Literacy as a social practice in the early years and the effects of the arts: a case study

Early Child Development and Care

2017

Self Cite

Literacy is one of the most important areas of development in the early years settings. Several pieces of research examine the positive impact of the arts in children's literacy development. However, most of them are focusing on specific literacy skills and not in providing a holistic examination of literacy. In addition to this, they adapt a structured methodology, with pre-decided lesson plans, which is contradicting with the liberal character of the arts. Having this in mind along with the importance of literacy as an area of learning, this research project was designed with the purpose to examine the effects of the arts on children's holistic literacy development in the early years settings through a child-led approach. The 'Play and Learn through the Arts' (PLA) programme was used for a school year in a case study with 5-6-year-old children in Greece. The outcomes were measured using a mix-method approach. The findings showed the positive contribution of the PLA in children's literacy development.

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The 'Play and Learn Through The Arts' (Pla) Programmementioning

confidence: 99%

Examining literacy development holistically using the Play and Learn through the Arts (PLA) programme: a case study

Early Child Development and Care

2017

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“…The literature review shows that there is a need for more research that examines children's involvement during school activities, especially in the early years, using an interdisciplinary approach with the arts. This argument and the findings of small-scale pieces of research with such a focus (see Theodotou 2017aTheodotou , 2017bTheodotou , 2017cTheodotou , 2015 were the motivating factors for this piece of research. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of 'Play and Learn through the Arts' (PLA) program on children's involvement during literacy activities.…”

Section: Purposementioning

confidence: 99%

Using different art forms to investigate the impact on children’s involvement in literacy activities

2018

Education 3-13

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Using different art forms to investigate the impact on children's involvement in literacy activities Much of the research into factors that affect children's school performance has focused on parental involvement rather than the nature of children's activities undertaken in school. More research is therefore needed to examine the kinds of activities that affect performance and, in particular, whether the degree of involvement children experience in those activities can affect school performance. Children in free play often choose to be involved in arts activities so the arts could be considered as a promising approach. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of 'Play and Learn through the Arts' program on children's involvement during literacy activities in five-six-year-old children. It was examined if the arts in general or a specific art form could contribute more to children's involvement in literacy activities. Children from four different settings participated in this study. To measure the outcome of the intervention the LIS-YC was used and items such as children's concentration, persistence and precision were measured. The findings were analyzed using a mixed method approach and showed significant benefits in all the items in children's levels of involvement in the arts group over the control group and no difference in effects among the different art forms.

“…PLA is an interdisciplinary programme that was introduced as a teaching approach for the early years in a previous publication (Theodotou, 2017a) as a means to support children to raise their own voice during learning activities and improve their learning journey in literacy. It is not a commercialized programme, hence there is no obligation for a financial expenditure to third parties.…”

Section: The 'Play and Learn Through The Arts' (Pla) Programmementioning

confidence: 99%

“…The art intervention focused on 3 different art forms such as paintings, drama and puppetry and used the 'Play and Learn through the Arts' (PLA) programme, which is a non-commercial programme and can be used without any financial expenditure to third parties. PLA was initially introduced as a teaching approach to support children's development in literacy (Theodotou, 2017a;.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An empirical study comparing different art forms to develop social and personal skills in early years education

2019

Education 3-13

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in the research area of "Literacy skills in the early years settings". She has more than 10 years of professional experience as a head teacher in the Early Years Settings and more than 9 years in Higher Education as a Lecturer/Visiting Lecturer in Early Childhood Studies. She has been for 4 years the Program Leader in Education Department in Metropolitan College. Her research activity is focused on literacy, the arts, creativity and technology enhanced learning. She has participated in several research projects and published her research in International Conferences, Journals, edited books and monographs. She is the author of "When I play I learn… and I better understand" from Delta publications and of "Creativity in the era of New Technologies" from Kritiki publications. She has been a member in several Scientific Review Committees and organized several special sessions in International Conferences.