Astrid Lindgren Institute for Early Childhood Development focuses on the creation of the
young child culture in local community. The organization’s priority is to allow for the needs and
rights of young children in public space, and strengthening the nearest environment of children their family and pre-school. In the “Friendly Kindergarten” project framework our organization
worked out and promulgated the model of child-focused training for pre-school headmasters
and teachers. The training focuses mainly on strategies that promote the change in the child
image. The pre-school team develops their pedagogic abilities toward creating the save and
inspiring setting for children in the everyday life of a pre-school. The project is also the
opportunity to experience the group work based on the culture of participation and good
communication, which adds to the quality and effectiveness of the pedagogic work of teachers.
References:
Dolata Roman. Nierówności w dostępie do edukacji: stan i propozycje działań zaradczych. Ekspertyza napisana na
zlecenie Polskiego Komitetu UNESCO, 2004.
Gawlicz Katarzyna. Structuring Social World through Kindergarten Practicies. 2006.
Hoehme-Serke Evelyne. Partizipation in Kitas in den Neuen Bundeslandern. 2005.
Human Development Report. UNDP, 2001.
Lubomirska Krystyna. Przedszkole, rzeczywistość i szansa. Wydawnictwo Akademickie Żak, 1997.
Shotter John. Vygotsky’s psychology: joint activity in a developmental zone. [In:] New Ideas in Psychology, vol.7, 2,
185-204. Pergamon Press, Ltd. 1989.
Spodek Bernard i Saracho Olivia N. Preparing Early Childhood Teachers for the Twenty-First Century. [In:] Early
Childhood Teacher Preparation. Edit. Spodek B., Saracho O.N. New York, Teachers College Press, 1990.
Starting
Strong
– Early Childhood
Education
(http://www1.oecd.org/publications/e-book/9101011e.pdf).
and
Care
(Country
Profiles).
OECD,
2001.
Szlendak Tomasz. Zaniedbana piaskownica. Style wychowania małych dzieci a problem nierówności szans
edukacyjnych. Instytut Spraw Publicznych, Warszawa, 2003.
Tedesco Juan C. Current Trends in Educational Reform. Paris, International Commision on Education for the Twentyfirst Century, UNESCO, 1993.
Titkow Anna. Stres i życie społeczne. Polskie doświadczenia. PIW, Warszawa, 1993.
Tomaśevsky Katarina. Education Denied. Costs and Remedies. London & New York, Zed Books, 2003.
Wygotski Lew S. Wybrane prace psychologiczne. Warszawa, Wydawnictwo Naukowe PNW, 1971.
FRIDAY, 31ST AUGUST
SYMPOSIUM SET V
Symposium V/1
16:45 – 18:15
Parents’ Perspective and Family Involvement
Individual papers
Chair:
Teresa Vasconcelos
Lisbon School of Education, Polytechnic Institute, Portugal
ID-78
The Effect of Child’s Gender and Parental Education on Toddler's
Language Development
Ljubica Marjanovič Umek, Simona Kranjc, Urška Fekonja and Katja Bajc
University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Arts, Department of Psychology, Slovenia
The results of many studies show that child's gender and the educational level of his parents
have a significant although not equally high effect on language development in different
developmental periods. In the present study we examined the effect of child’s gender and
parental education on various areas of language competence in toddlers aged 16 to 30 months.
The sample included 953 Slovene toddlers, half boys and half girls, whose parents differed
regarding the level of their formal education. The language competence of toddlers was
examined using Inventory of communicative competence for children aged 16 to 30 months:
Words and Sentences (ICC: 16 – 30 months) (Marjanovič Umek, Kranjc, Fekonja, and Bajc,
2004), the Slovene adaptation of The MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventory:
Words and Sentences (Fenson et al., 2004). The toddlers’ language expression was assessed
by their parents. The obtained results show that gender has a significant effect on language
competence of toddlers, independent of their age or parental educational level. Girls were
assessed by their parents as more competent than boys on all areas of language expression.
On the other hand the parental education had a significant effect on language expression of
toddlers although not equally high in all age groups. The results also suggest that between 16
and 30 months of age some significant developmental changes occur in different areas of
toddler's language expression assessed by ICC: 16 – 30 months.
Keywords: language development, gender, parental education, toddlerhood
ID-159
Is It the Children’s Business? - Parents’ Supervising and Consulting Styles
and Their Beliefs about the Children’s Peer Relationships
Marita Neitola
University of Turku, Department of Education, Finland
Parents’ parenting styles and childrearing practices influence the quality of children’s social
relationships and social competence. In roles like designer, mediator, supervisor and consultant
parents can educate their children to appropriately initiate and maintain social relations (Parke &
O’Neil, 2000). It has been found that parental coaching was related to children’s positive use of
social skills as rated by teacher (Pettit & al.,1998). Mothers’ explicit advice-giving have been
reported to predict social competence more than simple discussions about peer situations (Laird
& al. 1994). Children rated as lower in social competence have been found to have parents who
are more controlling in their interactional style. In addition, parents using more power-assertive
ways have children, who are less accepted by their peers. (McDowell & al., 2003.)
This paper aims to explore especially the parents of children with high risk to social exclusion,
their methods to supervise and consult their children’s social interaction with peers. The data
was collected by theme interviews (N=54). The interviewed parents were categorized into high-,
low- and no risk- groups according to their children’s vulnerability to social exclusion.
Preliminary results indicated that parents of the high risk- children used less supervision and
consultative methods when guiding their children in social interaction. Counseling seemed to be
less detailed than no risk -parents’ advice giving. It can be assumed that children with stable
and multiple peer relation problems need more positive and encouraging supervising, better
appropriately situation-orientated coaching and more consultative actions from their parents.
Keywords: children, peer relations, parenting, consulting
Symposium V/2
Co-operation between Families and Teachers
Individual papers
Chair:
Aija Tuna
International Step by Step Association, Hungary
ID-170
How parent-school partnership changed our lives
Radmila Rangelov-Jusovic
Centre for Educational Initiatives Step by Step, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Parent involvement is not a new concept in pedagogical practice in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
However, developing strong partnership with families and communities, based on child-centred
practice, requires new understanding and major changes in pre-school setting and organization.
This action research, conducted in three pre-school settings in Sarajevo, followed and
supported two year process of developing parent-school partnership in six areas: parenting,
communication, volunteering, learning at home, decision making and community involvement.
This process strongly affected both – children, particularly in the area of social-emotional
development, as well as life and self-image of parents and teachers. Whole process has
changed pre-school environment, previously seen as a place for "taking care of children while
parents are working", to parent and community centre, influencing curriculum, space
arrangements, daily schedule, etc. Also, for the first time, parents (mostly single mothers) were
employed as full time assistants, what changed their, and their children's life radically, providing
the hope for the future.
Keywords: parents, partnership, pre-school
ID-169
Teachers’ Representations of Their Relationships with Parents
Mariacristina Picchio
Institute of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies, National Research Council, Italy
In Italian early education experiences, the relationships with parents are considered a crucial
aspect of the quality of the education and care services. The capability of constructing this
relationship is a major component of teachers’ professional practice. However, the construction
process of this relationship is often characterized by difficulties and conflicts, whose origin can
be found in the representations that teachers and parents have of their reciprocal roles with
regard to children’s education. The present study was aimed to analyse the teachers’
representations of parents and their needs and attitudes towards early education and care
services. 40 Italian nido teachers were interviewed in two assessments, before and after one
year’s experience in a different type of services, Centres for Children and Parents, that require
the presence of parents with their children, in order to share play time and socialise with other
children and parents. Analysis of the interviews has revealed the meaning assigned by the
teachers to the relationships with parents and the critical issues emerging in their professional
practice with regard to this relationship. The comparison between the interviews in the two
assessments has shown that the experience of a direct contact with parents in the new services
has changed the teachers’ representations of parents’ needs and behaviour and induced a
change in their professional practice in the nido. A close relationship between the attitudes and
actions of teachers towards parents and the attitudes and responses of parents towards
teachers has emerged.
Keywords: relationships with parents, teacher's representations
ID-331
How Do Parents and Day-Care Workers Co-operate in the Upbringing of
Children in Day-Care Centres? A Case Study
Ellen Allewijn-Tzipris
Fontys University of Applied Sciences, The Netherlands, and Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium
It is not earlier than 25 years ago that women in the Netherlands started to work more often
after giving birth of their first child. Nowadays 90% of the women continue to work part-time after
they gave birth and therefore there has been an increasing use of all kind of day-care facilities.
Although only 30% of those parents use day-care centres, due to the fact that the fast majority
of the Dutch still believes that children should better stay at home rather than in day-care
centres.
My PhD-research focuses on how the dual-earning parents and day-care workers cooperate in
the care, upbringing and development of the children in the day-care centres. Using action
research, the methods such as observations, in-depth interviews and group discussions
between the parents and day-care workers were used to discover how they cooperate and how
the cooperation might be improved at the day-care. The results of this case study (there will be
4 case studies in the entire research) showed that the day-care workers and parents have quite
different ideas of the pedagogical aim of the day-care. The parents had for example hardly any
educational expectations and ideas of the day-care. They also hardly realized how day-care
workers stimulate the development of the children. The day-care workers on the other hand
believed that their work contributes to the development of the children. The outline the parents
and the day-care workers made together contained ideas how the cooperation in the upbringing
of the children could be improved. Since it was put into practice, the plan became a part of the
pedagogical policy of the day-care.
Keywords: day-care centre, upbringing, pedagogical ideas, parents/day-care workers,
pedagogical policy
Symposium V/3
Play
Individual papers
Chair:
To be Determined
ID-89
Creating Inter-subjectivity during Socio-dramatic Play at Kindergarten
Victoria Whitington
University of South Australia, Australia
Socio-dramatic play creates a zone of proximal development in which optimum cognitive
development occurs (Vygotsky, 1978). In order to participate successfully in play children and
their partners must create shared meaning, or what is referred to in the socio-cultural literature
as inter-subjectivity (Newson & Newson 1975; Rogoff 1990).
This paper will present the findings of a study recently undertaken in South Australia, based on
work by Farver (1992) and Goncu (1993) concerning the development of inter-subjectivity in
young children's socio-dramatic play. Employing mixed methods researchers investigated
whether or not four-year-old children attending one metropolitan pre-school created intersubjectivity in their play. Once the existence of inter-subjectivity was established the study
identified the play acts that children employed in creating inter-subjectivity with their play
partners, and their frequency (Goncu 1993).
The findings indicated that the children observed created inter-subjectivity in their sociodramatic play and did so through four main play acts: extensions, introductions, build-ons and
acceptances. Of these extensions were used with greatest frequency, while introductions, buildons and acceptances were used equally.
In this presentation the acts through which inter-subjectivity was created will be explained in
detail and illustrated, and other findings of the research presented. A key recommendation is
that including and prioritising socio-dramatic play in programmes for young children maximises
opportunities for the creation of inter-subjectivity, and thus the development of children's
cognition.
Keywords: socio-dramatic play, inter-subjectivity, zone of proximal development, socio-cultural
theory
ID-150
Maternal Scaffolding of Play and Thinking in the Infant/Toddler Period:
Relationships to Later IQ
Anne-Marie Morrissey
University of Melbourne, Faculty of Education, Australia
This paper reports on findings from a longitudinal study that used a Vygotskyan framework to
investigate early pretend play and interactions in 21 mother-child dyads, and relationships with
later IQ. Children were videotaped in play with their mothers between the ages of 8-17 months.
They were later assessed on the Stanford-Binet IQ test at 5 years, and achieved IQ levels
ranging from average to high. Videotapes were analysed for level and frequency of mother and
child pretend play, and mothers’ use of higher order verbal scaffolding. Results showed that in
dyads with children assessed as having higher levels of IQ at 5 years, children appeared to
progress faster through the Zone of proximal development (ZPD) for pretend play, and there
was earlier transfer of responsibility for play activity from mothers to children. Mothers of
children with higher IQ were also more frequent users of analogical and meta-cognitive verbal
scaffolding while their children were under 14 months. An unexpected finding was that the
participant group as a whole demonstrated advanced levels of pretend play, attributed in part to
intensive maternal scaffolding. The findings provide evidence of individual differences within the
ZPD in the infant/toddler period, and highlight the role of responsive caregiving in the early
development of high ability children. The findings also have practical implications for the ways in
which caregivers can support the early development of pretence in infants and toddlers, and
begin to lay the foundations for analogical and meta-cognitive thinking.
Keywords: ZPD, scaffolding, cognitive, infant/toddler
ID-372
Complex Agency in Social Pretend Play: Crossing the Border between
Reality and Pretence
Carmel Brennan
IPPA, The Early Childhood Org/Dublin Institute of Technology, Ireland
This paper emerges from a research project that focuses on the processes and outcomes of
children’s participation in social pretend play. The approach is ethnographic, conducted through
participant observation (with video) and consultation with children in a pre-school setting. The
underpinning position in the study is that participation in social activity is the critical process of
learning (Vygotsky 1978; Rogoff 1990; Lave and Wenger 1991)and that play provides a rich
context for children to negotiate learning through participation in multiple roles and contexts.
The paper focuses on the relationship between children’s agency and goals in play.
It draws on documented play episodes (supported with video) to demonstrate that play stories
are mediated by issues of group dynamics and relationships that cross the border between
reality and pretence. Children’s agency in play responds to their multiple real and pretend goals
and displays a cognitive and emotional complexity that further affirms Vygotsky’s (1933/1976)
theory of play as a ‘zone of proximal development’.
The research has implications for the value and place of play in children’s learning. It proposes
the critical need to move from the individual basis of the traditional pedagogical approach
towards a pedagogy of connection, so that children (and adults) have access to learning in
transaction with community.
References
Lave, J. and E. Wenger (1991). Situated learning: Legitimate Peripheral Participation in Communities of Practice.
Cambridge, UK, Cambridge Uni Press.
Rogoff, B. (1990). Apprenticeship in thinking: Cognitive Development in Social Context. Oxford, Oxford University
Press.
Vygotsky, L. (1933/1976). Play and its role in the mental development of the child. Play: its role in development and
evolution. A. J. J.Burner, K. Sylva. New York, Basic Books.
Vygotsky, L. (1978). Mind in Society. Cambridge, Mass, Harvard University Press.
Keywords: social pretend play, agency, participation, connection
Symposium V/4
Applying Socio-cultural Theory in Play and Learning
Individual papers
Chair:
To be Determined
ID-216
Thematic Approach: Instructional Scaffolding Promoting Meaningful
Learning (Case Study)
Cornelia Cincilei
Step by Step Moldova, Republic of Moldova
The presentation focuses on the role that the thematic approach used in elementary Step by
Step classrooms has in extending children’s learning.
On the basis of observations in elementary classrooms (a) where teachers use interactive
strategies sporadically, following just the units of subject areas prescribed by the curriculum and
(b) where teachers use thematic units in Step by Step classrooms based on children’s interests,
on the basis of interviews and focus groups with elementary school teachers practicing Step by
Step methodology, as well as with middle school teachers who are presently teaching students
who attended Step by Step elementary classrooms, it appears that thematic studies allow for a
higher level of students’ intrinsic motivation, enhance curiosity and inquisitiveness, foster selfdirected learning and continual desire to learn; develops their information processing,
organization and storing abilities, as well as develops their abilities to see multiple connections
and make transfers, develop a more holistic vision and a better understanding of
interdependencies of things.
Based on the experience of Step by Step programme in Moldova, the variables of objective
order (educational policy at the country and school levels; availability of resources) that favour
or disfavour the use of the thematic approach, as well as variables of subjective order (teacher’s
ability to recognize appropriate themes, her ability to facilitate the process, etc.) that ensure the
success or failure of it, will be discussed.
Co-author: Valentina Lungu
Keywords: thematic approach, self-directed learning, instructional scaffolding, extending
children’s learning
ID-168
Observation and Imitation - Or Intent Participation among Pre-school
Children?
Maritta Hännikäinen
University of Jyväskylä, Finland and Free University Berlin, Germany
There is a large body of research on children’s intent participation in mature community
activities (see, e.g. Rogoff 2003). Less is known about intent participation in children’s peer
groups, in which the participants are around the same age and share about the same social
situation of development. Thus, in what ways and in what activities or situations does children’s
intent participation manifest itself in a pre-school group? These questions form the focus of the
small-scale descriptive study reported here. The subjects of the study were five- to six-year-old
children. The data were collected by reactive observations. The findings of the study form part
of a broader research project that aims at deepening our understanding of the dynamics of a
pre-school group in becoming a community of learners. According to Rogoff, in intent
participation, observation is an aspect of participation. Children learn by keenly observing and
”listening-in” on activities in which they expect to engage in. The findings of this study show that
a great deal of such intent participation took place in the mornings when children came to preschool. The children circulated in the same area as the other children and surveyed ongoing
activities to select - or to gain access to - one of them. All in all, the children actively observed
each other throughout the day, sometimes commenting on or discussing the activities observed
or praising the expertise of the observed children. Now and then intent participation resulted in
imitation. The findings suggest that intent participation evokes a sense of belonging to the
group, and by doing so it also contributes to the formation of a community of learners.
Keywords: intent participation, observation, imitation, pre-school children
Symposium V/5
Teachers’ Practice: Interaction with Children
Individual papers
Chair:
To be Determined
ID-281
Toddlers' Participation in Learning and Meaning-Making
Kirsten Elisabeth Jansen
Agder University College, Norway
In Norway the law and framework planning governing kindergartens stipulates that children
have the right to participate and be involved in the daily routines and learning content of the
kindergarten. A recently started research project in two nurseries about toddlers and their right
to participation in Norwegian kindergartens focus on how children under three might contribute
to develop their learning-experience and learning content. The background data are established
on several hours of video material. This paper will discuss if it is possible to observe the
toddlers’ expressions as evaluation of what is going on in the kindergarten. How is it possible to
observe so young children’s statements as evaluations? And if this is possible, how is this
opinion given significance when learning and learning experiences are developed? How are
toddlers` cultural ways of communicating given value and in this way meet the children’s` right
to participate in learning content and meaning-making?
Keywords: toddler, participation, learning
ID-301
Early Childhood Education and Learning for Sustainable Development and
Citizenship
Solveig Hägglund (1), Ingrid Pramling Samuelsson (2) and Ingegerd Tallberg Broman (3)
(1) Karlstad University, Sweden
(2) Göteborg University, Sweden
(3) Malmö University College, Sweden
Since the end of the 1980:s when OECD published the Brundtland report, in which the concept
of sustainable development as a critical global issue was introduced, the role of education for
global survival has been frequently discussed and explored, by politicians as well as
researchers. In the report, sustainable development is defined as “…development that meets
the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their
needs”. In school curricula and practice, efforts have been made to include material and issues
related to, for example, climate changes and nature resources in teaching and learning.
Surprisingly little attention has however been paid to in what way and on what premises early
childhood education may and should be involved. In our paper we discuss some issues related
to this. We will particularly bring forward and try to identify in what way pre-school education can
be seen as having a specific role in, and as carrying specific resources for, education for
sustainable development. We will also discuss how the concept of learning in early education
contexts can be related to sustainable development. As we see the concept of sustainable
development as closely linked with citizenship, we will also consider this issue. Recent and ongoing political transformations within the educational system in Sweden as well as planned and
earlier research will serve as frames for our presentation.
Keywords: sustainable development, citizenship, early childhood education
Symposium V/6
Teachers’ Practice: Applying Theories into Practice
Individual papers
Chair:
Philomena Donnelly
St. Patrick's College, Ireland
ID-408
The Classroom Learning Goals of Public School Pre-kindergarten Teachers
Nancy File (1) and Douglas Powell (2)
(1) University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, USA
(2) Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA
What aims do teachers hold for their classrooms? This question is of vital importance in
considering the role of teachers and children in co-construction of the zone of proximal
development. In this study we collected, via interviews, information from 22 pre-kindergarten
teachers in an urban US school district in which pre-kindergarten, full-time classes are available
universally to children. Interview transcripts were reviewed to identify the goals teachers
described for children’s learning and to identify themes among teachers regarding how they
discussed their learning goals and the influences upon those goals. Pre-kindergarten teachers
in this district were free to form their own classroom goals without top-down direction from the
school district, a difference from all other grade levels. Our results reveal large differences in
classroom expectations regarding what children would learn. We will describe these areas of
difference in the presentation. We will also discuss how teachers described their goals in both
academic learning and socialization. We noted that teachers more rarely discussed what it
meant for young children to become learners, although they did identify “school skills” as often
important. We will also discuss themes relevant to goal formation, importantly deficit and
strength models that were underlying in the teachers’ talk. In closing we will relate these findings
to the role of the adult as a facilitator of learning and as partner in the co-construction of the
zone of proximal development, in what was for these children, their initiation into public-school
learning.
References:
Barnett, W.S., Robin, K.B., Hustedt, J.T., & Schulman, K.L. (2003). The state of pre-school: 2003 state pre-school
yearbook. National Institute for Early Education Research. Accessed at http://nieer.org.
Einarsdottir, J. (2006). From pre-school to primary school: When different contexts meet.
Scandinavian Journal of Education Research, 50, 165-184.
Fraser, H. & Caddell, D. (1999). Education before 5: Do providers and parents want different things? Early Child
Development and Care, 153, 33-49.
Lee, J.S. (2006). Pre-school teachers’ shared beliefs about appropriate pedagogy for 4-year-olds. Early Childhood
Education Journal, 33, 433-441.
National Research Council. (2001). Eager to learn: Educating our pre-schoolers. Washington, DC: National Academy
Press.
Stipek, D (2004). Teaching practices in kindergarten and first grade: Different strokes for different folks. Early
Childhood Research Quarterly, 29, 548-568.
Keywords: pre-kindergarten, curriculum
ID-357
Mary Daly
The Adult's Role in the Framework for Early Learning
National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, Ireland
Parents, childminders and practitioners play a vital role in young children’s learning and
development. However in Ireland the current gap in support for their role in extending learning
means that adults are not always able to support children to reach their potential. The National
Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) is currently developing a national curriculum
framework called The Framework for Early Learning to guide adults in planning and providing
appropriate, enriching, challenging and enjoyable learning opportunities for all children under
six. The framework is built around four interconnecting themes - Well-being, Identity and
belonging, Communication and Exploring and thinking. The development of the Framework was
informed by an extensive consultation and literature review process. Among the principles that
emerged from these and that underpin the Framework are the understanding that learning is an
interactive process and that the adult plays a crucial role in scaffolding children’s early learning
and development. The importance of structuring the environment so that children have
opportunities to interact, explore, co-construct and learn from and with peers is also recognised
within the Framework. The Framework embraces Vygotsky’s concept of the child’s zone of
proximal development and includes guidelines for adults on how to scaffold children’s learning
most effectively. The guidelines are presented under three headings – Relationship Building,
Supporting and Instructing. The guidelines also look at the adult’s role in supporting child: child
interactions. This paper will explain the theoretical underpinnings and principles of the
Framework and will outline the interaction strategies set out within the Framework.
Authors: Mary Daly, Sarah Fitzpatrick, Arlene Forster, Rosaleen Murphy, Avril Sweeney
Keywords: early learning, adult role, interactive process, scaffold
Symposium V/7
Early Child Development
Self-organised symposium
ID-323 Positive Behaviour in the Early Years
Chair:
Aline-Wendy Dunlop
University of Strathclyde, United Kingdom
Session overview
This self-organised symposium draws from a research project ‘Positive Behaviour in the Early
Years’ commissioned and funded by the Scottish Executive Education Department’s Pupil
Support Division and Early Education and Childcare Division in collaboration with two Scottish
Local Authorities. Our discussant, Ferre Leavers, was a consultant to the project. This one-year
project explored the perceptions held by staff, service providers and parents in managing and
promoting positive behaviour in 41 early years and early primary settings. A range of
approaches to the research was used including both quantitative and qualitative methods. We
present three papers in which we present some key findings of our study and reflect on the
ways in which peers and adults provide supports for children’s social-emotional development.
Contributors: Aline-Wendy Dunlop, Peter Lee, Helen Marwick, Jackie Henry, Jacque Fee, Anne
Hughes, Ann Grieve, Colleen Clinton
Keywords: positive behaviour, adult strategies, peer relations
Positive Behaviour in the Early Years - Design and Main Findings on Perceptions of
Educators, Carers and Parents
Helen Marwick
University of Strathclyde, United Kingdom
This paper provides an overview of the design and main findings of a study into positive
behaviour in the early years which sought to identify and explore the extent to which behaviour
of young children is of concern to educators, carers and parents, the approaches and
interventions used to manage behaviour and promote pro-social behaviour, and the extent to
which practitioners feel skilled and prepared for the issues children present in their settings. The
study involved a sample of over 1000 children and their early educators and families in two local
authority areas in Scotland, and matched measures were used across age strata, in pre-school
and primary, and by practitioners and parents. These common measures included the Strengths
and Difficulties Questionnaire (Goodman, 1997, 2005), an Adult Strategies Questionnaire and a
Transitions Questionnaire, and practitioners also completed the Well-being and Involvement
Scales (Leuven, 1994) Main results are presented in relation to perceptions of the nature and
extent of behaviour difficulties, and differences in perceptions in relation to child gender and
age. Key factors in supporting children in transitions between different types of provision or
different stages of education, and information sharing between professionals and with families
are also reported.
Positive Behaviour Study: Parental Perspectives
Jackie Henry, Jacque Fee and Peter Lee
University of Strathclyde, United Kingdom
Children’s challenging behaviour has been highlighted as a cause for concern by policy makers,
professional bodies and the media in Scotland. This study sought to ascertain the perceptions
parents hold of their young children’s behaviour. Research methods included standardised and
non-standardised questionnaires and the data was analysed using SPSS. Documentary
analysis, interviews and focus groups were used to triangulate findings. The sample consisted
of 603 parents of children aged 0-6 years whose children attended early childhood settings and
the first class of primary school in a major city and a smaller urban municipality. One of the main
findings indicated that parents consider that over half of the children have no behaviour
difficulties. More than a third of the children were perceived to have such difficulties, with
concerns ranging from peer relationships, to restlessness and overactivity. A similar number
noted a negative impact on children’s learning. The ways in which parents promote pro-social
behaviours and the strategies at their disposal to cope with difficult behaviour emerge from the
data: overall, parents did not find dealing with their children’s behaviour and needs to be a
hassle, as measured by the Daily Hassles instrument.
Positive Behaviour Study: Practitioner Perspectives
Aline-Wendy Dunlop and Colleen Clinton
University of Strathclyde, United Kingdom
The development of appropriate pro-social behaviours in early years settings is a critical aspect
of an early childhood practitioner’s remit. The Positive Behaviour study sought to identify the
extent to which behaviour of young children is of concern to practitioners and how that
compared to parents’ perceptions. The study used quantitative and qualitative methods to
explore the approaches and interventions that practitioners from 43 settings across 2
geographical areas used to manage children’s challenging behaviour and promote their pro social behaviour. The extent to which practitioners felt skilled and prepared for the behaviour
issues that children presented with was also interrogated. Practitioners were trained in the use
of standardised instruments (Goodman, Leuven) with which they could report their perceptions
of the behaviours of 1200 children in their care. Data was analysed by the research team using
SPSS. Findings included that these early years practitioners were able to identify a range of
behaviours that caused them concern, and could identify a variety of strategies to cope with
children’s behaviour. For example, practitioners reported that young children responded to
consistency, clear boundaries, rich choice of learning activities and high quality interaction with
the practitioners who work with them. Over half the practitioners participating in this study
reported high confidence in working with young children presenting with behaviour that had
caused them concern.
Symposium V/8
Supporting Development through Scaffolding
Individual papers
Chair:
To be Determined
ID-136
The Zone of Proximal Development and How Adult can Scaffold the
Process of Learning
Nora Lindén
Bergen University College, Norway
The role of adults as facilitators in a Vygotskyan perspective
The paper, which the abstract refers to, will discuss the findings from a study of how young
pupils, their parents and teachers understand the provision for pupils with special needs in
mainstream school in Norway, and how this understanding contribute to the learning process of
the child.
The data arise from a study of how pupils with special needs in their first year at school reflect
and understand their special needs education. Other informants in the study are the pupils’
parents and their teachers.
Vygotsky calls attention to the necessity of establishing support systems in the social
environment of the child. The paper discuss Jerome Bruner`s theory about the dialectical tool of
scaffolding needed in connection with the Vygotskyan model of the Zone of proximal
development.
The study adopted a qualitative interview to explore how the informants express their
understanding of the provision.
The phenomenon of understanding belongs to the micro context of an individual. The
understanding constitutes an individual rationale for action.
The findings of the study give insight in the role of the adults as facilitators, as well as the
rationale behind the pupils` activity in the learning process.
Keywords: facilitating, learning, understanding
ID-196
Vygotsky's Scaffolding in the Dynamic Systems Theory, A New Curriculum
Approach
Jef van Kuyk
Cito, The Netherlands
In the past decennium there has been a lot of discussion about the theories of Piaget and
Vygotsky. It is as if the theory of Vygotsky is invented again and the influence of Vygotsky is
reinforced strongly. That is special the case with a phenomenon as ‘scaffolding’ that is used in a
new theory, the Dynamic Systems Theory that goes beyond Piaget and Vygotsky (Fischer and
Rose (1998). This theory opens new perspectives for the education of young children (Van
Kuyk, 2006). Through self-regulation the child can reach a normal level of development.
Through scaffolding by the teacher the child can reach an optimal level of development (Fischer
& Bidell, 1998).
In the paper presentation I make clear in what way we create physical and psychological space
to give children possibilities for self-regulation and for scaffolding by the teacher. I work out play
and initiative learning as forms of self-regulation and the way the teacher can scaffold play
enrichment and support initiative learning. On the other hand I work out scaffolding in the short
and long term cycles of the Dynamic Systems Theory and translate them to practice in 4 steps:
ODBD (Orientation, Demonstration, Broadening and Deepening).
A quasi-experiment was carried out to investigate the effectiveness of the Pyramid-method. The
children were assessed every half-year over a period of three years with standardized language
and mathematic tests. In Cohen terms, the effect was 1.08 for language and .73 for
mathematics (.80 is strong), an effect that researchers categorized as strong.
Keywords: scaffolding, Vygotsky, self-regulation, curriculum
ID-236
Projects: A Way of Facilitating Children’s Learning within The ZPD?
Sarah Chicken and Trisha Maynard
University of the West of England and Swansea University, United Kingdom
The schools of Reggio Emilia are rooted in a well-defined theory of knowledge based upon
socio-constructivist principles. This theory proposes that knowledge is co-constructed between
participants, and so leads to an emphasis upon relationships, negotiation and meaning making.
Children are viewed as rich and strong and as constantly attempting to make sense of their
worlds through interaction and collaboration with peers and adults. There is thus an emergent
rather than a pre-determined curriculum: children and adults together construct and reconstruct
ideas as part of 'projects', which grow organically during the learning journey. In this way,
children's engagement in projects holds resonance with the Vygotskyan concept of the zone of
proximal development (ZPD). This paper explores the concept of projects through considering
the findings of a research study in which early years teachers in Wales explored Reggioinspired approaches in their classrooms. The study adopted a socio-constructivist approach:
participants formed a research team and took part in a collaborative cycle of planning, action
and evaluation. Initially, the paper identifies the different ways in which Reggio pedagogues
appear to facilitate experiences, which allow children to work within the ZPD. The resulting
framework is used as a tool to explore project work as implemented by the teachers in Wales.
The paper considers what the differing interpretations of projects might tell us about how
teaching and learning is constructed in these different cultural contexts.
Keywords: projects, Reggio Emilia, ZPD, curriculum
Symposium V/9
Transitions
Self-organised symposium
ID 396
Transitions, Key People and Sustaining Provision for 0-3s
Chair:
Eddie McKinnon
Session overview
This symposium will consider the work of the Baby and Toddler Nest at the Pen Green Centre
for Children and Families.
The first strand critiques the Neighbourhood Nursery Initiative and questions its long-term
viability in the country's 20% most disadvantaged areas with the imminent ending of
government funding.
The second strand examines transitions into the 0-3 provision at the Pen Green Centre for
Children and Families known as the Baby and Toddler Nest. Transitions will be explored from
the child’s perspective, and encompass the key worker's relationships with the child and the
parents' initial feelings and anxieties about leaving their children.
The third strand will focus on transitions within the setting reflecting upon how the transitional
period is managed and the impact it has upon all persons involved in the process
Keywords: transitions, key worker, parents, disadvantage
The Neighbourhood Nursery Initiative - Policy into Practice?
Eddie McKinnon
Pen Green Research Base, United Kingdom
The Neighbourhood Initiative is a social policy initiative designed to increase the levels of
childcare provision in the 20% most disadvantaged areas of England. 141 local authorities were
granted funding to kick-start this expansion. The core aim of the NNI was to contribute to the
reduction of child poverty by providing high quality childcare and early learning for young
children so their parents could return to training or employment. Parents would be able to off-set
up to 70% of the costs of these childcare places via the Working Families Tax Credit. In 2005
the Pen Green Centre took part in the Neighbourhood Nursery Initiative having spent a 12
month period researching, debating and conceptualising the kind of provision that would best
meet the diverse needs of parents and children in the local community; Pen Green Baby and
toddler Nest was launched in July 2005.
This paper critically examines how effective the Neighbourhood Nursery Initiative has been in
terms of its key aims; supporting parents returning to work or training and supporting families in
the community to move out of poverty. It questions the viability of Neighbourhood Nurseries
located in the country’s 20% most disadvantaged areas where parents either have to pay for
fees or utilise the Working Families Tax Credit. Through semi-structured interviews, case
studies and observations the paper explores the degree to which the Baby Nest supports family
life in the 21st Century and examines the Baby Nest as a pedagogical space.
Transitions into the Baby Nest
Felicity Norton
Pen Green Research Base, United Kingdom
In this paper I will be considering transitions into the 0-3 provision at the Pen Green Centre for
Children and Families known as the Baby and Toddler Nest. The Nest was opened in July 2004,
is open from 08:00 – 18:00 every day for fifty weeks of the year, and offers twelve places for
infants from one year of age.
I will be examining the process from the child’s perspective, which will be illustrated through the
use of video. I will look at the child’s first day and the building of, and on-going relationship with,
their key worker. I will be questioning how peers and adults provide adequate support for
children’s development.
I will also be exploring the notion of the key worker system and how this is developed and
sustained between parent, child and worker. In addition to this I will be dialoguing with the
parent regarding their first interactions with the setting and their feelings and anxieties about
leaving their child, perhaps for the first time, in a day care setting.
Transitions from the Baby Nest
Julie Medhurst
Pen Green Research Base, United Kingdom
In this paper I will be looking at the transition from the Baby and Toddler Nest into the main
nursery at the Pen Green Centre for Children and Families. The nursery has been divided into
two areas known as the Snug and the Den. Both of these areas offer 40 places for children
aged from two-to-five-years and are open from 08:00 until 18:00 for fifty weeks of the year.
Using video, interview and case studies I will be considering how parents, children and workers
experience this transition. I will be reflecting upon how the transitional period is managed and
the impact it has upon all persons involved in the process. The relationship between the key
worker, child and parent will be explored and the movement from one main carer within the
Baby and Toddler Nest to another within the Nursery.
Symposium V/10 Zone of Proximal Development
Individual papers
Chair:
Elena Yudina
Moscow City University of Psychology and Education, Russian Federation
ID-104
To Converge on the Global Context of Vygotsky’s Studies through the
Synthesis of Western and Asian Teachers’ Beliefs and Practices of ZPD
Pei Wen Tzuo
National Institute of Education, Singapore
Due to the changing context of what counts for learning worldwide and the advent of
globalisation, Vygotsky’s work of socio-cultural influence on children’s development may inspire
and underpin us to reconceptualise the global meaning of early childhood education through
synthesizing Western and Asian experiences. This author attempts to explore the nature of a
teacher’s role in children’s development across West and Asia through incorporating two key
principles of Vygotsky’s work: scaffolding children’s ZPD (the zone of proximal development)
and the socio-cultural nature of learning. This proposed presentation will elaborate how
teachers balance between respecting children’s initiatives in learning and promoting their
advanced development through comparing the similarities and differences between West and
Asia in order to make the convergence. Data were collected and analysed qualitatively
according to ECE teachers’ reflection upon their beliefs and practices in Taiwan and Singapore,
with comparing to Western (American and European) preschool and Kindergarten teachers. The
resulting interpretation indicates that teachers across borders all face the similar dilemmas and
resolve them in their teaching practices through different ways in order to honour children’s
initiatives in learning as well as promote their zone of proximal development.
Keywords: ZPD, scaffolding, a teacher’s role, socio-cultural comparison
ID-300
Facilitation as a Mechanism of Pedagogical Interactions
Svitlana Martynenko
Kyiv Municipal Pedagogical University named by Boris Grinchenko, Ukraine
Pedagogical interactions based on common activities of a teacher and students during a class
and outside it form the basic category of contemporary pedagogic, which has been the subject
of proactive and comprehensive study in recent decade.
Humanistically-focused psychology and pedagogic provide a theoretical substantiation of the
idea of collaboration, dialog, partnership in relationships among the trainer and the trainee.
However, practical implementation of the concept of collaboration (cooperation) in the practical
activities of a teacher encounters great problems.
L.S. Vygotsky, S.А. Smirnov, V.N. Petrov and others reveal a number of phenomena of
psychological interaction and give a detailed description of their specific features.
In our opinion, the opinions of scholars about the phenomenon of facilitation deserve attention.
Psychic phenomena may occur in the process of pedagogical interactions, which more often not
realized by students and teachers. Pedagogues call these interactions as facilitation. The
phenomenon of facilitation takes place only if the teacher is an acknowledged person of
authority to refer to.
When considering the phenomena of pedagogical interactions, it is necessary to make a
particular stress on the mutual understanding as a system of feelings and relations that allow
achieving common goals by a concerted effort. Teachers acting as facilitators attach a great
importance to mutual understanding, because they perceive the success of their students and
the value of their personality as their own.
In other words, theory and practice suggest that pedagogical interaction is determined by
properly organized actions both of the teacher and the students. The models of pedagogical
collaboration, which are used by pedagogues in the process of studying activities, will be
presented during presentation.
Presentation is in Russian. English translation is provided.
Keywords: facilitation, pedagogical interactions
ID-448
Outdoors
Carol Duffy
Developing Outdoors - The Zone of Proximal Development in Action
IPPA The Early Childhood Organisation, Ireland
Vygotsky (1978) explored the child developing and learning within the context of community and
society. Today’s society is becoming increasingly concerned with our shared natural
environment. Concrete experiences for young children in natural environments should be the
precursor to abstract conceptualisation of the natural world. Children’s first mode of learning is
sensory motor yet what natural environments or experiences are we providing within ECCE
centres to support our children develop from babies to biophiles (Wilson 1984) Greater
consideration needs to be given to the design and provision of early years outdoor
environments. Access to the outdoors is imperative for children’ s physical and mental health
and well-being. (Bilton 2004)
This action research (Mc Niff 2002) demonstrates the zone of proximal development (Vygotsky
1978) in action for both the children and adults in a community based ECCE centre. The adults
develop new skills to improve their outdoor provision and the children are afforded opportunities
outdoors to extend their learning.
The outdoor environment is improved to facilitate greater interaction and exploration. The
children, practitioners, and parents become a community of learners (Rogoff 1990). The
research follows this service over a period of 20 months and identifies:
How the improved outdoor provision supports the children’s holistic development
How the practitioners are supported to facilitate and extend the children’s learning and form
learning partnerships with parents.
How the parents are supported to recognise the importance of outdoor play for their children.
Keywords: outdoor environments, well-being, development
Symposium V/11 Understanding Mathematics in the Early Years
Individual papers
Chair:
To be Determined
ID-50
The Language of Mathematics in the Classroom. Learning Activities and
Teaching Techniques that Develop Skills to Master It
Rebeka Pali
Polythecnic University of Tirana, Albania
My presentation aims to see the language of mathematics from the pedagogical and didactic
point of view. It refers to a big concern that exists among teachers about using the language of
mathematics from children and for children. Teachers are aware that the math written
assignments are in higher percentage compared to oral ones. Starting in kindergartens,
teachers think and prefer to prepare written math tests for children. Furthermore, these tests or
written assignments (mostly worksheets) don’t create the possibility for children to write the
language of mathematics but mostly to complete the blank spaces.
Through this paper, I’ll try to answer the question: What does it mean to internalise the
mathematics language? After that I’ll discuss on several aspects of understanding and using the
mathematics language:
The importance of using the “key words” in solving mathematics problems; the advantages that
have word problems in understanding this language;
Why it is for children to “translate” mathematics language in their own language and vice versa;
What impact does have “ the two way translations” in their ability to explain mathematics ideas
to others;
How important it is for children to start using mathematics language from the early years, etc.
Another part of my presentation is related to the methods of teaching mathematics in early
years. I will be especially focused on:
Some concrete classroom activities that engage children in mathematical discussions and help
them in developing and using the mathematics vocabulary;
Specific teaching and learning techniques that help children to understand and enjoy
mathematics not only in the early years;
My research is based on observations and testing in classrooms, interviews with teachers and
children as well as reference to relevant literature (Esty, W. 2000, Bullock, J. 1994, Schoenfeld,
A. 1998). One of the strands of Mathematics Education nowadays is finding more rationale and
helpful ways to cultivate mathematics thinking of children and usage of mathematics language.
Keywords: mathematics language, children’s vocabulary, learning activities, teaching techniques
ID-91
Math Episodes and Classroom Interaction - A Comparative Case Study of
Formal Learning Environments for Six-year-olds
Teija Hiltunen
Department of Teacher Education in Turku, University of Turku, Finland
This study reports how multiple theoretical aspects of teacher-pupil classroom interaction styles
(based Pollard 1997; Berk & Winsler, 1997) appear in the math lesson episodes (application of
Sfard & Kieran 2001) of formal learning environments for six-year-old pupils in European
samples. It takes a closer look at possible quite common types of classroom interaction
dimensions. This research is an international, comparative, cross-sectional case study, which
investigates features of process- oriented routes pupils use for learning in formal learning
environments. The focus of this study is on group level classroom interaction research, based
on a socio-cultural perspective.
The aim of the study is to investigate how teacher-, shared interaction and learner oriented
classroom interaction dimensions appear in the implemented math lesson episodes (N=371,
n=79-127/sample). The participants are samples of pupils from kindergarten (sample Pre1-3)
and first grade of primary school (sample Sch1) from Finland, second grade of infant school
(sample Sch2) from England and pre-school in primary school (sample Sch3) from Sweden.
The analysis is based on video-observations of all math lessons during one study week in each
pre- and primary school sample (total 886 min of MPEG). Minute-for-minute analysed classroom
interaction dimensions indicated that the mean percentages of different interaction styles in all
these samples were as follows: Classroom interaction dimensions indicated 47% teacher
orientation, 17% shared interaction and 31% learner orientation in all these samples.
Keywords: comparative, case study, classroom interaction and episodes
Symposium V/12 Language Learning
Individual papers
Chair:
To be Determined
ID-383
How does a Three-year-old Child Learn to Participate in a Lunchtime
Discourse about Invisible Contents?
Hiroaki Ishiguro
Department of Education, College of Arts, Rikkyo University, Japan
The purpose of this study is to examine how three year-old children learn to participate in
lunchtime discourse. “To acquire language the child must live in a world that has structured
social activities (Tomasello, 1999)” he or she can access.
The lunch scene carried out as part of childcare activities is socially organized in the specific
form. It seems that peers’ conversation increases in the lunch scene of a day-care when
children have turned the age of three. There are few utterances about the subjects, which are
related with their eating in progress at the time. It contrasts with their earlier conversation than
three year after the birth. Their interlocutor was almost a nursery teacher at the time and the
most of subjects were the eating-related matters. How do children learn to participate in the
discourse in which the contents are out of their own field of vision at the time? According to the
video-based microanalysis of their lunchtime interaction, children were assumed to use two
tangible clues. One is the others' utterance. Children carefully monitored the others' utterances
and began to talk after the end of the previous speech. The others' utterances gave a signal to
judge when to talk. Another is use of “a general element” such as a TV hero. It gives
participants a chance to talk anything, which they knew in their personal memory. When the
thematic elements are in general level, the necessary minimum condition to participate in the
collective discourse is only mentioning the same ones. The generality imply a coherent tie
among participants’ talk. When they participate to the discourse, it is not required to understand
all the previous utterances exactly and to develop the prior topics. Children as a language
learner live in the social environment that arranges these tangible clues.
Reference: Tomasello, M. 1999 The cultural origins of human cognition. Harvard University Press.
Keywords: lunchtime discourse, three-year-old, language acquisition, social environment
ID-244
Toddlers Interaction in a Story-time Setting
Elisabeth Mellgren and Karin Gustafsson
Göteborgs Universitet, Department of Education/Child Studies, Sweden
The project Children’s Early Learning is a study of the quality in learning-environments and the
effect of pre-school achievements on children’s progress in learning over time. What is
characteristic, what do children learn, how do different qualities co-operate. In this paper we
present a preliminary result from a pilot study in 8 pre-schools on language and communication
aspects of story reading. We have analysed 40 video observations. The data collected in study
is the first part of a longitudinal study over nine years in 38 Swedish Pre-schools.
We have arranged a story-time setting at the pre-schools involved one pre-school teacher read
for one child at the time. The children are about one to three years old. The pre-school-teacher
read the story Alla får åka med (Everybody can ride along) by Anna-Clara Tidholm (2005).
When the story is finished the teacher let the child play with three-dimensional figures and some
other object, which are related to the story. We can see a variation in how the pre-schoolteacher read and interact with the child in the settings, but our focus is to describe and discuss
the variation of the toddler’s interaction in this setting.
Keywords: language, communication, interaction, longitudinal
Symposium V/13
Individual papers
Language as a Tool of Cognitive Development
Chair:
To be Determined
ID-19
Children’s Rewriting of Literature Using “Cultural Tools” as Dialogues,
Drawing and Play
Stig Broström
The Danish University of Education, Denmark
Based on the hypothesis that children’s literature (fiction, imaginative literature) might be a
useful tool towards children’s literacy competence in the first years of school, we have
constructed an education approach, where reading of good quality literature are followed by
literature dialogues, and children’s painting, drawing and play activities (Broström, 2006). Here
children’s literature is seen as a cultural tool, which related to Vygotsky (1978, 1981) allow for
the mastery of psychological processes. However, it is of importance to see the interrelation of
three cornerstones in Vygotsky’s theoretical universe – social interaction, cultural tools and zone
of proximal development (Vygotsky, 1978). These cornerstones and new interpretations and
constructions of cultural historical activity theory are a basis for the educational approach using
literature, dialogues and aesthetical means and processes as drawing and expanding forms of
play (Broström, 1999). I will argue for structural similarities (patterns) between storytelling,
drawing and play. Play and stories have three characteristics in common: 1) a common telling
structure defined by roles, actions, context, goals and means; 2) a common basic structure, and
3) a numbers of common themes. More storytelling, drawing and play are ways to
communicate; and with references to Vygotsky (1978) both play and drawing are forms of
languages (signs and symbols). Finally storytelling, drawing and play are forms of activities
characterised by fantasy and creativity, and also help children to solve problems and thus
mediate thinking (Vygotsky, 1978).
References:
Broström, S. (2006). Transitions in children’s thinking. In Fabian, H. & & Aline-Wendy Dunlop (Eds.). (2006).
Informing transitions in the early years. Research, policy & practice. London: Open University Press.
Broström, S. (1999). Drama-Games with six-year old children. Possibilities and limitations. In: Yrjö Engeström &
Raija-Leena Punamaki (Ed.) Perspectives on Activity Theory. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Vygotsky, L.S. (1981). The instrumental methods in psychology. In J.V. Wertsch (Ed. and translated). The concepts
of activity in Soviet psychology. New York: Armonk.
Vygotsky, L.S. (1978). Mind in Society. The Development of higher psychological Processes. Edited by M. Cole et al.
Cambridge and Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.
Keywords: social interaction, cultural tools, ZPD, fiction literature, drawing, play
ID-303
Gestures in Interaction
Anna Klerfelt
Göteborg University, Sweden
Gestures are a significant part of communication and carry particular weight when using
artefacts such as computers (Säljö, 1999). This study investigates how gestures and utterances
are used as resources in the interaction between children and pre-school teachers when
creating stories with the computer. The study takes it point of departure within a sociocultural/dialogic perspective (Bakhtin, 1986; Linell, 1998; Wertsch, 1999). The data consists of
observations of 17 pre-school teachers and 34 children who are engaged in making stories. The
interaction between the child, the pre-school teacher, and the computer has been documented
on videotape and analysed by Interaction Analysis (Jordan & Henderson, 1995). The results
show the pre-school teachers’ decisive significance as an interplay partner for the child’s
appropriation of a linguistic capacity outside of a here-and-now situation (Klerfelt, 2007).
Keywords: gestures, interaction, stories, multimedia
Symposium V/14 Involving Children in Research
Individual papers
Chair:
To be Determined
ID-64
Playschool Education in Iceland from the Perspective of Children and
Parents
Jóhanna Einarsdottir
Iceland University of Education, Iceland
Twenty 5- and 6-year-old children and their parents participated in this study designed to shed
light on children’s and parents’ views about playschool (the Icelandic term for pre-school). Using
group interviews, photographs and drawings to elicit children’s perspectives and opinions and
focus groups with parents, I investigated reasons for playschool attendance, expectations about
what children should do and learn, what children liked and disliked, and what parents were most
and least satisfied with in their children’s playschool. Findings revealed considerable agreement
between parents and their children about playschool as a safe haven for children and about the
importance of playschool in education and life-long learning. The children reported that
playschool emphasized learning rules for behaviour and communication and play, as well as
special learning experiences provided by the staff. Of their playschool experiences, children
placed highest value on friendships with peers, freedom to choose what to do, and playing.
Children also indicated that they disliked being forced to do activities, especially passive
activities where they must sit still and quiet, Parents’ priorities included having their children
learn to interact well with others; show respect, affection, and honesty; and gain self-confidence
and positive self-image. Parents also viewed playing and outdoor activities an important part of
playschool life.
Keywords: children's perspective, parents, pre-school
ID-487
The Market doesn't Care: Children's Rights in Early Childhood Care and
Education
Noirin Hayes and Siobhan Bradley
Centre for Social & Educational Research, DIT, Ireland
The increased attention to early childhood care and education amongst neo-liberal states in
recent years has largely arisen in response to growing demand for services resulting from
increased female labour market participation and the growing body of scientific evidence
regarding the benefits of early investment in children. Similar to many of the traditional neo-
liberal states, Ireland's principal strategy in responding to its laggard European position in terms
of accessible, quality, early years services has been the channelling of substantial public funds
towards the creation of early childhood spaces to meet growing demand. Presenting data
gathered through documentary analysis of key policy documents this paper argues that such a
market led approach undermines the democratic rights of children, and has proven
unsuccessful in terms of ensuring equalitable access to quality services. It further argues that,
even where children gain access, the emphasis on children as a human capital investment fails
to pay due attention to their rights and value in the "here and now".
Paying particular attention to the Irish context, the paper introduces a unique Irish study, which
is critically evaluating ECCE policy development and implementation to date. Through extensive
literature reviews, critical discourse analysis and data collection using the insider outsider
research method, the study aims to design a model of ECCE policy-making, which will set in
place a strong child-centred structure demanding a rights based approach in Irish early years
policy.
Keywords: ECCE policy, Neo liberal policies and ECCE, Children's Rights, ECCE policy making
processes
ID-490
If the Performance is Good, the Government Makes the Funds: Children’s
Responses in an Arts and Multiliteracies Research Project
John Schiller and Wendy Schiller
University of Newcastle, NSW, Australia
This paper reports on an Australian project in an education/arts industry partnership between
the University of South Australia, Windmill Performing Arts, and the Department of Education
and Children’s Services. Children’s Voices was a longitudinal research project exploring school
children’s experience of live performance and provided insight into research methods with
young children in relation to early participation in arts and multiliteracies. Children's Voices
documented the impact of live arts performance on 130 children from four schools over a threeyear period. Methodology included tracking children’s responses to performance using
interviews, case studies, artefacts, teachers’ journals and parent feedback. Teacher interviews
assessed the impact of performance on classroom practice, professional and personal
development. Focus groups with parents and school leaders clarified the impact of live arts on
school communities. The paper connects artists, live arts performance, children’s creative
endeavours, and the impact of children’s responses on policy and arts practice. As dynamic
producers of their own culture, children’s meaning-making included the arts to address genuine
concerns and resolve problems. Children re-constructed arts and their understanding of
performance and the ‘real life’ values incorporated were apparent. At school and at home,
adults were challenged by children’s enthusiasm for the arts and multiliteracies through which
they interpreted their world. Children’s responses subsequently improved arts performance, and
are impacting on policy and arts practice at local, state and national level.
Co-authors:
Schiller, W. University of South Australia, Adelaide; Meiners, J. University of South Australia,
Adelaide; Fowler, C. Windmill Performing Arts, Adelaide
References
Brooker, L (2002) Five on the fist of December!: what can we learn from case studies of early childhood literacy?
Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, 2(3), 291-313.
Cope, B & Kalantzis, M (2000) Multiliteracies: Literacy learning and the design of social futures, Melbourne:
Macmillan Publishers.
Kress, G (2000) Multimodality. In B. Cope & M. Kalantzis (Eds) Multiliteracies: Literacy learning and the design of
social futures, Melbourne: Macmillan Publishers (pp. 182-202).
New London Group (1996) A pedagogy of multiliteracies: designing social futures. Harvard Educational Review,
66(1), 60-92.
Schiller, W (2006) Children’s responses to live performance: A longitudinal study (2003 - 2006). Final Report. August.
Adelaide: University of South Australia.
Keywords: emergent literacies, arts, young children's responses, policy
Symposium V/15 Art, Music and Drama
Individual papers
Chair:
To be Determined
ID-321 Puppetry and Communication in Pre-school
Mirella Forsberg Ahlcrona
Childhood Studies Unit, Sweden
Puppetry and communication is a study of children’s interaction with puppets and how puppets
affect children’s communicative skills. Main focus of my paper is the exchange of children’s
thoughts, feelings and reflections inspired by puppets in a narrative process.
The whole study contains three different parts:
- problem solving - the puppets present several kinds of problems and asks children for help.
- story making - which leads into dramatizing and puppet theatre performance.
- children’s artwork - the puppets made by children on the theme of mathematics.
The aim of the research is to identify different aspects of the puppet use in pre-school and how
the puppets participation affects communication between teacher and children, and children and
children. Research tasks are to find what kind of experience children express in their interaction
with puppets in a narrative process and how can the use of puppets develop learning
environment in pre-school. Preliminary findings shows that children’s using of puppets increases
their ability to take initiative, make decision and respect each other’s opinion.
I intend to present a study with 10 children (age 4 and 5) and story making process about
Dragon and his adventures.
Data collection: observations of the educational activities and educational process, videotaped
material, children’s drawings, interweaves and photographs of children’s artwork.
Keywords: puppet, interaction, communication, narrative
ID-209
Disposable Cameras, Humour and Children’s Abilities
Eleni Loizou and Marianna Efstathiadou
University of Cyprus, Cyprus
This study investigated the content and the humorous aspects of the funny photographs young
children took in their school and home environment and these were examined against the
Theory of the Absurd and the Empowerment theory (Loizou, 2005). The participants of the study
were 6 children, 3 boys and 3 girls, of the ages of 4.8-5.8. The children were given a disposable
camera and were asked to take pictures of things in their school and home environment that
they thought were funny and made them laugh. A semi-structured interview and the
photographs were the main data sources. During the interview children described their
photographs and reasoned about their funniness. Their answers were transcribed one by one
and then they were categorized based on their content and humorous features. The general
categories involved: a. Participants: people and animals were the main characters of the
photographs; b. Humorous aspects: Incongruity (in action, use of materials and appearance)
and humorous symbols c. Creating and observing humour: the process followed in taking the
picture. This study asserts that children define humour as something out of the ordinary
(cognitive process), they observe humour in their environment but can also set it up (active
participants and constructors), they take advantage of their relationships within their social
environment to produce and appreciate humour (social process/agency) and that they can
verbally defend the funniness of their picture by making up a story (creativity).
Keywords: humour, photographs, kindergarten, language
ID-469
Storytelling with Puppetry in a Multicultural Kindergarten
Jorunn Melberg
University of Stavanger, Norway
Problem
How can storytelling with puppetry be used in the daily work in a kindergarten in order to
connect cultures, create the feeling of security and give room for children to create new
dramatic expressions and new culture.
About the project
The aim of the research is to create knowledge about the possibilities of inclusion that lies in
aesthetic learning processes using storytelling with puppetry and fairytales from the ethnic
cultures involved. The target groups are kindergartens with children from different cultures.
My research project consists of three parts. The first is a survey in a group of kindergartens to
get a overview of the kindergartens use of stories and fairytales coming from the different ethnic
cultures represented in the kindergarten, where they find their material and which challenges
the staff meets in the daily work with groups of children coming from different ethnic
background. In the light of the results of this survey I will invite one/ two kindergarten/s to
collaborate in the production of my two performances using storytelling with puppetry. One
performance will be based on a Norwegian fairytale and the other one on a fairytale from
another ethnic culture represented in that kindergarten.
Both performances will be showed to the same group of children. The research tasks are
connected to the children of different cultures and the aesthetic learning process.
How are the children reactions when the fairytale used is known and when it is unknown to the
children?
How are the children influenced by the performances in the follow-up work and in their own
aesthetic expressions?
Which elements seem to influence the activity in dramatic play, in the playing together and the
verbal communication between the children?
Research strategies
In this research I will mainly use qualitative methods like interview, video recording and I will be
a participant observer. Throughout the research I will be a researcher in my own culture and my
own creative process, with all the challenges known involved.
Keywords: storytelling, puppetry, connecting cultures
Symposium V/16 Assessment: Approaches and Experiences
Individual papers
Chair:
To be Determined
ID-403
The Use and Abuse of Student Assessment Data: Lessons Learned from
Longitudinal Studies of Early Years Children
Linda Lee
Proactive Information Services Inc., Canada
This paper directly addresses the theme of “assessment testing and its applications,” The paper
discusses the use and abuse of data from individual assessments of early years children, from
both the viewpoint of programmeming for the individual child and from a broader programme
evaluation perspective. The paper begins with a brief literature review concerning appropriate –
and inappropriate - uses of student assessment data. In setting the context, the literature on the
utilization of data to drive programme improvement is also referenced. The paper then
examines the process and results of longitudinal studies from a number of countries that
involved tracking assessment data on individual children. How can such assessments serve to
inform educational plans for individual children while, at the same time, be used to reflect on the
effectiveness of educational interventions? Both the challenges inherent in this endeavour and
the conditions under which such data are appropriately and effectively used are considered. The
main findings reference the power of data to drive programmeming, as well as the role of
organizational culture in creating conditions for effective use. The paper concludes with
reflections on what constitutes appropriate and meaningful assessment practice, taking into
account differing cultural contexts.
References
Bernhardt, V. (1998). Data analysis for comprehensive schoolwide improvement. Larchmont, NY: Eye on Education,
Inc.
Boudett, K.P. Murnane, R.J., City, E. & L. Moody. (2005). Teaching Educators: How to Use Student Assessment
Data to Improve Instruction. Phi Delta Kappan, 86(9), 700.
Cushman, K. (1996). Looking collaboratively at student work: An essential toolkit. Horace, 13(2), 1-12.
Ezarik, M. (2002). Data Digs: Everybody’s Talking About Data. District Administration, 38(10), 32-37.
Johnson, R. (2002). Using data to close the achievement gap: How to measure equity in our schools. Thousand
Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
Lee, J. & T. Coladarci. (2001). Imperative or Choice? Multi-Level and Multi-Measure Analysis of Student Assessment
Data for Evaluation of Systemic School Reform. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational
Research Association. Seattle, WA, April 10-14.
Linn, R.L. (2000). Assessment and Accountability. Educational Researcher, 29(2), 4-16.
Pardini, P. (2000). Data, well done. Journal of Staff Development, 21(1), 12-18.
Roeber, E. (1995). Emerging Student Asessment System for School Reform.
Shepard, L.A. (2000). The Role of Assessment in a Learning Culture. Educational Researcher, 29(7), 4-14.
Supovitz, J. A., & Klein, V. (2003). Mapping a course for improved student learning: How innovative schools
systematically use student performance data to guide improvement. Philadelphia, PA.
Keywords: assessment, testing, effectiveness, evaluation
ID-458
Confusion in Testing for Aptitude and Achievement
Robert Stake
University of Illinois, USA
In my lifetime of studies of educational measurement and curriculum evaluation, both as
psychometrician and classroom researcher, I have made continuing studies of children’s
learning. As have Vygotsky and Piaget and many others, I have distinguished between the
language of learning and the language of assessment. This is to say that there are deep but
seldom acknowledged differences between what children appear to achieve in the classroom
and what they appear to achieve on standardized achievement tests.
Much of my research has been empirical, particularly using case studies, but I have used factor
analysis and other correlational studies, as well as programme evaluation methods.
In my recent book review (published in Education Review) of the National Assessment of
Educational Progress (USA), I pointed out that the objective test items used in America for
decades to assess scholastic aptitude are still being used--but now they are believed to assess
scholastic achievement. What is measured, to the extent anything is measured, is the child’s
aptitude for scholastic learning more than his or her achievement. In high stakes testing
situations, especially as found in the U.S. with the No Child Left Behind programme, this has the
effect of narrowing pedagogy and the curriculum. “Accountability” then is driven by what can be
scaled using standardized tests, not so much by what constitutes becoming educated in the
home and in the culture. At the EECERA meeting, I want to amplify the complication in
distinguishing between aptitude and achievement in primary school classrooms. (My review is
available on line at the Education Review website.)
Keywords: aptitude, achievement, assessment, testing
Symposium V/17 Multicultural Education
Self-organised symposium
ID-474
'Language and Policy: Emerging Themes from Children Crossing Borders'
Chair:
Tony Bertram
Centre for Research in Early Childhood in Birmingham, United Kingdom
Session overview
The symposium consists of a brief introduction to the CCB Project by Tony Bertram followed by
three interrelated presentations:
1. Language and Policies: Shaping Voices of Parents and Professionals in Pre-school Settings:
an experience from Germany by Henriette Heimgaertner
2. New Immigrants' Cultural Citizenship and Language Policies in US Pre-schools by Angela
Arzubiaga
3. CCB and Vygotsky by Susanna Mantavani,
Bourdieu P. (1990) The Logic of Practice, Polity Press: London.
Freire P (1972) Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Penguin: London.
Tobin J (1989) Pre-school in Three Cultures: Japan, China, and the United States, Yale University Press, 1989
Introduction
This symposium discusses themes related to policy and language that are emerging from
qualitative data generated by a five country cross-national project. The Children Crossing
Borders (CCB) Project is in its third year. A brief outline of the context and method of the project
will be followed by illustrations of some of the research applications by exemplifying implicit and
explicit language and policy themes emerging in Germany and in the USA. Finally links are
made between the research and the ideas of Vygotsky. Another self-organised symposia within
this conference will be looking at coding and the analytical method within the CCB project. The
research builds on Tobin's seminal work described in 'Pre-school in Three Cultures, Japan,
China, and the United States’ (Tobin et al., 1989). Using the innovative, anthropological,
methodologies of Tobin's study, the research is examining the practices, values and
expectations of pre-school practitioners, and the aspirations, expectations and views of children
and parents from 'immigrant' or emerging communities, in multicultural cities in five countries,
(France, Germany, Italy, UK & USA) with the intention of improving the quality of pre-school.
The core method in the Project is the use of video to encourage reflection and discussion. This
complex video cue is used to stimulate a multi-vocal, multicultural conversation. This dialogue
forms the major part of the data.
Language and Policies: Shaping Voices of Parents and Professionals in Pre-school
Settings: An Experience from Germany
Henriette Heimgaertner
Internationale Akademie für innovative Pädagogik, Psychologie und Ökonomie (INA) gGmbH an der Freien
Universität Berlin, Germany, Institut für den Situationsansatz; (ISTA), Germany
The most salient feature in public discourses about school achievement of children with a
migration background in Germany concerns their ability to speak the dominant language. The
multilingualism of children with a migration background is commonly neither acknowledged nor
seen as an asset for migrant children. (Preissing/Wagner 2003) This presentation draws on data
from Germany as part of an international research project that explores the issue of how
societies deal with cultural minorities and how this is reflected in education frameworks and
professional practice. The research gathered the voices of parents with a migration background
and professionals mostly belonging to the dominant culture. The presentation will illustrate how
public discourses are influencing, if not dominating the beliefs of parents and professionals
regarding language abilities and language use. It will further illustrate the diverse strategies of
professionals to support children in language acquisition. This is contrasted by the actual
behaviour of children in early childhood settings. They use language as a tool for inclusion or
exclusion in their everyday life in early childhood settings.
New Immigrants' Cultural Citizenship and Language Policies in US Pre-schools
Angela Arzubiaga
Arizona State University, United States
This paper will explore the notion of cultural citizenship (Rosaldo, 1997) as it relates to implicit
and explicit language policies in the pre-school. The notion of cultural citizenship problematizes
the issue of citizenship and marks how it is not a neutral term but one that masks its own
biases. It is a paradoxical juxtaposition of culture and citizenship. Each term questions the other;
the juxtaposition forces us to think about how these concepts act upon each other. Cultural
historical activity theory will provide the guiding framework (Cole, 1996; Engeström, 1987, 1999;
Guttierrez, Arzubiaga, 2007). The study draws from a multi-sited ethnographic study in five
countries. The paper will focus on US pre-schools in both traditional and non-traditional
immigrant settlement areas. Immigrant parents and pre-school teachers' beliefs reveal conflicts
about cultural citizenship in the education of immigrant children. From an activity theoretical
perspective teachers and parents' responses can be understood as always under construction.
More importantly, however, responses are considered a collective process bound to a specific
time and place. In other words, responses to language policies and notions of cultural
citizenship are subordinated to the situatedness of thought and feeling and their developmental
courses over the lifetime, always historically specific and collectively developed. The paper
examines how community, the rules of communities, the division of labour and the cultural tools
worked in concert to question, silence, or amplify the notion of cultural citizenship.
Children Crossing Borders and Vygotsky
Susanna Mantovani
University of Milan, Italy
Vygotsky suggested that thought was developed by the "interiorization of dialogue" so the
creation of dialogic opportunities and situations where children, teachers, parents and
researchers with varied languages and cultural backgrounds speak, discuss and interact
provides a rich forum for the production, ‘brokerage’ and negotiation of new thoughts about
culture, identity, and values, and ‘hybridity’ and ‘interculturalisation’.
In our research, Vygotskyan dialogue takes place through the process of analysing our
materials at several levels: the voices of the parents and teachers speaking though the
transcripts, our voices as researchers who interpret and negotiate meanings, trying to
communicate and set communication going at different levels in order to be able to socialize.
Very often contexts where adults and children from different background meet (including early
childhood educational settings) they are expected to socialize before they really communicate.
The Vygotskyan perception of the ‘social development of meanings’ is central to our research.
Symposium V/18 Policy and Practice in Inclusive Education
Individual papers
Chair:
To be Determined
ID-456
Inclusive Education: Panacea or Ill-Wind for the Child with a Visual
Impairment?
Colette Gray
Stranmillis University College: A College of the Queen's University of Belfast, United Kingdom
Inclusive education is at the centre of government policies in special needs education and
pivotal to government attempts to address educational underachievement (DfEE, 1998; Dyson
et al. 2002). It also forms part of a central global agenda with Articles 12, 13 and 23 of the
United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, ratified by the UK in 1991, specifically
addressing the participation rights and provision of children with disabilities in mainstream
education. In practice this has caused a shift from provision in special schools to provision in
mainstream schools, along with a shift from support systems characterized by children's
withdrawal from the classroom to those based on in-class support. Despite a considerable body
of research focusing on inclusive educational policies, there is little systematic research on its
many facets.
This paper aims to address one aspect of the debate that receives scant attention, specifically
the inclusion of children with VI in pre-school settings.
Methods: This small-scale study employs a qualitative approach to examine the views and
experiences of 6 families with a child between 5 and 8 years of age with a visual impairment
attending a mainstream school. Results from intensive one to one interviews with parents
suggest that inclusive education may not always prove the most suitable option for children with
a visual impairment. Vignettes detailing the diverse experiences of the children involved are
included to highlight within and between groups differences.
References
DFEE: Department of Education and Employment, (1998). Meeting special educational needs: a programme of
action. London: DFEE.
Dyson A, Howes A, Roberts B, (2002). A systematic review of the effectiveness of school-level actions for promoting
participation by all students (EPPI-Centre Review, version 1.1*). In: Research Evidence in Education Library. London:
EPPI-Centre, Social Science Research Unit, and Institute of Education.
Keywords: inclusion, education, visual impairment, child
ID-98
Riitta Viitala
Inclusive Education of Children with Emotional and Behavioural Problems
University of Jyväskylä, Department of Special Education, Finland
The main principle of early childhood education is inclusion. One important goal of inclusion is
social integration. When a child has meaningful social relationships, she or he gets the feeling of
belonging to, membership of a group, acceptance and being valued. If inclusion works in this
way, it's useful for all children's learning and development. My study investigates what children
are named emotionally and behaviourally disordered, how they are socially integrated in their
kindergarten programmes and how teachers guide them. The research is ethnographic. I
gathered data by observing and interviewing both the staff and the children in three kindergarten
classes. According to preliminary results children with emotional and behavioural problems were
seen in quite "traditional" way. The adults felt that some of these children tried to control the
whole group: there were a lot of conflicts. The staff thought that these children couldn't realize
how others feel. Not all the friendships were described this negatively. Children's viewpoint was
wider. Although the children with emotional and behavioural problems had problems in their
interaction, they were not always discriminated by peers. Children played together and some of
the children with emotional and behavioural problems were valued. On the other hand children
felt aggressive behaviour of children with emotional and behavioural problems unpleasant.
Education and guidance differed in each class. Mostly the education was based on behavioural
model (rewards and punishments) or on cognitive model (talking about emotions). There were
some elements of ecological model, too (collaboration with families).
Keywords: inclusion, social integration, emotional and behavioural problems
ID-463
Fostering Development in Wider Age-mix Grouping
Wilfried Griebel
State Institute of Early Childhood Education and Research, Germany
We work on theory in planning a study on development in heterogeneous groups of children.
Empirical evidence about school achievement under condition of mixed-age grouping is not
consistent (Roßbach, 2003; Sundell, 1994). Extended mixed-age grouping for younger and for
the older children mean extended chances for successful social interactions and by that
fostering social competence (Griebel, Niesel, Reidelhuber & Minsel, 2004).
There is still no comprehensive theory about development of children within mixed-age peer
groups, but several theorists have made statements concerning this issue. Montessori (1972),
Bandura (1986) and Katz et al. (1990) agree upon the benefits for younger children that they
can learn from the older ones. According to Vygotsky (1978), within the proximal zone of
development more competent peers, i.e. older children with more skills and knowledge, are
important to stimulate dialogue and thus cognitive and behavioural development in the younger
ones. Piaget (1932) advocates the importance of conflicts between partners of equal
competence level for stimulating development.
Achievement motivation in children of heterogeneous groups will develop towards task
orientation (not ego orientation) (Dweck, 1986) because there is less competition expected in
these groups than in homogeneous groups. Task orientation is a condition for deeper
processing of the learning material and interest.
We would like to report and discuss these theoretical strands on development in groups of
children with a wider age-mix.
Co-author: Beate Minsel, State Institute of Early Childhood Education and Research, Germany
Keywords: diversity, age-mix, grouping
Symposium V/19
Teacher Training
Individual papers
Chair:
Pentti Hakkarainen
Kajaani University Consortium, Finland
ID-395
Developing Concepts of Participation with Early Years Students
Janet Kay and Rosemary Furey
Sheffield Hallam University, United Kingdom
This paper explorers how pedagogies in higher education can extend students' concepts of
rights and participation for themselves and children aged 0-8 through the evaluation and
modification of a children’s rights module.
The first phase paper outlines how different pedagogical approaches have influenced the
development of students’ sense of social responsibility and understandings of participation and
citizenship. This second phase paper has focused on exploring the identified link between active
pedagogies and learning about participation and social responsibility.
An action research approach was used as the process was intended to inform change and
improve practice in terms of pedagogies for potential early years professionals. The evaluation
is a single case study, reflecting a particular incidence, which is the effectiveness of pedagogy
on a Higher Education course in supporting students' developing concepts of participation and
social responsibility. Four cohorts of students have been evaluated, two in phase one and two in
phase two. The evaluation involved a series of small groupwork exercises to determine
students’ learning about both the content of the module and the development of their
understanding of their own role as citizens and practitioners with children. Findings from each
phase of the evaluation were used to inform developments in pedagogies for the next cohort.
Phase two findings support the phase one findings by confirming that this module effectively
supports students' learning about participation and rights. They also confirm links between the
pedagogical approaches and effective learning, with an emphasis on the benefits of interactive
learning and multi-media approaches.
References
Cleaver, E., Ireland, E., Kerr, D. & Lopes, J. (2005) Citizenship Education Longitudinal Study: Second CrossSectional Survey 2004. Listening to Young People: Citizenship Education in England (DfES Research Report 626).
London: DfES.
Harkavy, I. (2006) The role of universities in advancing citizenship and social justice in the 21 st century. Education,
Citizenship and Social Justice, 1 (1), 5-37.
Moosa, M. (2005) A Difference-Centred Alternative to Theorization of Children’s Citizenship Rights. Citizenship
Studies, 4(4), 369-388.
Nixon, J. (2004) Learning the Language of Deliberative Democracy. In M. Walker, & J. Nixon (eds.) Reclaiming
Universities from a Runaway World. Buckingham: Open University Press.
Osler, A. (ed.) (2000) Citizenship and Democracy in Schools. Stoke: Trentham.
Simpson, K. and Daly, P. (2005) Citizenship Education and Post-16 Students: A Habermasian Perspective.
Citizenship Studies, 9(1), 73-88.
Stasiulis, D. (2004) Hybrid Citizenship and What’s Left. Citizenship Studies, 8(3), 295-304
Smith, M. (2001) Education for Democracy. Online:http://www.infed.org/biblio/b-dem [accessed August 2006].
Keywords: participation, active pedagogies, children's rights, social responsibility
ID-109
The Profession of Educator of Young Children; A Profession Meant to
Welcome Children in a Respect for Diversity-spirit
Mony Myriam
ESSSE, France
The profession of Educator of young children has undergone three essential changes since its
creation in 1973 when the above-mentioned profession turned into social worker of early
childhood. This evolution shows how guiding young children has evolved in the French welcome
establishments for young children. Those who practise this profession also imply the children’s.
After 3 years of professional training and a bachelor’s degree (delivered by the Ministry of Social
Affairs), the educator of young children practises his job; she/he takes into consideration the
educational issues and the social impact of her/his intervention.
Her/his ability to be responsible and referent of the children’s educative guiding and awakening
leads her/him:
• to coordinate the educative activities in the early childhood establishments
• to make the connection between individual and collective sides
• to respect diversity thanks to her/his skills
• to adjust his position according to the interlocutor in all contexts and at the same time to
accompany the whole group.
The target is:
• to reach an educative guiding of socialisation based on the individual differences
• to meet the others
• to take into account the criteria of all contexts.
The communication present: story of the profession in child-care area and the training (theory
and practice). How respect for diversity is included in the process of training.
Keywords: professionalism, respect for diversity, early childhood, initial training for educator
Symposium V/20 Policy of Early Education in Different Countries
Discussion group
Chair:
Lavinia Tamarua
Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand
Co-chair:
Jane Bone
Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand
ID-431
Transforming policy and practice: three narratives
As educators involved in early childhood education we have asked ourselves how curriculum
enhances culture. Our work with beginning early childhood teachers is influenced by the
identity we bring to the educational profession. In Aotearoa New Zealand the early childhood
curriculum, Te Whāriki (Ministry of Education, 1996) is a framework that supports pedagogical
practice. We are embedded in a context that recognises the work of Vygotsky as a
transformative force in education, but we ask what implications this has for education practices.
Do local interpretations of Vygotsky’s socio-cultural perspective recognize the pedagogical
perspectives of diverse cultures?
Reports from three research projects concerning children aged from 3 – 6 years, told different
stories that allowed each researcher to explore their own identity; an identity that is unique in
the socio-cultural context of Aotearoa. The influence of Vygotsky is affirmed in an on-going
dialogue that explores the position and identity of educators. In this paper three narratives are
presented. Through them we ‘think culture’ and critique our own practice in terms of the social,
political and cultural implications from our respective communities. Te Whāriki informs teaching
and learning that encompasses diversity. Or does it? What is the interface between culture,
curriculum and educational practices? When culture drives curriculum the question remains
whose culture? This paper explores through dialogue the question of whether curriculum can
enhance our culture and support diversity and difference.
Co-author: Yvonne Culbreath, Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand
Ministry of Education (1996). Te Whāriki: He whāriki mātauranga mo ngā mokopuna
o Aotearoa, Early childhood curriculum. Wellington: Learning Media.
Keywords: socio-cultural, identity, pedagogy, curriculum
Symposium V/21 Policy of Early Education in Different Countries
Individual papers
Chair:
to be determined
ID-190
Early Years Professional Status: An Initiative in Search of a Strategy
Denise Hevey
University of Northampton, United Kingdom
The UK has long lagged behind other developed countries in the level of government
investment in Early Education and Care as a proportion of GDP (OECD 2006) and has
maintained commitment to a ‘mixed economy’ including the private, voluntary and independent
(PVI) sector. Scandinavian countries traditionally have had much higher levels of state
investment and have required graduate levels of qualification for their ‿pedagogues’. Evidence
from a large scale, longitudinal study in the UK (Sylva et. al 2003) confirmed that quality in preschool provision is indeed linked to higher levels of qualification in staff. As part of a new
Children’s Workforce Strategy (DfES, 2006) aimed at raising standards, a new form of graduate,
multi-disciplinary Early Years Professional Status (EYPS) has been created. The University of
Northampton has been responsible for piloting the Validation Pathway (assessment only) across
the East Midlands region of England during autumn 2006 and for the introduction of preparatory
training programmes from January 2007. This paper builds on previous research, which
reported a preliminary evaluation of the pilot programme (Hevey et al. 2006). It critically
evaluates EYPS as an initiative in search of a strategy and considers the currently unresolved
issues of status, recognition, pay and conditions, transformation funds (supply side subsidy) and
the need for effective demand side subsidies to support affordability as fees inevitably increase.
These are all essential features of a more strategic approach to professionalising a workforce
that is fragmented, poorly qualified, poorly paid and located largely in the PVI sector.
Keywords: professional, strategy, qualification, staff
ID-389
Achieving Early Years Professional (EYP) Status: New EYPs Evaluate the
Process, and Its Impact on Professional Identity
Gill Goodliff
The Open University, United Kingdom
A new graduate Early Years Professional role was developed in 2006 in England as part of the
UK government’s strategy for the policy reform of the children’s workforce (DfES, 2004). To gain
Early Years Professional status candidates must demonstrate, through their own practice with
children from birth to five years old, that they meet a set of national standards and provide
evidence that they can lead and support the practice of others. EYPs will be expected to lead
practice in curriculum delivery of the new Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) that comes into
effect from September 2008. The Government aims to have EYPs in all children’s centres
offering early years provision by 2010 and in every full day care setting by 2015.
In September 2006 the Open University, in partnership with a major national charity, the
National Day Nurseries Association, was selected to pilot nationwide the Validation pathway
towards achieving Early Years Professional Status (EYPS). This paper draws on qualitative
analysis, using a phenomenological approach, of questionnaire and interview data from
candidates who were part of the Phase 1 Pilot and were awarded EYP status in February 2007.
Findings suggest that despite the tight timescale for implementation, the majority of candidates
found the assessment process affirming in relation to their professional identity. Concerns over
long-term recognition and financial gain from the status were highlighted. These issues are
discussed in relation to the current policy agenda in England.
References:
Bruner, (1996)The culture of education London, Harvard University Press
Pugh, G. (2006) The Policy Agenda for Early Childhood Services in Pugh G. and Duffy, B. (2006) Contemporary
Issues in the Early Years London, Sage
Wenger, E. (1998) Communities of Practice Cambridge, Cambridge University Press
Keywords: early years, professional, policy, practice
Symposium V/22 Innovation: Implementing Theory into Practice
Individual papers
Chair:
Elizabeth Dunphy
St. Patrick's College, Dublin, Ireland
ID-327
The Future of Child Development Laboratory Schools: Collaboration for
Applied Developmental Research
Nancy Barbour (1), Diane Horm (2), Brent McBride (3), Melissa Groves (4), Martha Lash (1),
Carol Bersani (1), Andrew Stremmel (5), Cynthia Ratekin (4), James Moran (6), James Elicker
(7), Susan Toussaint (4)
(1) Kent State University, USA
(2) University of Oklahoma, USA
(3) University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, USA
(4) California State University, Chico, USA
(5) South Dakota State University, USA
(6) Pennsylvania System of Higher Education
(7) Purdue University, USA
Early in the 20th century, child development laboratory schools became an important site for
conducting research about child development and family relationships at universities throughout
the USA. The original intent of these sites was to engage in research that would help inform
policy makers. Over time, the laboratory schools have engaged in three important functions on
university campuses: research (e.g., re: child development, nutrition, education, and families),
service (e.g., providing child-care for the community), and professional preparation (e.g., of
teachers, researchers). Yet, the promise of engaging in research that translates to social policy
has not been fully achieved. Recently, a small group of university faculty involved with child
development laboratories at several universities have been meeting to discuss the future
viability of these programmes, knowing that many programmes struggle to justify their existence
in tough economic times. Our discussions have focused on the development of a consortium of
laboratory schools where research becomes a collaborative effort across multiple sites. We see
the possibility of increasing the potential size and diversity of study participants by using multiple
sites for a single research study. Likewise, we foresee the possibilities for studying a topic from
multiple theoretical, geographical, and design standpoints. This shifting view of how lab schools
might function opens up the potential for these programmes to serve as models for applied
developmental research, defined by Fisher and Lerner (1994) as the “systematic synthesis of
research and applications to describe, explain, and promote optimal developmental outcomes in
individuals and families across the life span.” The intent of this paper is to share these
possibilities for researchers and practitioners to influence policy.
Keywords: child development, research, laboratories, applied
ID-145
Curriculum in the Infant Classes in Ireland: Vygotsky's Ideas in Practice
Deirbhile NicCraith and Anne Fay
Irish National Teachers' Organization, Ireland
The primary school curriculum in Ireland is inclusive of an early years curriculum for four to six
year olds, which includes, Language, mathematics, Social and Personal Education, The Arts,
Social, Environmental and Scientific Education, Physical Education and Religion. Vygotsky’s
theories on how children think and learn are reflected in the principles of the primary school
curriculum. It is proposed in this presentation to outline the main features of the current
curriculum for four to six year olds and the challenges perceived by teachers in relation to its
implementation, with a particular focus on the teachers’ role. The presentation will draw on
research carried out by the Organisation’s Education Committee, which involved the issuing of a
survey to a random selection of primary teachers seeking their views on the revised curriculum
of 1999. The presentation will also draw on focus group research carried out with teachers of
the infant classes, in order to gain a more in-depth understanding of the experience of infant
teachers in implementing the revised curriculum in terms of their own role in facilitating learning,
and their approaches and methodologies. It is proposed to highlight both policy and pedagogical
challenges in relation to the development of early learning in the infant classes of primary
schools, with particular reference to adult child ratios and the need for additional adult
assistance, and to offer recommendations in order to enhance pupils’ learning experiences.
Keywords: curriculum, adult role, class size, teaching methodologies
ID-369
Vygotsky’s Ideas as a Basis for the New Models in Early Childhood
Development (ECD) Programme Assisted by UNICEF in the Republic of Belarus
Natalia Mufel
UNICEF, Early Childhood Development Officer, Belarus
The ECD programme in Belarus is based on the theoretical and conceptual framework of the
Vygotsky’s cultural-historical theory and on the Leontiev’s activity theory.
The main ideas of Vygotsky - socialisation as the main condition for psychological and mental
development of a child; social situation of development; interiorization, zone of proximal
development, primary and secondary defect - have become the basis for the development of
new regulations in pre-school education and in integrated and inclusive education of special
needs children.
During the paper presentation at the conference (Section 6: Policy and practice) the Regulative
framework (ECD policies) in Belarus as well as new models, methodological guidelines and
programmes (ECD practice) that have been developed during last three years with UNICEF
assistance will be presented.
According to the 2004 Regulation on pre-school education, the main goal of pre-schools is to
provide early socialization, development services for children in collaboration with families. The
new models were introduced to different regions of Belarus: family kindergarten, early
socialization community based services, short-term groups, maternity schools. At the same time
the inclusive early education has been expanded. The children’s abilities (his/her zone of
proximal development) are taken into account during the organization of special education
services.
The Development centres for special needs children provide integrated, complex services for
children and their families to prevent the second physical and mental abnormalities and to
provide timely socialization of a child. Among the main goals of the services are early
diagnostics of problems, ensuring the suitable conditions for development and socialization, and
cross-sectoral approach.
Presentation is in Russian. English translation is provided.
Keywords: ECD policy, new models, integrated services for special needs children
SATURDAY, 1ST SEPTEMBER
SYMPOSIUM SET VI
Symposium VI/1
8:45 - 10:15
Parents’ Perspective & Family Involvement
Individual papers
Chair:
Sue Greenfield
Roehampton University, United Kingdom
ID-234
Proliferating Parenting in the UK: Advancing Understanding through a
Zone of Proximal Development
Susan Aitken and Teresa Curtis
Manchester Metropolitan University, United Kingdom
This paper explores the impact of official pedagogical intervention into the lives of parents
considered to be not fulfilling societal norms and expectations in childrearing.
A research methodology was employed that privileged the voices of parent’s through focus
group discussion and enabled access to their concerns of being identified as deficit parents.
Further data was generated through the views of professional practitioners from the health,
childcare and social services communities. The practitioners are all involved in the delivery of a
range of parenting programmes.
The paper discusses how parenting classes, whilst offering apparent remedies through a parent
craft training model that appears to have a consensus societal appeal, have become the
mechanism through which parents are confronted with practitioner perceived deficiencies which
they are unlikely to share. Early findings from interviews with parents and practitioners suggest
that universal models of parenting may not reflect the richness of cultural diversity and may be
perceived as undermining parent’s self esteem and confidence. (Ghate and Hazel
2004) Parental views suggested that shared experiences were of more value than hierarchical,
didactic encounters with professionals who they viewed as disconnected from their reality.
Using Vygotskyan models of learning through social interaction, the paper offers ways in which
supported learning can be incorporated effectively when facilitating parenting classes This
paper refers to the work of Baumrind (1966) in terms of contextualising individual parenting
styles and also considers Foucauldian ‘technologies of self’ in terms of multiple relations of
power.
Keywords: parents, parenting, practitioners, social interactionist, scaffolding
ID-451
and Carers
John Powell
Developing Shared Understandings of ‘Appropriate Touching’ with Parents
MMU Institute of Education, United Kingdom
This paper discusses the apprehension faced by many early childhood practitioners in the UK
when touching children in child-care settings. This situation we contend is caused by anxieties
that touching, which is generally agreed to be important to children’s development, may instead
be viewed as problematic and risky, leading to a ‘hands off policy’ and a situation where contact
through touch may rapidly become taboo (Piper, Powell and Smith 2006). We argue that there
is an expectation by the government (see Integrated Children’s Services Provision DfES 2007)
of early years practitioners modelling positive touching to parents and carers through
demonstration with babies and young children. This model we contend is now in jeopardy but it
was always problematic since it privileged a perspective of the early year’s practitioner as
’expert’ and the parent/carer as deficient.
The paper argues that by applying Vygotsky’s theories of social learning and instruction based
on social interaction (Wood D 2005), a forum may be developed in which positive touching can
be discussed between practitioners and the child’s parents/carers as part of a process of shared
learning and appreciation. Referring to recent research, the paper discusses examples of
touching in children’s settings and the constraints that are influenced by the safeguarding
discourse. The paper considers the potential opportunities for practitioners, parents and carers
to become empowered through a pedagogy based on partnership through sharing stories about
the importance of touching which may lead to more confident parent/carer relationships with
their children.
Keywords: touch, risk, modelling, partnership, children
ID-48
Alison Elliott
Connecting Children, Families and Learning
Charles Darwin University, Australia
In a world confronted by change and uncertainty there is increasing need for children to be
securely anchored in their families, communities, early childhood centres and schools. The
concept of connectedness is widely used in the well-being literature to describe good health and
social and emotional harmony and equilibrium. More recently notions of educational
“connectedness” and their effects are being considered by policy makers and practitioners.
Building “connectedness” is at the core of motivating and engaging children. Connectedness
extends well beyond general parent “involvement” and participating in special events and
activities and embraces a complex, deep, and multi layered sense of trust, personal and
psychological awareness, especially “being in touch” and “anchored”. This paper highlights
qualities and characteristics of “connected” schools and classrooms identified in a recent
Australia-wide study. It shows that connectedness is built by valuing and embracing family and
community beliefs and cultural traditions, developing meaningful and carefully targeted learning
programmes, fostering rich interactions and strong cognitive supports, and by strengthening
social and family capacity. Findings showed that developing this connectedness and
engagement required “mutual understandings” between educators and families and embraced
concepts of familiarity, reciprocity, trust and respect. It also needed inspired leadership, teacher
commitment and expertise, plus thoughtful, visionary policy, and curricula and pedagogies that
are consistent with Vygotskyan perspectives. Positive, trusting, and stable relationships within
and between families, early childhood centres and schools underpin child, family and
community connectedness. In the longer term this sense of connectedness provides the basis
for meaningful learning experiences in tune with children’s needs and interests.
Keywords: connectedness, scaffolding, engaging, families
Symposium VI/2
Parents’ Perspective & Family Involvement
Individual papers
Chair:
To be determined
ID-167
Importance of Social Context for the Cognitive Development of Pre-school
Children
Renata Miljevic-Ridicki
Faculty for Teacher Education, Zagreb University, Croatia
The changes in cognitive development largely depend on the characteristics of ones living
environment. Both, the characteristics of the person and a mediator are important. Vygotsky
emphasises the importance of the person's social context for his/her cognitive development.
The main goal of our research was to assess whether the level of child's cognitive development
is connected with his/her social context. We have compared cognitive abilities of children living
in three different social contexts 1. two-parent family (from the birth), 2. Single parent family (3
years minimum) 3. parentless children living in orphanages. Sample: 120 children, age 6-7,
tested in a year prior to entering regular 1st grade. Cognitive status was assessed by
intelligence tests and school aptitude tests. Children were tested in kindergartens and
orphanages in Zagreb and Osijek. We have found significant statistical differences in all test
results between children living in orphanages and all other children. There were no differences
in intellectual level between children living in two-parent and single parent families. At some
school aptitude sub-tests children from two-parent families scored better.
The findings confirm the importance of mediators for the child cognitive development.
Keywords: child cognitive development, social context
ID-465
Development of Child Communication and Family Culture
Liya Kalinnikova (1) and Magnus Magnusson (2)
(1) Pomor State University named after M. V. Lomonosov, Russian Federation;
(2) Stockholm Institute of Education, Sweden
The period of early child development is a period of “growing into human culture” through the
interactions with the social world. Parent and child are active constructors of a social
environmental space around each other and creators of their family life image.
Parenting is a complex multilevel process. All components come together in the bringing up of
the child, his joining with society. Mothering and fathering are considered as specific gender
characteristics of parenting. Existing theoretical research in the field of parenting of children with
some developmental limitations are based on an understanding of multilevel phenomenology of
the nature of parenting. Investigations into the field of parenting children with multiple disabilities
in their first year of life are not systematic. Parenting is being studied mainly as an aspect of
mothering and there is almost no scientific study about parenting, uniting both aspects.
What is the experience of parenting multiply disabled children in their early years? Semistructured interviews were used to collect data to describe the phenomenon of “parenting”
children in the first year, with multiple developmental problems. Several parental couples were
involved in this process, simultaneously. Content analysis was the analytical method used.
Parental experience from having a multiple disabled child in their first year is the result of a
number of events. Care for the child becomes the central event of the family’s life, it is
organized in context of past, present and future time. It is evident that parents’ experience is
necessary to arrange everyday care for the child. Experience of both parents is filled with faith in
child’s recovery, normalization of his/her development and expectation of progress in the
development and plans for the future.
Texts-analysis showed that parental experience of the situation of care reveals several
meanings, which can be described from different aspects. The understanding of parental
experience is important in order to create individual programs for child development.
References:
Vygotsky L.S. (2003). The question of the dynamics of a child’s nature (character) / Fundamentals of Defectology by
Vygotsky L.S./ Printed in SPb: Lanj.
Patton, Michael Quinn. (2002) Qualitative research and evaluation methods / By Michael Quinn Patton/- 3rd ed.
Printed in the United States of America: Sage Publication.
Powers, L. E. (1993) Disability and Grief. From Tragedy to Challenge. (pp. 119-148) in G. H. S. Singer & L. E.
Powers (eds.), Families, disability, and empowerment: Active coping skills and strategies for family interventions.
Baltimore, MD: Brookes.
Haggstrom T. (2004) Life-story perspective on caring in cultural contexts. Experiences of severe illness and of caring.
Lulea Sweden: printing Office at Lulea University of Technology.
Hallberg L. R-M. (2002) Qualitative Methods in Public Health Research: Theoretical Foundation and Practical
Examples.
Part of presentation is in Russian. English translation is provided.
Keywords: child development, social environment, parenting, multi-disabled children, family
needs
Symposium VI/3
Play
Individual papers
Chair:
To be determined
ID-146
The Connection between Playing Activity and Drawing in Pre-school
Children
Elena Berezhkovskaya
Russian State University for the Humanities, Vygotsky Institute of Psychology, Russian Federation
L. Vygotsky connected the development of imagination with children’s playing activity.
Children’s drawing is connecting with development of imagination too. We investigated some
connections between development of playing and drawing in 47 pre-school children (3-7 years
old).
We marked out 4 levels of development of playing activity. Children of 3-4 years old often
played individual with one-two small toys («producer plays»). Children of 4-5 usually played
individually too, and represented some image («I am a cat», «I am a car», etc.). Children of 5-6
played in little groups, and represented «family», «shop», «hospital», etc. Children of 6-7 played
together, they used games with rules. That periodisation of development of playing activity was
described by E. Kravtsova.
We found, that the development of children’s playing activity forestalls the development of their
drawing. Children, who play individual, with small toys, often draw the trace of movement of the
object. Children, who represent image, usually draw separate object. It corresponds to reflection
in their consciousness only idea of movement and existence that object.
Children of 5-6, who played in little groups, usually draw separate objects too. But their objects
were more detailed. And only in the high level of development of games children began to draw
whole plots.
In this way, children’s drawing is corresponding to zone of actual development. In the same
time, playing activity is corresponding to zone of proximal development (L. Vygotsky).
Presentation is in Russian. English translation is provided.
Keywords: playing activity, drawing, zone of proximal development
ID-486
Free Play? Is There Any Value in the Concept?
Helen Tovey
Roehampton University, United Kingdom
The notion of free play, so highly valued by many pioneers of nursery education has been
replaced in recent years by notions of structured play, directed play, well planned play,
purposeful play and even controlled play. This, I argue, has been accompanied by a lack of
confidence in play as practitioners increasingly seek to justify it with reference to defined
learning outcomes. How play is conceptualised is vitally important in considering the role of
adults in facilitating and extending children's play. This paper is in two parts. The first draws on
a range of literature on both play and liberty in an attempt to untangle the conceptual
contradictions and confusions underpinning these notions of play. The second examines
nursery practitioners' perceptions of free play drawing on a study of 20 practitioners in one
London borough using semi-structured interviews. Analysis of both suggests that freedom could
be considered an essential characteristic of play. But freedom is not a neutral term; it takes on
the values of those who use it. It is freedom to do what that matters. Freedom is not just about
removing restrictions, rather it is a question of identifying what particular liberties and what
particular constraints are most likely to promote those values considered most important. I
conclude by suggesting that given play in nursery settings operates within many different
structures, free play might offer more to young children than other notions of play, which
suggest that the course of the play is already determined by adults.
Keywords: play, free play, perceptions of play, freedom
Symposium VI/4
Teachers’ Practice: Interaction with Children
Individual papers
Chair:
Zorica Trikić
CIP - Center for Interactive Pedagogy, Republic of Serbia
ID-488
Empirical Research on Early Education as a Part of Wide Open School
Foundation Activities
Zita Badurikova
Comenius University, Slovakia
The paper presents main results from experimental verification of selected programmes and
projects implemented by Wide Open School Foundation, as Step by Step, Roma Education
Initiative and others, using SbS principles. Step by Step Programme – according to our findings
– showed positive influence on children´ learning in both – kindergartens and elementary
classes. Comparing with control groups kindergarten children involved in SbS Programme
showed better results in speech development, empathy, problem-solving and self-esteem,
comparable level of creativity and knowledge. In elementary classes pupils from experimental
groups showed better results in verbal abilities, non-verbal cognitive abilities, in creativity,
Slovak language and math. Roma Education Initiative project evaluation showed positive
influence on Roma children in kindergartens and Roma pupils in primary schools in such factors
as school attendance, placement of Roma children into special schools and school – family cooperation.
Keywords: knowledge, social skills, kindergarten, primary school
ID-430
Parents’ Opinions about the Impact of a Physical Education Programme to
Their Children’s Healthy Behaviour
Evridiki Zachopoulou
Alexandrio Technological Educational Institute of Thessaloniki, Department of Early Childhood Care and
Education, Greece
This study was supported by a grant from the EU Socrates Programme, Comenius 2.1 Action
(project number: 118192-CP-1-2004-1-GR- COMENIUS-C2.1).
The term ‘healthy behavior’ can be applied broadly to the choices somebody makes in respect
to activity levels, development of physical fitness, cardiovascular condition, emotional health
and well-being, personal safety, and nutrition (World Health Organisation - WHO, 1999). These
healthy issues could be taught to pre-schoolers through movement activities. The child’s body
may be considered as the primary learning centre, taking into account that movement and the
use of the body have many different meanings for the young child (Davies, 2003). The idea
behind the proposed physical education programme (‘Early Steps’ Physical Education
Curriculum - ESPEC) is to provide children with the knowledge and skills to make healthy
choices. The aims, goals and objectives of this curriculum referred to the recognition of the
changes in body functions during physical activities, to the knowledge of healthy lifestyle
activities, and to the identification of healthy foods.
The purpose of this paper was to present parents’ opinions about the impact of ESPEC
implementation of their children’s healthy choices during their everyday life.
94 Greek pre-schoolers were participated in the implementation of ESPEC. Four trained early
educators implemented 24 PE lesson plans during a period of three months. After the
implementation period, 25 semi-structured interviews were carried out with the parents whose
children participated in ESPEC. Each interview was recorded and then transcribed verbatim.
Interviews revealed that ESPEC implementation positively affects children’s knowledge about all
the issues that they handled. Although parents weren’t actively involved in this intervention, they
were able to recognize changes on their children’s healthy choices.
Co-authors:
Evridiki Zachopoulou, Alexandrio Technological Educational Institute of Thessaloniki, Dept. of
Early Childhood Care & Education, Greece
Eleni Deli, Municipal Organization of Social Care of Kalamaria, Greece
Eleni Timpa, Municipal Organization of Social Care of Kalamaria, Greece
Efthimios Trevlas, Alexandrio Technological Educational Institute of Thessaloniki, Dept. of Early
Childhood Care & Education, Greece
Keywords: curriculum, physical education, healthy lifestyle, pre-schoolers
ID-401
Diversity and Equity - Making Sense of Good Practice
Regine Schallenberg-Diekmann (1), Dalvir Gill (2), Anastasia Houndoumadi (3) and Peter Lee
(1) INA.KINDER.GARTEN and ISTA/INA at Freie Universität Berlin, Germany
(2) CREC, Birmingham, England/UK
(3) SCHEDIA, Athens, Greece; CAF,
(4) University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, Scotland/UK
A working group of the DECET (Diversity in Early Childhood Education and Training) network
have been working together with the key stakeholders of Early Childhood Education and Care
services across Europe. Six partners, France, Belgium, Germany, Greece, Scotland and
England used the 6 principles/goals of DECET to develop a framework with guiding criteria.
DECET is promoting early childhood provisions where everyone, children and adults:
- feels that he/she belongs,
- is empowered to develop the diverse aspects of his/her identity,
- can learn from each other across cultural and other boundaries,
- can participate as active citizens,
- actively addresses bias through open communication and willingness to grow,
- works together to challenge institutional forms of prejudice and discrimination.
This paper will present the core method using the above framework to conduct focus group
interviews with the key service users (children, parents, educators, policy makers and students).
Our research question was “How are parent, children and professionals making sense of what is
considered as good practice in terms of ‘respect for diversity and equity’?”
Key findings highlight that there is diverse level of knowledge and understanding across all six
countries, also within local communities, local service providers, adults and children and
professionals. From our findings we can conceptualise that the participatory research has
provided a kind of needs analysis that points to the areas of tensions between parents and
professionals, e.g. additional language learning, and beliefs about how ECEC programmes
should approach questions of religion, culture, identity and citizenship. The paper will present
results from data collected and issues related to the methodology process.
Literature:
European Commission Network on Childcare and Other Measures to Reconcile the Employment and Family
Responsibilities of Men and Women: Quality Targets in Services for Young Children. Proposals for a Ten-Year Action
Program. 1996
Jan Peeters, Ann Somers: A Creative Look at Quality. A picture of quality criteria for childcare centres. Booklet for
video. 2001
Kathy Sylva, Iram Siraj-Blatchford, Brenda Taggart: Assessing Quality in the Early Years: Early Childhood
Environment Rating Scale (ECERS-E). Four Curricular Subscales. 2003
Christa Preissing (Hrsg.): Qualität im Situationsansatz. Qualitätskriterien und Materialien für die Qualitätsentwicklung
in Kindertageseinrichtungen. 2003.
Keywords: equity, diversity, quality, policy
Symposium VI/5
Teachers’ Practice: Applying Theories into Practice
Self-organised symposium
Under clarification
Symposium VI/6
Early Child Development
Self-organised symposium
ID-147
The Teachers’ Role in Children’s Social and Moral Development in Early
Childhood Education
Chair:
Elly Singer
Department of Education, The Netherlands
Session overview
Policies, curriculum and programmes for day care centres give great value to the beneficial
guidance by teachers of social and moral learning of the children. In the process of facilitating
children’s social and moral development in early childhood education the teacher has a great
responsibility. In this session we will analyse the teachers role in establishing social
relationships and morality of young children. How can adults provide adequate support for
children’s moral development? The presentations will raise issues on how different pedagogical
frameworks may influence teachers’ approaches to children’s morality. Based on the
assumption that morality results from inter-subjectivity, the teacher’s appreciation of the values
of the children is analysed. The concept of ZPD will be discussed in relation to a
multidimensional approach. Questions on how the pedagogical practice, (mixed age groups)
might encourage apprenticeship for learning in order to develop a community of care will be
raised.
Keywords: social development; morality, peers, teacher' s role
Teacher’s Strategies for Working with Children’s Morality in Early Childhood Education
Eva Johansson
Göteborg University, Dep. of Education, Sweden
The main focus of this presentation is on the teachers' goals, attitudes and strategies for
working with values in pre-school. What values do children express and how can teachers
attend to these values? What aspects might be of importance to improve children’s moral
learning? The discussion is based on the assumption that morality is a result of intersubjectivity. The relational character of morality, the interdependence and the concrete
encounters between children and teachers constitutes an important basis of insights into moral
values. The moral values, which are important to the children, seem however often to be
overlooked by teachers despite the fact that they try to help children to express their own
feelings and to understand others. Instead, adults often use their own opinions of what they
think children need to learn about showing consideration for others as a point of departure.
Teachers’ involvement in their work with morality includes encouragement and support as well
as sanctions and blame when children’s actions go against moral values, which adults esteem
highly. In the same way, the notion that children can develop their own moral values, or that
children are important to each other in their learning of morality, seems less common.
The Teacher's Role in Conflict Resolution of Young Children
Dorian de Haan
University Utrecht, Dep. Developmental Psychology, The Netherlands
In recent years, the concept of Zone of proximal development has been subject of discussion,
resulting in a more precise interpretation of the concept. In the research reported here, the
concept of ZPD is explored for the social domain, in particular with respect to the adult’s role.
Insights from studies on informal tutoring situations during joint problem solving of adult and
child in the cognitive domain might be illuminating, but I will argue that a focus on conflict
resolution as a matter of social problem solving is a too limited orientation. Such an approach
dismisses a fundamental dimension of the social domain, that is, a focus at establishing good
relationships.
The main question to be answered in this presentation is to what extent such a multidimensional
approach may be recognised in interventions of teachers in children’s conflicts. Data of the
research consists of video-recordings of teachers’ interventions in conflicts of 96 two- and threeyears-old children in Dutch day care settings.
Social Learning in Mixed Age Groups: The Role of Teachers and Peers
Elly Singer
University of Amsterdam, Dep. of Education, The Netherlands
Programme policies and procedures can promote the ability of teachers to develop trusting and
responsive relationships with the children and between the children. Mixed age groups are an
example of a programme policy in this regard. The mixed age group policy aims at continuity of
care, in The Netherlands for children between 0- till 4-years of age. The pedagogical reasons for
mixed age groups are that young children can learn from older children (modelling and
imitation), that 3-year-olds are able to develop pro-social and caring behaviour towards the
babies; and that children learn to deal with diversity in needs, skills and interests. According to
the philosophy of the mixed age groups the children are introduced to a caring community at an
early age. Besides pedagogical reasons there are also practical and financial reasons for Dutch
day care institutions to opt for mixed age groups. The results of a study of group dynamics in
Dutch mixed age groups will be discussed. Special attention is given to the role of the teachers
and whether they are able to foster the relationships between children of different ages.
Symposium VI/7
Supporting Development through Scaffolding
Individual papers
Chair:
Sonja Rutar
Developmental Research Centre for Pedagogical Initiatives Step by Step, Slovenia
ID-135
Modern Learning Environments for Pre-school Education: A Learning
Frame in Social Interaction
Maria Sakellariou
Department of Pre-School Education, University of Ioannina, Greece
One of the most important consequences of Vykotsky’s social-cultural theory for Pre-school
Education is the new consideration of personality development through the procedure of social
interaction. At the same time, through the pedagogical interaction, a zone of proximal
development is created, meaning the advancing of teaching until the point that the child can
reach either itself or with the help of adults. At this point, the intervention of the pedagogue must
be based on the developing of today and proximal interests and needs. On this theoretical
frame we organised an educational programme, which pushes forward the development of all
types of intelligence, according to Gardner’s theory, giving emphasis to the interpersonal
intelligence. We chose the model of multiple intelligence because it agrees with the
epistemology of constructivism and the Vykotsky’s proximal development zone.
Target of our intervention was the child’s strengthening to reach higher development levels
through interactions with the class social environment. We created with children’s cooperation a
music corner and a set of activities, which would strengthen the development of social
relationships and social skills. The research sample was 42 children from two mixed
Kindergarten classes. 20 children constituted the experimental team (E,T,) and 22 the control
team (C.T.). The made observations were evaluated according to the evaluation programmes
Spectrum and Teele Inventory for multiple Intelligences. The evaluation results showed that the
interpersonal intelligence of the E.T. children improved to higher degree compared to the C.T.
children.
Co-authors:
Maria Sakellariou, Department of Pre-school Education, Univerity of Ioannina, Greece
Rena Sivropoulou, Department of Pre-school Education, University of West Macedonia, Greece
Keywords: social interaction, zone of proximal development, constructivism, multiple intelligence
ID-312
Vygotsky, Early Learning and Pre-school Curriculum
Marcela Batistič Zorec
University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Education, Slovenia
In my presentation I would start from Vygotsky’s view on the development and learning in preschool period (from his lecture Learning and development in pre-school period, published in
1971). He argues that in this period the child moves from spontaneous to reactive learning.
Children mostly learn spontaneous till their third year of age, when they learn according to their
own (developmental) programme and interests. After entering the school at about six or seven
year of age they become able to follow teacher’s programme. In the mean period between third
and sixth year of age the child’s learning is spontaneous-reactive. Vygotsky said that he or she
is able to learn according to his teacher’s programme, if that programme coincides with the
child’s personal programme, which is one of the most difficult tasks of pedagogues.
I would draw the similarities between the theories of Vygotsky and M. Montessori, who speaks
about transition from unconscious to conscious absorption of the environment after children’s
third year of age. I’ll also show the implication of Vygotsky’s and other theories to the principles
of contemporary pre-school curriculum and practice, especially the principle of children’s
choices and the role of adults in their play and learning. I’ll argue that in contemporary preschool education the constructivist and the social constructivist field of psychology are getting
nearer in understanding child’s development and learning.
Keywords: learning and development, spontaneous-reactive learning, child’s choice, adult’s role
Symposium VI/8
Transitions
Individual papers
Chair:
To be determined
ID-171
Intensifying Co-operation between Early Childhood Professionals and
School Teachers to Support Transition from Kindergarten to School
Renate Niesel
Staatsinstitut für Frühpädagogik (IFP) München, Germany
In Germany transition between Kindergarten and elementary school often is impaired by a lack
of administrative coordination, a difference in professional understanding of education, of
learning culture and professional culture. Training and further education of both professional
groups traditionally take place within separate systems. Lately educational frameworks for
Kindergartens and elementary schools in most Laender of the Federal Republic) demand
cooperation in the transition process.
In Bavaria a further education project for Kindergarten and elementary school teachers based
on theoretical knowledge and best practice was developed to put professionals in a position to
work out and implement transition programmes according to their local conditions. Kindergarten
and schoolteachers have been qualified to work as a team with mixed groups of both
professional backgrounds. The project is conceptualised for three years (till 2008) and should
reach about 3000 participants.
A theoretical and empirical founded transition approach has been used as a conceptual frame.
The multi-perspective approach has led to insights into children’s and of parents demands
during transition, as well as into their coping strategies.
The project is evaluated by questionnaires answered by participants after a two days workshop.
Evaluation refers to quality of programme issues, to relevance for practice implementation and
especially to participant’s experience regarding the interdisciplinary approach. Findings of the
project’s first year will be reported.
Co-authors: Renate Niesel & Bernhard Kalicki
Keywords: transition, interdisciplinary, co-operation, further education
ID-123
Pre-school Teachers Ideas on Transition from Pre-school to Primary
Education in Turkey
Ebru Aktan Kerem and Mihrap Ekmişoğlu
Canakkale Onsekiz Mart University, Turkey
The importance of pre-school education and about the positive effects of the educational
curriculum on children, their families and society increases each passing day. There has been
made studies to enable children to gain abilities supporting their development in pre-school
education. Besides, one of the main features of pre-school education is to make the child ready
for primary education. The preparatory education in pre-school period is significant for enabling
children to adopt the new education period easily, and reaching academic success.
The aim of this study is to analyse activities, which the teachers use in transition studies,
ascertain the concern areas in their programmes, and analyse their thoughts about the
collective works they can do with first class teachers in Turkey. Within the context of research,
in order to analyse pre-school teachers’ thoughts and to state the case, there has been
prepared a questionnaire. 1384 teachers were chosen by random grouping technique and
working at solemn and private pre-school corporations related to the Board of Education, Social
Service Ministry of Education and Society for the Protection of Children and at practice schools
related to the universities in 41 cities in Turkey, has formed the work group of the study. The
search has been carried on in 2005-2006 and 2006-2007 autumn terms.
As the data is on the analysis step, the findings will be discussed in the whole context of the
announcement and according to the results there will be suggestions for the activities taking
place in pre-school education programme.
Keywords: pre-school education activities, transition to primary education, activities for transition
to primary education, concern areas
ID-503
the World
Home is Where I Live: A Child’s Story about Her Move to the Other Side of
Catherine Meehan
Canterbury Christ Church University, United Kingdom
Children are experts on their own lives (Alderson, 2004). This child-centred piece of research
culminated in this paper, which presents the story about one child’s experience. It draws on
Vygotskyan theory related to social and cultural learning to explain the child’s experiences
before, during and after the family moved from Australia to the United Kingdom. Although both
countries share many similar social and cultural values, there are challenges faced by the child
and her family. Most significant challenges for the child were linked to friendships (old and new),
family, places old and new, and defining what ‘home’ is.
The research questions developed collaboratively by the researcher and child included:
1. What were the child’s experiences during a move to the other side of the world?
2. What helped the child during the transition?
3. How did the child make sense of losses, changes and transition?
The story is told from the child's perspective and highlights issues that were important to this
seven-year old child in a period of major transition, loss and change. A mosaic approach to data
collection was used. This included digital photographs, transcripts, drawings and stories written
by the child. The data was analysed with the child who made significant contributions to the final
paper and presentation. The experiences of collecting this data enabled the child to reflect on
her experiences before the move, during the move and following the move and also on a recent
journey back to her old ‘home’. This child made sense of her new environment by making
connections with key landmarks, which help her to adapt the new context- things that were alike
and things that were different.
Keywords: transitions and change, narratives, learning, mosaic approach, child-centred research
Symposium VI/9
Zone of Proximal Development
Individual papers
Chair:
Gerda Sula
Step by Step Centre, Albania
ID-219
Can E-Mail Support Children’s Exploration of Different Cultural Heritage
between Two Nurseries?
June O'Sullivan, Marion Breslin, Nichole Leigh Mosty
University of Worcester, United Kingdom
This project is operating between two nurseries one in Iceland and the other in London. It arose
after a visit from an Icelandic nursery team provoked London colleagues to consider how best to
form a relationship to help the children explore cultural differences from their own nursery.
WCS bases its curriculum on the principle that children are curious and creative and with the
right support and encouragement we can nurture their curiosity and imagination. Like Vygotsky
and more recently Paley (1990) we believe that while children will use thinking to organise and
make use of any situation, some problem-solving needs to be set up by the adult to help the
child tackle unseen situations. In this case the email function was the catalyst for investigative
learning with the possible additional opportunities for children to develop abstract reasoning
through this concrete experience.
This research project is ongoing and is conducted through action research which enables
practitioners to become researchers and test theories and explore questions in the workplace by
investigating and examining different perspectives and finding answers to questions arising from
direct practice with children and adults.
The project is ongoing and the emerging impression is that children are looking at similarities
more readily and staff are beginning to see that email or more specifically computer mediated
communication (data exchange across two or more networked computers e.g. Instant
messages, e-mails, chat rooms) is a useful teaching tool to support children achieve the next
level of their ZPD.
Keywords: computer mediated communication, ZPD and action research
ID-399
Shifting in the Zone: Conceptualising a Dynamic Zone of Proximal
Development
H. Julia Eksner (1) and Marjorie Faulstich Orellana (2)
(1) Northwestern University, Germany
(2) University of California, Los Angeles, USA
Theme & Theoretical Framework: In this paper we examine a set of socially situated learning
tasks (language brokering or translating as done by the bilingual children of immigrants) as
taking place in dynamic zones of proximal development. Through language brokering activities
bilingual children use their knowledge of two languages to assist their families in a wide range of
ways. In this paper we explore the ways in which knowledge and authority over knowledge are
shifted and dynamically reassigned between adult and child participants in dynamic zones of
development.
Main Findings: Our data set shows that children and “monolingual” adults engage
collaboratively in translating events. Expertise is unevenly distributed across events, contexts,
situations, domains, and relationships, with both parent and child offering different forms of
expertise even as they are also positioned as novices in different ways. That is to say, children
and parents mutually scaffold each other’s learning in these events, and together co-participants
advance their English and Spanish language development, literacy skills, and knowledge about
the social world. The findings illustrate how the naturalistic unfolding of teaching and learning
contradicts common assumptions about the nature of zones of proximal development that
presume authority is invested in age status, and indicate a need to extend our notions of how
scaffolding, teaching and learning are distributed between adult and child participants.
Methods: We draw on data from a longitudinal study on the children of immigrants from Mexico
to the USA who are family translators (aged 8-12). We present a qualitative and quantitative
analysis of everyday translating engaged in by three child translators from families living in the
Midwestern USA.
Keywords: zone of proximal development, literacy practices, bilingual, development
ID-62
Promoting from Inside: A Model of Fostering Children’s Symbolic Activities
and Its Application
Anna Bondioli
University of Pavia, Italy
Imaginative play and storytelling occupy key roles in children’s psychological development and
socialization; fostering these activities is therefore a key task of pre-school education. Starting
from this assumption and embracing a Vygotskyan point of view which underlines the
importance of peers’ and educator’s acting in children’s “zo-ped” in order to promote emerging
abilities, our presentation intends to discuss the possibility of applying a tutorial model to
divergent activities such as pretend play and storytelling. Two quasi-experimental studies based
on such a model that indicates how to interact with a group of children in order to promote their
symbolic skills will then be presented. The first study compares the effects of two types of play
experiences (pretend play of a group of children with adult tutorial support and pretend play with
only peer interaction) on pre-school children’s pretend play performances. The second one
investigates the effect of the same kind of tutorial intervention aimed to promote storytelling
skills in four-year-old children. The encouraging results of these researches and observational
excerpts exemplifying children and adult interactions will be presented and discussed.
Co-author: Donatella Savio, University of Pavia
Keywords: symbolic play, storytelling, “zo-ped”, adult tutoring
Symposium VI/10 Understanding Mathematics in Early Years
Individual papers
Chair:
Regina Sabaliauskiene
Center for Innovative Education, Lithuania
ID-63
Whole Class Interactive Teaching in the English Primary Mathematics
Classroom: Underpinning or Undermining Learning?
Judy Sayers
University of Northampton, United Kingdom
This paper reports on the particular ways in which two primary teachers manage the discourse
of the whole class teaching phases of their lessons to create opportunities for their students to
acquire an understanding of mathematical concepts and skills. The English educational
authorities recommend that all primary mathematics lessons should comprise three parts, each
of which has a substantial whole-class component. Evidence indicates that teachers are being
judged effective against superficial adherence to behavioural strategies rather than the cognitive
gains of their students.
This paper, by means of an analysis of two teachers' practice in respect of the whole-class
teaching phases of their lessons, examines the extent to which such superficial characteristics
are privileged over meaningful attempts to structure learning. Data collection was undertaken
over a period of a year with six mathematics lessons being videotaped for each teacher. To
facilitate analysis each lesson was also transcribed. Two theoretical frameworks have informed
my analysis. The first, drawing on the work of Robin Alexander, examines classroom
interactions against three notions of pace: organisational, interactive, and cognitive or semantic
pace. The second, drawing on the work of James Gibson, examines the interactions from the
perspective of the affordances and constraints embedded within them. Initial findings suggest
that despite clear behavioural similarities in respect of recommended behaviours, the ways in
which they manage the whole class interactive phases of their lessons create very different
learning opportunities for their students.
Keywords: whole-class teaching, mathematics, affordances, constraints
ID-118
Challenging and Innovative Ways in which Teachers can Open Young
Children’s Eyes to the World of Mathematics
Marie Botha
University of Pretoria, South Africa
Mathematical literacy is increasingly part of everyday life. Children live in a world that requires
mathematical understanding. The question is, 'how can teachers help young children develop
an appreciation and understanding of mathematics?’
This paper will focus on how the theoretical framework of Vygotsky as well as the Whole
Language Approach were used in an elective way to plan and develop workshops for teachers
and student teachers in the South African context of Outcomes-Based Education.
Research where done to investigate the impact of the workshops. The qualitative part of the
research comprises a literature study, conducting a workshop and conducting interviews with
teachers to discuss the results obtained from administering a structured questionnaire to obtain
information regarding the way educators’ plan and teach mathematical activities to young
children.
The purpose of the workshop was to demonstrate challenging and innovative ways to introduce
young children to the world of mathematics.
The theoretical framework of the workshop:
· Vygotsky’s Socio-cultural Theory.
· Whole Language Approach. Children use meaningful content through stories (children’s
literature).
RESULTS
From the literature study it is evident that a sound knowledge and understanding of the
developmental phases of young learners is of the utmost importance in the planning and
presentation of mathematics. From our data analysis it became clear that educators do not
provide equally for the different modalities of mathematical knowledge, processes and
strategies in their planning and presentations.
Keywords: socio-cultural theory; children’s literature; mathematical literacy; South-African
teachers
Symposium VI/11
Multilingual Development
Individual papers
Chair:
Dawn Tankersley
International Step by Step Association, USA
ID-106
Welsh in Early Years Provision: Policy and Paradigms in Promoting
Bilingualism in the Early Years
Sian Wyn Siencyn
Trinity College, University of Wales, United Kingdom
This paper will present an overview of the Geiriau Bach (Small Words) project, which has been
running at Trinity College for two years. The project, funded by the Welsh Assembly
Government, has developed a University of Wales course which is closely linked to the
Foundation Phase 3-7 years, the new early years curriculum in Wales which is rooted in a
strongly Vygotskyan framework of learning through play. The aim of the project is to extend the
use of Welsh and bilingualism in predominantly English medium early years provision whilst
also promoting good practice. The key principles that underpin Geiriau Bach are that:
bilingualism is good, bilingualism is attainable, all children have the right to be bilingual,
developing bilingualism is consistent with good practice in early years provision. The paper will
outline the context of bilingualism in Wales and the interdependent role of adults and children in
the bilingualisation of early years provision. Geiriau Bach, with its emphasis on language and
play and on quality of interactions between adult/s-child/ren, offers opportunities for those
working with young children and families to work together, collaboratively across cultures and
borders, to promote early years bilingualism. The project is already impacting on the
development of public and educational policy in Wales. The methodologies implemented to
monitor and evaluate the Geiriau Bach project and the initial findings of the research will also be
presented in this paper.
Keywords: Wales, bilingualism, culture, language
ID-226
Multilingual Toddlers in Swedish Pre-schools: What is the Role of
Language in Initiating and Maintaining Pretend Play?
Anne Kultti
Göteborg University, Department of Education, Sweden
This study is a part of a Swedish longitudinal study, Young Children's Learning, exploring the
communication experiences of 10 children (aged 1.6 to 3 years) whose second language is
Swedish. The study focuses on their language learning processes through social actions and
activities in the pre-school context. The fieldwork was carried out in eight pre-school groups
over a six-month period in 2006-2007. It consisted of video-recording moments of social
interaction and activity between children and teachers with focus on communication. The video
data was then transcribed and analysed within a socio-cultural theoretical framework (Vygotsky
34/1986; Säljö 2000; Ninio & Snow 1996).
This paper focuses on children who speak Swedish as a second language and their ways of
using the common language (Swedish) in pretend play with other children. The research
questions asked are: (1) how do the children initiate and maintain the play, and (2) how is the
common language (Swedish) used in the social actions within the activity. Through an analysis
of the interaction in the pretend play sequences it can be suggested that spoken language is
only one of many meaningful resources in communication for this group of toddlers.
Keywords: (second) language, interaction, communication, pre-school
ID-356
Bilingual Teaching Assistants and Learning in Early Years Settings
Rose Drury and Leena Robertson
The OU and Middlesex University, United Kingdom
Today in the UK bilingual teaching assistants (BTAs) play a key role in supporting bilingual
children’s learning in schools and early years settings. BTAs (otherwise known as Bilingual
Classroom Assistants) were referred to in the Swann Report (1985) as a ‘bilingual resource’ to
‘help with the transitional needs of non-English speaking children starting school’ (DES, 1985:
407). BTAs are paid hourly to support bilingual children at an early stage in their learning of
English by using the child’s home language to assist their learning. Bilingual assistants also
have an important role in helping mediate continuity between the cultural and linguistic
expectations of home and school. These assistants normally work in the classroom under the
direction of the class teacher and may have a different view of early years education.
By drawing on data from two ethnographic research studies in multiethnic early years settings
the paper aims to uncover some of the tensions in current mainstream practice for bilingual
children. It also challenges the dominating discourses regarding early years pedagogy. By
drawing on neo-Vygostkyan theories of learning (for example Moll, 1992; Ochs, 1998; Rogoff,
2003) the paper explores the ways in which bilingual assistants act as cultural and linguistic
mediators of bilingual children’s learning. The paper suggests the need for further work and
research which can lead to new insights about early bilingualism and a deeper understanding of
the bilingual adult’s role in supporting young children’s learning. Ultimately it may help us
contribute to constructing a new and meaningful curriculum for bilingual children.
Keywords: bilingual, teaching assistants, mediator, home-school
Symposium VI/12
Language Learning
Individual papers
Chair:
Nazarkhudo Dastambuev
OSI – Assistance Foundation, Tajikistan
ID-163
Developmental Language
Interaction and Later Language Skills
Marja-Leena Laakso
Delay
and
Its
Relations
to
Parent-Child
University of Jyväskylä, Department of Early Education, Finland
The focus of the present study was to identify very early children who have a risk for severe
difficulties in later language development. Early language and communication impairments
represent a risk for a child’s development and educational achievement. Developmental
Language Delay (DLD) is known to increase the risk of low performance in a wide range of
language skills (e.g., Rescorla, 2002) and to strain parent-child interaction. We used Wetherby
and Prizant's (2002) Infant-Toddler Checklist (CSBS DP) for screening children's early
communication and language development between 6 and 24 months of age. Based on the
screen we identified children with delay in vocalization (VD) at 15 or 18 months (n=30) and
children with broader communication delay in social communication and symbolic skills (SSD) at
12 or 15 months of age (n=34). At 2 and 3 years of age language and cognitive skills of these
and 77 control children were studied at the university clinic. In addition mother-child interaction
was videotaped in free play situation at 24 months of age. Our preliminary analyses of parentchild interactional data show that child’s verbal initiatives and coordination in interaction and
mother’s redirecting of child's attention are critical features in interaction and differentiate the
groups. Also children with early risks had lower scores in cognitive test (BSID-II) and less
developed language skills at the ages of 2 and 3 years
Keywords: early identification, developmental language delay, parent-child interaction, language
development
ID-310
Pictorial Activity Role in Compensation of Pre-school Children's Speech
Development Disorders
Anna Polyakova
Moscow State University, Russian Federation
The main aim of this research is to reveal an influence of pictorial activity on 5-6 years old
children’s speech development. We suppose that both drawing development and speech
development has mutual orientation and enrichment of children’s pictorial activity with new
methods and means of drawing leads to development of some speech aspects. This
assumption is based on the theory of L.S. Vygotsky about genetic connection between drawing
and speech. The participants of the research were 30 children with general speech disorders.
The children were 5-6 years old. Experimental verification of the hypothesis consisted of 3 parts.
First one was the statement experiment, in which we assessed developmental level of speech
activity, planning and nominational speech functions, drawing and imagination. As the results of
this part of research we determine development lags in the above characteristics of children
with speech disorders. The second part was correction one, in which we used special method of
pictorial activity enrichment with new methods and means of drawing. The third part was control
experiment. We used the same methods of drawing and speech developmental level
assessment as in the first part. As a result we got not only some improvements in drawing and
imagination characteristics, but also increase of speech activity and development of planning
and nominational speech functions. We showed that compensatory work against speech
disorders could be carried out by children’s drawing activity development.
Co-author: Obukhova L. F.
Presentation is in Russian. English translation is provided.
Keywords: drawing, speech functions, Vygotsky
ID-341
Verbal and Non-verbal Development and Play in SLI-Children after Early
Intervention
Nina Sajaniemi and Eira Suhonen
University of Helsinki, Finland
This study aims at assessing the effects of communication, play and action based intervention
on the verbal and non-verbal development in 3-5 years old children with specific language
impairment. The intervention was given twice a week during six months in day-care centres.
The rationale of this study was to find new ways to prevent the cumulative disadvantages of
language impairment (Johnson et al. 1999; Snowling et al. 2000.) The underlying presupposition
of the intervention is, that early language development is an interactive process between the
child and the adult involving shared attention, engagement and interest (Bruner 1986, Launonen
1993).
The study children were collected from day-care centres in Helsinki area based on the diagnosis
of SLI. There were 24 children in intervention and 22 children in control group.
This study applied a pretest-intervention-posttest design. The language performance was
assessed with the Reynell Developmental Language Sacale. The verbal and nonverbal
performances were assessed with the Wechsler Preschool Primary Scale of Intelligence
(WPPSI-R). In the standardization sample, the mean in both subscales is 100 and standard
deviation is 15. Symbolic play was evaluated with Symbolic Play Test (Lyytinen; Kontu &
Suhonen). General linear model (repeated measures) was used in analysing the data.
The intervention program did show some minor benefits to every child. The intervention gains
were significant in non-verbal performance [F (1) 7,0, p=.001, ], in non-symbolic play [F (1)
15,4, p=.001, ] and in symbolic play [F (1) 4,74, p .04]. However, there was no significant
intervention effect on verbal performance. This findings might intend, that communication, play
and action based intervention did ameliorate behavioural organization which might strengthen
the base for further language development.
References:
Bruner J.1986. Actual Minds, Possible Worlds. Harvard University Press. Cambridge, Massachusetts and London.
England.
Johnson, C.J., Beitchman, J.H., Young, A., Escobar, M. Atkinson, L. Wilson, B.,Brownlie, E.B., Douglas, L., Taback,
N., Lam, I.& Wang, M. 1999. Fourteenyear follow-up of children with and without speech/language impairments.
Journal of Speech Language, and Hearing Research, 42, 744-760
Launonen, K. 1993. Eleestä puheeseen. Teoksessa Iivonen, A., Lieko P., Korpilahti P. (toim) Lapsen normaali ja
poikkeava kielenkehitys. Vaasa: Ykköset Offset Oy.
Snowling, M., Bishop, D.V.M. & Stolthard, S.E. 2000. Is preschool language impairment a risk factor for dyslexia in
adolescence? Journal Of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 41, 587-600.
Keywords: intervention, language, SLI, nonverbal communication
Symposium VI/13 Involving Children in Research
Individual papers
Chair:
Nives Milinović
Open Academy Step By Step, Croatia
ID-277
The Experienced Curriculum - Children’s Understandings of Learning in
Some Norwegian Kindergartens
Marit Alvestad, Kristin Fugelsnes and Inger Benny Tungland
Faculty of Arts and Education, Department of Early Childhood Education, University of Stavanger, Norway
This project is a small-scale study focusing on children’s participation learning and development
of knowledge, seen in relation to the revised Norwegian National Framework plan, headed
under the Ministry of Education and Research in 2006. In the new curriculum kindergarten is
seen as a part of lifelong learning, and the children as active participants in a democratic society
are underlined. The intention in this study is to describe, analyse and discuss children’s
understanding of their own participation in learning processes. Some central questions here are:
What is learning according to the children? What do they consider important to learn? What is
their active participation as they themselves experience it in kindergarten? Our aim is to develop
new knowledge about children’s participation in their own learning processes. The study is
framed in socio-cultural theory, and within a qualitative, phenomenological tradition. It is based
on interviews and discourses with children and pre-school teachers in kindergartens. The
empirical data will be videotaped and we intend to develop the methodology further in this study.
In our paper presentation preliminary results will be presented and discussed, as will
videotaping in kindergarten context.
Keywords: children’s learning in kindergarten, national framework plan, experienced curriculum
ID-385
The Places of Magic and Play – Children Taken into the Planning Process
of Their Outdoor Area
Kari-Anne Jørgensen
Vestfold University College, Faculty of Education, Norway
This project
One of our democratic rights in Norway is participation in planning processes connected to the
development of our environment. By focusing Children’s Rights there is also an obligation of
taking care of Children’s perspective on their environmentally surroundings. We have a
challenge in developing tools for how to take care of the Pre–school Children, impact on the
development of the kindergartens and playing areas. This presentation is based on a project in
a Kindergarten in Norway. Children’s approach on outdoor kindergarten environment. Based
upon a study of the development of the outdoor space in this kindergarten, and ideas of how to
implement the intentions of play and learning.
Methods:
Mapping of the places the children use on their existing area. Children’s Images of their
environment based on narratives Photos taken by the children themselves of their favourite
places with their own comments.
Findings:
We have made use of different methods for getting the children into the process of planning and
have found that there are different methods that can be used. By using a simple map –system it
is possible to make documentation of where the children prefer to play. The children do have
their own opinions of what they want, and must be sees as a resource for planning the
kindergartens physical environment. There are connections between physical environment and
the children’s possibilities for acting social, play, and learning abilities.
References:
Merlau Ponty(1994),: ”Kroppens fenomenologi“”., Pax forlag Norberg-Schultz(1992); Ch:”Mellom jord og himmel”,
Pax Forlag Ness, Arne(1991): ”Økologi, samfunn og livsstil”, Universitetsforlaget Vygotsky, Lev S (2001): ”Tenkning
og tale” Gyldendal Akademisk Forlag The project is also a part of the national ECEC network “Kindergarten-Life”
(University of Stavanger, Queen Mauds College Trondheim, Vestfold University College.
Keywords: children’s perspectives, landscapes, playscapes, environment psychology
ID-70
Sue Dockett
Children Speak about the Museum
Charles Sturt University, Australia
Recently, there has been an increasing interest in understanding children’s perspectives on
their experiences. This is aligned with significant changes in conceptual and theoretical views of
young children. The project reported in this paper recognizes children as experts on their own
experiences and reports their views on a museum space. Kids’ Island at the Australian Museum
was specifically designed for children aged 0-5 years. After seven years, and as a result of
major structural changes to the museum, it has been redesigned. This situation has provided an
ideal opportunity to seek children’s views of the museum space and to engage with them to
consider their perspectives on what they would like in a museum space, what worked for them
in the original space and what they would like to have incorporated into the new space. Drawing
on a range of participatory strategies – such as conversations, video tours, photographs and
journals – young children’s perspectives of their experiences at the museum and what they like
and/or expect to be able to do at the museum, are reported. General findings from a sample of
40 children are reported, and case study data is used to demonstrate the breadth of children’s
experiences and expectations.
This paper relates to the themes of language as a tool of interaction and cognitive development
and art, culture and development. The findings reflect children’s competence using language in
various ways to communicate their experiences and expectations as they engage in the cultural
context of the museum.
Co-author: Robert Perry, Charles Sturt University, Australia
Keywords: children's voices, children and research, museums
Symposium VI/14 Multicultural Education
Individual papers
Chair:
Vesna Bajsanski
Center for Educational Activities Step By Step, Bosna and Herzegovina
ID-376
Making a Difference for Traveller (Roma) Children
Kathleen O'Kane
NIPPA - The Early Years Organisation, United Kingdom
Travellers are a distinct ethnic group within Irish society. Their life style and culture, based on a
nomadic tradition, sets them apart from the settled community. They are widely recognised as
one of the most marginalised and disadvantaged groups in Irish society.
This presentation will highlight how the Toybox Project is making a difference in the lives of
young Traveller children. The project works with Traveller parents and their children in their
homes. One of the aims of the project is to encourage the enrolment of children in pre school
settings. The Department of Education in its New Targeting Social Need Report (2001)
estimated that only 18% of Traveller children went to pre-school in 1998/99 compared to 56% of
the settled population. We see education as pivotal to the establishment of an inclusive society.
An independent evaluation of the project has been completed. This has highlighted a significant
increase in the enrolment of Traveller children into pre-school in 2005/06 to 64%. This paper will
outline the key findings from the evaluation and highlight the recommendations. Consultations
took place with a range of stakeholders including Traveller parents and children. Consideration
was given to the voice of the child regarding their views on the project. The paper will give the
childrens' and the parents' perspective on the project.
It will address how the engagement of the adults provides children with an eagerness to learn
and the skills to participate. The work of the project is enabling all Traveller children to become
strong, competent and visible in their community.
Keywords: travellers, Roma, pre-school, evaluation, inclusion
ID-417
‘Embracing Alternative Ways of Knowing’
Colette Murray
Pavee Point, Ireland
Traveller children’s voyage into the new world of integrated pre-schools
Current Educational Policy in Ireland is grounded in the concept of equal opportunities and
inclusion. New policy strategies discuss moving towards an inclusive model for the ECCE sector
and in particular the Traveller pre-school. What does this mean for children from this indigenous
nomadic community who to date have lived in the segregated universe ‘The Traveller Preschool’?
Traveller children grow up in a different cultural context to ‘settled’ children. When they go to
primary school it is generally the first time they come in contact formally with both settled adults
and children. For Traveller children school may be the first time they realise they are ‘different’;
and for some children they learn they are different in a negative way. This transition has been
challenging for both the Traveller community and the school setting. With the vision of inclusive
practice Traveller children will now enter integrated pre-school at a considerably younger age.
The question is how will the ECCE sector address this meeting of cultures at personal and
structural levels to ensure successful transition? Can current structures and the knowledge we
use to inform our training and professional development programmes capture the essence of
the Traveller child? Do we need to embrace alternative ways of knowing which would open up
and produce new possibilities for engagement with diversity? Is it important that Traveller
children continue their journey in the educational system with a confident self and group
identity? Drawing on experiences and data from qualitative studies in Ireland and international
research, this paper explores alternative ways of knowing, understanding and doing in ECCE.
Keywords: critical knowledge, inclusion, diversity and equality, professional development
Symposium VI/15
Policy and Practice in Inclusive Education
Individual papers
Chair:
To be determined
ID-157
The Media Initiative for Children 'Respecting Difference'
Eleanor Mearns
NIPPA, United Kingdom
Professor Paul Connolly from Queens University Belfast, shows in his research 'Too Young to
Notice' that children can develop prejudices on the basis of physical and racial differences from
the age of three. Children in Northern Ireland are also learning the cultural and political
preferences of their own community at this age. The findings show that by the age of six, one
third of children in Northern Ireland are making racial or sectarian statements.
NIPPA's vision is that all children are physically and psychologically healthy, eager to learn and
show respect for those who are different from them. Based on Professor Connolly's findings,
NIPPA and PII (the Peace Initiatives Institute) have created the Media Initiative for Children
(MIFC) to help young children develop positive attitudes to difference. The MIFC uses mass
media, attractive resources and an early years curriculum to bring about real and measurable
change. The programme is therefore research led ensuring that it is as effective as possible and
the outcomes for children are clearly evidenced.
To date Professor Connolly has carried out three phases of research involving 1000 children.
The results show pre-school children's increased ability to:
1. recognise instances of exclusion without prompting
2. understand how being excluded makes someone feel
3. play with someone who is different from themselves
The presentation will look at the research in more detail and also show how the MIFC makes
respecting difference a very real experience for young children and one that can be shared with
families.
Keywords: respect, inclusion, diversity
ID-183
Respect for Diversity in the Early Childhood Setting - What We Have
Learnt: Case Studies from around the Globe
Jacqueline Hayden
Bernard van Leer Foundation, The Netherlands
Seminal research conducted in the past few years has established the early years of life as a
key period for the development or prevention of attitudes of prejudice. Cultural, ethnic and racial
diversity is now a key aspect of the context for early childhood education – and the role of early
childhood programmes is increasingly recognised as a crucial entry point for addressing these
issues. ECEC programmes can make significant contributions towards to integration and social
justice for all children – or they can replicate and sometimes promote exclusion, bias and
discrimination.
Bernard van Leer Foundation has been supporting studies and programs, which directly
address the issue of diversity and early childhood education. This presentation describes
seminal research, which highlights the window of opportunity for preventing bias and stigma in
young children. The presentation subsequently, through examples from around the world,
identifies a set of principles and processes, which can be adapted to a wide variety of contexts and which have been proven to 'make a difference'.
Speakers will describe how early childhood practice, policy and processes can be effective in
meeting context specific goals for social inclusion and respect for diversity. Participants will
have the opportunity to reflect upon needs and processes which may be useful to their own
situations and contexts.
Keywords: diversity, social inclusion, early childhood programmes, international
ID-419
Are Pedagogical Practices for Diversity Possible at 1st Grade Classrooms in
Sao Paulo/Brazil?
Gisela Wajskop
Instituto Superior de Educação de São Paulo/Singularidades, Brazil
The present study is the result of an early childhood education research-action carried out for 8
months, from March to October 2006, comprising 40 1st grade classrooms in various public
schools in the city of São Paulo, Brazil. Such grade has encompassed 6-year-old children since
last year in order to respect the legal determinations, which expanded primary school from eight
to nine years. So, these children were moved from early childhood education to elementary
schools. That inquiry was carried out by means of strategies of research-action realized by 40
students that followed classes recording the forms of management of the classroom (space,
routine and children’s activities achievement of the reading and writing) and children’s
collaboration with their pairs.
The results collected were analyzed on the basis of socio-cultural perspectives, based on our
conviction than a classroom’s culture could be conceptualized as a system of meanings that
provides – or not - the diversity’s context for children learning. The adults provide adequate
supports for children’s development proposing activities situation that guarantee children’s
learning?
This study, therefore, refers to considerations based on observing the children and their
teachers while interacting so that we could understand how diversity is, or is not, incorporated in
the classroom, starting from the relationship between the various children who have attended
early childhood and elementary schools in Brazil and the expectations of school success which
are not achieved by the majority of students throughout the various school years.
We have seen non-inclusive pedagogical practices, as well as the great distance from the true
incorporation and inclusion of the popular infant masses regarding the knowledge society in
Brazil, which could propel a real change in our schools.
Literature:
Brasil: MEC: Secretaria de Educação Fundamental. Parâmetros Curriculares Nacionais: introdução. Brasília: 1997.
DIAZ-AGUADO, Maria José. Educação Intercultural e Aprendizagem Cooperativa. Portugal: Porto Editora, 2000.
Educar os três primeiros anos: a experiência de Lóczy. Judit Falk (org) Tradução de Suely Amaral Mello. 1a edição,
Araraquara: JM Editora, 2004.
GONCU, Artin. Children’s Engagement in the Word – socio-cultural perspectives. Cambridge (UK): Cambridge
University Press, 1999.
LAPLANE, Adriana Lia Friszman de. Interação e silêncio na sala de aula. Ijuí: Ed. UNIJUÍ, 2000.
MELLO, Guiomar Namo.Educação Escolar Brasileira – O que trouxemos do século XX? Porto Alegre: Artmed, 2004.
WAJSKOP, Gisela; DANTAS, Ivaneide. Relatório circustanciado de trabalho de pesquisa: PROJETO: LER E
ESCREVER PRIORIDADE NO ENSINO MUNICIPAL (abril). São Paulo (Brasil), abril de 2006.
WINNICOTT, D.W. O Brincar e a realidade. Rio de Janeiro: Imago Editora Ltda, 1975.
Keywords: socio-cultural problems regarding the non-inclusive pedagogical practices in use.
Symposium VI/16 Policy of Early Education in Different Countries
Individual papers
Chair:
To be determined
ID-59
Lynn Ang
Cultural Diversity and Policy in the UK: A Vygotskyan Perspective
University of East London, United Kingdom
This paper addresses the issue of cultural diversity and current policy in the UK, and its
implications on Early Years practice and the curriculum. The discussion draws on a
poststructuralist stance in arguing that language is not transparent and offers a close reading of
how assumptions of culture and diversity are manifest at the levels of policy and practice. In the
UK, the rhetoric of diversity and equal opportunity is constructed in various discourses. The
Qualifications Curriculum Authority for England stipulates that valuing cultural diversity should
apply across all levels of education (QCA, 2006). The Commission for Racial Equality
advocates that schools should take proactive steps 'to promote equality of opportunity and good
race relations’. The Foundation Stage Curriculum urges practitioners to 'promote positive
attitudes to diversity and difference within all children . . .’ (DfES, 2006). Within this context, this
paper explores offers a discussion of current debates and tensions that underpin diversity and
policy. It raises pertinent questions such as, how can policy inform practice and effectively
support inclusive education? and how can educators use policy to inform the curriculum? At the
core of Vygotsky’s work is the notion that children develop in context as a result of interaction
with their social environment. This paper argues for a more inclusive Early Years environment,
where policy and practice are understood and applied more effectively to support children’s
learning. It asserts that an open and ongoing dialogue about race, language and culture – as
they relate to children, families and their social environment is essential to effectively address
diversity issues.
Keywords: policy, cultural diversity, culture, UK
ID-32
Policy, Practice and Culture Intersect in ECE: Examples from India, South
Africa and Canada
Ailie Cleghorn
Concordia University, Canada
This qualitative study, now in its third and final year, draws from the fields of early childhood
education (ECE), anthropology, sociology, and history. It throws light on ways in which
differences in practice reflect common societal concerns: past and present political injustices;
change in the social meaning attached to race, ethnicity and language; preparing children for
school in a better world. In spite of global trends that reduce obvious differences in the way ECE
is described in policy, differentiation persists in day-to-day practice, linked in subtle ways to
culturally embedded beliefs about how children develop and learn. From a theoretical standpoint
this study thus also ties in with Vygotsky's theory on the link between socio-cultural context and
cognition. Through on-going observation in actual EC settings, and interviews with teachers and
others, the findings illustrate, for example, how the meaning of diversity in one setting is
reflected in a policy and programme to enhance difference, while in another setting the aim is to
reduce difference. The study underlines two trends: at one level of analysis there is evidence of
greater uniformity of practice due to the spread, through teacher education, of Western ideas
about how best to work with children in the early years. At another level, we have found in each
of our three settings persistence in celebrating diversity and local identities. The presentation
will include videotaped scenes of a typical day in each EC setting.
Keywords: comparative policy, practice, culture
ID-363
Supporting Policy on Educational Disadvantage: Report of a Survey among
DEIS Schools in Ireland
Jacqueline Fallon
Centre for Early Childhood Development and Education, Ireland
In 2005, the Department of Education and Science (DES) in Ireland published a significant
policy document entitled DEIS, (Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools) An Action Plan
for Educational Inclusion (DES, 2005). The DEIS strategy identifies critical factors which
contribute to the overall goal of supporting educational achievement for all children in Ireland.
Included amongst these is access to early childhood education experiences for children in the
year prior to entering primary school. As stated in DEIS, “… early education provision,
supporting the most vulnerable children, can be a powerful intervention yielding lifelong
educational benefits.” This paper reports on a survey among a selected number of primary
schools prioritised for intervention and presents the results in the following categories:
Ø Extent of pre-school support for the school sample
Ø Extent of provision type (Private, Community & Voluntary, State) among identified pre-schools
Ø Prevalence of pre-school attendance among the 2005/06 and 2006/07 enrolment
For the first time, we can now begin to establish the degree to which children attending schools
in disadvantaged areas have access to pre-school provision. It is now possible to identify, at a
local level and in the case of individual schools, patterns and prevalence of provision. In a
context in Ireland in which information on young children is very fragmented, this survey offers
the potential to support young children at risk of educational disadvantage in a co-ordinated and
cohesive fashion with high quality educational interventions. Such information is also necessary
to underpin policy development in this area.
Keywords: policy, early education, intervention.
SymposiumVI/17 Workforce, Climate, Management, Leadership
Self-organised symposium
ID-489
Developing Leadership Capability; Public Policy, Local Praxis
Chair:
Margy Whalley
Pen Green Research Base, United Kingdom
Session overview
The National Professional Qualification in Integrated Centre Leadership (NPQICL) is a
professional development programme for leaders of Children’s Centres in England. Children’s
Centres are “the new frontier for the welfare state” (Blair) - the Government aims to have one in
every community by 2010. Children’s Centres are the hope of progressive politics, combining
parents and children’s individual choices and aspirations and families’ sense of collective
identity and belonging within their communities. Leaders in Children’s Centres are concerned
with challenging traditional models of working.
27% of the pilot participants on the NPQICL programme (2004-5) were interviewed over a threeyear period as part of a study investigating the impact of the course on their leadership.
Year 2 of the National Programme (2005-6) involved 380 leaders from multidisciplinary, multiagency Children’s Centres, 10% of whom were interviewed on three occasions through-out the
year. 40 participants were then interviewed (2007-8) following their graduation. Their Senior
Management Teams and tutors from 9 learning communities were also interviewed.
Year 3 of the NPQICL programme (2006-7) involved 375 participants in 17 learning
communities. The participants completed evaluation questionnaires about the programme and
their mentoring sessions and these data have been used to address the way in which the
participants have experienced the programme.
This symposium will address and present evidence from the perspectives of the programme
developers, the programme support team at the Pen Green Research Base, the participants
and the international evaluators who have engaged with the programme over 3 years
Keywords: leadership, learning communities, pedagogical isomorphism
Developing Learning Communities in Early Years: Evaluation of the Impact of a
Leadership Course
João Formosinho and Júlia Oliveira-Formosinho
University of Minho, Portugal
Since the English government has invested heavily in Early Year’s education and care, there
has been a rapid expansion in the development of integrated services provision for children and
families. Research and development work was undertaken in order to develop a National
Leadership Professional Development programme for the Early Years phase. This has resulted
in a new qualification: the National Professional Qualification for Integrated Centre Leadership NPQICL.
This paper describes the methodology of a three years evaluation on the impact of this new
qualification (Formosinho & Oliveira-Formosinho, 2005) and its theoretical background will be
debated.
It uses empirical data to highlight the characteristics of the NPQICL course (ethos, organisation,
pedagogy) and presents the main areas of its impact in daily practice – a more strategic and
participative leadership, the built up of multi professional teams in a multi agency context, the
reaching out of families who found the services difficult to access.
Keywords: Leadership impact, multi-professional teams, participative leadership
Developing and Sustaining Leadership Learning Communities: Public Policy, Local
Praxis
Margy Whalley, Sheila Thorpe, Lindsay Reid and Rachel Chandler
Pen Green Research, Training and Development Centre, United Kingdom
The NPQICL pilot programme was designed, developed and delivered at the Pen Green
Research Base. This national programme was co-constructed at every level and Pen Green
worked in collaboration with the National College of School Leadership, Social Care Institute of
Excellence and the National College for Health Leadership.
The course was rolled out nationally in 2005; it was delivered by eight different consortia of
universities, regional leadership centres, and children’s centres across England. There were
354 participants studying in 15 learning communities across the country. In the third year of the
programme (2006-07) there are 17 learning communities across the 9 English regions and
another 375 Children’s Centre Heads involved in the programme.
This paper addresses the way in which the participants differentially experienced the same
professional development opportunities. It will examine the very different professional cultures
within provider institutions and range of pedagogical approaches offered by the collaborating
professional tutors and mentors. It will consider the composition of the delivery teams and the
support and professional development they have been given.
Evaluative questionnaires were completed by roll-out participants at 10 different points across
the 2 year period. The data from the questionnaires have been analysed using the software
packages SPSS and NVivo. As well as considering the participants’ views of the course in
greater depth, this paper also focuses on their experiences of mentoring. Overall roll-out
participants have rated the programme and the tutoring and mentoring very highly however,
these data highlight some of the tensions implicit in sustaining a high quality professional
development opportunity across a national roll-out. The paper addresses the issue, on the basis
of 2 years of data: Can pedagogical isomorphism be sustained in a national roll-out?
Keywords: Children’s Centres, leadership learning stories, capacity building, pedagogical
isomorphism, leadership tutoring, leadership mentoring
Interpreting National Policy: How a National Programme for Leadership Learning Impacts
on Practice in Integrated Children's Centres
Annie Clouston, Annette James, Sue Webster and Trevor Chandler
Pen Green Research, Training and Development Centre, United Kingdom
It is now accepted in the Children’s Centre Guidance, (2006) for England that the recognised
qualification for leaders of these integrated centres will be the National Professional
Qualification for Integrated Centre Leadership (NPQICL).
The aim of this research project was to explore how NPQICL participants applied their
leadership learning to their work with their teams and whether there was a discernible impact on
the quality of the engagement with children and families with whom they worked.
During the second year of this qualitative research project, the team has continued to explore
leadership qualities and strengths with sub groups of the research cohort identified during the
first year: community development workers, early years practitioners, health professionals and
social workers. In addition, the learning journeys of a sample of men and black minority ethnic
leaders were included in the research.
Data from semi-structured interviews and focus groups suggests that despite coming from very
different professions and cultures the leadership development across the groups indicates more
similarities than differences. The present policy framework for the development of children’s
services exhorts practitioners to work across professional boundaries. This leads us to consider
the evidence of NPQICL’s role in developing a new early year’s professionalism, which spans
professional boundaries and organisational cultures. The analysis draws upon the concepts of
‘pedagogical isomorphism’ (Formosinho and Formosinho 2005) and Whalley’s 2004
Guardianship model.
Keywords: Leadership, children and families, learning communities, pedagogical isomorphism,
guardianship
Symposium VI/18 Teachers’ Reflective Practice
Individual papers
Chair:
To be determined
ID-52
How Adults Perceive Their Role in Facilitating Children’s Learning
Carrie Cable, Gill Goodliff and Linda Miller
The Open University, United Kingdom
The Open University Foundation Degree in Early Years provides an opportunity for practitioners
working in the UK to develop their knowledge and understanding of theory and research whilst
studying for a recognised qualification. Designing distance-learning courses, which enable
students to become reflective and reflexive practitioners whilst at the same time meeting the
standards imposed by regulatory bodies is a challenge for academic tutors. At the Open
University we have sought to provide learning experiences, which enable students to critically
engage with theory, research, policy and practice in both the UK and internationally. In this
paper we examine students’ impressions of the influence their study has had on their thinking
and practice. The analysis is based on questionnaire and interview data from students,
interviews with their tutors and employers and an analysis of electronic conferencing
contributions and their final written assignments. A central theme of the final course in the
Foundation Degree is developing the ability to listen to the ‿voice of the child’. Students are
introduced to the Mosaic approach (Clark and Moss, 2001) and encouraged to use similar tools
in researching practice in their settings. Our data provide insights into how students have drawn
on their research to inform their practice in supporting children’s rights and their social,
emotional and cognitive development. The data also provide evidence of how students’
developing knowledge and understanding of child development and theories of learning and in
particular socio-cultural theory have influenced and enhanced both their interactions with
children and their provision.
Keywords: facilitating learning, adult-child interactions, children’s voices, researching practice
ID-129
Pre-school Teachers' Reflections on Diversity and Teaching
Hrönn Pálmadóttir
Iceland University of Education, Iceland
In this paper we will discuss the findings and evaluations of a project, which started in March
2006 and will end in April 2007. The objective of the project is to empower pre-school teachers
in their work by investigating their own teaching practice and discussing them with colleagues.
In the process the teachers learn and empower each other and thus become more competent to
respond to the needs of all children in the pre-school. The project leaders gain important insight
in the work of pre-school teachers in time of change (Clark o.fl. 1996; Ladson-Billings og
Gomez, 2001; Winfield, 1986; Zeichner o.fl. 1996).
A group of pre-school teachers meet regularly with the project leaders and discuss critically the
education of children who for some reasons are of special concern of the teachers. The project
leaders do participant observations in the pre-schools, which are foundation for discussions in
the meetings as well as teaching stories from the teachers and pictures from the pre-school.
The teachers seek ways to help children participating and enjoying learning experiences by
sharing experiences from the field. The project leaders observe and monitor the influence of the
project by analysing the discussion ongoing in the teachers’ meetings.
The findings imply that the pre-school teachers find the diversity among the children a
challenging task, particularly children of foreign origin and children with ADHD. The teachers
differ in their opinions regarding the independence and competence of the children and what
aspects of the curriculum should be emphasized. Also some critical viewpoints concerning
special education and the role of special teachers appeared in the findings.
References:
Clark, C., Moss, P.A., Goering, S., Herter, R., Lamar, B., Leonard, D., Robbins, S., Russell, M., Templin, M., Wascha,
K. (1996). Collaboration as dialogue: Teachers and Researchers engaged in conversation and professional
development. American Educational Research Journal 33 (1) 193-231.
Ladson-Billings, G., Gomez, M.L. (2001). Just showing up: Supporting early literacy through teachers’ professional
communities. Phi Delta Kappan 82 (9) 675-781.
Zeichner, K. (1996) Educating teachers for cultural diversity. Í K. Zeichner, S. Melnick, M.L.
Gomez (eds) Currents of Reform in Preservice Teacher Education (bls. 133-175). Teacher College Press. Winfield, L.
(1986) Teacher beliefs toward academically at-risk students in inner-urban schools. Urban review, 9, 253-267.
Co-author: Elsa Sigríður Jónsdóttir, Iceland University of Education
Keywords: diversity, empowerment, collaboration
SymposiumVI/19
Innovation: Implementing Theory into Practice
Self-organised symposium
ID-243
Workforce
Improving Children's Experiences: Through Developing a More Confident
Chair:
Denise Hevey
The University of Northampton, United Kingdom
Session overview
This symposium offers a contribution to how the influence of Vygotsky’s work can be seen in
current workforce reform in the early years in England. The British Government has taken an
unprecedented step through the Childcare Act 2006, of removing the distinction between care
and education for children up to their sixth birthday (Department of Education and Skills,
2006a). Alongside this is a plethora of policies and initiatives aimed at developing the workforce
to meet the challenges ahead (Department of Education and Skills, 2006b).
Improving the workforce is central to any strategy aimed at improving quality provision for
children (Department of Education and Skills, 2006b). The British Governments commitment to
lifelong learning and work based education routes is opening up opportunities for the early years
workforce to enter Higher education through the Early Years Sector Endorsed Foundation
Degree and BA (Hons) Early Childhood Studies.
The impact of these opportunities, for a predominately female workforce, has been
independently investigated by the three researchers. The outcomes have been similar, namely
the development of a workforce with increased self-esteem, confidence, skills and knowledge
and understanding who have been able to transfer all these positive outcomes to the delivery of
services for children.
Department
of
Education
and
Skills
(2006a)
The
Childcare
Act.
[online]
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2006/ukpga_20060021_en.pdf [Accessed 12th February 2007].
Available
on:
Department of Education and Skills. (2006b) Children’s Workforce Strategy: building a world-class workforce for
children, young people and families. Nottingham: Department of Education and Skills Publications.
Keywords: workforce development, widening participation, confidence, quality
The Impact of the Sector Endorsed Foundation Degree in Quality for Young Children and
Their Families
Eunice Lumsden
The University of Northampton, United Kingdom
UNICEF (2007) reports that the experiences of English children are disappointingly inferior to
children in other affluent nations. Whilst the evidence they put forward is compelling, the English
government is committed to raising the quality of provision in the early years. This paper offers a
contribution to the discussion about how Vygotsky’s zone of proximal development influences
the need for workforce reform. It reports on the ongoing qualitative research into the impact of
the Early Years Sector Endorsed Foundation Degree delivered at an English university on the
personal and professional lives of the students.
Feminist methodology (Ranazanoglu and Holland, 2002) underpins the research, locating the
student experience in the wider political agenda. Findings clearly demonstrate increased
confidence, self- esteem and improved knowledge and understanding, which impacts on the
workplace and on the experiences of young children. It also highlights particular characteristics
of a group of women who did not have the opportunity to pursue higher education after leaving
school and have found their current experience so empowering that a high percentage have
progressed onto a full honours degree programme.
Ranazanoglu, C. and Holland, J. (2002) Feminist methodology: Challenges and Choices. London: Sage Publications
Limited.
UNICEF (2007) Child poverty in perspective: a comprehensive assessment of the lives and well-being of children and
adolescents
in
the
economically
advanced
nations.
[Online]
Available
at:
http://www.uniceficdc.org/publications/pdf/rc7_eng.pdf [Accessed 16th February 1007].
Raising Quality: Early Years Sector - Endorsed Foundation Degree, Graduate’s Views
about Their Professional Learning and Practice
Elaine Hallet
The University of Derby, United Kingdom
The Rumbold Report (1990) found inequality of educational provision of three and four year olds
and recommended a higher qualified workforce to raise the quality of service for children and
families. The introduction of foundation degrees as ‘a new model of vocational higher education’
(QAA, 2002) integrating vocational and academic threads of learning in a high level professional
award has raised the level of Early Years Practitioners’ qualifications.
This presentation discusses research findings indicating that Early Years Sector-Endorsed
Foundation Degree graduates have an increased academic and professional knowledge,
developed personally, achieved enhanced employability and have developed their professional
practice through work-based learning and reflective practice.
A feminist methodology in which women’s voices are heard and ‘listened to’ (Kitzinger, in Seale
et al, 2007) underpins this research. Demonstration of Vygotsky’s zone of proximal development
is discussed through the research findings showing that through professional learning, women’s
experience and expertise as Early Years Practitioners is being valued and that women are
emerging as a unique workforce, impacting on the quality of service for children and families.
D.E.S. (1990) Starting with Quality: The Rumbold Report. London: H.M.S.O.
D.E.S. (2002) Early Years Sector-Endorsed Foundation Degree Statement of Requirement. Nottingham: D. E.S.
publications
Q.A.A. (2002) Foundation Degree (final draft). London: QAA
Seale C, Gobo G, Gubruim J F, Silverman D, (2007) Qualitative Research Practice: London: Sage
Making a Difference in Early Years
Anne Farr
Newman College of Higher Education, Birmingham, United Kingdom
Government policy and legislation, in England, has identified the importance of a workforce that
is skilled, well-led and able to work collaboratively to provide high quality care, education and
provision for all children.
This presentation explores Vygotsky’s zone of proximal development and demonstrates how
this has been applied to support the learning and teaching of students studying part time on a
BA (Hons) Early Years Education Studies degree programme. I will provide a case study of a
sample of early years practitioners on this work-focused course and follow their journey as
learners and advocates of professional development and lifelong learning to enhance the quality
of learning and teaching in their settings and organisations.
The changing needs of these students and the challenges presented for teaching and learning
are addressed. The development of their knowledge and understanding in the field of early
years and their key and generic skills will be discussed. It will also critically reflect on the impact
of their professional development on policy and practice in their settings and organisations and
their roles as early years professionals.
THURSDAY, 30TH AUGUST
16:45 – 18:00
FRIDAY, 31ST AUGUST
15:30 – 16:45
POSTER PRESENTATIONS
ID 16
The Role of Language in Number Concepts Acquisition
Hava Yaseen
Independent Researcher, USA
My paper is based on a segment of a comprehensive research into the concepts of the counting
numbers, their acquisition, and pedagogy. My objective has been to examine this topic from all
of its relevant aspects: the properties of numbers in and of themselves, the psychology of their
perception and cognition, their origin in human cultures, the logic of their symbolization, as well
as the historical development of numerals and their role in number conceptualization and
contemplation. The study examines and analyzes the theories and research data of scholars in
various disciplines: historians, mathematicians, psychologists, neuroscientists, and educators.
Through this research I gained valuable insights into the pivotal role socialization and language
- especially the spoken number words - have in children’s acquisition of numerical concepts.
The focus of this paper is on children from birth to six years old and draws, among others, upon
the research data of Gelman, Kaufman, and Kuhl. The paper argues and provides supporting
evidence that the recognition of number words is the starting point from which children’s number
concept acquisition commences. The use of number words in playful counting serves as
scaffolding for the construction of numerical concepts, and gives meaning to both the counting
process and the number words it uses. This understanding characterizes children’s number
concept acquisition as a process of socialization, rather than an exploration of the physical
environment. Moreover, the introductory and fundamental role numerical symbols have in the
development of numerical concepts makes them an integrated element of these concepts from
their inception. This understanding merits the re-examination of old assumptions about
numerical concepts and their pedagogy.
A sample of references:
- Peter Bryant, 1974, “Perception and Understanding in Young Children,” Basic Books, Inc. Publisher, N.Y.
- Rochel Gelman & C.R Gallisle, 1978, “The Child Understanding of Number,” Harvard University Press, Cambridge
MA.
- Alison Gopnik, Andrew N. Meltsoff, Patricia K. Kuhl, 1999, “The Scientist In The Crib: What Early Learning Tells us
About The Mind,” Perennial, Harper Collins Publishers, 2001 Edition.
- Kaufman, ‘The Discrimination of Visual Number’, E. L. Kaufman, M.W. Lord, T. W. Reese, and J. Volkmann,
American Journal of Psychology, 1949. Vol. 62
- Ulrich Niesser, 1967, “Cognitive Psychology,” Meredith Publishing co.-
Keywords: language, number, concept, acquisition
ID 34
Vygotsky's Theory and Classroom Management
Emil Buzov
Step by Step Programme Foundation, Bulgaria
Many research results about Vygotsky’s theory gives to us very good ideas how to improve the
educational teaching and learning process. The major theme of Vygotsky's theoretical
framework is that social interaction has a fundamental role in the development of cognition and
he stresses the importance of adult-child and child-child connections in cognitive development
in the classroom. One of the main aspects of Vygotsky's theory is the idea that the potential for
cognitive development depends upon the "zone of proximal development" (ZPD): a level of
development attained when children engage in social behaviour.
The main question in my research is how to improve the teaching process and the learning
results using Vygotsky’s ideas which focus on the quality of teacher– child and peers interaction
during the schools activities, as a part of well develop school and classroom management.
Positive classroom environment gives to everyone many possibilities – to share experience,
knowledge, and competencies, to involve parents, to work with different stakeholders, to use
interactive methods. The findings give good base to assess children readiness to learn inspired
by Vygotsky concept of the zone of proximal or potential development (ZPD) for increasing the
academic results and skills. Such approach can foster collaboration among teachers with
teachers, teachers with children, and children with children, develop good classroom
environment and improve student’s academic results. The same approach today is very
important when the schools as a multicultural place must demonstrate tolerance, diversity and
security to all – teachers, students and parents.
Keywords: teacher - student interaction, ZPD, cognitive development, positive classroom
environment, academic results
ID 49
Social Inclusion of Young Children with Autistic Spectrum Disorder in
Australian Early Childhood Programmes
Sue Walker
School of Early Childhood, Queensland University of Technology, Australia
Social integration is achieved when young children with disabilities receive sufficient support to
make social connections with typically developing children. Social constructivist theory can
inform understanding about how play interactions with peers support the learning of young
children with developmental disabilities in inclusive programmes. This study investigated play
and social interactions of young children with Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in Australian
inclusive early childhood settings. There were 12 focus children with a diagnosis of ASD who
were enrolled in regular pre-school settings with typically developing four to five-year-old peers.
Observations were made across two free-play periods of one hour resulting in 50 observations
of play activity and peer engagement for each child. Teachers provided an assessment of
children’s peer acceptance and social behaviour. Teacher report and observational data
indicated that focus children spent proportionally less time than their peers in activities requiring
higher levels of social skill and more sophisticated thinking. Teachers also reported that the
focus children were not well accepted by their peers. Results are discussed in terms of how
more active adult intervention in play and social activities in inclusive early education
programmes would benefit children with ASD. Teachers can arrange for children’s participation
in activities and offer resources that support and challenge their thinking. The inclusion of
children with developmental disabilities in a community of learners provides all participants with
opportunities to learn.
Keywords: inclusion, disabilities, play, teaching practice
ID 67
Early Learning of Reading and Writing with the Help of the Instruments
Protected by Letters Patent
Jožica Bezjak
University of Primorska, Faculty of Education in Koper, Slovenia
The project’s aim was the manufacture of the innovative instruments for reading and writing for
preschool children – electronic tablets, anatomically designed pen and sound picture books and
to test them in practice in kindergarten, first class of nine-year primary school and with illiterate
adults.
Among other things we questioned current method of the initial literacy. We do not believe in the
usefulness of writing of over-dimensional. This takes too much energy and is completely
inadequate, since we do not write with the shoulder and the elbow, but we with the twist of the
wrist and usually with three fingers.
That is why we started to think how we could make things easier and of a shorter way to
literacy. The concept of the idea was an electronic didactic tablet. To make reading more
pleasant, there is a picture book, available now in the electronic form, “for electronic
grandmothers”.
To make the writing table even more useful and attractive, we added additional electronic
devices, which enable:

display of the number of the repetitions (LCD display),

rewarding the user with automatic sound play,
 possibility of connecting the tablet with the PC (dictating letters...).
The didactic electronic tablet and the special pen were already tested on five and six year old
children, learners in schools with special program and on illiterate adults.
The instruments could also be used for improvement of the handwriting style and during the
rehabilitation of individuals after the stroke.
Keywords: initial literacy, didactic tablets, anatomically designed pen, sound picture book
ID 71
Relation between Child's Play Activities and His/Her Attachment to
Kindergarten Teacher
Zlatka Cugmas
University of Maribor / Pedagoska Fakulteta Maribor, Slovenia
Children's interactions with their kindergarten teachers have significant effects on children's
social-emotional and cognitive development. The purpose of this study was to develop the
Observation scheme of child's play in kindergarten and examine the associations between
child's attachment to his/her kindergarten teacher and (1) cognitive and social play behaviour,
and (2) child's contacts with his/her peers and teacher during free play session in kindergarten.
Hundred and one children (57.4 % male) participated in the research. Children's ages ranged
from 24 to 74 months (M = 51.4; SD = 12.0). Observation scheme of child's free play in
kindergarten and Child's attachment to his/her kindergarten teacher (CAKT; Cugmas, in press)
were completed by observers. Play behaviour was observed at kindergarten during free play
sessions of 60 minutes and cognitive and social play categories were coded. Metric
characteristics of the Observation scheme of child's free play in kindergarten appeared to be
satisfactory. Results revealed significant correlations between child's secure and resistance
attachment to his/her kindergarten teacher and cooperative play and child's contacts with
his/her peers and teacher during free play session in kindergarten.
Keywords: child, play, attachment, kindergarten
ID 75
Teaching to Share, Learning to Own
Raffaella Rosciano
Institut Psychologie et Education, Université de Neuchâtel (CH), Switzerland
As part of a work in progress about children’s personal objects, we propose a study on how the
child takes possession of some of it. To understand the development of these processes in
children’s everyday life we video-recorded 14 days running in two Swiss nurseries. We support
this data with descriptive observations of children from 9 months to 5 years old, in their family
context, during 3 years. First results show that educative practices of adult community take an
important role in this process. Adult contribute to scaffold children’s experiences as well as their
development, by organizing setting of everyday life through spaces furnishing, routines and
social rules definition. In adult practices, objects are proposed like tools for several social and
personal purposes. In these contexts, object use seems to provide a double function. It seems
to be for individualise a subject -by distinguish him/her from others- as well as to bind him/her to
others -by allowing him/her to share activities. Learning to share and learning to possess looks
like two inseparable faces of the same social process. In this poster we propose to explore how
the child assimilates and personalises this double specific use of personal objects, by taking
part into this activity system, structured by adult, and actualised in plays and conflicts with
peers. Furthermore, we put forward that learning to share in childhood involve a shift from a
difficult sharing of object to a sharing of joint activity, in which objects are implicated as means.
Keywords: ownership, children, sharing, educative interactions
ID 76
Using Pictorial Tests in Assessment of Acute Stress Disorders in Children
Olga Serebrovskaya
Moscow City University of Psychology and Education, Russian Federation
The presentation describes the experience of using two expressive projective techniques – J.
Buck’s House-Tree-Person test and the Family Drawing Test – in assessing acute stress
disorder in 48 children and adolescents (7-15 years old) recovering after a fire that had
happened in their school in Yakutia in April 2003. There were about one hundred students
studying in the school. The fire had begun when children were in classes; twenty-two of them
died. The research carried out by the author was aimed at investigating children’s acute
reactions to stress through pictorial tests. The author substantiates the necessity of revealing
stress disorders early enough because if a child is suppressing traumatic memories, it can lead
to negative psychological consequences in the future that would impede development. Pictorial
tests are quite effective in revealing stress disorders, and the author explains the main
principles of analysing drawings. The research was aimed at studying some factors in the
emotional reaction of children to disaster. Research has shown, that pictorial tests are the most
informative and accessible. Results of testing do not depend on an intellectual level and a level
of speech development of the child.
Keywords: acute stress disorder, traumatic experience, expressive projective pictorial tests,
graphic reflection of acute stress symptoms
ID 97
Baby SEAL: The Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning for Children in
the Foundation Stage
Maureen Neill, Liz Godman and Carolyn Carter
Kirklees Local Authority, United Kingdom
BABY SEAL provides daily opportunities at school and home for children aged 4-5 to develop
their learning through co-operation, pretend play, collaboration with adults, private speech,
fantasy companions, puppets, modelling and observation; “The best way to learn is to do.”
Adult scaffolding provides children with explanations and activities suited to their level of
understanding, concrete examples through language, modelling and encouragement.
Baby SEAL aims to reduce the achievement gap between boys and girls and between Pakistani
pupils and their peers.
This programme draws upon resources such as circle time activities, games, role-play,
photographs, puppets, and the use of digital technology e.g. cameras to make electronic books.
Activities provide opportunities for children to develop the following key skills;
Empathy
Self-awareness
Motivation
Managing Feelings
Social Skills
Assessment strategies such as note-taking, recording children’s comments and using
photographs, will be used to measure progress against specified criteria, e.g.;
Expressing their needs appropriately
Vygotsky believed that cognitive development was based on social development. If teachers
know the background of children in their settings they can use that to build on and the child can
refer to prior knowledge to gain new knowledge (scaffolding). A key factor in the success of
BABY SEAL will be the development of partnership with families as the child’s first educator.
Keywords: emotional, intelligence, adult, scaffolding
ID 107
Children
Method of Supporting Parents Behaviour in Communication with Little
Victoria Ryskina (1) and Valentina Ivanova (2)
(1) SPb Early Intervention Institute, Russian Federation
(2) SPb State University, Russian Federation
Russian Early Intervention Programmes for children under 4 are based on supporting their
social environment, using every form of sign communication, and the social model of
«disability». Many theories on communication development, interaction and social inclusion that
we use build upon writings of our compatriot L.S. Vygotsky.
Remembering Vygotsky’s cultural-historical theory, we focus on the process of social
environment influencing children’s development during speech acquisition. In what Vygotsky
called «child's autonomous speech» period, the closest adults play the main role in developing
word meanings and the overall process of communication. Our study assesses possibilities of
influencing the behaviour of mothers of 1 - 3 year olds (support by RGNF foundation).
The experiment format highlights the patterns of parent-child interaction in normal situations,
then as parents work to develop the child’s intellect, and then speech. We also have a method
increasing parents’ capacity to reflect upon their behaviour with children. One of the research
tasks is to demonstrate how parental behaviour changes during development activity, and again
after the training to increase reflection.
The study involves 60 couples, of varied social, economic and educational status, and children’s
level of development. The assessment of parental behaviour is done by experts both in
interaction and in mother-child communication.
Preliminary results are assessments of mothers’ sensitivity, way of organizing joint attention,
variety of verbal labels, quality of questions, productiveness of feedback, and modelling.
Mothers’ behaviour is assessed and analysed in three different situations, both before and after
the reflection training.
Our preliminary results will be presented at the conference.
Keywords: child-parents interaction, speech development, parents reflection
ID 132
Integrated Art Activities in Early Childhood Education (Baby-School)
Mai Sein
Tallinn University, Estonia
The presentation focuses on three examples of integrated art activities for children at the age of
1-3. All activities involve active participation of the child and the parent. This enables the teacher
to interact with the child with mediation help from the parent.
The activities are based on socio-cultural theory by Vygotsky and his followers (Karpov,
Valsiner, Berk, Cole etc.). The key underlying concepts are zone of proximal development,
sociocultural system and learning as „the child-in-social-activities with others“. Vygotsky’s idea
is that the central element of educational process is cooperation between child and adult
(Vygotsky1987: 169). He believed that educated discourse is qualitatively different form
communication in everyday life. His idea was to enrich natural parent-child communication with
cultural meanings.
The activities are: making musical instruments; ecological art; and doll making. Each activity
was piloted in the format of a project in one baby-school in Tallinn. Each project integrates
several creative activities: singing, dancing, drama and art. A children book to be used in
families and teachers in baby-schools was published as a result of each project. The books will
be presented in the poster session.
References
Forman, E.A., Norris,M. & Stone, C. A. (1993). Contexts for Learning. Sociocultural Dynamics in Children's
Development. Oxford University Press
Karpov, Y.V. (2005). The Neo-Vygotskyan Approach to Child Development. Cambridge University Press
Valsiner, j. (2005). Culture and human Development. An Indroduction. SAGE Publication Ltd.
Van Huizen, P., Van Oers, B. & Wubbels, T. (2005). A Vygotskyan perspective on teacher education. Journal of
Curriculum Studies. Vol. 37, NO. 3, p. 267-290
Keywords: early childhood education (baby-school), integrated creative methods, zone of
proximal development, socio-cultural system approach to children activities
ID 134
The Problem Representation as Psychological Tool
Tatyana Kotova and Aleksey Kotov
Russian State University for the Humanities; RSUH, Russian Federation
The concept of psychological tools had a great appeal for L.S. Vygotsky and for culturalhistorical approach as a whole. In present research we tried to apply this concept to offer an
explanation of the developmental change, characteristic of 7-9-ages thinking. Using contrastive
analysis of the known facts (Piagetian studies, Elkonin’s data and others) we supposed, that
essence of the change being discussed consist in modification of representational capability,
which can be used in problem solving. It means, that, according with our hypothesis, there is
difference between element-wise situational representation of problem situation (pre-school
children, first- and second graders use this native way) and representation of problem situation
as task (elders use this cultural tool). A new method was employed to show this difference. We
present our subjects with two tasks: 1) to identify a word-problem question by the known wordproblem conditions and a variant of operation with numbers from these conditions; and 2) to
underline the necessary numbers in word problem with superfluous numbers. We issue that
children who can use just element-wise situational representation of problem situation would be
completely successful in second task, but wouldn’t in first one, cause such representation is
unstable and involuntary, therefore doesn’t let them return from numbers to word-problem cover
story. And children who can use representation of problem situation as task could be successful
in both tasks. We can see that although language plays a large role in psychological
development, we should compare it with other psychological tools in order to advance
Vygotsky’s approach.
Keywords: psychological tools, thinking development, developmental stages.
ID 149
Supporting Adults, Supporting Children
Maresa Duignan
Centre for Early Childhood Development and Education, Ireland
In Ireland, the development of professional practice in early childhood care and education has
suffered from lack of structure and resources for many years. This has resulted in a situation
where many services are staffed by unqualified, or under qualified personnel. In 2006, Síolta,
The National Quality Framework for Early Childhood Education was published providing clarity
on all aspects of professional practice and a vision for the future development of practitioners.
This presentation reports on a model of engagement that has been developed by the CECDE to
support adult practitioners using Síolta to enhance their delivery of quality experiences for
young children in early childhood care and education settings in Ireland. The Síolta Workshop
Materials, which have been specially designed to facilitate support and development activities,
education and training and quality improvement processes in early childhood care and
education services will be displayed and demonstrated.
Keywords: professional practice, quality, engagement
ID 153
Elemental Play: A Model of Natural Relationships?
Annie Woods
Nottingham Trent University, School of Education, United Kingdom
What do we understand by the phrase: “she is in her element?”
She is at one, at ease, in control and emotionally satisfied. Watching a small child for an
extended period of time as she poked, mixed, transformed, discussed, observed and shared her
mud play has only reinforced an oft observed phenomenon and, what I believe could be an
alternative perspective on children’s early development through an elemental drive to connect
with the natural world and all its power, beauty, and potential alongside attuned adults who
support this socio-emotional development and an environment that both allows and encourages
instinctive, exploratory and cultural relationships with people, places and things. This paper
introduces elemental play; more than sand and water, and suggests a way to observe and
support children’s spiritual well being and development.
Keywords: elemental play, relationships, environment, natural materials
ID 160
Tactile Activity and Success of Training at Younger Schoolchildren
Natalia Zvereva
Moscow City Pedagogical and Psychological University, Russian Federation
The study is devoted to the problem of development natural and higher mental functions
(according to L.S. Vygotsky) on tactile sphere. The investigation conducted by N.W. Zvereva &
E.G. Karimulina was focused on some points: to reveal features of tactile manual preferences of
boys and girls of younger school age with different success in learning; to reveal features of
tactile memory with boys and girls of younger school age with a different structure of manual
domination; to study distribution of success of tactile storing with boys and girls of younger
school age with different success in learning. Object of research - boys and girls of 7-10 years,
pupils of elementary school having different progress (success in learning).Material of research:
90 boys and 90 girls divided into 4 groups depending on success in learning. Methods of
research: estimation of manual preferences (questionnaire “Annette”); estimation of manual
tactile preferences (updating), estimation of tactile memory (author's development for storing
stimulus of a tactile modality. Features of tactile activity at children of younger school age with
different success of training are different. There is a qualitative originality of processes of tactile
storing with left-handed and right-handed children. The tendency to gender distinctions in
performance of tasks for tactile storing is found out. The received materials allow more
differentiated approach to a question of using of a tactile modality during training at primary
school. We can suppose the opposite development natural and higher mental functions on
tactile sphere.
Keywords: tactile activity, tactile manual preferences, pupil of younger school
ID 164
Education
The Comparison of Curricula of Finnish and Estonian Early Childhood
Anneli Niikko (1) and Aino Ugaste (2)
(1) University of Joensuu, Teacher Education Department of Savonlinnan, Finland
(2) University of Tallinn, Estonia
A new OECD 2006 report on early childhood policy, Starting Strong II shows that more
countries are making early childhood education and care a priority. Also many countries have
stressed the meaning of learning, because the early years are viewed as the first step in lifelong
learning. Nowadays education, care and learning of young children are considered as holistic in
early childhood education curriculum but in different cultures and societies it can be focused on
several ways. The aim of this paper is to study and compare national curricula of early
childhood education between two countries, Finland and Estonia. This study is one part of lager
international project where it will be researched teachers’ pedagogical thinking of curriculum as
values, aims, contents, methods, roles of children, teachers and parents. In the project it will be
investigated teachers’ pedagogical action in practice in both countries, too. In the first phase it
will be studied written national curricula and this material will be examined using critical analysis
(e.g. Roskos & Christie). In second phase it will be studied teachers in day care centres. These
data will be collected by questionnaires and open-ended questions, interviews and observation.
Data analysis will be consisted of SPSS (quantitative data) and content and hermeneutic
analysis (qualitative data). Both in the first phase and in the second phase finding results will be
examined according to Vygotskyan ideas of early childhood education.
Co-author: Aino Saar, University of Tallinn, Estonia
Keywords: comparative study, curriculum, lifelong learning, early childhood education
ID 173
Transfer and Interference in Re-emigrants' Language Development from the
Perspective of Zone of Proximal Development
Boris Iljuk
University Hradec Králové, Czech Republic
Common socio-cultural roots of re-emigrants from the area of Cernobyl and of indegenous
Czechs represent a facilitating factor of speech development and integration in new living
conditions in the indigenous country. The zone of proximate linguistic development both for
children and adults is substituted by intense interactions with indigenous Czechs and thus
contributes to positive transfer of lexical and phonetic habits and skills. At the same time
similarity between the Czech and Ukraine languages is a source not only of linguistic but also of
socio-cultural interference, in particular for the adult re-emigrants (particularly because of
denotative and connotative meanings).
Keywords: transfer, interference, linguistic development, re-emigrants, proximate development
zone
ID 180
Repeated Voices and the Side-by-Side Position of Self and Other: Basic
Models of Communication from Japanese Cinema
Yoko Yamada
Graduate School of Education, Kyoto University, Japan
In the early language development, Yamada (1987, 2005) observed that the side-by-side
position, similar postures, and repeated voices of Self and Other were important roles in the
proto-language behaviours, such as joint attention, pointing, showing and speech games. For
constructing the theoretical model of the language development, it needs to reconsider the tacit
and fundamental concepts, especially dominant in the Western culture. This study is to present
another model of communication from a typical type in Japanese.
Bakhtin theorized that narratives were basically dialogic and polyphonic, and that they were
competitive, with multiple voices. I call his dialogue based on the opposite relationship of Self
and Other “Opposite Dialogue”, and analyse the theoretical relationships of what I call
“Coexistent Dialogue”, using dialogue from three scenes in Ozu’s cinema “Tokyo Story”,
focusing on repeated voices, side-by-side positions, and harmonious and sympathetic
resonance of Self and Other. The following three key features are identified in a comparison of
Coexistent Dialogue and Opposite Dialogue: 1) The relationship of Self and Other: the common
mutuality of inter-subjectivity is contrasted with the opposing subject-object relationship. 2) The
words, phrases, and rhythms in the discourses: repetitions with similar variations and resonant
voices are in contrast to battles among multiple voices. 3) The changing process: the transition
from tuning to harmony is contrasted with the conflict for control, from struggle to integration.
Schematic models of the two types of dialogue are constructed from three perspectives: the
relationship of Self and Other, the mode of positioning and communication, and the sequential
change.
Keywords: communication, dialogue, language development, cinema
ID 184
Development of Relationships among Japanese 3-year-olds
Ayako Takazakura
Graduate School of Education, The University of Tokyo, Japan
As part of an examination of the facilitative role of adults and peers in child development, this
case study focused on the development of relationships among 3-year-olds and how reciprocal
scaffolding between peers expands children’s activities. In Japanese culture, relationships are
regarded as an important part of children’s activities. From the age of 3, relationships change
from being primarily parent-child relationships to including those among peers as a shift occurs
from dyadic to group relationships. This study considers the notion that intimacy facilitates
reciprocal scaffolding between peers, and examines the impact of the forming of intimacy with
a particular child in 3-year-olds. The study chose a pair of children from a class of 3-year-olds in
a nursery school, observed their interaction longitudinally, and recorded it on videotape. The
main questions pursued in this study were (i) whether the children could become intimate; (ii)
what interactions can be interpreted as denoting intimacy, e.g., language that shows intersubjectivity; and (iii) how intimacy works in scaffolding, e.g., do interactions with other children
change as the intimacy between two individuals grows? The main results were as follows: (1)
intimacy developed; (2) the ability to understand internal states developed during the process of
intimacy formation;, thus such ability can be interpreted as denoting intimacy; and (3) the focal
child, who could not relate to his peers, began to participate in class activities and relate to
others as intimacy strengthened his sense of security, which was an effect of scaffolding.
Keywords: intimacy, reciprocal scaffolding between peers, case study, 3-year-olds
ID 199
A Study of Young Children's Folktale Understanding through an
Exploration Play: On the Relation between Emotion and Imagination in Play
Yuki Fujino
Faculty of Education, Hokkaido University, Japan
The purpose of this study is to clarify a generative process of young children's collective
understanding and adults' role in an exploration play. The story was a product of co-experience
full of emotion and imagination. It was also an activity in which children had been getting a new
knowledge and concept. L.S. Vygotsky, who pointed out the significant role of play activity to
child development, made several important statements on the relation between emotion and
imagination. Over the 20th century, although a large number of studies have been made on
children's play, little attention has been given to the relation. Egan (2005) describes story as an
effective tool for understanding the emotional and imaginative aspects of knowledge acquisition.
In other words, it is considered that a story mediates emotion and cognition in understanding.
The methodology on this study was based on D.B. Elikonin's "formative-experimental method"
(1978). We in KODOMO project introduced an exploration play into after-school programme of a
pre-school. The participants consisted of 15 children and 8 adults. We told children a folktale
associated with a local fairy (Korobokgur), and set some clues that might evoke their
imagination about it into their everyday life. The children with adults had explored the trace of
the fairy in the snowfield excitingly, and deepened their knowledge about the folktale by
discussing and reflecting their exploration. The findings indicated that collaborative experience
in play activity gave a chance to invoke an emotional and imaginative development of children.
It also indicated the important role of adults who facilitate these activities.
Keywords: emotion and imagination, exploration play, folktale, adult's facilitative role
ID 201
The Evaluations of Early Childhood Education Teachers on Education in
Estonia and Finland
Marika Veisson
Tallinn University, Estonia
The current study was carried out in 2006 with final year bachelor students of early childhood
education in all Estonian universities and the Jyväskylä University in Finland. The study
included altogether 213 students. The aim of the study was to find out students' evaluations on
the different tasks, competencies, studies and academic staff's qualifications of early childhood
education and the average evaluations on developing children's competencies. The study was
conducted as a survey, where answers had to be given on a 5-point scale.
It appeared that in all universities and collages students consider important competencies such
as the ability to create a playful environment for developing a child, to guide and supervise
playful studying and to support child's social development. According to students they are least
often able to notice child's special needs, to advise parents about the need to consult specialists
of special education and to counsel them in developmental and educational questions. Students
consider average their skill to develop primary communicational, studying and cooperating
skills, and to support child's physical and cognitive development.
Relatively highly evaluated is the academic staff as specialists of one's speciality. The average
point of all students was 4.15, whereas among all 39 questions the academic staff held the first
place in the opinion of the students of Jyväskylä University, part-time studies of Tallinn
University, full-time studies of the Rakvere Collage, and Tallinn Pedagogical Seminar.
Considering all different measures most critical about their competencies were the students of
Jyväskylä and Tartu universities. Tallinn University received compared to the previously
mentioned universities the most positive evaluations. The highest evaluations to ones
competencies, however, were given in Estonian collages.
Co-authors: Marika Veisson, Eve Kikas, Kerstin Kööp, Airi Niilo, Marja-Kristiina Lerkkanen
Keywords: early childhood, teacher, education
ID 214
Rural Children's Social Development and School Readiness
Elaine Anderson
University of Maryland, USA
Children in the USA are required to enter school by age 5. In recent years, U.S. culture has
dictated children should be ready for school. However, it is recognized children have a range of
skills and nearly half are “not ready” because they have not acquired the necessary pre-literacy
and social competency skills (Rimm-Kauffman, Pianta, & Cox, 2000). Rural children are at great
risk because of isolation, poverty, and limited parental education (Perroncel, 2000). Social
development theory (Vygotsky, 1978) suggests that learning is promoted by providing children
with a scaffold, or support from an adult. Often in rural areas that scaffolding is provided through
organizational services. Findings of a study conducted in a rural county in the state of Maryland
to facilitate supporting parental skills to enhance parent-child interaction are reported. The
programmes goal is to improve children’s social learning experiences to promote kindergarten
school readiness. Parent-child activities enhance literacy, numeracy, and social tasks. One
hundred and sixty-four children were followed longitudinally from birth until kindergarten entry.
Results suggest duration of home visiting had a positive, direct effect on home safety and
parental knowledge of infant development. Home safety had a positive direct effect on overall
school readiness regarding personal and social competence, language and literacy,
mathematics, and physical health and development. Home visiting duration had an indirect
effect on school readiness through home safety suggesting as families receive more direction
on ways to promote positive learning outcomes, home safety scores rise and school readiness
scores increase. Implications for programme and policy development are discussed.
Co-author: Christine Pegorrarao Schull, Northern Virginia Community College, USA
Keywords: school readiness, parent-child interaction, home visiting, rural
ID 225
Computer Assisted Assessment of Visuospatial Working Memory
Marc Wantz
Université du Luxembourg, Luxembourg
We present a new computer programme that allows the assessment of visuospatial working
memory (VSWM) in kindergarten children.
The challenge for the assessment of VSWM in this age group is to present a test design that is
easily understandable for children and thus not too difficult while at the same time implying
additional processing elements above the pure storage of positional information (according to
the definition of Engle et al. 1999 that working memory combines an element of pure storage
with processes of executive attention)
The adopted test paradigm is based on a grid / no-grid paradigm for which a previous fMRI
study with an adult population has shown that the memorization of positional information in a
perceptively undifferentiated space (no-grid condition) requires additional attentional processes
compared to the memorization of positional information in a perceptively structured space (grid
condition).
The setting of the test was adapted to children in Kindergarten. We used a tablet PC to
administer the test. This procedure excludes that children fail because they can’t use the
computer mouse in an appropriate way.
The different items show a 4x4 grid where the eyes of a manikin appear on a dark background.
Children are told that the positions of different manikins in a dark room have to be memorized.
After a short period of time the eyes disappear again and up to four positions have to be
memorized in this way. The test person then clicks in the grid where he believes that the
different manikins are hidden. The setting allows measuring performance in terms of accuracy
and time.
First results with kindergarten children in Luxemburg will be presented showing the correlation
of this VSWM task with other visuospatial and numerical tasks.
Co-authors: Romain Martin, Caroline Hornung, Christine Schiltz (Université du Luxembourg,
Luxembourg)
Keywords: visuospatial working memory, computer assisted assessment, kindergarten children,
numerical tasks
ID 259
Self-identification as a Tool for Assessing Mental Development
Nataly Belopolskaya
Moscow City Psychological and Pedagogical University, Russian Federation
We propose that self-identification processes, particularly identification with own age and
gender represent the basic units (Vygotsky, 1934) of human development. To test this idea we
developed a formal test of age and gender identification. This test consists of 2 sets of cards
with drawings of male and female figures ranging in age from newborn to elderly. The subject's
task is to choose the cards that represent his or her present, former, future and ideal self-image.
More than ten years of research using this test allowed us to collect data on normal and
abnormal development of self-identification processes in children aged 4 to 14. During normal
development the ability to correctly identify with the present age, gender and physical
appearance emerged as early as 4 years of age. The only difficulty at this age was the
categorization of the elderly age, but this difficulty was overcome up to the ages of 6-8. Two
main features of normal development of children and adolescents were (1) the satisfaction with
the present age and (2) the preference of a slightly older age as the desired self-image. On the
contrary, children and adolescents with prominent pathology tended to prefer their younger selfimage, sometimes as young as a newborn for subjects with advanced mental retardation.
Psychiatric patients often chose a mixture of male and female drawings, suggesting
impairments in gender identification. Overall, the data showed that the age-gender identification
test is an efficient and valid tool for psychological assessment of mental development.
Keywords: mental development, assessment, identification, children
ID 262
Developing an Anti-bias Curriculum from Birth to 5
Andrea Vaughan
Children's Centre, United Kingdom
This paper aims to identify how early years practitioners in a Children’s Centre who are all
white, predominantly female and non-disabled can use diversity to support children’s learning
and development. It will also explore how the Children’s Centre can begin to develop an antibias curriculum.
Children from every community are affected by what they see, hear and experience, as well as
the attitudes and behaviours of those around them. They will learn from these experiences. It is
the responsibility of the early years practitioners within the Children’s Centre to ensure that what
they are learning is positive. This paper will look at how practitioners can do that.
Even babies and toddlers learn attitudes and behaviours from the adults around them. By
directly experiencing ‘difference’ young children will begin to understand and begin to ‘unlearn’
discrimination.
We begin by understanding our own biases as adults and challenging them. The attitudes that
practitioners can bring to work with them will have an affect upon the setting.
Through observations of children and conversations with parents and staff we show how they
[adults and children alike] can become critical thinkers about race, gender, ability, cultural and
language differences.
Keywords: anti-bias curriculum, children's centre, unlearn discrimination, birth to 5
ID 264
Personality
Children’s Subculture as a Zone of Variative Development of a Child
Vera Abramenkova
Moscow State University of Psychology and Education, Russian Federation
The soсiogenesis of studying a child in a cultural and historical context, which, according to L.S.
Vygotsky, is "a key to the supreme behaviour ", opens new horizons of psychological study of
the ontogeny. Genesis of child's relations with the world is determined by two essentially various
institutions of socialization – a family and a children's community, which function as a vehicle of
children's subculture. Children's subculture as a semantic space of values, attitudes, ways of
activity and forms of communication that are used in children's communities manifests itself in
the following forms: children's folklore, mythology, a traditional collective play, giving nicknames
etc., and they perform specific functions in a child culture and development: a socialization, a
psycho-therapeutic, a culture safeguarding, and a prognostic function. While the family/adults
constitute a zone of the proximal development (ZPD according to L.S. Vygotsky), the children's
subculture/peers form a zone of variative development (ZVD). The space of children's
subculture contains layers of various antiquity, and getting familiar with them a child enters into
a dialogue of cultures, of other logics, and moral attitudes. In the historical and cultural situation
of today, when traditional mechanisms of transferring knowledge are weakened, increases the
importance of a zone of a child's openness to perception of other cultural traditions, which
ensures his/her readiness to address issues in unforeseen circumstances. The zone of a
variative development (ZVD) is a spectrum of possible areas of child development, determined
by his/her participation in a life of a children's community in a horizontal plane of relations «on
equal terms». This concept is proposed in keeping with the social psychology of childhood to
describe the specific process of child development in a children’s subculture. The results were
received after many years of research of more than 1000 subjects, using descriptive and
empirical techniques (in particular, the technique of the change of a social position, projective
tests, drawings, etc.). The notion of the zone of variative development of a child’s personality in
the children’s subculture is used in the practical work with children aged 5- 11, in the context of
a play and a child folklore.
Keywords: zone of proximal development (ZPD), zone of variative development (ZVD), social
psychology of childhood, children’s subculture
ID 265
The Zone of Proximal Development and Brain Mechanisms
Yury Gushchin
Psychology Department at the Dubna International University for Nature, Society and Man, Russian Federation
Since May 2005 we work with 7 years old girl with epilepsy. By results of video-EEG monitoring
multiregional epileptiform activity in a combination with regional retardation were recorded in the
left frontal area with the tendency to secondary bilateral synchronization (dominant focus), in the
left occipital area, in the right occipital area.
During correctional work with the child we have noticed dissociation in some psychological
functions. For example, this phenomenon was distinctly shown in constructive activity and
thinking. Working with Raven's colour matrixes the child sometimes had problems with choice of
a right answer, but in most cases the answer have been chosen correctly. But in a situation
when we asked the child to explain her choice, she could not do it. After that we spent training
session during which we studied the child to allocate and analyse changes in Raven's matrixes
figures. However it has not led to improvement of task performance.
The dissociation was also marked in spatial-constructive activity: assembly 54-element puzzles
did not cause any problems, but assembly even 9-compound abstract images caused
appreciable difficulties.
Using neuropsychological paradigm we can say, that task performance depends on which
mechanism of information processing is leader: holistic (right hemisphere) or successive (left
hemisphere). In described case successive (left hemisphere) mechanism of information
processing is deficient. When the child uses right hemisphere (holistic) strategy ("gestaltthinking", realistic images) tasks performance remains safe.
Depending on which mechanism is safe, teacher or psychologist should use different
educational and abilitation strategies.
Keywords: zone of proximal development, holistic/successive mechanism of information
processing, epilepsy
ID 267
Communication Patterns in the Families with Children with Chronic
Psychosomatic Disease
Maria Bulygina
Moscow State University of Psychology and Education, Russian Federation
This research studies characteristics of mediated non-verbal communications between a mother
and a child in the families of children with chronic diseases of digestive system. By mediated
non-verbal communications we mean communications between a mother and a child mediated
by symbolic activity with the unconscious component.
117 pairs of “mother-child” took part in the research. Experimental group consists of 56 children
with chronic gastro-pathology and their mothers.
Methods analysing mother - child relationships and specially designed interview for mother and
child that aimed at studying patterns of symbolic communications in the family (family traditions,
rules, interactions with a child) have been used in the research.
The research has shown that children with chronic gastro-pathology have distinguish personality
traits, emotionally distant from father and siblings, and have a need to feel more significant to
mother. Mother – child relationships are not warm enough, characterizing by lack of positive
acceptance and insensibility to the emotionally importance things for a child. Such families are
more closed to the outside world. Mother shows lack of sensibility towards non-verbal, mediated
signs or symbolic massages from a child.
Three types of communications have been distinguished in the family relations: chaotic, rigid
and adequate. Chaotic and rigid types of communication dominate in the experimental group,
with the adequate type occurs two times less frequently then in the control group.
Found results let us deeply see the conditions and risk factors for developing psychosomatic
diseases in children. Open new perspectives for prophylactic and therapeutic work with the
symbolic layer of family relations.
Keywords: symbolic communication, chronic psychosomatic disease, mother-child
ID 285
Interactions between Young Children and Socio-cognitive Development
Thollon Behar Marie Paule
Université Lumière Lyon 2, Ecole Rockefeller, France
In a lot of researches, interactions between peers are studied in a comparison between positive
and negative interactions (Montagner 1978). Our aim is to go thoroughly into the socio-cognitive
process involved during the exchanges between young children. Our theoretical framework
includes Piaget’s theory for the analysis of activity, Bruner and Vygotsky’s for the analysis of
social aspects.
We have observed an evolution of the exchanges in groups of children from 20 to 30 months. At
first, the exchanges are based on the children’s body (to push someone, to touch, to look at
someone), then on the act of sharing an object (to take it, to give it, to exchange it), and then on
the action (to ask, to do an action, to invite to do, to help someone). This evolution does square
with a capacity to take into account someone’s intention, which revels the beginning of theory of
mind.
For the methodology, we will present an observation grid that enables to classify different
interaction behaviours collected during playing activities.
We will evoke several qualitative researches based on the following hypothesis:
- Children who obtained the best level of communication in a relation with an adult produce
more interactions centred on the action.
- The activities with big objects further interactions centred on action.
- The centration of interactions depends on children’s age.
These researches enable professionals to consider their practices in order for the children to
progress towards social behaviours based on decentring process.
Keywords: interaction, intention, socio-cognitive development
ID 288
Study of Japanese 3-5 Years Old Children's Play with Sand
Junko Minowa
Kawamura Gakuen Woman's University, Japan
In Japan, most kindergartens and pre-schools have sand boxes (fields) for sand play. Children
would learn how to cooperate with each other through making something from the sand, as they
cannot make something big or variable by themselves. Thus it is thought that children become
more cooperative with each other, while they are playing in the sand, in other words, playing in
the sand helps children’s development. This study is designed to find what kinds of differences
children would have, depending on their age, when they co-operate each other. Twenty-six
children, aged from 3 to 5-year-old, were observed and recorded by a video camera. Those
video recordings were edited into 4 categories, which were Plans, Roles, Objects, and
Environment. Through analysing the content of those 4 categories, it was found that children of
each age group cooperated differently, while they were playing in the sand. The result shows
that 3-year-old children would learn the nature of the sand through playing with it and they
would also learn how to make a sand mountain by looking at other children making it. Fouryear-old children had knowledge on the nature of the sand already and also had skills to make a
sand mountain. When making the sand mountain, they had social skills to cooperate with other
children, too. Five-year-old children could cooperate with each other by sharing the work of
making a sand mountain.
Keywords: 3-5 years old children, co-operative play, sand play
ID 298
Inclusive
The Role of Vygotsky's Ideas in Making Educational System in Russia More
Liudmila Kuznetsova
Moscow City Pedagogical University, Russian Federation
The aim of this research is to estimate the possibilities of incorporating Vygotsky’s ideas into the
system of higher pedagogical education for increasing professional competency of future
inclusive education specialists.
Real Inclusion is making its first steps in Russia but is being successfully developed and
implemented along with the process of renewal Higher Educational and Training system for
regular and special teachers, educational psychologists, social workers. Actual challenges of
modern Russian society are:
· Deterioration of children health;
· Increasing number of “social orphans” and national minorities;
· Expansion of Integration without real Inclusion;
· Social and psychological barriers in Society, such as stigmatisation, prejudices related
individuals with Special Educational Needs (SEN).
The fundamental principle of Vygotsky’s diversity and abnormality concept is the idea of
transforming “minus-defect” into “plus- compensation”. Based on belief in great resources of
child development, this strategy is aimed at stimulating positive thinking regarding diversity.
The second “instrument” of making schools more inclusive – elaboration methods of
assessment “Zone of Proximal Development “ in children and his environment. A profound
understanding and competency of Education system employees in cooperative work, is another
condition, required to put Vygotsky’s theory in practice. All above mentioned Vygotsky’s ideas
are being incorporated in the system of higher pedagogical education give real basis for
providing the optimal balance between individual needs and Social expectations, between
treatment and support in Russian schools.
Keywords: inclusion, "plus-compensation", teacher training
ID 308
Children as Storytellers
Joyce Wylie
Everton Early Childhood Centre Spencer Street Liverpool, United Kingdom
Aims of the research-to develop ways for peers and adults to interact with children, which
enable them to become confident and competent speakers and listeners.
Methodology: A group of children (aged 3-4) were identified who displayed low/medium wellbeing, therefore they were failing to reach their full potential.
Action research identified features of practice, which were inhibiting the children from
developing as speakers and listeners. The medium of storytelling was identified as an
appropriate context.
Subsequently a Storyteller's chair was set up enabling the children to speak freely. The role of
the practitioner was almost a silent one.
"Based on Vygotsky's (1978) concept of the zone of proximal development, scaffolding is
recommended for teachers to build from what students can do with only temporary guidance,
gradually reducing and eventually removing the support as students become independent
thinkers and learners who can perform a task or skill on their own."
Main findings
Gradually the children began to develop as confident speakers. They used the chair with
confidence, took on the adult's role, negotiated amongst themselves, and become involved in
question/answer sessions amongst themselves. The children used language such as "Sh! I'm
thinking!" The confidence they gained from having regular opportunities to be able to speak at
length without adult intervention empowered them and raised their well-being allowing them to
become much more able to reach their full potential. The whole experience has made me
passionate about the impact of using silence appropriately with children in all areas of my
practice.
Keywords: storytelling chair, empowered, silence
ID 329
Communities of Practice for Professional Experience: Crossing the
Borders between Early Childhood Practitioner, Student Teacher and University Advisor
Linda Newman
University of Western Sydney, Australia
Traditional professional experience (practicum) models call on power based hierarchies where
interactions between supervisors and teachers with their students sometimes leave the student
feeling frustrated and powerless. Communities of practice, a new and innovative approach to
professional experience provide a forum for helping students, teachers and university advisors
to work collaboratively, putting them all in a better position to influence policy and strengthen
practice.
Vygotsky’s theories of dialectical and collaborative learning have been substantially used in
early childhood education for the work of adults with children, but ironically, have rarely been
used to shift practice in the adult education of the early childhood educators themselves. At the
University of Western Sydney we have designed a new model of professional experience that is
informed by socio-cultural theory so that we “practice what we preach” with our students.
Students, university advisors/researchers and teachers come together regularly in communities
of practice in children’s services and schools. Vygotsky’s theories have informed our model as
we move towards greater cultural transmission of intrinsic and previously acquired knowledge,
using dialectical and collaborative pedagogic discourses.
This paper reports on some early findings of stakeholder views. Questionnaires were distributed
to all stakeholders over three semesters. This paper focuses on a practicum 3, conducted in
schools. Whilst a number of challenges have been revealed, the majority of participants to date
have indicated that socio-cultural models of professional learning are superior to traditional,
teacher directed pedagogies, and that the knowledge and understanding, which has ensued has
been professionally relevant and empowering. Importantly, many students report that they have
felt, and acted, more professional and teachers have felt re-invigorated in their teaching.
Co-authors: Linda Newman and Joanne Dwyer, University of Western Sydney, Australia
Keywords: student teachers, practicum, communities of practice, crossing borders, professional
experience
ID 335
The Construction of Relationship between Student and Mentor in Preschool Teacher Education
Tarja Liinamaa-Pihlajamäki
Department of Early Childhood Education, The University of Jyväskylä, Finland
This paper focuses on mentoring in Finnish pre-school teacher education. The aim of
thepresent study was to find out the most meaningful elements of mentor-student relationship
during practice periods. The empirical data consist of interviews of five students’ own
experiences and ofsupplement data with recorded discussions of student and his or her mentor.
The data were analyzed in accordance with phenomenological approaches. The findings
demonstrate how meaningful mentoring is built in relationships between the student and the
mentor,and how in general level the elements of meaningful mentoring are illustrated.
The results revealed the importance and significance of the beginning of the practice period.
Alsothe nature of interaction and the pedagogical activities are importantfor good and
meaningful relationship. Especially in pedagogical activities it was significant that students got
enoughresponsibility, space and freedom The most interesting inding was the position of the
student in community. To the students it was very meaningful to be and act as a legitimized
participant in community. However, they felt their situation contradictory because of their role as
a student. To conclude, the main question is how the mentors could scaffold their students to
work as an equal colleague in the community of learning environments.
practice periods, relationship
phenomenological methodology
Keywords:
in
mentoring,
pre-school
teacher
education,
ID 344
Developing Environment at Pre-schools – Possibility to Foster Cognition
Interests of Children
Zaiga Lucina
Centre for Educational Initiatives, Latvia
A desire to encourage learning activities has always been in the focus of attention of both the
society and the teachers. The learning activities are based on individual work and cognition
interests of children.
The goal of the study was to demonstrate the ways teachers and adults can enhance cognition
interests and develop independent work of children. By creating activity centres where a child
can feel free and confident, be able to actively engage in activities, have access to various
materials, have an opportunity to make repeated experiments, teachers achieve the goal of
making children more active, asking questions more frequently, supporting each other, and
persevering in searching for solutions in problem situations.
The issue of the children acquiring experience in their independent activities is addressed in
L.S. Vygotsky’s theory on the zone of proximate development, in V.V. Davydov’s theory of
developing learning, in Dewey's theory of constructivism, and in the works of other prominent
scholars.
The aim of the article is to review the theoretical concepts proposed by different authors dealing
with the development of cognition skills, and the possibilities and obstacles that arise during a
practical implementation of a developing environment in two districts of Latvia.
Proposed for discussion are the results of a random study, which demonstrated that after
training and consulting the teachers were able to create the environment where children have
an opportunity to engage in independent and pro-active activities in accordance with their
interests.
Keywords: cognition interest, activity centres, independent work, learning activities
ID 346
Children’s Joint Creation of a Puppet Play – Learning in the Zone of the
Future Development
Ivon Hicela
Faculty of Philosophy, University of Split, Croatia
According to Vygotsky, social interaction represents a context in which children can exhibit their
intelligence, as well as a major mechanism by means of which intelligence develops. Children
acquire knowledge and tools of intellectual adjustment based on their interaction with adults and
more competent peers, through whose help they are frequently able to accomplish tasks they
are normally not fully equipped to cope with on their own.
Starting from this attitude, puppet shows of pre-school children can constitute an important
vehicle of their development. When acting out a part, children can create their own zone of
future (close and potential) development; a zone in which the child can participate with an
appropriate help of a more competent peer. The situation in which children jointly create a
puppet show requires both cooperation and joint efforts of two or more other children. While
working together on their puppet show, children show, consolidate, and develop their
psychosocial knowledge, at the same time improving their communication competences.
Some of the results obtained by systematic observation of puppet shows created by four-, five-,
and six-year-olds have been presented and interpreted in this paper. Our analysis focuses on
the nature of relations between characters created by the children, which has enabled us to
shed more light on the perceptions and concepts they develop of the social and cultural
environment in which they live.
As the results of observing the puppet shows of two- and three-year-olds, obtained by the
researchers of Cresas Centre in Paris (1983), clearly indicate, which also seems to be
corroborated by the results of our analysis, what children most frequently represent and put on
the stage is the authoritative relations existing between the adults (parents, teachers) and
children. This is closely followed by relationships of friendliness and affection developing
between persons of an equal status (children or adults), as well as relations between humans
and animals.
Co-author: Mirjana Bakotić, Kindergarten 'Cvit Meditarana', Split, Croatia
Keywords: puppets, symbolic, game, proximal
ID 348
The Evaluation of Where There are No Pre-schools Programme
Piotr Olaf Żylicz
Warsaw School of Social Psychology, Poland
The educational project Where There Are no Pre-schools (WTANP) has been designed by
Comenius Foundation for Child Development for young children of rural areas in Poland as
solely a little fraction (15%) attend pre-school. Teachers work with a mixed-aged group of 10 to
15 children at least 9 hours a week. WTANP is the first alternative form of pre-school education
in Poland. It currently offers systematic educational activities in 80 localities (with more than
1100 children involved). The programme is based on experiential learning with elements of
educational community with kids, who co-create the rules, all are to comply with. It is foremost
focused on development of self-esteem, curiosity, social skills, and task perseverance; with the
underlying assumption these psychological qualities would foster further comprehensive
educational growth.
The evaluation study on programme’s effects on children while on the first year education at
primary school was conducted. The data were collected from teachers and parents. The
greatest changes were observed for self-esteem. The project appeared to have also positive
impact on perseverance and curiosity, and to lesser degree on social skills. Moreover, WTANP
kids appeared to show more internal locus of control. Additionally, in children currently attending
WTANP the longer they stay on the programme the more desired changes were identified.
However, frequency of attendance proved to be dubious predictor of the changes. The results
are discussed in the light of both the data collected in focus groups with teachers and parents
and the educational requirements of Central European countries.
The education is based on experiential learning with elements of some sort of educational
community with kids who co-create the rules all are to comply with. The programme is foremost
focused on development of self-esteem, curiosity, social skills, and task perseverance in
participating kids, with the underlying assumption these psychological qualities will foster further
educational growth.
Keywords: evaluation of educational programme, rural areas, educational policies
ID 353
Research and Development of Evaluation in Early Childhood Education
Kaisa Kopisto and Annu Brotherus
Research Centre for Early Childhood and Elementary Education, Finland
This project concentrates on research and development of evaluation strategies, methods and
instruments in Finnish day-care centres. The project is carried out in collaboration between the
Helsinki City Social Services Department and the Research Centre for Early Childhood and
Elementary Education in University of Helsinki.
The project started in autumn 2006 with a survey including all the day-care centres in the city of
Helsinki (N=289). At the same time piloting work with 5 selected day-care centres was
launched. The duration of the project is about three years (till autumn 2008).
In the poster we are presenting: 1) starting points and objectives of the project, 2) different
stages of the project, 3) main findings of survey-design and 4) examples of developing work
done with piloting day-care centres. We are also presenting content of the evaluation training
course integrated into the project.
Keywords: evaluation, early childhood education, day-care
ID 362
Training Pre-school Teachers on Peer-Peer Relationships: Effects on
Children’s Social Networks
Antonella Brighi
Department of Psychology, University of Bologna, Italy
Social skills, positive peer relationships and friendships are important factors for cognitive and
emotional development (Vygotskyj, 1934; Dunsmore, 2004). By contrast, peer rejection and
poor social competence are associated with maladjustment and difficulties with school
achievement (Coie & Dodge, 1998). Despite the importance of kindergarten settings for children
interactions, Italian teachers are more focused on children’s personal abilities than on peers'
relational dynamics.
This research aims at exploring the effects of a training, proposed to teachers within a European
project on “Relational Approaches in Early Education”, to improve children’s relational
competencies. Exercises to enhance trust, communication, and problem-solving in children’s
were proposed in two Italian kindergarten settings (5 to 6-year-old-children). The effects of the
training were evaluated by comparing rating scales, socio-matrices, group mappings, and
teachers’ interviews administered before and after the training.
In one setting, teachers completed the training and were collaborating to each other. After the
training children resulted more supportive to each other in their activities (rating scales), and
their social networks became wider (socio-matrices) and more inclusive (group mappings).
In the other setting, teachers completed the training partially and were in contrast. After the
training a decreasing trend in peer-peer collaboration and teacher-children support was
observed (rating scales). However, children’s social networks became wider (socio-matrices)
and more inclusive (group mappings). Finally, in both settings teachers could reflect on their
educational styles and difficulties in managing groups (teachers’ interviews).
This research highlights that teachers’ teamwork and motivations are important factors for the
positive outcomes of a relational training.
Co-authors (Department of Psychology, University of Bologna): Mazzanti Chiara, Nicoletti
Sandra, Gallingani Francesca, Guarini Annalisa, Sansavini Alessandra, Genta Maria Luisa
Keywords: relational training, pre-school, peer relationships, mappings
ID 370
care?
Child's Self-directed Action Process - Is It Possible in the Context of Child-
Heidi Maria Kyllönen
Tampere University, Finland
The National Board of Education in Finland (2000) requires to develop child's self-direction,
activity, learning motivation and learning to learn skills. This project focuses on investigating
child's self-directed action process from the point of view of spontaneous learning strategies.
The aim of this paper is to describe children's possibilities to carry a self-directed action process
out in the context of childcare. In this context we consider the social, physical and material
features that will either support or prevent child to create a self-directed action process. We
found that preventing factors were the conditions like a deficiency of peaceful rooms and the
time schedule, which supported children to plan activity that is easily picked up. However,
children usually were allowed to let their play settings in the some of the rooms for the next day.
As supporting factors, children had a lot of stimulating material available and the teacher's
attitude towards a child's self-directed action was positive, but their knowledge about its
foundations are not known. In sum, because the intensive early childhood education can have
long-lasting effects on cognitive and academic development we should pay more attention to
the mediators between these two constructs - not only to the pedagogical activities, but also to
the conditions that strengthens the resources of the child him/herself.
References: National Board of Education 2000. Core Curriculum for Pre-school Education in Finland 2000.
Keywords: a child's self-directed action process, pedagogy of the early childhood education
ID 377
Teachers’ Views on Implementation of Child-centred Teaching in Estonia
Aino Ugaste
Tallinn University, Department of Early Childhood Education, Estonia
The educational programme Step by Step was created as a response to great changes in the
society, to prepare the children for successful coping in the renewed democratic society
(Hansen et al 1997; Klaus 2004).
The main aim of the study was to explore how teachers evaluate and reflect their professional
development in the Step by Step programme. The questions addressed by the study are as
follow: what kind of knowledge and experience did the teachers acquire in the pupils-centred
teaching process? What kind of changes occurred in their pedagogical thinking and in the
perception of the teacher's role?
A semi-structured interview was used in the study in order to obtain reliable information from the
teachers. The interview was constructed on a topic-by-topic basis. The kindergarten and school
teachers who worked according to Step by Step programme participated in the study.
The findings of the present study showed that the teachers' participation in the programme
changed their pedagogical thinking and understanding of themselves as a teacher and the
teacher's role. For the teachers a motivation arose to work in a different way and evaluate their
pedagogical knowledge and skills. Teachers have started to understand the child-centred
education as equal relationships between a teacher and a child. The teachers implied that
pupils and teachers are co-operating partners. The findings also indicated that the teachers can
create a stimulating and involving learning environment for students, which supports the
student’s individual development. In the future the studies could concentrate on the more
profound investigation of the professional development of the teachers participating in the
programme.
Co-authors:
Aino Ugaste and Tiia Õun, Tallinn University, Department of Early Childhood Education
References
Hansen, K., Kaufmann, A., R. & K. Walsh. (1997). Hea Alguse lasteaedade programmem. Avatud Ühiskonna
Instituut. [Step by Step kindergartens programme]. Tallinn: Estonian Open Foundation.
Klaus, S. (2004) Stepping into the future: A history of the Step by Step Programme. The Journal of the International
Step by Step Association 8, 3-14.
Keywords: Step by Step, child-centred teaching, pedagogical thinking, teachers’ role
ID 379
An Action Research on Building the Whole Music Context for Young
Children’s Understanding of Music
Ji-Ae Kim
Sookmyung Women's University, Republic of Korea
The purpose of this research is to build a whole music context where young children would
actively construct meanings of music through performing and listening, which is called
musicking (Small, 1998). We use the action research, including participant observation. The
action research aims at enhancing young children’s understanding of musical components and
its esthetics through musicking, including listening to music, playing with music and mediated
materials. The series of actions are conducted through a process of plan-action-reflection for 23
weeks (3 times a week) in a kindergarten music room. The first action was to prepare a music
room separated from a regular classroom and then we equipped the room with musical
instruments, fabric, paper, and writing materials in a music room and installed speakers.
Children were invited to this room for musicking. The series of actions were conducted for 23
weeks (three times a week). 7 pieces of music (Carmen, In the hall of mountain, Swan, Little
Star and etc.) were provided. Each music piece contains particular musical components
(rhythm, pitch, harmony, dynamics, and etc.). Listening and performing with materials
simultaneously occurred and the researchers also provided additional materials to mediate
children’s understanding of music based on observation of children’s activities (Vygotsky). While
listening and performing music with materials, which is a whole music context, young children
came to feel the music itself and musical components through their body, and represent them
through drawing, body movements, and speeches. Musicking engaged young children to
construct meanings of music itself, musical components, and its beauty.
Co-author: Shunah Chung, Sookmyung Women’s University, Republic of Korea
References
Small, C. (1998). Musicing: the meanings of performing and listening. Hanover, NH: Wesleya University Press.
Vygotsky, L. (1979). Mind in society. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Keywords: whole music, action research, music education, mediated learning
ID 382
Inquiry of Young Children’s Experience with Artistic Materials
Hyejin Tak
Sookmyung Women's University, Republic of Korea
The purpose of this study is to inquire meanings of young children’s lived experience with
artistic materials in a kindergarten classroom. The artistic materials mean personal, direct,
imaginary, open-ended materials, which can be interpreted in various ways. Children can lend
their feelings, intentions, and thoughts. Inspired by Reggio Emilia approach, young children’s
experience with artistic materials is significant in children’s learning. The materials are
considered children’s language as a means of inquiry and investigation of the world. In this
study, we will focus on understanding how various materials in a classroom become ‘media’ or
‘text’ in the process of children’s creative expression and activities. We use the participant
observation to collect data on children’s lived experiences. The various materials allow
interpretive space where young children construct and reconstruct meanings of the world, which
is, the process of knowledge construction. In this sense, young children’s artistic experience
differs from traditional art education, which focuses on accomplishing visual art products. The
artistic materials become media of development of children’s higher mental function. In addition,
young children’s experience with artistic materials becomes ‘aesthetic.’ By aesthetic, we mean
young children’s “response to the pattern which connects” (Reggio Children, 2004:138). With
encountering the diverse materials, young children establish intense and empathetic
relationship with things. The aesthetic experience integrates children’s body, intellect, and
feelings. Young children’s experience with artistic materials becomes aesthetic and a perfect
educational experience.
Reference
Reggio Children (2004). Children, Art, Artist.: The expressive languages of children, the artistic language of Alberto
Burri. Reggio Children srl.
Co-Author: Shunah Chung, Sookmyung Women’s University, Republic of Korea
Keywords: artistic materials, aesthetic experience, Reggio Emilia approach
ID 392
Supporting Early Learning through Assessment
Mary Daly
National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA), Ireland
In recent years in Ireland there has been increased attention given to the early years as a
significant period in a child’s learning and development. There is also a growing focus on
understanding the child’s strengths, interests, abilities and needs, and using these to ensure
that his/her experiences as a learner are more enjoyable, challenging and rewarding.
Assessment has enormous potential to support and extend early learning in this way. In a
consultation organised by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA), the
early childhood sector highlighted challenges and professional needs in using assessment for
this purpose. This paper outlines the NCCA’s response to the sector’s needs.
As part of the work on the national Framework for Early Learning, the NCCA is developing
guidelines and tools to support adults in developing their assessment practice—gathering,
documenting, analysing, using and sharing assessment information. The Framework supports a
socio-cultural understanding of assessment drawing upon Vygotsky’s educational theory and in
particular his work on higher mental functioning being social in origin. It recommends a dynamic
approach to assessment in order to gather authentic information about the child and to use this
information in a constructive and reflective manner so that the child’s experiences build on
his/her uniqueness as an individual. This approach requires the adult to gather information
through multi-dimensional, collaborative methods and to understand assessment as an
interactive and social component of teaching and learning. In this way, the Framework’s
guidelines and tools should help to develop assessment practice within the early childhood
sector for the benefit of all children.
Co-authors: Sarah FitzPatrick (NCCA), Arlene Forster (NCCA), Rosaleen Murphy (NCCA), Avril
Sweeney (NCCA)
Keywords: assessment, authentic, practice, socio-cultural
ID 407
Overview and Analysis of School Traditions in Moscow
Ksenia Kalinina
Moscow City Psychological and Pedagogical University, Russian Federation
In his work Children’s Psychology, Lev S. Vygotsky emphasized that an individual’s evolution
and development are always the product of an intricate interplay between personal and
environmental factors. For junior children (6-12 years) educational environment is the single
most important microenvironment inculcating them in social norms, customs and conventions.
Research has demonstrated that different features of an educational environment have different
impact on the ways in which education works to promote a child’s development. School
traditions are one of the integrative manifestations of a school’s educational environment. We
were particularly interested in determining 1) how traditions reflect various spheres of school
life, and 2) how the role played by the various participants involved in an educational
environment are articulated in a description of school traditions.
In eighty Moscow schools we received over 700 formulations describing various school
traditions. 52 percent describe curricular traditions, 36 percent - extracurricular traditions. In just
18 schools, the formulations of traditions brought several key participants in the education
process, i.e. students, teachers, parents, together. In the curricular traditions subgroup, such
integrated formulations accounted for only 12 out of a total of 366. In the extra-curricular
traditions subgroup, out of a total of 249 formulations describing school traditions, merely 6
formulations mentioned several players together. It is our view that an important measure of a
school’s commitment to and focus on, promoting children’s development is the extent to which a
school has put in place traditions requiring joint commitment bringing together the key players in
the educational process.
Keywords: educational environment, school tradition
ID 420
Teacher Training for Adult Support on Children Knowledge Construction
Helena Luís and Madalena Alves
Escola Superior Educação Santarem, Portugal
Practice in early childhood education often reveals the need and importance of the adult
supporting role, helping children to learn and build their own knowledge.
Supervision and science education in early childhood teachers’ initial training can be a
privileged arena for changing conceptions and practice. This is an area where children social,
emotional and cognitive development can be enhanced as well as children attitudes towards
learning.
Supervision in a reflective perspective (Schön), the constructivist view on learning (Vigostky,
Bruner) and experiential education (Laevers) contributed to the conceptual framework of this
project.
Science education emphasizes the knowledge construction process and the quality of reflective
thinking in a social and communicational context (Sá, 2004). Taking children perspectives as a
starting point (Driver et. al., 1985), considering scientific processes as a learning methodology
(Fineley, 1983, Harlen, 1988, Woolnough, 1996) and learning how to learn (Valente, 1997, Sá,
2004) are important aspects of children learning.
For this presentation we consider part of the data of this research project on teacher initial
training. We interviewed and observed six early childhood teacher-students with the purpose of
identifying in their initial training pedagogical conceptions and practices that
- promote (or not) children knowledge construction
- consider (or not) children learning processes in curriculum building
- consider (or not) the teacher role in extending learning
We present some results based on content analysis of the semi-structured interviews to
teacher-students and practice observations.
References
Bruner,J. (1990). Actos de significado. Para uma psicologia cultural. Lisboa: Ed. 70.
Driver, R., Guesne, E.; Tiberghien, A. (1985). Children’s ideas in science. Glasgow: Open University Press.
Finely, F. N. (1983). Science proceses. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 20(1), 47- 54.
Harlen, W. (Ed.) (1988). Primary Science. Taking the plunge. London: Heineman.
Laevers, F. (1994). The innovative Project Experiential education and the definition of quality. In Laevers, f. (Ed.)
Defining and assessing quality in early childhood education. Studia Pedagogica, 16 . Leuven: Leuven University
Press.
Sá , J. ( 2004) Crianças aprendem a pensar Ciências. Porto: Porto Ed.
Schön, D. (1983). The reflective practioner. New York: Basic Books.
Valente, M.O. (1997). Projecto Dianoia: Learning to think. In Hamers and MTh. Overtoon (Eds), Teaching thinking in
Europe. Utrecht: The Netherlands, Saders
Vygotsky, l.S. 81987). Pensamento e Linguagem. São Paulo: Martins Fontes Ed.
Woolnough, B.E. (1989) Towards a holistic view of processes in science educatio. In J. Wellington (ed.) Skills and
Processes in Science Education, 115-134. London: Routledge.
Keywords: teacher training, science education, children learning
ID 428
Playschool Education in Reykjavik: Examples of Developmental Projects I
Hildur Skarphéðinsdóttir and Jóhanna Einarsdottir
Reykjavík City Department of Education, Iceland
Icelandic playschools are governed according to a 1994 law, which states that playschool is the
first level of the educational system and is intended for all children from the age of 18 months to
6 years. The provision determining playschool as the first educational level was considered
highly significant at the time of the implementation, with Iceland being the first Nordic country to
do so. Strong demands are made upon playschool to be educational institutions, in addition to
caregiving and service. Each year the city gives grants for research and developmental projects
to be conducted in the playschools.
This poster presents overview of the Icelandic playschool system with emphasis on the services
offered by the City of Reykjavik. In addition an example of one developmental project will be
presented. The aim of that project was to find ways to listen to children’s perspectives on their
playschool education. Diverse methods were tried out during a period of two years, such as
different types of interviews with the children, photographs, drawings, questionnaires,
observations and interviews with parents. The results reviled that different methods are
necessary to suit different children.
Keywords: Icelandic playschools, first educational level, developmental project
ID 429
Playschool Education in Reykjavik: Examples of Developmental Projects II
Hildur Skarphéðinsdóttir
Reykjavík City Department of Education, Iceland
Icelandic playschools are the first level of the educational system and is intended for all children
from the age of 18 months to 6 years. Most playschools are run by the municipalities. The city of
Reykjavik runs 80 playschools. The city covers approximately 80% of the cost of a child’s stay in
playschool and parents pay 20%. More than 90% of children aged 3-5 attend playschool in the
City of Reykjavik and 30% of children under two years old. Each year the city gives grants for
research and developmental projects to be conducted in the playschools.
This poster presents examples of two of those developmental projects. The first one describes a
project with the youngest children (1-3 years) where heuristic play and treasure baskets were
used to enrich the children’s play (Goldschmied & Jackson, 1994). The results show many
positive outcomes both according to the playschool teachers and parents. In the second project
physical activities were presented and implemented in one playschool. The results reviled that
the children viewed the experiments as play and according to the parents enjoyed the activities
immensely. The activities also affected the way the children paid attention to certain
phenomena.
Keywords: Icelandic playschools, developmental projects, heuristic play, physical activities
ID 442
Tsunesaburo Makiguchi and Lev Vygotsky: Considering Contemporaries in
Light of Current Childhood Education
Jason Goulah
DePaul University and Concordia Language Villages, United States
In this session, I present findings from a comparative analysis of Vygotsky’s theories with those
of his Japanese contemporary Tsunesaburo Makiguchi (1871-1944), and discuss the
implications of a convergence of their thoughts on current early and later childhood learning and
instruction. Specifically, I examine Makiguchi’s geography of human life with Vygotsky’s
sociocultural theory (environment in development), Makiguchi’s concept of value/truth with
Vygotsky’s concept of signs/tools (assignment of value), and Makiguchi’s Buddhist-influenced
philosophy of student potential with Vygotsky’s zone of proximal development (potential
development). Analysis suggests that 1.) Makiguchi’s theories anticipated, strengthen, expand,
and/or explain Vygotsky’s and 2.) teachers and educators must consider and curricularly
incorporate the natural/physical environment in addition to—and conceptually at a level of
informing—the sociocultural environment as a major influence in childhood learning and
development. Analysis further suggests that 3.) the natural/physical environment and
sociocultural environment inform a child’s subjective valuation (value/signs) of objective reality
(truth/tools), which thereby facilitates his/her fuller development. That is, a convergence of
Makiguchi’s and Vygotsky’s theories suggests that early and later childhood teachers must also
target and incorporate students’ subjectivity—in addition to objectivity, which is well established
and tested in current early and later childhood education—to cultivate full potential vis-à-vis
children’s learning and development. The implications of these findings extend first to a
reassessment of current pedagogy in light of Vygotsky’s and Makiguchi’s ideas about childhood
learning and development, and second to cultural views of the importance placed on subjectivity
and objectivity in childhood learning and development.
Keywords: environment, potential, sign/value, theory
ID 443
Taking Well-being and Involvement as Guides to Improve Quality: The Sics
and the POMS as Empowering Instruments
Julia Moons
Research Centre for Experiential Education, Belgium
The poster presents two instruments developed at the Research Centre for Experiential
Education – an educational model covering the whole of the educational and care system (from
babies to teacher training). Concepts, instruments, educational materials and training modules
focus on three major entrances to observe and improve quality in education: the process (with
the variables ‘well-being’ and ‘involvement’), the context (the 10 action points, the experiential
adult style) and the output (deel-level-learning, a holistic approach in the assessment of
development, emotional health, social competence, self-management and entrepreneurship…).
This poster will present two instruments designed to help practitioners to take initiatives that
enhance well-being and involvement of children: (1) the ‘SiCs’ or newly developed SelfEvaluation Instrument for Care Settings (babies and toddlers) and (2) the Process Oriented
Child Monitoring System. To illustrate a series of activities designed to support interventions
relating to the social-emotional development, the Box full of Feelings will be commented.
Keywords: quality assurance, well-being, social competence, observation
ID 450
Classroom Assistant, A Handy Resource for Teachers or an Effective
Support for Weaker Readers?
Colette Gray
Stranmillis University College: A College of the Queen's University of Belfast, United Kingdom
As the number of learning support assistants (also referred to as classroom assistants, teaching
aides, auxiliary support and paraeducators) employed in the primary sector continues to
increase, questions concerning the contribution they make to raising standards of attainment
remain to be answered. This paper reports evidence from a small scale study undertaken to
evaluate the impact learning support assistants have on the reading attainment of young
children taught in schools using a whole class systematic phonics approach.
Methods: A matched sample test/retest approach was employed to examine differences in the
reading performance of pupils who did and did not receive additional reading support.
Findings: Whilst overall, pupils exposed to the whole class systematic phonics approach
showed a significant improvement in reading performance, no added value was noted for pupils
receiving learning support assistance. On the contrary, the results suggest that learning support
may have a detrimental impact on lower ability readers. Contradictions between the empirical
findings and the views of teachers are discussed here.
Keywords: classroom assistant, reading, attainment
ID 467
Drawings of Emotionally Characterised Figures by Orphanage and the
Children Who Live with Their Families
Oya Ramazan
Marmara University, Ataturk Education Faculty, Early Childhood Education Department, Turkey
Drawings are an important source of clearly explaining a child’s thoughts and feelings and are a
means of reflecting oneself. Drawings, which are created with a child’s own initiative, when
analyzed properly, reveal their inner world and reveal details about themselves and their
development. The way, in which the paper is used composition, the use of colour is all important
for the observer. Because the child, while drawing, feels as though he/she is in a free “play”
environment and all actions are natural. This natural surrounding allows the observer to witness
the child’s true feelings. Previous research has shown that children systematically alter the size
and color of their drawings in response to the emotional character of the figures, which they
draw. This research was designed to investigate whether children receiving a different kind of
family background also use scaling and colour differentially for depicting figures emotional
significance. 60 children, 30 orphans and 30 children who live with their families. All the children
completed three drawings of differentially characterized human figures: a neutral, a happy and a
sad figure. All children completed one test session in which they were asked to draw three men.
10 block crayons (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, pink, white, brown and black) and A4
paper were used by children in both groups. Drawing height and width were measured in
centimeters from the furthest vertical and horizontal points. Surface area was measured using
centimeter grid squares. However there were differences between the two different family
structure groups in relation to the colours and size used for the negatively characterized figures.
Co-authors: Rengin Zembat, Oya Ramazan, Gülden Uyanık Balat, Gülçin Güven, Marmara
University, Early Childhood Education Department, Istanbul - Turkey
Keywords: children, orphanage, drawing, figure
ID 468
Observing the Uniqueness of a Child’s Interpretation of Allegory - Basic
Premise for Building Skills for Interpreting the Allegorical Meaning
Rozalina Engels
Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski", Sofia, Bulgaria
The research focuses on the skills of children aged 5-7 years for interpretation the allegory in
sayings and proverbs. The primary objective is to uncover the core essence of children’s skills
for interpreting the allegory of sayings and proverbs mainly in their connection with uniqueness
of a child’s interpretation of the allegorical meaning. The last-named phenomenon has been
added as an important criterion for the purposes of this research, and as a theoretical basis for
defining it, the author uses the differentiation between the terms “meaning” and “significance”,
as introduced by Vygotsky, later on adopted and developed by Luria. In this context, a child’s
own “unique interpretation of allegory” is a translation of the saying or proverb that does not fall
within the social framework of its use, neither literally or as a metaphor, but is nonetheless a
self-contained explanation of the saying or proverb which captures a metaphorical meaning
different to the objectively-accepted one, a meaning that represents the child’s own view of the
world, which is always unique in its own way. Exploring these issues, a psychologicalpedagogical experiment, involving a total of 104 children aged 5-7 years (divided into three
experimental groups and one control group), was conducted for a period of 8 months in three
stages – Ascertain, Building, and Control. The main finding is that unique children’s
interpretations need to be taken into account in every step of the stage-by-stage structure of
building the researched skills because they are often a prerequisite for reaching the phrase’s
meaning.
Keywords: allegory, significance, meaning, proverbs
ID 471
Attainment of Number Concept by Children between 4-7 Years Old
Oya Ramazan
Marmara University, Ataturk Education Faculty, Early Childhood Education Department, Turkey
The main purpose of this research is to determine whether the attainment of number concept by
the children between 4-7 years old differs depending on age variant as well as depending on
whether receiving pre-school education or not in general and for children of 7 years old,
depending on whether such children have received pre-school education or not. Attainment of
number concept has been examined by means of One-to-One Matching Test consisting of
Piget’s experiments.
One-to-One Matching Test intends to measure the concepts and the skills attained by the preschool children as well as the children at the beginning of elementary education. The tests with
respect to the determination of the reliability of the experiments designed for this purpose have
applied to 268 students receiving education in private and public schools affiliated to the
Ministry of National Education in Istanbul Province and the obtained results have been
examined hereunder.
The sampling group to which One-to-One Matching Test have been applied has been classified
into 4, 5, 6 and 7 age groups. As a result of performed statistical analysis, it has been observed
that the achievement in One-to-One Matching Test also increases as the age increases. The
difference between age groups is at a significant level (p<.001) and in favour of big group. No
significant difference has been determined between 5 ages and 6 ages.
Co-authors: Oya Ramazan and Hande Ömercikoglu
Keywords: one to one matching test, Piaget’s experiments, 4-7 years old
ID 472
Supporting the Creation of an Early Intervention Culture on the District of
Aveiro, Portugal
Paula Santos
University of Aveiro, Portugal
We’re involved in an action-research movement, aiming to develop the Early Intervention (EI)
Structure of Aveiro’s District (a community based and transdisciplinary structure). It
comprehends 118 professionals - doctors, nurses, early childhood educators, psychologists and
social workers - from community agencies belonging to state departments of Health, Education
and Social Security; they’re responsible to intervene with 0 to 3 children at risk of developmental
delay, in order to enhance the circumstances where their development occurs. Knowing that
what happens in terms of development in these early stages of life, will depend essentially on
the quality of interactions they experience with their primary caregivers, we integrate a
coordinating, training and supervising team which efforts are to promote enabling and
empowerment at all levels of the EI structure: EI supervisors, EI professionals and the children’s
families, in a collective and reciprocal dynamics, which will have as ultimate goal, optimizing
emotional well-being and involvement / development of 0-3 children at risk of developmental
delay.
In the context of the action-research study we developed from 2001 to 2005 (which resulted in a
Ph. D. thesis), we defined a cognitive transformation process (adap. Schein, 1991) to support
the creation of an EI culture, promoting the development of stimulation, sensitivity and
autonomy dimensions on EI professionals Style (adap. Laevers, 1997, 2003). Based on data
from interviews to EI Supervisors, we build an EI Supervision Competencies Profile. In this
poster, we’ll present these instruments, and the main processes of their creation.
Keywords:
early intervention, enabling, empowerment, stimulation, sensitivity, autonomy
promoting
ID 473
Social and Emotional Adaptation of Pre-school Children
Yıldız Güven
Marmara University, Turkey
Socialization is an adaptation matter and also a process of reproduction period for children.
Children participate in their cultures not only as a member of their society but also a contributor
to their cultural change. The studies emphasize the importance of parent-child, sibling-child and
peer-child relationships in social and emotional adaptation of children. The aim of this research
is to investigate social and emotional adaptation of 5 year olds children taking some variables
into consideration. The ‘Marmara Scale of Social and Emotional Adaptation’ was applied to the
sample group by their teachers. Also parents were asked to mention their opinions about the
questions related to the survey in the survey questionnaire. The sample consisted of 524
children (260 girls and 264 boys). The results of this study indicated that the only children had
significantly higher scores than the children who had siblings in peer interaction subscale. The
gender of the children had an effect on social emotional adaptation level where girls had higher
adaptation than boys in behaving appropriately to social living necessities subscale. Finally the
children who were indicated as interacting very well with their parents, siblings and peers by
their parents, had significantly higher scores than the children who had not in behaving
appropriately to social living necessities, behaving appropriately to social situations, and positive
approach to social environment subscales. The educational level and age of the parents did not
affect the social-emotional adaptation of children. The children who got more pre-school
education had significantly higher scores in peer interaction subscale.
Co-author: Baran IŞIK, Kuvay-I Milliye İlköğretim Okulu, Turkey
Keywords: social and emotional adaptation, pre-school children, parent
ID 478
Voice of a Subject in the Socio-cultural Fields
Mare Tuisk
Tallinn University, Estonia
The necessity of re-orientation and making right choices in increasing varieties of surrounding
environment presumes acting of a person as a subject, who is capable of taking responsibilities
for actions and appropriate consequences as well. In Estonia there is a situation where neither
the youth nor teachers are able to act as subjects, take responsibility for school matters or in
educational life in general. According to the Vygotsky’s concept of a „zone of proximal
development“, a teacher acting as a subject supports learner’s subjectivity development,
accepting also the partner’s subjectivity.
As socio-cultural resources are created in communication, in January 2007 the research “What
are the conditions for creating and supporting subject-subject dialogues in Estonian primary
schools (students of ages 7-12)” based on narrative essays was conducted, the topic of which
coincides with the research question. The sample included 21 primary school teachers from
country and town schools. The grounded theory methodology was used; the outcomes were
interpreted according to socio-dynamic and socio-cultural approaches.
The teachers’ essays reflect challenges, social tensions, therefore strong sense of duty and
mission are accompanied by clearly tangible tiredness of teachers, caused by overloaded
classrooms, curriculum and increasing bureaucracy. Students’ potential cannot yet be seen in
solutions, until they are treated as objects of teaching. Teachers admit the need for changes
and a new communication paradigm, but they still think that the first condition for subject-subject
dialogue is their self-acceptance as decisive and responsible subjects. In creating beneficial
background system for learner's subjectivity development, the sufficient role is carried by school
culture. There is a lack in sufficient educational philosophy and practice of pedagogical
interaction; school leaders’ training should focus on organisational culture and principles.
Teachers wait for acceptance as active and responsible subjects at school and the state level.
Keywords: subject, responsibility, communication, organisational culture
ID 479
Analysis of Scaffolding Type and the Effect of Dyad Learning: For Children
Learning with a Teacher, a Parent, and a Peer
Choi Jongwook
Sungkyunkwan University in Seoul, South Korea, Republic of Korea
The purpose of this study was to investigate how dyad’s scaffolding type and joint problem
solving differ in situations where children were asked to solve problems with a teacher, a
mother, and a peer. Subjects were twenty-one 5-year-old children, seven teachers, and seven
mothers of the children recruited from three kindergartens in Seoul. The children were assigned
to one of the three kinds of dyad groups. Six magnet-block puzzles were used to measure the
pair’s scaffolding and performance. Each dyad’s problem solving processes were recorded by
video camera for content analyses. All the dyad’s interactions were coded according to
scaffolding categories that the researchers generated. Collected data was statistically analyzed
using SPSS/PC programme.
Study results were summarized as follows;
First, the teacher-child group showed the highest frequency of ‘attempted scaffolding’ and ratio
of ‘successful scaffolding’ among the three dyad groups.
Second, there were significant differences in dyad’s scaffolding type by each group. When using
the categories depending on the purpose of scaffolding, the teacher-child dyads showed more
‘task-completion (37%)’ and ‘task-orientation (35%)’ rather than ‘direction maintenance (32%)’.
However, in the mother-child and the peer dyads, ‘task-completion’ was observed more than
50%. There were also differences in the content of scaffolding. The teacher-child dyad group
mainly used ‘explanation’ and ‘giving clues’ among six categories. But, the mother-child group
preferred ‘explanation’ and ‘question’ to other categories and the peer dyad group showed
higher usage of ‘demonstration’ and ‘negotiation’.
Third, there were significant differences in children’s joint problem solving performance
depending on the different dyad groups. Children working with a teacher attained higher score
on the puzzle tasks than those in two other groups.
Study results revealed that teacher-child dyad used more effective scaffolding for their
scaffoldee than other dyad groups. The importance of teacher’s role in joint problem solving with
a child was discussed.
Keywords: scaffolding, scaffolder, teacher's role
ID 481
Children's Empowerment in Play
Natalie Canning
University of Worcester, United Kingdom
This presentation examines the level of empowerment and autonomy children can create in
their play experiences. It examines the play discourses that children build and maintain and
considers the importance of play contexts in supporting children's emotional and social
development. These aspects of play are often unseen or misunderstood by the adult observer.
The presentation emphasises the importance of adult free play, enabling children to experience
a sense of power in their play and explore their awareness of personal and social relationships.
It analyses the influence the adult can have on children's play spaces, by bringing an 'adult
agenda' to the play situation and how this may ultimately dis-empower children.
Through non-participative observations children’s engagement in play situations were analysed.
Engagement was determined through recognising generic characteristics of:

children’s concentration within the play

children’s ability to direct their own and other children’s play scenarios

children’s freedom to determine their own actions

children’s ability to be independent of others around them
 children’s ability to have flexibility within their play environment
The observations formed the basis of identifying and analysing discourses within children’s play.
The engagement of children within the play situation was considered against the amount of
freedom of choice, discovery and experimentation children created and maintained.
The play discourses were examined to explore the processes involved in children’s play, the
importance of context and to identify the extent to which empowerment and autonomy feature
within play experiences. The research was inspired from a playwork theoretical perspective
predominantly from Hughes 2001.
Keywords: play, empowerment, adult role, social development
ID 495
The Construct of Children in Need of Special Support - How Pre-school
Staff Define Children in Need of Special Support in Sweden
Anette Sandberg and Anne Lillvist
Malardalen University, Sweden
This study aimed at answering questions concerning how pre-school units define children in
need of special support and attempted to determine whether staff in pre-schools shares a
common definition of the construct children in need of special support. The research questions
are: How is the construct 'children in need of special support' defined by staff in Swedish preschools? Are there relations between the characteristics of the children in a pre-school unit,
such as type and degree of disability and gender, and the definitions given by the staff? Are
there relations between structural characteristics of the pre-school unit, such as number of
children, staff-child ratio, and the definitions given by pre-school staff. The data-collection
consists from 571 community-based and independent pre-schools in city and rural areas from
22 municipalities in Sweden. This study has a mixed methods design in which the definitions of
'children in need of special support' given by staff from pre-school units in a first step were
analyzed using a qualitative content analysis approach. In a second step the definitions
provided by the pre-school staff were matched to quantitative information about the structural
characteristics of the pre-school units and the children in need of special support at the units.
The result reveals two general perspectives in staff definitions of the construct, a child
perspective and an organizational perspective. One explanation, that combines both
perspectives, is that pre-school staffs on the basis of observed child characteristics 'construct'
an image of the 'ideal' child that fits with organizational goals and values.
Keywords: children in need of special support, pre-school
ID 505
The Challenges of Teaching in Pre-school in Finland. A Case Study based
on the Children’s Interviews
Erja Rusanen
Open University, University of Helsinki, Finland
Theoretically this research relates to the phenomenological psychology. The research principles
of phenomenological psychology go back to Giorgi’s (1983) view: the subjects of the research
describe their experience and the researcher analyses it. The analysis is based on a fivephased model for analysing the research data described by Perttula (1995).
The aim of my research is to explore children’s experience about their own learning and
teaching in pre-school. The main aim was to evaluate how the children’s point of view of
teaching in the curriculum of pre-school should be considered?
The research subject is composed of 15 children of one pre school group; 7 girls and 8 boys.
The background of the children was heterogenic. The length of interview was 20-30
minutes/child and each of them was recorded. The data was collected on 2001.
From the results I will highlight five main points based on the children’s answer. 1) Play is very
important to children. 2) The transfer of the knowledge is fulfilled only partly in the children’s
learning process, 3) The children learn new concepts and skills but they lose their motivation too
often, 4) The children’s different learning capacity and development level should be considered
in planning the teaching lessons, 5) The curriculum concerning the teachers’ actions does not
guide and sufficiently encourage the children to act as goal-oriented or to define their own
objects to their actions. The problems of pre-school are interpreted as the challenges to develop
the pre-school teaching, training of teachers and curriculum.
Keywords: pre-school teaching, pre-school from the children’s point of view, fenomenology
ID 506
The Opportunities to Improve the Figurative Insight in Learning Process of
the Education with Professional Trend
Edgars Kramiņš and Baiba Reinberga
Daugavpils University, Pedagogic Department, Latvia
The theme “Arts Studies in the Process of Teachers' Training - a way to Improve Imaginative
Insight” corresponds with ideas of the modern pedagogics, and deals with the integration of
mental values in the process of education, what is of growing importance in the context of
sustainable education.
Although culture, in general, is the reflection of objective forms, however subjective
consciousness plays an important role in the perception and acquisition of cultural values, as
the meaning is made not only by the visible and the tangible, but also by the invisible and the
intangible things. Yet, the teachers themselves often do not understand the significance of art
and its imagery in the process of meaningful education.
Consequently, the issue of the perfection of creativity (a quality which characterizes the
capability to express original and interesting ideas, to make an unusual array of ideas and
phenomena, etc.) is of great importance in the process of teachers' training bringing forward a
range of questions to the modern pedagogy. For example, is the development of creative
thinking in the process of education sufficient to facilitate the integrity of mental development of
individual?
L. Vygotsky stresses that the main reason of feeling lies rather in the emotional, not logical
thinking, and the child cannot enter the world of art only by personal activity. A guiding system
and upbringing, providing possibility to obtain human values and values orientation by means of
art, are needed.
The creative thinking is analyzed by the research in the aspect of imaginative understanding,
what helps to reveal new truths, ideas and meanings, maintaining creative and active
consciousness. The educational priorities in teachers' training therefore are such subjects as
literature, music, visual art and theatre, to be integrated with language philosophy, whereas the
methods are discussion, lecture, and originative interpretation of art.
Keywords: figurative means of expression, pedagogic of art, philosophy of language, creativity
ID 508
Dynamic Testing of Latent Learning Capacities of the Pupils from Socially
Disadvantaged Environment
Iveta Kovalcikova and Jozef Dzuka
University of Presov in Presov, Slovakia
The poster focuses on the research (currently in progress) on the development an original
diagnostic method using the approaches of dynamic testing for the measurement and assessment
of the latent learning capacity of children with the socially disadvantaged background in Slovakia.
The emphasis will be put on the following: the description of the method, the selection of the items
of the tested battery, the analysis of testing format, the development of the instructive part of
dynamic testing. It is supposed that the device for dynamic testing (after verification of its
psychometric properties) could be applied in the population of children aged 6 – 8 years with
social handicap, who are assigned to the zero classes of elementary schools and to the transit
classes of the special elementary schools with the intention of their consequent reintegration into
the standard elementary schools. Our objective is - the developed diagnostic method will serve as
a complementary method of diagnostics (to the static method) for the cognitive abilities of children
with the socially disadvantaged background. We expect that the administration of the instructive
part of the dynamic testing and the observation of the behaviour of the pupils in the situation of
the dynamic testing will provide the relevant information on the assimilation schemes and preconcepts of a pupil in elementary school age. The obtained information will provide the basis for
constructive teaching as well as for the development of a manual The Methodology of the
Individualised Teaching and Assessment of the Children with Social Handicap.
Keywords: dynamic testing, learning capacity, pupil from socially disadvantaged environment
ID 509
Coping with Loss: How Art Therapy Helps Young Children to Cope with
Loss in the Inner Family
Christine Zeiser
Louise-Schroeder-College, Germany
In this presentation the paintings and drawings of a 5 years old girl who lost her 6-year-old
brother in a railway related accident will be presented and commented. The art work of the child
was conducted in individual Art Therapy sessions during a period of 3 months and will give an
insight of the psychological stages of distress the child went through. The child finds an outlet
for her feelings of grief in the protected therapeutic environment of the Art Therapy sessions and
finds in her created art images a container for her emotions. In the final state of bereavement
the child is able to leave the emotional state of an inner shock and starts to learn how to cope
better with the new situation. The presentation of this case work gives an example to show
some of the opportunities of working with children in an artistic way using analytical Art
Psychotherapy in order to help the child dealing with powerful feelings such as distress,
sadness, fear and helplessness. This presentation aims to give a stimulus to a professional
forum for discussion and exchange of information.
Art Therapy can show how the healing forces and powers of children can be activated by
helping them to communicate and express themselves. This form of non-directive Art Therapy
as an artistic non-verbal communication can support children to understand themselves better
and helps them to strengthen their contact with the outer world in order to be seen with their
individual needs.
Keywords: art therapy, images, coping, children
FRIDAY, 31ST AUGUST
3:30 PM – 4:45 PM
Members’ Forum – For Current and Prospective Individual Members of EECERA:
Invitation to Participate in an Open Debate
Chair:
Mathias Urban
Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg, Germany
It is obvious to anyone active or interested in the field of early childhood education and care in
Europe: EECERA is a flourishing organisation. The idea of creating a multi-disciplinary forum for
those committed to high quality research and practice in early childhood has long proved to be a
success.
According to its mission statement, EECERA aims at facilitating collaboration and cooperation
and it strives to facilitate peer-group interaction and mutual support between its members. The
annual conferences have become an important meeting place for a constantly growing group of
participants from Europe and, indeed, from every continent.
Notwithstanding our shared interest in early childhood education, its conceptualisations,
practices and policies, EECERA is also characterised by the diversity of its actors. It is formed
by individuals and institutions with a wide range of interests and from very different contexts.
This diversity is clearly an asset: for further developments of our organisation as well as for
achieving impacts in research, practice and politics.
While the conferences and the journal provide an excellent arena for the academic debate,
other key activities take place elsewhere: coffee breaks regularly turn into ‘third spaces’ for
networking and visionary thinking.
The Members’ Forum is an invitation to all members of EECERA, and to those who are
considering becoming a member. It offers an opportunity to engage and participate in
discussions concerning the EECERA network and community – at a less formal level than the
Annual General Meeting, which it aims to complement.
The discussion will necessarily be open, but it will be facilitated and structured by the Members’
Trustee.