Teaching in the iWorld: developing a repertoire of pedagogical discourse around the usage of touch screen devices in early years classrooms

 Touch-screen devices have been enthusiastically adopted by schools across Australia and Canada. Their ease of use means that they are accessible by very young children, and these children often have free access to these devices in their home, however the devices tend to be ‘domesticated’ in the school context (O’Mara and Laidlaw, 2011). In the short period of their availability, a plethora of educational applications have been developed for these devices. This paper addresses emergent themes from our 2011-2013 Canadian/Australian project, Literacy learning in playful spaces: using multi-modal strategies to develop narrative with young learners, funded by the Canadian Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (Insight Development Grant). In our analysis of the discourse around the introduction of portable touch screen devices into school literacy classes (published texts, teacher interviews, classroom observations), we noted that much of the public discourse is slanted towards the idea of “teacher-proofing” the curriculum. Initially the teachers we have been working with saw the apps themselves as complete, as doing all the work and the discourse around the devices was around what apps are “best”, and “is there an app for that?” It was only with more experience and time that teachers were able to harness the range of affordances of the devices—their capacity for recording audio, video, pictures etc., and start to categorise the apps themselves. In this paper we suggest ways in which current literacy models might be used to develop a repertoire of pedagogical discourse around these devices, providing language and framings for teachers to think about how these new tools might best be used to enhance literacy teaching and learning. O’Mara, J. & Laidlaw, L. (2011). Living in the iWorld: Two literacy researchers reflect on the changing texts and literacy practices of childhood. English Teaching: Practice and Critique 10 (4): 149-159. Available: http://edlinked.soe.waikato.ac.nz/research/journal/view.php?article=true&id=754&p=1

Early years education in the primary years programme: implementation strategies and programme outcomes

This mixed-methods study investigated implementation strategies and child learning outcomes in early years education in the Primary Years Programme. Researchers from Deakin University evaluated processes and outcomes in four early years programmes, two in Singapore and two in Melbourne, Australia. Researchers collected qualitative data through classroom observations, drawings and writing produced by children, and interviews with educators, coordinators and parents. Quantitative data was collected through assessments of children’s literacy, developmental school readiness and learning skills. Three of the early years programmes appeared to support the development of learner profile attributes through inquiry-led learning and play-based approaches, while one site in Singapore was still in a developmental stage of implementing the programme. The study suggested that literacy skills at all sites were fairly developed; that children were performing at levels commensurate with or better in terms of school readiness; and that children were developing learning skills at higher rates than a comparative sample.

Leadership and management in the early years

This book has been written for all leaders and aspiring leaders with responsibility for improving the quality of early years settings. It brings together current research and effective practice to provide you with the knowledge, understanding and skills you need to motivate and get the best from your team, identify and develop your personal leadership style and clarify your vision for quality.

Supporting resilience in early years classrooms: the role of the teacher

It is an accepted fact that resilience is a multifaceted phenomenon which has been proven to affect the learning, growth and development of individuals. A childs formative years are a time when resilience needs to be promoted so they can cope with the challenges of life. This paper reports some of the findings of an Australian Research Council-funded longitudinal study which investigated resilience in the context of significant transitions in the lives of children and young adults. This study explored the conditions and characteristics of resilience, looking at the educational, health, work-related or leisure interventions that support and foster resilience. Outlined in this paper are findings from the early years cohort of the study involving teachers pedagogy informing the practical approaches and strategies that promote and protect resilience in young children. It is argued that teachers working with young children need to be mindful of using enabling strategies in which their practice works purposively with the school environment and the building of relationships.

Airplane grows in the tummy of clouds: living through relations in the early years of life

Using a child's expression that illustrates his mental image of constituted relations of living things, the author conceptualizes relationality, an interrelated view of being, and its importance for early childhood education. The difference between relation and interaction, and the significance of inter-human relationship are discussed as significant aspects for early childhood teachers to understand as they work with children. In particular, this paper seeks to provide insights into the potential contribution of relationality towards early childhood teaching practice.

Integrated practice in the early years in Australia: The assumptions, omissions and contradictions of policy reform

The aim of this article is to examine current national early years’ policy reform, which emphasises the importance of service integration, national quality standards and a quality knowledge base for educators concerning the provision of early childhood education and care. Using Queensland, Australia, as an example, a policy discourse analysis identifies two problematics of implementing current national policy – the early childhood education and care problematic and the integration problematic. The article argues that speedy implementation of a national policy in order to meet national targets has unintended consequences for the knowledge base of educators and the possibility of collaboration within service provision. Although government commitment in this area is evident, these consequences and the current difficulties surrounding integration are the result of the lack of a specific integration strategy, and government investment focussed on the development of an integrated workforce.

Young children learning about well-being and environmental education in the early years: a funds of knowledge approach

Early childhood educators currently provide content focused learning opportunities for children in the areas of well-being and environmental education. However, these are usually seen as discrete content areas and educators are challenged with responding to children’s interests in popular-culture inspired food products given these influence their consumption of energy-dense, nutrient-poor and highly packaged food in the early childhood setting. This paper reports preliminary findings from a pilot randomised trial examining the interconnectedness of sustainability, well-being and popular-culture in early childhood education. Planning, assessment documentation and summaries from twenty-four learning experiences implemented by six educators over a six-week period were analysed using a deductive approach. Twenty well-being and environmental education topics were identified and shown to be generated by the educators when considering the children’s ‘funds of knowledge’ on popular-culture inspired food products. We argue that topics derived from children’s engagement with popular-culture may help educators to create an integrated approach to curriculum provision. This may impact child weight and facilitate obesity prevention and environmental sustainability as children create stronger connections between these content areas and their everyday choices and practices.

We're offering true play-based learning: teacher perspectives on educational dis/continuity in the early years

Educational continuity is a well-documented challenge facing the early childhood field. This research project investigated preschool and primary teachers' perspectives of educational dis/continuity, as they have been under-represented in the literature to date. The inclusion of dual-qualified educators in the sample group provided the counter-perspective of those who have trained and taught in both settings. It was found that teacher perceptions of how preschool and primary school differentiate have historical roots, and are orientated in the belief that the two settings apply incongruent approaches to teaching and learning. It was argued that gaining knowledge and experience in both settings could open up teachers' perceptions and assist them to find opportunities for improving continuity.

'Smart' technologies in early years literacy education. A game changer: mobile touchscreen devices and the education of young children

Professors Julianne Lynch and Terri Redpath discuss their article published in the Journal of Early Childhood Literacy entitled "Smart Technologies in Early Years Literacy Education".

Storytelling and storymaking in the early years

Narratives shape and help us to make sense of the world around us. This book provides valuable information about the role and importance of storytelling and story-making in early childhood, and shows how to plan learning opportunities to engage and interest young children.

Teaching internet inquiry in the early years: a microcase of teaching practice with iPads

This paper focuses on teaching practices intended to support primary school students’ internet inquiries and the development of requisite knowledge and skills. The paper builds on growing knowledge about multimodal pedagogy (e.g., Walsh, 2011) and how such pedagogies not only bring with them intrinsic benefits for student engagement and learning, but also offer opportunities to reinforce and refine traditional print literacies (e.g., McKee and Heydon, 2015). A microethnographic approach is taken, involving a close examination of short classroom episodes. The data include classroom video footage and teacher interviews concerning one lesson where students aged six, seven and eight undertook research using iPads. Within the lesson, the iPads were treated as a suite of resources, tools and channels to be put into operation in the service of student inquiries, where informational texts could be found on the internet and then used as sources for new knowledge and material for the students’ multimedia artefacts. Print literacy skills were similarly treated as resources to be drawn upon in the service of inquiry work. The data is assembled to provide a window into the complexities of teaching in this context, with a particular focus on how new and traditional literacy practices are interwoven. The analysis shows how digital and ‘non-digital’ resources, modes and channels are strategically assembled by the teacher and her students through the practice of fit-for-purpose inquiry, reading and composition strategies. An explicit discourse of purpose is put to work in this classroom to make sense of materials, resources and curricula within a context of contradictory policy discourses. Thus an approach to curriculum and pedagogy is illustrated that lays the foundations for crucial contemporary information literacies, serving our increasingly everyday need to make strategic use of digital and online tools to navigate the internet and shape it for our own purposes. The interdependence of traditional and new literacies in such contexts reveals the nonsense of dominant discourses found in the media that emphasise the importance of one mode or one method, as well as divisive public politics that seeks to perpetuate understandings of traditional and new literacies as dichotomous domains that compete for airtime in classrooms, resulting in teachers’ neglect of literacy ‘basics’. In contrast to popular fears, in this classroom, both digital and traditional literacy skills and knowledge were developed, employed and reinforced as part of the students’ digital work.