Implications For Early Childhood Educators Research Articles

Enacting a spiritual pedagogy in the early years: phenomenological reflections on thoughtfulness in practice

ABSTRACT A focus on the spiritual dimensions of childhood has been included in many early childhood education guidelines worldwide. However, understanding the nature of children’s spirituality, and how a spiritual pedagogy can be enacted in practice is still to be understood across the sector. This paper draws on van Manen’s phenomenology of practice to explore the beliefs and practice of one Australian early childhood teacher, who, through consciously drawing from her own life worlds, has intentionally developed and enacted a pedagogy that focused on nurturing young children’s spiritual wellbeing. van Manen’s lifeworld existentials – lived space, lived body, lived time, lived other, were used as lenses through which her pedagogy has been explored. The study revealed that it is the intentionality of practice that leads to spiritual pedagogy. These findings have implications for early childhood educators who are seeking new understandings to inform their own practice.

Gender in children's literature and kindergartener's responses to gender in interactive read‐alouds

AbstractThe underrepresentation of women and the perpetuation of gender stereotypes in children's literature has long been a concern. This study examined the portrayal of women in children's picture books and the potential of interactive read‐alouds to promote gender equity in early childhood education, with the aim of shedding light on gender inequality. This study used critical discourse analysis, theoretically informed by Rosenblatt's transactional theory and gender schema theory, to analyse 19 books and interactive read‐aloud sessions between preservice teachers and children in six preschools. The results showed that books on women's inequality are discussed in three categories: the absence of female characters, gendered discourse, and the perpetuation of traditional women/maternal roles. Using examples from children's interactions, this study highlights the need for critical thinking about gender stereotypes and promoting gender equity in early childhood education. This study contributes to the literature on gender inequality in children's literature and provides practical implications for early childhood educators by emphasizing their critical role in promoting gender equity in children's learning and development.

How Policies and Policy Actors Shape the Pre-K Borderland: Implications for Early Childhood Educators’ Work Experiences

Background/Context: Public prekindergarten (pre-K) is increasingly common in U.S. public schools. The policy decision to house pre-K classrooms in public schools places pre-K teachers in a “borderland of practice,” where the separate worlds of the early childhood and K–12 systems collide. Borderland work has implications for pre-K teachers’ job satisfaction, professional identities, and sense of belonging. Focus of Study: The purpose of this study was to understand how pre-K borderlands come to be constituted and how features of the borderland shape the lived experiences of school-based pre-K teachers. The context for the study was Michigan’s state-funded pre-K program, Great Start Readiness Program. We drew on scholarship in border studies to conceptualize the pre-K borderland as the space around the borders separating early childhood education (ECE) and K–12 systems. We sought to understand how the pre-K borderland was shaped by policies and policy actors and the implications this had for pre-K teachers’ work experiences and well-being. Research Design: This comparative case study was conducted in two Michigan counties during the 2017–2018 school year. Data included interviews and focus groups with district officials (12), interviews with pre-K teachers (28), and interviews with principals (10) and kindergarten teachers (13). Findings: Results indicate that school districts in Michigan provided pre-K through two main implementation models: elementary school and district early learning centers (ELCs). This complicates previous literature that equates school-based pre-K with the elementary model. We found that pre-K teachers in both settings faced challenges that negatively affected their work experiences and well-being. All teachers, regardless of implementation model, struggled to build professional connections with elementary school colleagues. Many also felt unsupported by administrators who lacked an understanding of pre-K. Teachers in elementary buildings had to navigate conflicting policies and building colleagues who perceived their work as “just playing.” Pre-K teachers in district ELCs faced compensation disparities that resulted in low morale and threatened to push them out of pre-K. Taken together, our findings demonstrate that neither borderland—elementary school, district ELC—was ideal, suggesting that the solution to better supporting pre-K teachers does not lie in simply altering one aspect of their work experience. Conclusions/Recommendations: School-based pre-K has multiple meanings and multiple borderlands of practice. Across these borderlands, we note the significance of classroom location decisions, teacher compensation, administrator support, and policy (in)compatibility. We advocate for (1) intentionality around the placement of pre-K classrooms within school districts, (2) compensation parity between pre-K and elementary teachers, (3) increased attention to opportunities for collaboration and professional development, and (4) fostering elementary principals’ understanding of early childhood education so they can better support pre-K teachers.

Home literacy practices in relation to language skills of children living in low‐wealth rural communities

AbstractUsing a sample of 1,117 families living in low‐wealth rural areas, the current study focused on how home literacy practices for 3‐year‐old children were related to the children's language skills at ages 3 and 4. Three types of home literacy practices were explored: parent‐to‐child literacy practices, child literacy practices, and parent literacy practices. Results indicated that a variety of parent‐to‐child and child literacy practices frequently took place. Regression analyses showed that only child literacy practices were positively associated with language outcomes concurrently at age 3 and later at age 4. Findings have implications for early childhood educators and policy makers who may use this information to support literacy practices among families residing in low‐wealth rural areas.Highlights Home literacy practices in rural families were explored in relation to children's language skills. Home literacy practices at age 3 included parent‐to‐child literacy practices, child literacy practices, and parent literacy practices. Only child literacy practices were significantly associated with children's language skills at ages 3 and 4.

Early literacy and child wellbeing: Exploring the efficacy of a home-based literacy intervention on children’s foundational literacy skills

This paper reports on findings from a doctoral study that explored the efficacy of a home-based literacy intervention in advancing preschool children’s foundational literacy skills. Two key cognitive skills critical for early literacy success were examined in particular, those being phonological awareness, and elements of oral language, including vocabulary knowledge, which is the specific skill discussed in this paper. The intervention consisted of two main areas of focus – one, named Rich Reading and Reminiscing (RRR), concentrated on stimulating children’s oral language skills, and the other, called Stimulating Sound Sensitivity (SSS), aimed to generate shifts in children’s phonological awareness abilities. Data sets were gathered with eight children and their families over a twelve-week period, which corresponded with the duration of the intervention. A final set of data was collected six months after the intervention ceased. The study employed a crossover design, where four children and their families participated in the RRR component of the intervention, which ran for six weeks, followed by the SSS portion of the intervention. The remaining four children participated in the same parts of the intervention but in 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 children’s early literacy skills to be more clearly revealed. This paper reports on two children – one from each cohort – whose results are evidence of the efficacy of the intervention in advancing key aspects of children’s foundational literacy skills. Key Findings The children who participated in the RRR component of the intervention first showed improvements in vocabulary knowledge mid-intervention. Conversely, the children who participated in the SSS component first made gains in their phonological awareness skills before the other cohort of children did. These findings have implications for early childhood educators and families concerning the strategies adopted by these stakeholders which aim to foster strong cognitive skills critical for literacy success.

I Love My Hair: The Weaponizing of Black Girls Hair by Educators in Early Childhood Education

The study explored the experiences and perceptions of Black girls as conveyed through the narratives of their parents. In particular, this study focused on racial microaggressions in early childhood education (preschool through third grade). The study employed narratives written by 44 parents of Black children. Ultimately, their narratives demonstrated that Black hair was viewed as a marker of second-class citizenship and as an indicator of defilement. The individuals communicating these microaggressions ranged from educators to other children in the classroom. Negative messages about Black hair are particularly concerning in early childhood education, especially given the important role early learning has on children’s formative development. Implications for early childhood educators are extended.

Activity settings in toddler classrooms and quality of group and individual interactions

This study examined the variation of interaction quality both at the group and child levels across different activity settings in toddler classrooms. Participants were 104 children, with an average of 30.4 months old, of which 53.8% were boys. Educator-child interactions, at the group level, and child interactions with their educators, peers and tasks, at the child level, were observed through video-recordings across four activity settings, namely free play, early academic activities, aesthetics/arts activities and meals. Group level interactions were observed with the CLASS Toddler, and child level interactions with the inCLASS Toddler. Results showed that the quality of interactions at the group and child levels varied across different activity settings, but not always in the same direction. Findings suggest that activity settings play an important role in explaining the quality of interactions experienced by toddlers. Implications for early childhood educators are discussed.

Adults’ responses to young children’s transgressions: a new method for understanding everyday social interactions

ABSTRACT Young children’s misbehaviours can be challenging to interpret, evaluate, and intervene on. In turn, adults’ interventions on children’s transgressions inform children about how others view their actions. In the current research, we examined adult responses to recordings of everyday transgressions committed by young children. This research adopted a new method for assessing adults’ interpretations, evaluations, and proposed interventions in response to children’s transgressions. In two studies, participants watched videos of young children engaging in actions that could be considered wrong, such as hitting someone else or making a mess. Across both studies, adults expressed uncertainty about how to interpret children’s transgressions. Different transgressions led adults to make different intention attributions and evaluations, which in turn related to how they said they would intervene on the child’s behaviour. This research has implications for early childhood educators, and develops a new tool for investigating these implications.

Muddy knees and muddy needs: parents perceptions of outdoor learning

ABSTRACT Research highlights that children across the UK access the outdoors less than previous generations, often at levels below that prescribed by the United Nations as a basic level of outdoor access for prisoners. School staff and parents are intrinsic partners in facilitating children’s access to the outdoors and the associated learning opportunities it presents. There exists however a complex set of relationships and perceptions governing the dynamics of these relationships and the resultant access to opportunities presented by learning outdoors. This paper aims to explore these perceptions by examining data collected through a combination of questionnaires and interviews with parents and teachers. The results indicate a significant disconnect in parent and teacher perceptions related to the purpose and opportunities for learning outdoors. These findings have a range of important implications for early childhood educators, parents and others looking to promote the outdoors as a learning environment across the foundation stage.

Exploring Collectivist Approaches for Supporting Young Children’s Narrative Skills

Early narrative skills are predictive of later academic success, and caregivers from different cultural backgrounds use different narrative styles when supporting children’s expressive language skills. Most recommendations for practice have been derived from observations of caregivers from individualistic cultural backgrounds who typically engage in an elaborative style of narrative support. Caregivers from collectivistic cultural backgrounds, however, engage in culturally unique strategies when supporting young children’s narrative skills. This study explored the strategies used by caregivers from collectivistic cultural backgrounds living in the U.S. while promoting narrative skills in young children. The naturalistic conversations of forty (N = 40) children and their caregivers were observed in their home, recorded, and transcribed verbatim. The results of this study have shown that caregivers relied heavily on a participatory style of conversation when engaging young children in narratives. The results have also shown that participatory styles were effective at promoting complex narrative skills in young children. Implications for early childhood educators are discussed.

“The Mouse Looks Like a Boy”: Young Children’s Talk About Gender Across Human and Nonhuman Characters in Picture Books

Recent study on gender representation in children’s literature has focused on the representations themselves, while there is less research regarding how children talk about these depictions in texts. Our work, a qualitative study of how kindergarten-aged children discuss gender during picture book read-alouds, examined how children drew on the social binary of boy/girl as they made sense of the human and non-human characters’ identities. The study looked at how children responded to questions about gender across both ambiguously-gendered characters and texts where gender norms were deliberately questioned. The findings expressed in this paper provide insight into how students’ previous experiences, along with classroom norms and text choice, influence student response. Specifically, we found that children drew on similar social norms and gendered expectations across all character types, demonstrating the importance of these societal categories on their comprehension of texts and on their sense-making of their lives and classrooms. The paper ends with implications for early childhood educators in allowing for more diverse representations when selecting texts and deliberate listening to student conversations to recognize how young learners perceive gender and identity.

Parent-school relationships and young adopted children’s psychological adjustment in lesbian-, gay-, and heterosexual-parent families

Almost no research has examined the role of parent-school relationships in relation to child psychological functioning in adoptive families or same-sex parent families, much less same-sex adoptive families. Yet adoptive families, and particularly same-sex adoptive families, may be vulnerable to marginalization in the school setting, which could have implications for child adjustment. Using parent reports, in a sample of 106 lesbian, gay, and heterosexual adoptive parent families with young children (Mage=3.38years at T1 and 5.42 years at T2), this study examined T1 parent-school relationships (school involvement, parent-teacher relationship quality, parent-school contact about child problems, and perceived acceptance by other parents) and adoption-specific school experiences at T1 (i.e., parent input about classroom inclusion and parent-teacher conflicts related to adoptive family status) in relation to children’s later (T2) internalizing and externalizing symptoms, controlling for T1 symptoms. Follow-up analyses assessed these predictors in relation to concurrent (T1) symptoms. Family context and demographic variables were included as controls. Parents’ school involvement was negatively related to later internalizing symptoms; providing input to teachers about inclusion, and parent-teacher conflicts related to adoption, were both positively related to later internalizing symptoms. Perceived acceptance by other parents was negatively related to later internalizing and externalizing symptoms. School-initiated contact about child problems more strongly predicted higher externalizing symptoms in same-sex parent families than heterosexual parent families. Cross-sectional analyses (T1 predictors in relation to T1 child outcomes) revealed a somewhat different set of findings: most notably, parents’ school involvement was negatively related to externalizing symptoms. Findings have implications for early childhood educators and school administrators who seek to improve diverse family-school partnerships to enhance children’s emotional and behavioral well-being.

Lending a helping hand for English-Chinese bilingual children’s idiom comprehension and retention: implications for early childhood educators

ABSTRACTIdiom comprehension and production reflect a child’s language competence. Research suggests that there is a positive relationship between children’s reading comprehension skills and their idiom understanding. This study examines whether adult verbal scaffolding, in conjunction with the deliberate use of iconic gestures, can facilitate young bilingual children’s comprehension and retention of idiomatic expressions in their different languages. Twenty-three five-year-old English-Chinese bilingual children learned novel idioms across two experimental conditions. In Experiment 1, a native Chinese-speaking adult and a native English-speaking adult, respectively, taught children a set of Chinese and English idioms via speech only. In Experiment 2, the same adults, respectively, taught a different set of Chinese and English idioms via speech–gesture combinations. The results suggest that children could comprehend more idioms in both languages after being taught via the speech–gesture modality than the speech-only modality. They also tended to retain more idioms taught in the speech–gesture modality than in the speech-only modality in both languages. Moreover, those children who scored high in their idiom comprehension and retention also scored high both in their recast of the gestures used by the adults and in their rate of speech–gesture mismatches. Educational implications for early childhood settings are discussed.

Implicit theories and naïve beliefs: Using the theory of practice architectures to deconstruct the practices of early childhood educators

This article proposes utilising the theory of practice architectures to uncover and make explicit the beliefs and implicit theories of early childhood educators, as well as to examine the conditions out of which they have emerged. The beliefs and implicit theories of early childhood educators influence many early childhood practices and play a significant role in guiding the pedagogical experiences of children. Aimed at identifying elements of practice that constrain and enable praxis, the theory of practice architectures has been effectively applied in tertiary, secondary and primary education, but has had limited use in early childhood education contexts. The article explores its potential for helping educators better articulate their practices and applies the theory to examine a number of discursive, material and social influences that shape (and are shaped by) early childhood practice. Implications for early childhood educators’ praxis are framed in the context of contemporary challenges of early childhood education.

Classroom quality and academic skills: Approaches to learning as a moderator.

The purpose of this study was to examine whether approaches to learning moderated the association between child care classroom environment and Head Start children's academic skills. The data came from the Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey (FACES-2003 Cohort). The dataset is a nationally representative longitudinal study of Head Start children. The sample was selected using the stratified 4-stage sampling procedure. Data was collected in fall 2003, spring 2004, spring 2005, and spring 2006 in the first year of kindergarten. Participants included 3- and 4-year-old Head Start children (n = 786; 387 boys, 399 girls; 119 Hispanic children, 280 African American children, 312 Caucasian children). Head Start children's academic skills in letter-word identification, dictation/spelling, and mathematics at the 4 time points were measured by the Woodcock-Johnson Achievement Battery tests. Approaches to learning in fall 2003 was measured by the teacher report of the Preschool Learning Behaviors Scale. Child care classroom quality in fall 2003 was measured by the revised Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale. Results of the linear mixed effects models demonstrated that approaches to learning significantly moderated the effect of child care classroom quality on Head Start children's writing and spelling. Specifically, positive approaches to learning mitigated the negative effect of lower levels of classroom quality on dictation/spelling. Results underscore the important role of approaches to learning as a protective factor. Implications for early childhood educators with an emphasis on learning goals for disengaged children are discussed.

Towards a framework for the validation of early childhood assessment systems

American early childhood education is in the midst of drastic change. In recent years, states have begun the process of overhauling early childhood education systems in response to federal grant competitions, bringing an increased focus on assessment and accountability for early learning programs. The assessment of young children is fraught with challenges; psychometricians and educational researchers must work together with the early childhood community to develop these instruments. The purpose of this paper is to present a conceptual framework for the validation of such instrumentation and examine its implications for early childhood educators. We formulate a validity argument for early childhood assessments providing a pivotal link between validity theory and early education practice. Recommendations for the assessment field are also considered.

The impact of program structure on cortisol patterning in children attending out-of-home child care

Full-day center-based child care has repeatedly been associated with rising levels of cortisol, a hormone that helps the body manage challenge, across the day at child care. This article presents findings from two studies examining the relationship between child care program structure (number of days per week, and hours per day) and cortisol production across the day. Study 1 presents findings comparing cortisol production in 3- to 5-year-old children enrolled in either full-day (N=55) or half-day (N=63) Head-Start-funded programs. Study 2 presents findings comparing young children enrolled in either full-day full-time (5 days per week; N=37) or full-day part-time (2–3days/week; N=41) primarily tuition-funded programs. Using multilevel modeling and controlling for a number of child factors, attending full-day, full-time programs (as compared to either half-day or part-time programs) was associated with increased cortisol production across the day on child care and home days. Implications for early childhood educators are discussed.

Drawing Children Into Reading: a qualitative case study of a preschool drawing curriculum

This article details a qualitative case study of 24 preschool children engaged with step-by-step drawing instruction provided by five educators as they developed their fine motor skills and drew detailed objects using the Drawing Children Into Reading curriculum (Halperin, W. A. (2011a). Project 50 preschool manual. South Haven, MI: Drawing Children Into Reading. Retrieved from www.drawingchildrenintoreading.com). Although teachers and families reported observing improvement in handwriting and pencil grips, step-by-step drawing instruction was not necessarily the catalyst for such improvement. The author discusses the implications for early childhood educators and provides strategies for handwriting instruction to support students’ overall writing development. Handwriting instruction for early elementary students is a necessity because it impacts students’ reading and writing development. Teachers should begin with drawing lessons that lead to handwriting instruction, which must include explicit teaching of letter naming and letter formation, while providing encouragement for appropriate pencil grip. Legibility and writing fluency improve with continued handwriting instruction and practice, which impact the quality and quantity of students’ writing.

Cross-lag analysis of longitudinal associations between primary school students’ writing and reading skills

The present study examined the relationship between reading (i.e., rapidity and accuracy) and writing competences (i.e., fluency, accuracy, and composition skills) of Italian children in the first and second grade. The performance of seventy-five children was longitudinally assessed over a 2-year period. Results demonstrated that reading and spelling were stable across the first two grades of primary school. Cross-lagged analyses suggested that spelling plays a pivotal role in the acquisition of formal literacy, especially within a transparent writing system like that of our Italian participants. Early progress in spelling becomes a resource for later reading acquisition. However, spelling did not correlate with the composition component of writing, suggesting the independence of these two processes. Results have implications for early childhood educators on the design and delivery of writing and reading instruction.

“You don’t need to be mean. We’re friends, Right?”: Young Korean-American children’s conflicts and references to friendship

In the eyes of adults, conflicts between children are often treated as problematic social interactions that should be prevented. This study describes how young Korean–American children’s conflict negotiation was a central part of their peer culture at a Korean heritage language school in the United States. Eleven young Korean–American children attending a Korean heritage language school, their guardians (mothers and grandmothers), two pre-kindergarten classroom teachers, and two school staff members at a Korean heritage language school were recruited as participants. Data were collected through participant observation, formal and informal interviews, and artifact collection during an academic year. The analysis showed that the heritage language school highly valued the traditional Korean culture in many different ways, and that the ways in which the young Korean–American children negotiated conflicts reflected the ideal of group harmony that is highly valued in the Korean cultural community. This study concludes with implications for early childhood educators working with young children from different cultural backgrounds.