Preschool as an Arena for Developing Teacher Knowledge Concerning Children’s Language Learning

Abstract

The most important benefits of international comparisons are the indications that make hidden national characteristics visible and shed new light on the system in each country. From a comparative perspective, this article explores what Swedish and Norwegian preschool teachers emphasise as important to preschool student teachers about preschool as an arena for children's language learning. The theoretical framework of the study is based on ecological system theories (Bronfenbrenner in The ecology of human development, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, 1979; Bronfenbrenner in Dev Psychology 22(6): [723][724][725][726][727][728][729][730][731][732][733][734][735][736][737][738][739][740][741][742] 1986) and socio-cultural theories concerning language learning (Vygotsky in Thought and language, MIT Press, Cambridge, 1986). The data are produced through interviews with 69 Swedish and 35 Norwegian preschool teachers. The analyses focused on what the preschool teachers stated to be the most important elements to work with concerning children's language learning, how and why they worked like this, and what rationales may have led to their pedagogy. The two countries seem quite alike in terms of the values embedded in early childhood education and political ideas concerning a rich childhood based on play and democratic ideals. By comparing the two countries, the results reveal differences that can lead to a deeper knowledge of cultural concepts that are often taken for granted, such as pedagogical approaches, and how these create different conditions for children's preschool language learning.

Climbing, Hiding and Having Fun: Schoolchildren’s Memories of Holistic Learning in a Norwegian Kindergarten

“…Though the idea of scaffolding is central in early child hood teacher education and research, pedagogic practice in Norway has been found to favour flexibility, relationships and the here and now, rather than interacting with children with the aim of developing certain knowledge and skill sets (Børhaug et al, 2018). Sheridan and Gjems (2017) found for example that preschool teachers spend time listening and having casual conversations with children, rather than intention ally expanding on children's conceptual understandings with additional knowledge and suggests that the social pedagogical emphasis on children's participation could cause preschool teachers to resist teaching. Karlsen and Lekhal (2019) also note so called lowquality interactions between preschool teachers and children in Norwegian ECEC centres, characterized by short interactions that do not attempt to extend chil dren's thinking, but only to support or encourage their play.…”

Fatores De Risco E De Proteção Para Atrasos No Desenvolvimento Da Linguagem

“…O desenvolvimento adequado da linguagem oral na infância é reconhecido como sendo fundamental para que a criança desenvolva outras habilidades e se socialize (Sheridan & Gjems, 2017). A literatura destaca que o desenvolvimento da linguagem é condição para a aquisição das habilidades de leitura e escrita, sendo essas, por seu turno, requisitos para o desempenho escolar satisfatório (França, Wolff, Moojen, & Rotta, 2004).…”

The concept of language in the Swedish preschool curriculum: A theoretical and empirical examination of its productions

“…When educators then plan and perform activities aiming to benefit preschoolers' language, they presumably take their starting point as theories they are familiar with and have learned during their training, and what research has more or less explicitly presented as the best and most applicable (Hvit, 2015;Norling, 2014;Sheridan and Gjems, 2017). What the research literature, as well as assessments of Swedish preschool services, then shows is that it seems theories within the sociocultural field, together with social constructionism and sometimes post-perspectives, are the priority in educators' interpretation of the curriculum (Brostr€ om et al, 2014;Jonsson et al, 2017;Sheridan and Williams, 2018;Swedish Schools Inspectorate, 2018 (henceforth SSI); Tallberg Broman et al, 2015;Vallberg Roth, 2018).…”