Abstract
The present study was designed to investigate whether or not preschool children's classroom activities and interactions vary according to the power structure of their relationships. We examined the frequencies of children's play and problem-solving activities, and management, collaboration, and assistance interactions in these activities as a function of children's relationships with their teachers and peers. We had two expectations: 1) Preschool children would engage in problem-solving activities with their teachers, who are inherently more powerful; but they would engage in play activities with their peers with whom they share power. 2) Teacher–child interactions would involve primarily management and assistance but child-peer interactions would involve collaborations. We observed 55 children during their free-activity, noting partners, and narrating the actions and utterances of all the participants in writing during the observations. Our analyses were based on the coding of narratives, and they revealed that the power structure of children's relationships plays a role in their activities and interactions. We found that children's problem-solving occurred with both teachers and peers. Play activities occurred overwhelmingly with peers. Management and assistance took place mostly in teacher–child interaction, but collaboration occurred primarily with peers. These findings support the developmental theory that adults and peers contribute to children's development and education through different kinds of activities and interactions.
Published Version
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