Literacy in the Early Years - Teachers' Role

Regarding the role of teachers in supporting early literacy, I pay tribute to Margaret Carr's concept of learning dispositions, which mean that learners are being able, ready and willing to learn. So, in the context of literacy, it is about getting the young learner ready and willing to write, as well as knowing how to write.

Look at this scenario:
We baked at the kindergarten, Nina, who is gluten intolerant, was keen to confirm that she would be allowed to eat the cake we made. Despite the reassurance that we had checked all the ingredients, Nina insisted to call her Mum, just to be sure. As we said only the teachers were allowed to use the phone, she wrote down her question for the teacher to read to her Mum. Nina asked me to spell out the words, and she referred to the alphabet chart when writing. What an amazing writer! Not only does she has literacy skills and knowledge, she was also able to recognize the occasion to apply her skills; and she was willing to do it even the task involved lots of effort.

 To support literacy in the early years, I believe, teachers need to maintain a dual focus on the literacy skills and the learning dispositions. I have introduced McLachlan's work on teaching literacy skills to young children in an earlier post from my children's songs, rhymes and game blog , now I'm going to focus on dispositions in this post.

When a child has learned a literacy skill, for example, how to identify ABCs, he is able to do something he couldn't do before. But he may not be spontaneously make use of that ability when a relevant situation arises, if he doesn't realize its relevance. Try to ask a child who knows the alphabet to read out the letters of words from a book, he may say he doesn't know how.  It is not much about being able, he is not ready to make use of the ability he possesses. Also, he may still need a degree of support and encouragement, which involves his desire to try when there is a certain degree of difficulty. It's about being willing.

To support a disposition to write, the teacher needs to model purposeful literacy.  At kindergarten, teachers who jot down notes about children's voice/ ideas and learning episodes are providing role models for emergent writers. Children observe when teachers write. The teachers are modeling an interest in writing, in particular, when they are keen to talk about and share what they have noted down, they are modeling a passion for expressing and recording ideas, feelings and thoughts in print/ written language.

Guy Claxton writes in 2009, in a forward to the book entitled Learning Power Heroes from the Building Learning Power programme in England, that teachers are learning heroes. He suggests that children learn in the way their parents, carers and teachers learn. So, if they are around people who love to write,  they will pick up the habits and rules of writing, as well as develop a passion for writing. This is especially true with teachers, as they are important people/ heroes to young learners in the kindergarten.

In short, early childhood teachers must support young children to develop not only literacy skills but also positive dispositions to use the skill willingly when the situation is relevant.

Managing unacceptable behaviour in the early years

Managing unacceptable behaviour should begin with thoughtful planning of the environment and routines. Ideally, the environments should engage and nurture young learners, so they will be deeply involved in constructing knowledge and making discovery. Moreover, the environments need to be carefully arranged in order to minimize confrontation and conflict. Bearing in mind that young children are learning to take responsibility for their own actions, so the environments also need to respond to their developmental level. 

During my work with children, I am often struck by behaviour management issues that could simply be solved by implementing a few changes in the environments.

Yesterday, when I worked with a 3- year-olds' group, a teacher was setting up water play outside, with four ice-cream containers of coloured water. The activity was meant to be an extension of a previous interest in colour mixing. As there were only four smocks available, the teacher said only four children were allowed to play. To make her point clear, she counted the smocks and the four children who had successfully reached out for the water containers. After a short while, some children gathered around, demanding their turns, and a few tried to jostle their way in front of the water containers. The teacher told the onlookers, "1,2,3,4. That's it. Don't stand around here, you're wasting your time. Go find something else to do!" From then on, the teacher's role was to police the children, ensuring everyone behaved nicely and had a turn, and she was unable to write down any notes about children's comments or discovery about the properties of colours. 

Although the number of smocks and containers suggest only four children are allowed,  it can limit the possibilities for richer experiences of collaboration and learning. Also, we don't generally expect 3-year-olds are able to wait for a long time for their turn. Manageable expectations and limits should be set, in the first place.In this scenario, crowding and queueing are causes of frustration and conflict for young children. Appropriate changes could be made to achieve a positive impact on the children's level of involvement in the activity and their interactions with each other. 

More containers should be available for the activity. The containers do not need to be the same, and the size does not matter. Better still, just put out a few jugs of coloured water and let children mix the colours up in their individual cup or bowl. True, we don't want children to get wet, so the teacher need to remind the children to be careful, such as pulling up their sleeves and getting changed when wet. Young children need to learn to look after themselves. 

The smocks should not be a barrier to meaningful learning, unless it was freezing cold in winter, then the teacher might need to plan differently. Instead of letting children to construct knowledge from physical involvement, the teacher could demonstrate colour mixing while children observe and develop their working theories, in the cold winter months.

Also, young children should be gently encouraged to accept the reality that they need to wait for a turn. The teacher might need to talk about what other activities are on offer, apart from the amazing water play. Be specific, for example, prompt children to go to the art easel where they can find the colours of the rainbow. Simply say, "go find something else to do" is not clear enough for the  younger ones.

When planning activities  and equipments/ playthings, the teacher needs to take into consideration the children's developmental stage and adjust expectations accordingly. Ask yourself these questions: To what extent is sharing important, or should there be enough playthings to prevent conflict? What are realistic expectations about children's abilities to cooperate, take turns, or wait for assistance?

Managing behaviour in the early years

Effective behaviour management in the early years involves learning. Unacceptable behaviour should be dealt with to ensure that children are not demeaned or their self esteem is damaged. Te Whaariki, the New Zealand Early Childhood Curriculum, outlines the ways in which behaviour management could be empowering: the children will know the limits and boundaries of acceptable behaviour; and will understand the consequences of stepping beyond the limits of acceptable behaviour. Behaviour management strategies are not only meant for preventing unacceptable behaviour but also for developing ideas of fairness and new social skills.

Today, I visited a long day care centre and stayed in the room for three year olds. I realized how easily young children become tired, especially after being stuck inside for a long period of time due to bad weather. At the young age, their self control may still be unreliable. I think it's the teacher's responsibility to observe and respond to signals of tiredness. When there are issues of unacceptable behaviour, the young children need to be handled in a calm and caring way.

After lunch, one teacher brought children out to have a little play, while other teachers set up the sleeping area.  Some children started doing forward roll on the wet ground and more children joined in. The teacher asked them to stop and warned them that they would get wet and sick. And then, she threatened to bring the children inside to sleep if they did not take notice of her instruction. A few children did not listen and kept doing forward roll on the ground with small puddles. In the end, she scooped one child inside, while the child yelled in protest. And then, another child was taken inside the same way. Despite that, two children continued to roll on the ground, regardless of the consequence. To me, it's seem they were unable to stop themselves, rather than blatantly disregarded the teacher. They probably were very tired, so ready to have a lying down.  I just said No to them clearly and distracted them by saying not on a cloudy day without the sun. They naturally checked out the sky, and I reinforced that they would be allowed to do it on a sunny day. On that moment, I invited them to go on the jungle gym. Distraction and provision of alternatives could be more efficient than punishment at this young age.

The same strategy applied later.  After nap, a child who has woken up for a long while pushed a child who just woke up several time, probably trying to get him into playing together. They started to pushed each other roughly. The teacher said, "no fighting, otherwise you will go to the office!" Though children need to learn the consequence of their unacceptable behaviour, but not in this way. Logically, getting hurt is a possible consequence of fighting that children need to be aware of , as the learning outcome is to understand how to look after their own well being and to keep themselves from harm. It's different from avoiding the punishment of being sent to the office.

 I thought those children were unable to decide what to do when they just woke up. They simply need to know there is another option. So, I asked them whether they want to do a painting. One child immediately followed me to the art table. And the other child said, "me too!" I think the teacher could bear this in mind in future planning about respect for rules. For sure, the children need to understand the rule about harming others and an understanding of the reasons for it.

Children develop a sense of self worth when their emotional well being is nurtured. Teachers of young children could give genuine opportunities to make choices and to develop independence. Also, its the teacher's' responsibility to help young children to understand and accept necessary limits, without anxiety or fear.

Click here for positive parenting resources developed by S.K.I.P. of New Zealand. The ideas and concepts are relevant to early childhood teachers as well.

Teaching Habits of Mind

Habits Of Mind have been used by me in assessing young children in my kindy. In the early years, learning should be focused on the development of learning dispositions and strategies, rather than simply building up academic knowledge and skills. Although preschoolers need to be prepared for school, there are issues of teaching young children too formal and too early, as suggested by Guy Claxton. The children are at risk of becoming unmotivated if they are given formal education too early when they are not ready.

Well, back to the habits of mind. Teachers should actively promote them through early childhood curriculum. I know a kindy in New Zealand have completed a project on incorporating habits of mind in their program. Talk about that in detail later.

Documenting children's learning

I believe teachers need to document children's learning, making learning visible. So, what do I document, how and why?

For individual children's learning journey, I use the Learning Story model developed by the legendary Margaret Carr of New Zealand. My intention is to share with parents about what the child is interested in. I describe what I saw and what the child said. Based on that, I plan for how to support the child's learning so the interest will be extended and the learning becomes more complex.

Basically, I describe what I notice as the child's interest, how he is involved in pursuing his interest, how he communicates his passion, whether he persists despite difficulties, and how he takes up his responsibility for his own learning. And then I analyse what learning I think is happening and outline my planning about what could be the next step of development for the child. Finally, I seek parents' feedback by posing questions to solicit their comments.

To document the learning that is happening for groups of children, I use the model of Stories of interest/Planning stories. These Stories of Interest include documentation about how a particular interest has begun, what learning is happening, teachers' intentions/reflections on possible ways to extend the interest, and parent/family comments. The Planning Story model shows how the learning is unfolded as the stories are displayed as work in progress.  While teachers' planning and possibilities are outlined,  they are not something that is fixed in concrete. It's because the teacher, I believe, is obliged to follow the childrenʼs interests, to be spontaneous and responsive.

I think, both children and teachers need to work together in creating rich learning  experiences, and the parents can also contribute towards the planning of what learning will happen. So, the purpose of the documentation is to show the learning journey of the children, as supported by the teachers and parents. I think itʼs a good idea to use lots of photos, which enables children to revisit their experiences. If possible, documentation should be displayed at childrenʼs height. Also think about how much writing to put up on the wall, parents are unlikely to stand around reading lengthy paragraphs. Make the text short and sweet, perhaps using bullet points.

It's inevitable that only a small percentage of the learning/teaching that is happening is documented due to the constraints of time. However, the documentation will serve as the tip of the iceberg, showcasing the richness of children's learning and the wide array of opportunities to learn in the early childhood setting. I hope you will embrace your obligation to document children's learning as well.

P.S. the Learning Story model is also used at schools in New Zealand too, click here for additional information.

Parents as partners in the early years

Good teaching practice in the early years is guided by partnership with families, as advocated by the early childhood curricula of New Zealand and Australia specifically. Yes, families should be part of their children's learning and development. I always try to include them in the assessment and evaluation process, as they have a wealth of information and understandings regarding their child. In terms of planning, when I recognise some interests are emerging, I will solicit parental inputs into the topics of investigation or interest.

First and foremost, all aspects of the kindergarten environment should be designed to encourage parent participation in the programme.  The environment needs to be welcoming. Think about furniture...are there chairs and tables which are at adult heights? They should feel comfortable to hang around a bit. It's an attitude of respect for the parents. In my kindy, parents are often seen sitting on a couch, reading a book with their child or enjoying their child's folder/ portfolio.

Communication is definitely critical for effective partnership. The drop off and pick up times provide opportunities for the teacher to talk with the parent about their child's interests; sharing information about what the child enjoys doing while he is not at kindergarten etc..

In addition, observations and records should be part of two-way communication that strengthens the partnership between the early childhood setting and families. While the teacher is trying to learn about each child to plan for the teaching programme, parents need to be aware of the teaching that goes on in the kindergarten.

In my centre, there are plenty of documentation on the walls to communicate with parents about the children's experiences. Documentation may include photos of children learning, samples of children's work/ creation, and text describing some aspect of what the children are doing.  In addition, the documentation boards should explain the teacher's planning, which will facilitate dialogue and exchange of ideas with parents. Ideally, the teacher will have time to update a daily journal, in which the teachers will communicate to parents how the children spend time during the day, areas where children spent most of the time, and some text reflecting on what children said they were thinking about specific topics. In partnership with parents, teachers will be better informed when they try to make sense of the topics of emergent interest.

It certainly is very demanding to update a daily journal everyday at the end of the session. I usually do it first thing after a session and put it out before the next session. It will help children revisit what they have done in the previous session, while the parents are informed of the current learning happening at kindy. Instead of a daily journal, I am aware that one kindy takes advantage of ICT and creates a daily slideshow for parents with photos of children working and learning in the day. At pick up time, parents are welcomed to watch the show with the children, while teachers are on the side making comments, sharing ideas, and answering questions.

Both parents and teachers are the contributors to the child's capacity to learn. In the learning story I write for each child, I will reserve some space to seek parents' feedback. I will use
prompting questions to encourage them to write something in return. For example, "Have your child told you about this?" or "Does your child like to do drawing at home too?" or " Your child seems to have a lot of knowledge about ....Do you know where he learns that from?"

Finally, parents are valuable resource persons with many talents. I have invited parents coming to kindergarten to cook and bake with children; demonstrating the Japanese craft of origami; running show and tell sessions about their profession; leading music and movement activities; and even constructing a cockpit for the children.

Hope you enjoy working with the parents at your kindergarten too!

Group size contributes to quality outcomes in early childhood education

It has been shown that group size influences the nature of the interactions between children and their teacher in the early childhood setting, which makes teaching and learning possible. 

In my previous two posts, I talked about a video called supporting early writers, in which a teacher was attempting to support a group of young writers by jotting down their ideas one after one, demonstrating how verbal language can be recorded in print. She probably understood that adult guided learning required one to one attention, so she worked with the children one at a time, while letting the other children queueing up for their turn. However, she looked flustered when children in the queue demanded attention. As a result, she seemed unable to focus on the learning activity, as she hardly gave the children eye contact, nor talked responsively with the children.  I think the issue here is the size of her writing group.

The appropriate size for a group will differ across the range of learning activities. Generally, for adult guided learning, the group should better be small. When I cook or bake with children, and I intend them to read the recipe with me, learn to measure with proper equipments, talk about and make connections with any possible home cooking experiences, so I will only work with not more than five children. I either carry out the activity at the kitchen bench or set it up at a small table and put only four chairs out. Group size can be shaped by the physical environment. 

However, when I write with children, such as writing a story down while the child narrates it, I will definitely work with one at a time. I have learnt to say "not now" to enthusiastic writers who wait eagerly on the side. I usually ask them to go and do something else and promise them I will go and find them as soon as I can. Another option could be putting their names down on a waiting list, and I'll ask a child to find the next one when I've finished with the current one. 

A teacher must keep thinking how many children should be grouped together to enable her interaction with the children are effective and responsive. As such, the teacher is able to spend more time teaching and less time managing children. It needs planning about group size, in order to create the physical and social environments that support quality learning and teaching.

Group size contributes to quality outcomes, because it can determine the level and quality of interactions and relationships between children and between children and adults. Effectively, a desirable group size can transform the group into a genuine “learning community”, with the benefit of of fostering and supporting the development of each child as an individual. 

When groups are appropriately sized, teachers can offer more individualised attention. The teachers are able to make more stimulating comments and ask thought provoking questions; and to respond readily with interest and enthusiasm. At the same time, the children are genuinely listened to and supported to express themselves. The teacher and the children are engaged in meaningful conversation, which enhances learning. 

Click here to read about group size being a quality indicator; and here about the effects of group size on children in relation to the various domains within which the individual child develops physically, cognitively, socially, emotionally, and culturally.