Rules and agreements — And becoming a preschool community of learners

Abstract

K The study presented here discusses rules and agreements in a preschool group from the viewpoint of the development of a community of learners. What kinds of rules and agreements exist in the preschool group, how they are articulated and how they are adopted at the beginning of the preschool year were the questions addressed in this small-scale ethnographie study. Three types of rules, often called agreements in preschools, were found in the group: conventional, moral and prudential rules. Conventional rules were mentioned and reJerred to most frequently, by both teachers and children~ The most typical way of articulating a rule was stating the rule or reminding others of it. Many rules referred to by teachers had to do with formal measures for maintaining group cohesion, thus directly contributing to the feeling of togetherness in the group and aiming at the development of a learners' community. However, .from the standpoint of adherence to rules and agreements only, the data suggested that during the first preschool term the group had not yet developed into a genuine community of learners. The children still had to learn that "everyone must have peace in which to play, learn and work"." in the target preschool the adoption of this rule was articulated as an important criterion for a true learners' community. RESUME:Le present article porte sur les r~gles et les" contrats au sein d'un groupe de jeunes enfants du point de rue du d~veloppement d'une communaut( d'apprenants. Les questions posOes au cours de cette analyse ethnographique gt petite ~chelle Otaient les suivantes: quels types de r~gles et de contrats existe-t-il clans un groupe prOscolair¢ comment sont-ils pos~s et comment sont-ils adopt6s en d~but d'annOe? Trois types de r~gles, souvent appelOes "contrats pr~scolaires ", ont ~tO trouv6s: des rOgles concernant les conventions, la morale et la s~curitO. Les mentions et r~j{rences relatives aux conventions se sont av~r~es les plus JPOquentes, chez les enseignants comme chez les enfants. La mani~re la plus typique de poser une rg'gle est son affirmation ou son rappel ~ autrui. De nombreuses r~gles, chez les enseignants, touchent aux mesures formelles pour maintenir la cohOsion du groupe, qui contribuent directement au sentiment de "togetherness '" (sentiment d'appartenance, d'Otre ensemble) et visent le d~veloppement de la communaut~ des apprenants. Cependant, en ce qui concerne l "adoption de ces rbgles et contrats, les donn~es indiqent que, pendant le premier trimestre, le groupe d'en[ants n 'est pas une vOritable communaut~ d'apprenants. Les enfants doivent encore apprendre que a tout un chacun doit avoir la paix pour jouer, apprendre et travailler ~. clans le cas precis de notre service pr~;scolaire, l 'adoption de la r~,gle est pos{e comme un crit~,re important d 'une vOritable communautO d "apprenants. ZUSAMMENFASSUNG." In diesem Artikel wird eine kleine ethnografische Untersuchung vorgestellt, die die Regeln und Vereinbarungen einer Vorschulgruppe aus dem Blickwinkel der Entwickhmg der Lernenden zu...

Building children’s sense of community in a day care centre through small groups in play

“…At the same time, on the community/institutional plane the children, together and with the teachers, were learning the rules and norms of the group (Hännikäinen 2005). As Rogoff (1998) states, it is essential to acknowledge the mutual interconnectedness and constitution of personal, social and cultural processes, while also allowing for the influence of the individual child on the peer group culture through participation in its practices.…”

“…Children have the need to signal affiliation through togetherness, but at the same time they create rules, rituals and routines as well as discourses and specific activities to maintain their group's 5 boundaries and exclude others (Fernie, Kantor, and Whaley 1995;Ladd 2005). These practices regulate children's mutual activities and relationships (Hännikäinen 2005).…”

“…At the same time as each individual learns social skills in interaction with others, the whole group learns how to behave as a group on the interpersonal and community/institutional planes (Rogoff 1998). This includes, for example, appropriating the peer culture through learning shared rules and norms, ways of interaction and specific activities, and the social structure that is constructed and 6 maintained in the group over time (Hännikäinen 2005;Williams 2001). Influence in the child group seems to occur at two levels.…”

“…From a sociocultural perspective, children are viewed as gradually appropriating the knowledge needed to function in their communities (John-Steiner and Mahn 1996;Rogoff 2003). In the day care centre this includes, for example, knowledge of the rules and norms, allowed ways of interacting, group boundaries and what constitutes socially acceptable behaviour (Hännikäinen 2005). Each community is always socially constructed, which explains why it is both an outcome of a process and yet constantly changing.…”

Case study on teachers’ contribution to children’s participation in Finnish preschool classrooms during structured learning sessions

“…According to recent studies the essential features that encourage children to participate are when teacher's interest comes close to children's own views (Emilson & Folkesson, 2006), when rules are negotiated and shared (e.g. Bohn, Roehrig, & Pressley, 2004;Hännikäinen, 2005) and when teachers provide children with a feeling of being part of the group and of being listened to (Hännikäinen & Rasku-Puttonen, 2010;Johansson & Sandberg, 2010).…”