Prática de ensino supervisionada em pré-escolar e ensino do 1.º ciclo do ensino básico: educação literária : a literatura para a infância e as expressões artísticas

O presente Relatório de Estágio de Prática de Ensino Supervisionada em Educação Pré-escolar e 1.º Ciclo do Ensino Básico foi realizado no âmbito do Mestrado em Educação Pré-escolar e Ensino do 1.º Ciclo do Ensino Básico, da Universidade de Évora, tendo por base as unidades curriculares de Prática de Ensino Supervisionada em Educação Pré-escolar e em 1.º Ciclo do Ensino Básico. Ao longo das respetivas práticas foi desenvolvido o tema Educação Literária: A Literatura para a infância e as expressões artísticas, assente na metodologia da investigação-ação e teve como principal objetivo promover nas crianças a educação literária e a sua relação com as expressões artísticas. Deste modo, este documento encontra-se organizado em cinco capítulos: o primeiro capítulo inclui todo o enquadramento conceptual que suporta a temática investigada; o segundo capítulo refere-se à conceção da ação educativa em Pré-escolar e 1.º Ciclo do Ensino Básico; o terceiro capítulo considera a metodologia utilizada na investigação-ação; o quarto capítulo remete para a intervenção nos respetivos contextos; o quinto capítulo diz respeito ao trabalho de projeto de cariz literário, desenvolvido em ambos os contextos; concluindo com as respetivas considerações finais; Report of Supervised Teaching Practice in Pre-school Education and the 1st Cycle of Primary Education: Literacy Education- Children’s Literature and Artistic Expressions Abstract: This Internship Report of Supervised Teaching Practice in Pre-school Education and the 1st Cycle of Primary Education was carried out within the framework of the Master's Degree in Pre-school Education and the 1st Cycle of Primary Education, at the University of Évora, based on the courses units of Supervised Teaching Practice in Pre-school Education and the 1st Cycle of Primary Education During the respective practices it was developed the theme of Literary Education: Children's literature and the artistic expressions, based on the research-action methodology and had as a main objective the promotion of literary education in children and their relationship with the artistic expressions. Thus far, this document is organized into five chapters: the first chapter includes all the conceptual framework that supports the thematic investigated; the second chapter refers to the conception of educational activity in Pre-school Education and the 1st Cycle of Primary Education; the third chapter considers the methodology used in the research-action; the fourth chapter refers to the intervention in the respective contexts; the fifth chapter concerns the work project of literary nature , developed in both contexts; concluding with the final considerations.

European primary pupils show their life to African peers

Since primary school pupils lack a common language, primary school pupils from Germany and Africa show a piece of their origin and of their daily live through simple drawings to their peers in a other, distant land. The teachers accompanying the exchange of these drawings communicated in natural language, but helped to transform what their pupils wanted to show by their drawing. Five students drawings are presented in order to explain and illustrate this exchange method.

Relatório de Estágio da Prática Pedagógica Supervisionada

No âmbito da Unidade Curricular de Prática Pedagógica Supervisionada, parte integrante do plano de estudos do Mestrado em Educação Pré-escolar, foi solicitada a elaboração do Relatório de Estágio que evidenciasse a prática e a aprendizagem profissional desenvolvida nos contextos de Creche e de Educação Pré-Escolar. Neste sentido, a mestranda expõe o seu percurso nas duas valências, tendo este permitido o conhecimento e posterior desenvolvimento de saberes e competências em prol da construção e edificação de um perfil na profissão docente, suportado por um quadro teórico e concetual. A prática pedagógica da mestranda desenvolveu-se mediante uma aproximação à metodologia de investigação-ação, assente sobre quatro etapas fundamentais: observação, planificação, ação e reflexão/avaliação. Esta metodologia, suporte basilar da sua prática, possibilita a articulação entre saberes e atitudes, culminando numa co construção de saberes entre os diversos atores envolvidos na prática pedagógica. Os contextos e processos de estágio revelaram-se cruciais nos processos educativos de qualidade na educação de infância, no que concerne ao desenvolvimento de competências para a educação, constituindo estes, bases importantes na formação docente. Por fim, a mestranda está consciente que para responder aos desafios advindos da sociedade atual, deve procurar a formação constante, atualizando e desenvolvendo novas aprendizagens, quer a nível pessoal, quer a nível profissional.

Prática de ensino supervisionada em educação pré-escolar e 1º ciclo do ensino básico: a vida na escola e na família. Que conexões?

O presente relatório de estágio desenvolveu-se no âmbito da unidade curricular de Prática de Ensino Supervisionada, tendo por finalidade a obtenção de grau de mestre em Educação Pré-Escolar e Ensino do 1º Ciclo do Ensino Básico. Corresponde à descrição e análise de um trabalho desenvolvido em dois contextos, jardim-de-infância e 1º ciclo, inseridos num meio urbano, com grupos de crianças de três, quatro, cinco e seis anos e de seis e sete anos (respetivamente). Este trabalho procurou compreender de que forma ocorriam as conexões entre a vida na escola e na família em contexto. Começando por compreender como poderiam ser promovidas e ampliadas as relações entre ambos, de forma a envolver os familiares nas aprendizagens das crianças. No entanto criando sempre um espaço de troca de aprendizagens onde as diferenças sejam valorizadas. O enquadramento teórico foi construído de forma focada em três áreas de pesquisa: as conexões entre a escola e a família, e sua relevância; as tipologias de relação escola-família; e os problemas e estratégias de intervenção no âmbito da relação escola-família. Este relatório foi sustentado na metodologia de investigação-ação, utilizando diferentes instrumentos de recolha de dados de modo a responder às questões e objetivos propostos: observações, notas de campo e reflexões; revisão de literatura e questionário. Os resultados que emergiram deste relatório, sustentados nos instrumentos de recolha de dados, realçam a importância das conexões entre a vida na escola e na família. Apesar da existência de alguns obstáculos nesta relação, torna-se necessário encontrar estratégias que os eliminem por forma a compreender ambas as partes e um melhor rendimento escolar das crianças; Supervised Teaching Practice in Preschool and Primary Education : Life at School and in the Family, which connections? Abstract: This is an action-reseach project research developed within the Supervised Teaching Practice, part of the master in Preschool Education and Primary Teaching. It entails the description and analysis of the work developed in one pre-school and one and primary school, inserted in an urban environment, with children from three to six and from six to seven years (respectively). This work sought to understand how occurred the connections between life at school and in the family context. Starting to understand how they could be promoted and expanded relations between the two context, in order to involve family members in the learning of children. However creating always a swap space of learning where the differences are valued. The theoretical framework focused on three subjects: the importance of the connections between the school and the family,; the types of school-family relationship; and problems and intervention strategies within the school-family relationship. This report adopted an action research methodology, using different data collection instruments in order to reach the objectives proposed: observations field notes and reflections; literature review and a questionnaire. The results that emerged from this report, supported by data, highlight the importance of the connections between life at school and in the family. Despite some obstacles in this relationship, it is necessary to find strategies to eliminate them in order to understand both parts and a better school performance of children.

Conceptualisation, design and development of a primary school based child healthy weight intervention

INTRODUCTION: In common with much of the developed world, Scotland has a severe and well established problem with overweight and obesity in childhood with recent figures demonstrating that 31% of Scottish children aged 2-15 years old were overweight including obese in 2014. This problem is more pronounced in socioeconomically disadvantaged groups and in older children across all economic groups (Scottish Health Survey, 2014). Children who are overweight or obese are at increased risk of a number of adverse health outcomes in the short term and throughout their life course (Lobstein and Jackson-Leach, 2006). The Scottish Government tasked all Scottish Health Boards with developing and delivering child healthy weight interventions to clinically overweight or obese children in an attempt to address this health problem. It is therefore imperative to deliver high quality, affordable, appropriately targeted interventions which can make a sustained impact on children’s lifestyles, setting them up for life as healthy weight adults. This research aimed to inform the design, readiness for application and Health Board suitability of an effective primary school-based curricular child healthy weight intervention. METHODS: the process involved in conceptualising a child healthy weight intervention, developing the intervention, planning for implementation and subsequent evaluation was guided by the PRECEDE-PROCEED Model (Green and Kreuter, 2005) and the Intervention Mapping protocol (Lloyd et al. 2011). RESULTS: The outputs from each stage of the development process were used to formulate a child healthy weight intervention conceptual model then develop plans for delivery and evaluation. DISCUSSION: The Fit for School conceptual model developed through this process has the potential to theoretically modify energy balance related behaviours associated with unhealthy weight gain in childhood. It also has the potential to be delivered at a Health Board scale within current organisational restrictions.

Investigating problem-based learning in Saudi Arabian mathematics education: a TIMSS-related study

The aim of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of problem-based learning (PBL) on students’ mathematical performance. This includes mathematics achievement and students’ attitudes towards mathematics for third and eighth grade students in Saudi Arabia. Mathematics achievement includes, knowing, applying, and reasoning domains, while students’ attitudes towards mathematics covers, ‘Like learning mathematics’, ‘value mathematics’, and ‘a confidence to learn mathematics’. This study goes deeper to examine the interaction of a PBL teaching strategy, with trained face-to-face and self-directed learning teachers, on students’ performance (mathematics achievement and attitudes towards mathematics). It also examines the interaction between different ability levels of students (high and low levels) with a PBL teaching strategy (with trained face-to-face or self-directed learning teachers) on students’ performance. It draws upon findings and techniques of the TIMSS international benchmarking studies. Mixed methods are used to analyse the quasi-experimental study data. One -way ANOVA, Mixed ANOVA, and paired t-tests models are used to analyse quantitative data, while a semi-structured interview with teachers, and author’s observations are used to enrich understanding of PBL and mathematical performance. The findings show that the PBL teaching strategy significantly improves students’ knowledge application, and is better than the traditional teaching methods among third grade students. This improvement, however, occurred only with the trained face-to-face teacher’s group. Furthermore, there is robust evidence that using a PBL teaching strategy could raise significantly students’ liking of learning mathematics, and confidence to learn mathematics, more than traditional teaching methods among third grade students. Howe ver, there was no evidence that PBL could improve students’ performance (mathematics achievement and attitudes towards mathematics), more than traditional teaching methods, among eighth grade students. In 8th grade, the findings for low achieving students show significant improvement compared to high achieving students, whether PBL is applied or not. However, for 3th grade students, no significant difference in mathematical achievement between high and low achieving students was found. The results were not expected for high achieving students and this is also discussed. The implications of these findings for mathematics education in Saudi Arabia are considered.

Farm visits: interdisciplinary outdoor learning for primary school pupils and Scotland’s Curriculum for Excellence

There is concern around children’s lack of knowledge and understanding of food sources and production, and more broadly around their apparent disconnection from nature. Spending time in the outdoors has been shown to yield a range of benefits, although the mechanisms underpinning these are not well understood. Studies have suggested, however, that there has been a decline in time spent outdoors by children. The introduction of the ‘Curriculum for Excellence’ guidelines in Scotland was heralded as an opportunity to address this decline. Although the guidelines advocate the use of outdoor environments, little research has been conducted, and little guidance is available, on how teachers can and do use outdoor learning in relation to the guidelines, particularly beyond ‘adventure’ activities. Farms are utilised as an educational resource around the world. This research explored the use of educational farm visits, as an example of outdoor learning, in the context of Curriculum for Excellence. A qualitatively driven, mixed methods study, comprising survey and case study methodologies, was undertaken. A questionnaire for teachers informed subsequent interviews with teachers and farmers, and ‘group discussions’ with primary school pupils. The study found that teachers can link farm visits and associated topics with the Curriculum for Excellence guidelines in a range of ways, covering all curriculum areas. There was a tendency however for farm visits to be associated with food and farming topics at Primary 2-3 (age 6-7), rather than used more widely. Issues to consider in the planning and conduct of farm visits were identified, and barriers and motivations for teachers, and for farmers volunteering to host visits, were explored. As well as practical examples of the use of farm visiting, this research offers a perspective on some of the theoretical literature which seeks to explain the benefits of spending time outdoors. Furthermore, five main recommendations for farm visiting in the context of Curriculum for Excellence are given. These relate to the type of visit appropriate to different age groups, opportunities for teachers to become more familiar with what farms visits can offer, and raising awareness of the organisations and networks which can support volunteer farmers to host visits.

Prática de ensino supervisionada em educação pré-escolar e ensino do 1º ciclo do ensino básico: a articulação integrada do saber

O presente relatório desenvolve-se no âmbito da unidade curricular de Prática de Ensino Supervisionada para obter o grau mestre em Educação Pré-escolar e Ensino do 1º Ciclo do Ensino Básico apresentando o trabalho de investigação-ação desenvolvido em contexto de Jardim de Infância e 1º Ciclo do Ensino Básico focalizado na articulação integrada do saber. Elegeram-se como objetivos deste trabalho compreender a natureza das aprendizagens nas primeiras idades, promovendo a construção articulada do saber evitando a sua disciplinarização, utilizando diversas linguagens e implementar a metodologia de projeto no trabalho curricular. O enquadramento teórico procura aprofundar conceitos de interdisciplinaridade e construção articulada do saber nos processos de aprendizagem e o trabalho de projeto enquanto matriz de construção de conhecimento. Sustentado na metodologia de investigaçãoação utilizaram-se diversos instrumentos de recolha e análise de dados como a observação, registo de notas de campo e entrevistas às crianças permitindo responder aos objetivos delineados. Este trabalho permitiu compreender a necessidade da construção articulada das aprendizagens para promover aprendizagens significativas; Supervised teaching Practice in Pre-school and Primary Education: Integrated Knowledge Construction Abstract: This is the report of the action-research project developed in the context of a Pre-school and a Primary School focused on the integration of knowledge, part of the curricular unit Supervised Teaching Practice of the Master in Pre-school Education and Teaching in Basic Education (1st cycle). The objectives of this work are: to understand the nature of learning in the early ages through not only promoting the construction of an articulated knowledge while avoiding its disciplinarization, but also using several languages and implement the project methodology in curricular work. The theoretical framework seeks to explore the concepts of interdisciplinarity and the integration of knowledge’s construction in the processes of learning as the project’s work as a basic framework of knowledge construction. Adopting an action-research methodology, several instruments were used for data collection and analysis, such as observation, field notes and interviews to children, allowing to reach the stipulated objectives. This study provided the understanding of the need for the learning’s articulated creation to promote relevant learning.

Projekt EDUCARE: Skalendokumentation zur Befragung pädagogischer Fachkräfte in Kindertageseinrichtungen

Die in diesem Dokument aufgeführten Skalen dienen der Erfassung der bildungsbezogenen Vorstellungen und Praktiken von pädagogischen Fachkräften in Kindertageseinrichtungen. Die Skalen wurden im Projekt EDUCARE teils neu entwickelt, teils in Anlehnung an bestehende Instrumente konstruiert und ggf. an die Perspektive von Eltern angepasst. Alle Items wurden mittels eines mehrstufigen Antwortformats erfasst. Ihr Einsatz erfolgte in einer vom Projektteam durchgeführten Datenerhebung mittels Fragebogen. Die Skalenkonstruktion fand auf Basis der erhobenen Primärdaten statt und orientierte sich an den Prinzipien der klassischen Testtheorie. Zu jedem Konstrukt werden deskriptive Kennwerte auf Item- und Skalenebene berichtet. Zur Beurteilung der Güte der Instrumente werden zwei Reliabilitätsmaße sowie die Trennschärfen der Items angegeben. Bei der Auswahl und Konzeption der gemessenen Konstrukte waren habitus- und milieutheoretische sowie kindheitstheoretische Annahmen leitend. Im Projekt ging es darum, ein möglichst breites Bild der im Habitus von Fachkräften verankerten Vorstellungen, Ziele und Sollensvorstellungen in Bezug auf Betreuung, Bildung, Erziehung und Förderung zu erhalten. Zudem wurde die Praxis der Fachkräfte in diesen Handlungsbereichen erfragt, um Rückschlüsse auf eine milieuspezifische Prägung der pädagogischen Arbeit von Fachkräften ziehen zu können. Gerade mit Blick auf gegenwärtige, politisch dominante Leitbilder hinsichtlich der Ausgestaltung von Kindheit war es von Interesse, inwieweit Eltern diese Leitbilder teilen oder ihnen ablehnend gegenüberstehen. … Die Skalendokumentation ist wie folgt aufgebaut: Im Anschluss an (I.) eine einführende Darstellung des Forschungsprojekts werden (II.) das Vorgehen bei der Datenerhebung und die bei der Skalenkonstruktion verwendete Stichprobe beschrieben. Die zur Analyse der Items und zur Konstruktion der Skalen verwendeten Verfahren werden (III.) im nachfolgenden Abschnitt dargestellt. Der Hauptteil des Dokuments ist (IV.) eine thematisch geordnete Zusammenstellung der im Projekt eingesetzten Skalen. Damit wird zugleich ein Einblick in die deskriptiven Ergebnisse der Fachkräftebefragung an Kindertageseinrichtungen gegeben. (DIPF/Orig.)

Estratégias para aprender ortografia: O caso da regra contextual nasalização diante de p e b

Dissertação de Mestrado apresentada ao Instituto Superior de Psicologia Aplicada para obtenção de grau de Mestre na especialidade de Psicologia Educacional.

Job satisfaction among primary school personnel in Madagascar

This article analyzes the job satisfaction of primary school teachers in Madagascar. Based on the estimation of multilevel models, low wages and problems getting paid, job insecurity, lack of in-service training, high pupil-teacher ratios, and lack of basic infrastructure and teaching materials are identified as the main reasons for dissatisfaction. Principals’ control of teachers’ activities also adversely affects satisfaction, suggesting that, in Malagasy schools, neither school directors nor teachers have succeeded in adopting organizational cultures based on cooperation among their members. These results are likely to stimulate debates on educational policy, both in Madagascar and in many other developing countries.

Prática de ensino supervisionada em educação pré-escolar e ensino do 1º ciclo do ensino básico - A hora do conto: relato de práticas

O presente relatório da Prática de Ensino Supervisionada surge no âmbito do Mestrado em Educação Pré-Escolar e Ensino do 1º Ciclo do Ensino Básico da Universidade de Évora e é o resultado de uma investigação sustentada pela ação educativa desenvolvida ao longo da Prática de Ensino Supervisionada, no Pré-Escolar e no 1º Ciclo do Ensino Básico. Esta investigação tem como principais objetivos compreender de que forma se processa a hora do conto nos dois contextos onde realizei a minha prática, nomeadamente compreender qual a sua importância na promoção da leitura. Para isso, pretendi responder às seguintes questões: Que práticas devo realizar para promover a leitura, para formar leitores competentes, autónomos, e para desenvolver a capacidade linguística das crianças? E como dinamizar a hora do conto no ambiente educativo? Neste sentido, procedeu-se à construção do quadro teórico que sustenta a investigação do tema “A hora do conto: Relato de práticas”, onde procuro compreender a importância e a dinamização da hora do conto, nomeadamente na promoção da leitura. Para além da fundamentação teórica, a metodologia adotada foi a investigação-ação, onde propus uma prática de dinamização e promoção da leitura. Importa também realçar a importância dos instrumentos de investigação utilizados durante a PES, que contribuíram para a recolha de dados, nomeadamente a entrevista semiestruturada realizada à educadora e professora cooperante, possibilitando assim o alcance dos objetivos acima enunciados. Assim, a investigação permitiu contribuir de forma significativa para a ampliação dos estudos acerca da importância da Hora do Conto como um importante veículo para a formação de leitores, uma vez que o gosto pelas histórias começa na voz dos pais, passa pelos contadores, educadores, professores, os quais assumem uma grande responsabilidade de introduzir a criança no mundo da literatura; ABSTRACT: This report of the Supervised Teaching Practice comes under the Master’s Degree in Pre-school Teaching and Primary Education of the University of Évora and is the result research supported by the education developed throughout Supervised Teaching Practice in Preschool and in Primary Education. The main objectives of this inquiry are to understand how story time is processed in two contexts where I did my practice, in particular to understand what is the importance in promoting reading. For this reason, I wanted to answer the following questions: What practices should I take to promote reading, to form competent readers, autonomous, and to develop the linguistic ability of children? And how to encourage story time within the educational environment? In this sense, a theoretical framework was designed which supports the inquiry of the theme "The Story Time: Reporting practices", where I try to understand the importance and the encouragement of story time, particularly in the promotion of reading. In addition to the theoretical foundation, the methodology adopted was research-action, where I proposed a practice of stimulation and promotion of reading. It is also important to emphasize the importance of the research tools used during the PES, which contributed to the collection of data, in particular structured interviews held with the teacher and teacher’s assistant, thus enabling to achieve the objectives set out above. This way the investigation significantly contributed to the expansion of the studies about the importance of story time as as an important vehicle for the formation of readers, since the taste for stories begins in the parental voice, passes by storytellers, educators , teachers who take on a great responsibility to introduce the child in the world of literature.

Prática de ensino supervisionada em educação pré-escolar e ensino do 1º ciclo do ensino básico: explorando a simetria na infância

O presente relatório é referente à investigação realizada no âmbito das unidades curriculares da Prática de Ensino Supervisionada em Pré-Escolar e 1.º Ciclo do Ensino Básico, do Mestrado em Educação Pré-Escolar e Ensino do 1.º Ciclo do Ensino Básico, da Universidade de Évora. A investigação foi realizada em contexto de uma sala de Pré-Escolar e em contexto de 1.º Ciclo do Ensino Básico, numa turma de 2.º ano. Os dois contextos fazem parte da Escola Manuel Ferreira Patrício, sede do Agrupamento de Escolas n.º 1 de Évora. A respetiva investigação teve como objetivos compreender, analisar e refletir acerca da exploração da simetria de reflexão em Pré-Escolar e em 1.º Ciclo do Ensino Básico. Deste modo, era pretendido responder às seguintes questões: “Como lidam as/os crianças/alunos com a identificação e a exploração de simetria de reflexão?” e “Que práticas devo desenvolver que contribuam para a compreensão e utilização da simetria de reflexão por parte das crianças?”. No decorrer da investigação foi desenvolvida uma intervenção didática em cada contexto, consistindo em sequências de tarefas de exploração de simetria que se caracterizaram por recorrer a diversos materiais e ao computador com o programa SIMIS, em 1.º Ciclo, com tarefas abertas de natureza exploratória. A recolha de dados apoiou-se nos cadernos de formação relativos às PES, nas planificações, nas produções das crianças, em respostas às tarefas e excertos dos diálogos havidos. Esta investigação permitiu verificar que é possível explorar a simetria no Pré- Escolar e 1.ºCiclo de Ensino Básico, uma vez que as crianças reconheceram figuras com simetria, conseguiram identificar eixos de simetria em figuras e construíram figuras simétricas. Para tal, desenvolveram-se práticas que contribuíram para a compreensão e utilização da simetria, através de estratégias de ensino-aprendizagem exploratório da Matemática, com recurso a materiais manipuláveis e a software específico, que mostraram ser ferramentas essenciais nas tarefas de exploração e identificação de simetria; ABSTRACT: The present report refers to research developed in the context of Supervised Teaching Practice in Pre-school Education and in Primary School, integrated in Master’s degree in Pre-school Education and Teaching Primary School at University of Évora. The research was conducted in context of a pre-school room and in context of 1st cycle of basic education, in a 2nd class year. The two contexts are part of the Manuel Ferreira Patrício School, headquarters of cluster of Évora schools. The respective research has aimed understand, analyze and reflect about reflection symmetry exploration, in Pre-school and in Primary School. Thus, was intented to answer the questions: “How childrens deal with the identification and exploration of reflection symmetry?" And "What practices should be developed to contribute to the understanding and use of reflection symmetry by childrens?". During the research it was developed a didactic intervention, in each context, consisting of sequences of symmetry exploration tasks that featured by resorting to diverse materials and the computer with the SIMIS program in the Primary School, with open tasks exploratory. Data collection builds on the training books on STP, the flat patterns, in productions of children, in response tasks and excerpts from the additions accruing dialogues. This research has shown that it is possible to explore the symmetry in Preschool and Primary School, since children recognized figures with symmetry, they were able to identify lines of symmetry in figures and built symmetrical figures. For such practices have developed that have contributed to the understanding and use of symmetry, through exploratory teaching and learning strategies of mathematics, using manipulatives and specific software, which proved to be essential tools in the exploration tasks and identification symmetry.

Educational software in english to the awareness in a preschool education supervised context

Information and communication technologies play an increasingly important role in society, in the sense that all areas and professions make use of digital resources. The school can not be brushed off this reality, aim to create full subjects and integrated in society today. Educational software can be used very early in the education of children, but they must be carefully and monitoring. This article aims to present the results of the use of educational software in English to the awareness of context with children of pre-school education in kindergarten, nursery center Redemptorist Fathers - The smallest fox in White Castle, a 21 group children under 5 years. Early awareness of foreign language such as English can be started with digital multimedia capabilities and various software available on the market. However, the small study described the case reveals some resistance from parents and educators, in the preparation of these to choose and monitor the use of ICT by children, in addition to also highlight the self-interest of the children involved and their learning a few words in English language in different contexts of daily worked. The study opens perspectives on close monitoring needs of such uses and training of educators in the field of use of resources multilingual awareness in pre-school education.

Peer interaction in mixed age groups: a study in the computer area of an early childhood education center in Portugal

The study was developed as a teacher-research project during initial teacher education – Masters Degree of Early Childhood and Primary Education, in Portugal. It analysed the interactions between children of 3 to 6 years old, during the use of the computer as a free choice activity, confronting situations between peers of the same age and situations between peers of different ages. The focus of the analysis was the collaborative interactions. This was a qualitative study. Children could choose the computer, amongst other interest areas, and work for around an hour in pairs. In the computer, children used mainly educational games. During four weeks, the interactions between the pairs were audio recorded. Field notes and informal interviews to the children were also used to collect data. Eleven children were involved in the study with ages ranging from 3 to 6 years old. Baseline data on children’s basic computer proficiency was collected using the Individualized Computer Proficiency Checklist (ICPC) by Hyun. The recorded interactions were analysed using the types of talk offered by Scrimshaw and Perkins and Wegerif and Scrimshaw: cumulative talk, exploratory talk, disputational talk, and tutorial talk. This framework was already used in a study in an early childhood education context in Portugal by Amante. The results reveal differences in computer use and characterize the observed interactions. Seven different pairs of children's interactions were analysed. More than a third of the interactions were cumulative talk, followed by exploratory talk, tutorial talk and disputational talk. Comparing same and mixed age pairs, we observed that cumulative talk is the more present interaction, but in same age pairs this is followed by exploratory talk whereas in the mixed age pairs it is tutorial talk that has the second largest percentage. The pairs formed by the children were very asymmetrical in terms of age and computer proficiency. This lead to the more tutorial interactions, where one children showed the other or directed him/her on how to play. The results show that collaboration is present during the use of a computer area in early childhood education. The free choice of the children means the adults can only suggest pairing suited to specific interactions between the children. Another way to support children in more exploratory talk interactions could be by discussing the way the older children can help the younger ones beyond directing or correcting their work.