Research

21 pages, 1426 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Representing Identity: The Importance of Literature and the Translanguaging Space for EAL/D Early Years Literacy Learning

by Janet Dutton and Kathy Rushton

Educ. Sci. 2023, 13(6), 569; https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci13060569 - 31 May 2023

Viewed by 1735

Abstract

Quality literature is a natural fit when choosing resources to support learning in early years settings. This qualitative research reports how literary texts can be used to foster EAL/D students’ poetry writing and represent their identity. During professional learning, teachers were supported to [...] Read more.

Quality literature is a natural fit when choosing resources to support learning in early years settings. This qualitative research reports how literary texts can be used to foster EAL/D students’ poetry writing and represent their identity. During professional learning, teachers were supported to select a range of engaging literary texts and design quality literacy experiences focused on thirdspace drama and other creative strategies. Students were afforded agency to respond to the texts and then employed Janks’ redesign cycle to craft identity text poems using their home language(s) and English. The lesson sequence generated a creative translanguaging space, and the poems highlight the richness of the students’ stories and give voice to their distinctive views of self and the world. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Role of the Arts in Early Language and Literacy Development)

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9 pages, 204 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Picture Books, Imagination and Play: Pathways to Positive Reading Identities for Young Children

by Amanda Niland

Educ. Sci. 2023, 13(5), 511; https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci13050511 - 18 May 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 6200

Abstract

Picture books are part of many young children’s lives, whether at home or in early childhood or school settings. Their unique creative combinations of words and visual images can engage children’s attention, stimulate their imagination, and support their development as meaning-makers. Nurturing a [...] Read more.

Picture books are part of many young children’s lives, whether at home or in early childhood or school settings. Their unique creative combinations of words and visual images can engage children’s attention, stimulate their imagination, and support their development as meaning-makers. Nurturing a love of books in young children can foster the development not only of early literacy skills, but also positive reading identities. Early childhood educators therefore have key roles to play as selectors, analysts and mediators of picture books. This article aims to build educators’ awareness of these roles through the analytical discussion of a small group of picture books selected for their focus on children’s imaginative worlds. Children need to see themselves in books, and given that play and imagination are central to young children’s ways of being and learning, picture books about children engaged in imagination and play can be important resources for nurturing a love of reading and fostering positive reading identities in young children. This pedagogical position paper explores a small sample of such books and discusses their value as part of early literacy curriculum. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Role of the Arts in Early Language and Literacy Development)

9 pages, 240 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Being with a Puppet: Literacy through Experiencing Puppetry and Drama with Young Children

by Olivia Karaolis

Educ. Sci. 2023, 13(3), 291; https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci13030291 - 09 Mar 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 3526

Abstract

Puppets have a long association with early childhood education and have played a much-loved role in children’s learning and development. This paper tells the research story that investigated how the magical creature of a puppet facilitated connection, play, communication, and engagement with children [...] Read more.

Puppets have a long association with early childhood education and have played a much-loved role in children’s learning and development. This paper tells the research story that investigated how the magical creature of a puppet facilitated connection, play, communication, and engagement with children who experience disability. We discovered how puppets can be combined with drama approaches and utilized in group activities for enabling literacy development by early childhood educators. In being with a puppet, adults found new ‘ways’ of supporting all children’s interest, meaning making, and contribution to group learning experiences. Puppets were found to invite children into conversations, to encourage their expression and creativity, in a way that was uniquely their own. Educators found that being with a puppet supported their relationship with the children to one that was more playful and positive as it altered their perception of the children and their ability to recognize their non-verbal communication. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Role of the Arts in Early Language and Literacy Development)

13 pages, 1060 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Talking Together: The Effects of Traditional Māori Pedagogy on Children’s Early Literacy Development

by Melissa Derby

Educ. Sci. 2023, 13(2), 207; https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci13020207 - 15 Feb 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2186

Abstract

This article presents findings from a project that sought to determine the effects of a home-based literacy intervention on bilingual (English and Te Reo Māori) preschool children’s early literacy skills. The culturally responsive intervention, which was adapted from Tender Shoots, incorporated traditional Māori [...] Read more.

This article presents findings from a project that sought to determine the effects of a home-based literacy intervention on bilingual (English and Te Reo Māori) preschool children’s early literacy skills. The culturally responsive intervention, which was adapted from Tender Shoots, incorporated traditional Māori teaching and learning approaches, such as the use of storytelling, songs, games, and reminiscing about the past, as practices for supporting key cognitive skills crucial to foundational literacy, specifically phonological awareness and vocabulary knowledge. Over a 12-week period, during which the intervention was conducted, data were gathered from eight Māori preschool children and their families. The study utilised a crossover design. Four children and their families participated in the Rich Reading and Reminiscing (RRR) component of the intervention, which ran for six weeks, followed by the Strengthening Sound Sensitivity (SSS) portion of the intervention. The remaining four children completed the intervention in the reverse order of delivery. The crossover approach established a control in the study and allowed the effects of each part of the intervention on the aforementioned cognitive skills to be more clearly revealed. Overall, the data indicate that traditional Māori pedagogical practices helped to strengthen the early literacy skills of the children participating in the study. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Role of the Arts in Early Language and Literacy Development)

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14 pages, 271 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Arts-Based Approaches to Languages Education with Refugee-Background Learners in the Early Years: Co-Creating Spaces of Hope

by Rachel Burke and Rebecca Soraya Field

Educ. Sci. 2023, 13(1), 85; https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci13010085 - 13 Jan 2023

Viewed by 2571

Abstract

Young learners with refugee experiences face a constellation of challenges particular to forced migration and resettlement. Experiences of trauma, violence, poverty, and disrupted or limited access to formal education and healthcare can have complex and long-term impacts on learning. Further, the sociocultural and [...] Read more.

Young learners with refugee experiences face a constellation of challenges particular to forced migration and resettlement. Experiences of trauma, violence, poverty, and disrupted or limited access to formal education and healthcare can have complex and long-term impacts on learning. Further, the sociocultural and linguistic challenges of undertaking education in unfamiliar schooling systems in transit and resettlement countries can also impede learner engagement and obscure individual strengths. However, like all student cohorts, children with refugee and asylum seeker backgrounds are also unique, with individual personal, sociocultural, and linguistic attributes on which to draw. While these assets may be overlooked or obscured in traditional educational contexts, arts-based approaches to instruction can offer generative and affirming learning spaces that illuminate individual strengths and provide powerful rejoinders to deficit constructions. This article provides an overview of recent research that explores vibrant and innovative arts-based approaches to languages instruction for refugee and asylum-seeker background learners in the early years. The article takes the form of a scoping study of literature using Arksey and O’Malley’s framework to map the field of research, document novel instructional approaches, and identify key themes. Our discussion is oriented toward educators who seek to innovate their own instructional practice. In addition to exploring the creative avenues for language instruction described in the literature, we consider key themes that emerged inductively from our analysis including the agentic value of arts-based instructional practices, the role of narrative in articulating experiences of place and identities, and the significance of arts-based connections between home and school linguistic repertoires. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Role of the Arts in Early Language and Literacy Development)

18 pages, 4301 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Children’s Meaning Making: Listening to Encounters with Complex Aesthetic Experience

by Belinda Davis and Rosemary Dunn

Educ. Sci. 2023, 13(1), 74; https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci13010074 - 10 Jan 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2148

Abstract

This paper describes young children’s symbolic meaning-making practices and participation in complex aesthetic experiences in a contemporary art museum context. Through an ongoing long-term research and pedagogy project, The Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, Australia (MCA) is working with researchers to provide regular [...] Read more.

This paper describes young children’s symbolic meaning-making practices and participation in complex aesthetic experiences in a contemporary art museum context. Through an ongoing long-term research and pedagogy project, The Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, Australia (MCA) is working with researchers to provide regular opportunities for young children (aged birth–5 years) and their families—all members of the same early childhood education (ECE) services—to encounter art works, engage with materials, and experience the museum environment. The program provides a rich experience of multiple forms of communication, ways of knowing and ways of expressing knowings: through connecting with images, videos and told stories about artists and their practice, sensorial engagement with tactile materials, and embodied responses to artworks and materials. Children also experience the physicality of the museum space, materials for art-making and the act of mark-making to record ideas, memories, and reflections. The project supports the development of a pedagogy of listening and relationships and is grounded in children’s rights as cultural citizens to participation, visibility and belonging in cultural institutions such as the MCA. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Role of the Arts in Early Language and Literacy Development)

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13 pages, 259 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Engaging Methods for Exploring ‘Funds of Identity’ in Early Childhood Contexts

by Jacqueline D’warte and Christine Woodrow

Educ. Sci. 2023, 13(1), 4; https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci13010004 - 20 Dec 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1551

Abstract

Globalisation has contributed to increasing diversity with children and families, bringing multiple languages and cultures into early childhood settings around the world. While this has enhanced our settings, research suggests that educators are struggling to find ways to support children’s learning and development [...] Read more.

Globalisation has contributed to increasing diversity with children and families, bringing multiple languages and cultures into early childhood settings around the world. While this has enhanced our settings, research suggests that educators are struggling to find ways to support children’s learning and development in super diverse contexts. Standardised curriculum and pedagogy have complicated matters by suggesting that all children can achieve the same outcome if given the same program. Failing to recognize and acknowledge the complexity of teaching and learning in diverse settings leads to practices that position children and their families as deficient, viewing children and families based on what they lack rather than building from their strengths. In this manuscript we look through the theoretical lenses of funds of knowledge and funds of identity. The two constructs are brought together to explore how innovative, creative arts-based methods from two different research projects in ECE settings across Australia and Chile made children and families’ funds of knowledge and funds of identity visible and potentially impacted learning, participants’ perspectives, and community engagement in these diverse settings. We offer evidence of the ways arts-based methods promoted creativity and agency for all participants in and across both early learning contexts. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Role of the Arts in Early Language and Literacy Development)

14 pages, 1312 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Pretend Play: Children in Control of a Shifting Narrative

by Lisa Kervin and Jessica Mantei

Educ. Sci. 2022, 12(12), 925; https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci12120925 - 15 Dec 2022

Viewed by 2177

Abstract

Imaginative play is an important part of childhood that provides insight not only into a child’s ability to use language, but ultimately into their understandings of the world more broadly. Through play, children control the story as they shape an emerging narrative through [...] Read more.

Imaginative play is an important part of childhood that provides insight not only into a child’s ability to use language, but ultimately into their understandings of the world more broadly. Through play, children control the story as they shape an emerging narrative through words, gestures, movement, and use of play spaces. In this paper we deconstruct a single instance of imaginative play captured in the home corner of a preschool classroom. The unscripted play dialogue creates a shared and compelling narrative evident in the texts the children created and their ongoing and complex interactions. Microanalysis of this narrative provides a novel insight into the play scenarios children create, the resources they select for developing the play, and the ways they communicate. We focus on discourse, subjectivity, and power to analyse the scenario. The cultural and linguistic resources demonstrated by this group of four-year-old children through their play provides insight not only into their understanding and interpretation of activities conducive to the home corner but also into their emerging social identities. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Role of the Arts in Early Language and Literacy Development)

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12 pages, 262 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Poetry and Motion: Rhythm, Rhyme and Embodiment as Oral Literacy Pedagogy for Young Additional Language Learners

by Natasha Elizabeth Beaumont

Educ. Sci. 2022, 12(12), 905; https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci12120905 - 11 Dec 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2799

Abstract

Literacy pedagogy that integrates oracy, poetry and embodiment can foster children’s language development in multiple ways: (1) oracy is foundational to children’s emergent literacy as writing extends from oral language, (2) poetry uses rhythm and rhyme to support letter-recognition and the learning of [...] Read more.

Literacy pedagogy that integrates oracy, poetry and embodiment can foster children’s language development in multiple ways: (1) oracy is foundational to children’s emergent literacy as writing extends from oral language, (2) poetry uses rhythm and rhyme to support letter-recognition and the learning of phonemes and morphemes, (3) embodiment and roleplay provide semiotic support and opportunities for expressive and receptive communication. This article shares findings from a phenomenological case study investigating how literacy pedagogy that integrated oracy, poetry and embodiment impacted three additional language students aged 6. A series of weekly literacy classes in a school in Sydney’s multicultural western region were observed and recorded on video. This instrument was able to capture ‘micro-moments’ of learning between peers, depicting how physicalisation and the use of rhythm and rhyme effectively engaged students whose first language was not used in the classroom. Using a hermeneutic phenomenological approach to data analysis, case study findings revealed that embodied explorations of poetry immersed participants socially and imaginatively whilst pushing them beyond their additional language comfort zone. The pedagogy was also shown to increase comprehension and support the acquisition of new vocabulary. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Role of the Arts in Early Language and Literacy Development)

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