Educational dialogues refer to extended verbal exchange between the teacher and children, during which teacher and children ask questions, listen to each other and share their points of view (e.g., Alexander, 2006). Educational dialogues are typically differentiated from educational interactions following Initiation-Response-Feedback (IRF) pattern (Sinclair & Coulthard, 1975) and from less purposefully oriented social sharing. The daily interactions in early childhood education and care (ECEC) settings provide multiple opportunities for educational dialogues to emerge. Socioculturally oriented research (Rogoff, 2003; Mercer & Littleton, 2007) emphasizes that the development of language and thinking take place in the interaction with social and cultural environments. Thus, it is also reasonable to conjure that educational dialogues reflect the prevailing cultural contexts and educational systems within different countries. The aim of the current study was to identify patterns of educational dialogues within the ECEC classrooms for 3–5-year old children in 7 European countries. The research questions were: 1) What kind of educational dialogues can be identified in the 3–5-year-olds classrooms during academic activities and free play? and 2) How does teacher’s pedagogical practices support and enhance educational dialogues in classroom? The data has been gathered from 28 ECEC classrooms for 3–5-year old children in seven European countries: England, Finland, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, and Portugal. Teacher-child interaction was video recorded in 20 minute segments during free play, academic activities, daily routines (i.e., lunch) and creative activities within each of the countries. For this study, the micro analysis were made from video data of academic activities and free play (n = 28 videos) using qualitative content analysis (e.g., Patton, 2002). The educational dialogues were identified by reflecting the criteria set by Alexander (2006) and Muhonen et al. (2016). Altogether 20 potential interactional episodes were identified. First, the results indicate that educational dialogues occur relatively rarely within the classrooms of 3–5-year old children. Second, the analysis revealed that four episodes of educational dialogue were identified from academic activities. Third, emerging educational dialogues (5 episodes) were observed during free play where dialogues were taking place between teacher and one (or two) child and they were facilitated in order to enrich play or verbally label what children were doing, rather than having a clear focus on expanding shared understanding via dialogue. Further, educational dialogues were highly dependent on the teacher’s ability to facilitate and construct the dialogue (create a dialogical space) together with the children as well as on the situational factors of the learning environment. As the results indicated the importance of teachers establishing sensitive stance toward children’s needs and initiations in order to actively support the emerging talk and dialogue in the classroom, the practical results of this study have particular significance in teacher education and in developing the pedagogical practices in the ECEC.

Salminen, J., Lerkkanen, M., Slot, P., Cadima, J., Pastori, G. (2016). Educational dialogues in the ECEC classrooms. In Conference book, Bridging multiple perspectives in Early Childhood Education 29 June, July 1 2016.

Educational dialogues in the ECEC classrooms

PASTORI, GIULIA GABRIELLA
Ultimo
2016

Abstract

Educational dialogues refer to extended verbal exchange between the teacher and children, during which teacher and children ask questions, listen to each other and share their points of view (e.g., Alexander, 2006). Educational dialogues are typically differentiated from educational interactions following Initiation-Response-Feedback (IRF) pattern (Sinclair & Coulthard, 1975) and from less purposefully oriented social sharing. The daily interactions in early childhood education and care (ECEC) settings provide multiple opportunities for educational dialogues to emerge. Socioculturally oriented research (Rogoff, 2003; Mercer & Littleton, 2007) emphasizes that the development of language and thinking take place in the interaction with social and cultural environments. Thus, it is also reasonable to conjure that educational dialogues reflect the prevailing cultural contexts and educational systems within different countries. The aim of the current study was to identify patterns of educational dialogues within the ECEC classrooms for 3–5-year old children in 7 European countries. The research questions were: 1) What kind of educational dialogues can be identified in the 3–5-year-olds classrooms during academic activities and free play? and 2) How does teacher’s pedagogical practices support and enhance educational dialogues in classroom? The data has been gathered from 28 ECEC classrooms for 3–5-year old children in seven European countries: England, Finland, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, and Portugal. Teacher-child interaction was video recorded in 20 minute segments during free play, academic activities, daily routines (i.e., lunch) and creative activities within each of the countries. For this study, the micro analysis were made from video data of academic activities and free play (n = 28 videos) using qualitative content analysis (e.g., Patton, 2002). The educational dialogues were identified by reflecting the criteria set by Alexander (2006) and Muhonen et al. (2016). Altogether 20 potential interactional episodes were identified. First, the results indicate that educational dialogues occur relatively rarely within the classrooms of 3–5-year old children. Second, the analysis revealed that four episodes of educational dialogue were identified from academic activities. Third, emerging educational dialogues (5 episodes) were observed during free play where dialogues were taking place between teacher and one (or two) child and they were facilitated in order to enrich play or verbally label what children were doing, rather than having a clear focus on expanding shared understanding via dialogue. Further, educational dialogues were highly dependent on the teacher’s ability to facilitate and construct the dialogue (create a dialogical space) together with the children as well as on the situational factors of the learning environment. As the results indicated the importance of teachers establishing sensitive stance toward children’s needs and initiations in order to actively support the emerging talk and dialogue in the classroom, the practical results of this study have particular significance in teacher education and in developing the pedagogical practices in the ECEC.
abstract + slide
Early Childhood Curriculum, Quality, Evaluation, Dialogues Analysis
English
EARLI – SIG5 Learning and Development in Early Childhood. Bridging multiple perspectives in Early Childhood Education
4° biennale
Conference book, Bridging multiple perspectives in Early Childhood Education 29 June, July 1 2016
2016
none
Salminen, J., Lerkkanen, M., Slot, P., Cadima, J., Pastori, G. (2016). Educational dialogues in the ECEC classrooms. In Conference book, Bridging multiple perspectives in Early Childhood Education 29 June, July 1 2016.
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/10281/146821
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