Elisabeth Mellgren

Using Text in Pre-school: A learning environment

The purpose of this study is to observe and describe the use of texts in the pre-school, to document the interaction between the child, the teacher and the environment and the emergent literacy in the daily practices. The presentation of the results is a description of two different textual environments: the narrative and the passive. The frame of reference in this study is the Vygotskij theory (1982) about thought and language in a cultural and historic perspective. The frame of reference is also the phenomenographic research in learning in general and learning the written language in a perspective of meta-cognition (Marton and Booth, 1997; Dahlgren and Olsson, 1985; Pramling, 1983; 1994). The immediate background to this study is an action research inspired developmental project to implement the curriculum (Ministry of Education, 1998) in the pre-school.

Student Teacher Views of Text in Early Learning Environments: Images from Sweden and New Zealand.

A total of 659 photographs of text in early childhood environments were gathered by student teachers in New Zealand and Sweden, replicating an earlier Swedish study [Gustafsson, K., & Mellgren, E. (2002). Using text in pre-school: A learning environment. Early Child Development and Care, 172(6), 603–624]. The findings of this study support us in understanding student teachers’ conceptions of literacy and the influence of cultural values. The text most photographed reflected traditional artefacts such as alphabet charts, use of labels and organisation of children. Richer aspects of literacy including children making meaning by reading and writing and use of information communication technology were photographed less often. The implication for higher education is that student teachers may need more time and support than assumed to develop deep and embedded understandings of literacy as a meaningful activity and experience for children. Universities, and the settings in which student teachers complete practicum, provide important and complementary contexts within which student teachers can develop this learning.

Early Childhood Literacy and Children’s Multimodal Expressions in Preschool

In this chapter we will discuss how to provide a developmental practice (a didactics) in early childhood literacy. Our reasoning is based on video observationsSabs made in a study in which a preschool teacher reads a picture book for one child at a time (children aged 1–3 years) and then lets the child play with figures and objects that are related to the story. We will discuss some important aspects of the story reading and multimodal forms of expression in preschool and how to facilitate children’s literacy-learning. The aim of this chapter is to illustrate how teachers can observe and describe children’s literacy events and the multimodal forms of expression they use in preschool. The observations provide an opportunity to develop teaching and challenge children’s literacy-learning in a perspective of participation and democratic values.

The literacy environment of preschool classrooms in three Nordic countries: challenges in a multilingual and digital society

ABSTRACT This study investigates the physical literacy environment of preschools in three Nordic countries. The environments were assessed using an observation protocol in a total of 131 classrooms with children aged between one and seven in Sweden, Norway and Finland. The results showed that children’s books were common and accessible in all three countries. Half of the preschools had a writing centre, and digital devices were available in less than half of them. Multilingual children were present in 82% of the classrooms, but texts and books in the multilingual children’s first languages were rare. Taken together, the results suggest that children’s books were the main gateway to literacy in these preschools, while artefacts supporting writing skills and digital literacy were less common. The findings indicate that the physical environment in these preschools did not reflect the ongoing societal changes towards increased multimodal literacy.

Cultural considerations of ECERS-3 in Sweden: a reflection on adaption

ABSTRACT Quality in early childhood education is an important topic in many countries. Research suggests that high-quality preschool provides many long-term benefits for young children and society. How to measure early childhood quality however can be problematic. One approach has been the use of the Early Childhood Environmental Rating Scale (ECERS), an observational scale of the learning environment created in the United States of America. The scale has been used in over 30 countries and translated into different languages. This article discusses cultural issues in relation to the use of ECERS-3 in Swedish preschools. While many of the indicators are easily transferable, some need cultural consideration. These include understanding the Swedish child perspective as expressed in the preschool curriculum, Swedish preschool design and Swedish pedagogy around interaction and safety issues. The article suggests that an adaptation of the scale is needed to be implemented effectively in the Swedish preschool context.