Niklas Pramling

Pattern Discernment and Pseudo-Conceptual Development in Early Childhood Mathematics Education.

In this empirical study, we investigate an early childhood education activity in mathematics on the concept of ‘pattern’. The children participating in the study attend an intermediate form of schooling in Sweden called ‘the preschool class for six-year-olds’, intended to facilitate their transition from preschool to school. Following a prolonged activity over 45 minutes, we analyse for what the children are supported in discerning and what they give as evidence of having discerned in and about patterns. The theoretical point of departure is variation theory, conceptualising learning as increased discernment. The results show that in terms of the important Vygotskian distinction between ‘pseudo concepts’ and ‘concepts (proper)’, the childrens discernment and what they are supported in discerning are of the former kind. Pseudo concepts are discussed as integral to the institutional form of the preschool class and premised to be important to the childs further conceptual development.

Learning to discern and account: The trajectory of a listening skill in an institutional setting

The purpose of this study is to investigate how children (aged 6 to 8 years) appropriate concepts relevant to making distinctions about music. In particular, the focus is on how they perceive and describe differences in time in pieces of music. The data were generated through interviews with children. The results show that there seems to be a developmental trajectory from a point where children are unable to discern differences in time in music, via a situation where they perceive such differences but account for them in an ad hoc manner, to a stage where they are able to discern and explain such differences in institutionally relevant concepts. In addition, the study documents how children – operating in the zone of proximal development – may be scaffolded in interaction with a more competent person to appropriate such institutionally relevant distinctions. It is argued that this developmental trajectory describes the development of a cultural skill where children increase their ability to structure music through bodily performance and in linguistic terms. Through this development they also become more skilled at communicating about significant features of music. Generally, in research analysing learning these processes of appropriation and scaffolding are presumed rather than made explicit.

Variation Theory of Learning and Developmental Pedagogy: Two Context-Related Models of Learning Grounded in Phenomenography.

ABSTRACT Honoring the variation theory principle that meaning springs from differences, in this article we will show how two different strands of theorizing emerging from the mutual base of phenomenography have developed into developmental pedagogy and variation theory, respectively. Through looking at texts from these two strands, we will illustrate how they differ from (and are similar to) one another and argue that these differences can be explained through their different institutional embeddedness in preschool and school, respectively. The discussion will emphasize the important complementary contributions of both strands of theorizing.

Re-metaphorizing Teaching and Learning in Early Childhood Education Beyond the Instruction – Social Fostering Divide

In this chapter we present and argue for a “third way” for early childhood education, beyond the dichotomy of the social-pedagogical and the preparation-for-school approaches. On the basis of empirical research, conducted in preschools as well as other developmental research, and educational philosophy and theorizing, we argue that avoiding residing to one of the poles of this dichotomy can be achieved through examining and reflecting on the guiding metaphors constituting different perspectives on how to outline early childhood education and care practices, such as day care and preschool. A reconceptualization or re-metaphorization of learning, communication, and education is presented. We suggest that this perspective provides a way of construing central features of preschool – such as learning and caring, the social and the individual, and play and learning – as integrated, rather than disparate features that need to be related.

Sign making, coordination of perspectives, and conceptual development

In this empirical study we analyse how children (aged four- to six-years-old) through communicative engagement with their teachers around their own drawings are supported in developing representational insight, that is, going from indicative sign-making to symbolic understanding. Theoretically, the analysis is informed by a sociocultural perspective, particularly Vygotsky’s work on concept development. The empirical data consist of approximately five hours of video observations of teacher–child communication in preschool. The activities analysed were designed by the teachers according to two different principles for facilitating discernment of the conventional meaning of symbols: contrast and induction. While one design is seen to be more powerful than the other in supporting children’s symbolic development, these patterns are, in the study and in everyday early childhood practice, intertwined with other communicative features such as establishing intersubjectivity. The implications for research and educational practice are discussed.

Micro-Genetic Development of Timing in a Child

The purpose of this study is to analyze the micro-genesis of a child’s appropriation of timing. The data consist of video observations from a primary classroom with a focus on one child (7 years old) participating in a musical activity. The results show that the teacher scaffolds the child in several steps: from establishing a platform for participation in the activity, via demonstration to explanation. The child goes from being uncoordinated with the teacher to being able to play in time with her. The meta-issue of how to represent developmental processes in research is discussed.

Playing by “the connected ear”: An empirical study of adolescents learning to play a pop song using Internet-accessed resources

Learning to play a song from Internet-accessed resources such as YouTube and various forms of notation challenges our understanding of what it means to learn to “play by ear”. Against this background, this article reports an empirical study of 18-year-old students in a music class trying to learn to play a song together from Internet-accessed resources in the form of notation and a sound file. The students were followed with a video camera during three consecutive lessons. The theoretical perspective is sociocultural psychology and its concepts of cultural tools and semiotic mediation (i.e., how tools such as notation provide certain perspectives on phenomena, in this case a popular song). How this novel kind of notation was used, edited and communicated is analyzed in terms of its nature and functions in this learning practice. The result indicates that the notation was primarily used to communicate (instruct and coordinate actions among the participants) about the horizontal (temporal) aspects of the song. Although the notation lacked many of the features that the students asked for and was partly incorrect, it functioned as a central mediating tool in these activities. The analysis highlights the role of the teacher in this kind of activity and what musical features the student needs to be supported in learning.

“Behind the Words”: Negotiating Literal/Figurative Sense When Translating the Lyrics to a Children’s Song in Bilingual Preschool

ABSTRACT This study investigates how 6- to 7-year-old children in a bilingual preschool together with their teachers take on the challenge of translating the lyrics to a children’s song from Finnish to English. With an interest in how translation activities can engage children in communication and metacommunication, and facilitate the development of linguistic and metalinguistic awareness, how a decisive matter of translation – that of taking an utterance literally and/or metaphorically – is negotiated among participants is more specifically scrutinized. The study takes a sociocultural theoretical perspective on learning and communication. The study shows how this kind of activity allows teachers to scaffold children engaging in talk about linguistic and metalinguistic matters, pivotal to their language development and comprehension of this kind of text.

Discerning and Supporting the Development of Mathematical Fundamentals in Early Years

A large body of research shows that young children have abilities to discern small amounts and changes in quantities, and reason about mathematical relationships they encounter in everyday situations. How these early abilities are allowed to develop is contingent on the child’s network of social interaction and how mathematical notions and principles are introduced and made sense of in mutual activities. Key insights from educational theories contribute with a basis for how to provide ample opportunities and support for the child to discern important principles (relationships and distinctions) of a mathematical nature, particularly how to communicate with children in a developmental way. In this chapter, we analyse a number of everyday activities with a child in his home environment during his first 6 years of life. These observations allow us to illustrate how mundane activities can provide the basis for gaining access to, and supporting the further development of a child’s mathematical abilities in interaction with adults and peer.

Pedagogies in Early Childhood Education

In our introduction to the section on early childhood pedagogies, we point out and discuss some key features of the represented approaches: Frobel, HighScope, Developmentally Appropriate Practice (DAP), Waldorf, Cultural-Historical, Montessori, and Reggio Emilia. Each approach is briefly located in a cultural and historical frame. We then analyze and critically discuss the leading metaphors of the reasoning behind these approaches.