Annette J. Kearns, IPPA Ireland akearns@ippa.ie

1. Improving Language and Literacy Opportunities in an Early Years Setting Annette J. Kearns, IPPA Ireland akearns@ippa.ie EECERA Prague 2007

2. Research Question… What impact do practical strategies have on the provision of language and literacy opportunities in an early years setting? EECERA Prague 2007

3. Background • What prompted this study? • Who was involved? EECERA Prague 2007

4. Context • Illiteracy levels in this geographical area are higher than the national average (Eivers et al 2004) • One third of all households in this area are headed by a lone parent – over twice the national average (Dartington Social Research Unit 2004) • 29% of the children in this area live with one or both parents who have no educational qualifications EECERA Prague 2007

5. Literature Review • Vygotsky (1978) • Bruner (1986) • Strickland (1989) • Whitehead (1999) EECERA Prague 2007

6. Vygotsky (1978) … believed that the child begins to perceive the world not only through their eyes but also through their speech EECERA Prague 2007

7. Bruner (1986) … considered storytelling as being important to enable us in ‘understanding self and bringing cognition, emotion and action together to give experience ‘cultural relevance’ EECERA Prague 2007

8. … believed that learning to read and write requires active participation in activities that have meaning in the child’s daily life and are interrelated processes that develop in concert with oral language Strickland (1989) EECERA Prague 2007

9. Whitehead (1999) … considers that ‘children need adults to be literacy facilitators who provide the time, opportunities and materials for literacy to happen and for children and print of all kinds to get together’ EECERA Prague 2007

10. Action Research Idea reconnaissance plan Action steps 1 2 and 3 monitor implementation revise plan reconnaissance STAGE 1 Completed Research Methodology EECERA Prague 2007

11. Sample PROFILE OF THE GROUP • 12 practitioners from the one childcare service • All are aged between 19 and 48 • 5 completed primary; 7 started but only 4 completed secondary; 6 of the total group have completed a basic childcare qualification • Poor confidence levels with regard to own literacy which is at varying levels • All from local and surrounding areas • Working with children aged between 3 months and 10 years EECERA Prague 2007

12. Participant Observation Group members Throughout programme Data Collection Methods Qualitative • Focus Group • Group members • End of programme • Interview • Centre manager • End of programme EECERA Prague 2007

13. Programme information • IPPA/PLN is a 10 hour programme, delivered over 3 or 4 sessions, and it explores the role that language and literacy plays in early years services. • New strategies are discussed and practitioners have an opportunity to engage in the process. • It supports children’s language development and emergent literacy practices. EECERA Prague 2007

14. Strategies being used… • Before During and After (BDA) storytelling technique EECERA Prague 2007

15. Strategies being used… Bookmaking EECERA Prague 2007

16. Strategies being used… Storytelling and Story acting (Vivian Gussin Paley) EECERA Prague 2007

17. The starting point… • What does literacy mean? • ‘books and reading’ • ‘being able to read’ • What does language mean? • ‘being able to talk’ • ‘being able to be understood’ • ‘knowing what to say and how to say it’ EECERA Prague 2007

18. What is the adult’s role? ‘In the pre-school, before they go to school you should be trying to teach them their letters’ ‘You could teach them the alphabet when they are about three but reading is for when they are in school’ ‘When the children show an interest in playschool you could teach them their letters. Some of them want to know the letters in their names’ EECERA Prague 2007

19. What is current provision like? • The baby room – • ‘we’re with the babies so you can’t really do anything’ • The toddlers room – • ‘we try and read them stories but they don’t really listen’ • The pre-school room – • ‘we have a story time every day and the children have to sit and listen. They also have to read books for time-out when they get too rowdy’ • The after-school room – • ‘our children are a mix of ages so we don’t really do any stories but the older ones sometimes look at the books’ EECERA Prague 2007

20. Programme of implementation • Over a period of 6 weeks, the programme was delivered. • In each session the practitioners engaged in 2 new strategies . • Each practitioner was then expected to bring these back to the children they work with and try them out in the setting. EECERA Prague 2007

21. Focus group findings… ‘The thing I took from it was to take more time selecting a story for story time, being more aware of picking a story that they can join in – and it did work!’ ‘We made books of photos and the kids told the story of what was happening. ‘Cos its Christmas we put in Christmas pictures and then we talked all about the different things’. EECERA Prague 2007

22. Focus group findings… ‘The ones that listened to a story went off and did more, did a picture about it’. ‘Storytime wasn’t working out so we changed the seating and were more careful with the choice of book. We got them to join in and they stayed which was unusual’ ‘I read the story and then they read it back to me – sometimes it does sound like the story and sometimes it’s their own little story. But, yea, its really good to hear them saying it’ EECERA Prague 2007

23. Interview findings… • Is there a difference in practice? • Implementing the new strategies and sharing ideas from one room to another. • Increased level of engagement in reading activities and extending these activities through the BDA • Increasing their use of props to aid storytelling • How they are taking time to figure out what might make something new work. • A noted increased level of dialogue with the children. EECERA Prague 2007

24. Interview findings… ‘there is a shift to a positive attitude towards language and literacy. It is no longer regarded as an activity they have to get done and move on, it has become an enjoyable part of the day, in fact a major part of the day’. ‘they are all delighted with all that (the children wanting lots of books read to them) and they are seeing the benefits of doing it all’ EECERA Prague 2007

25. The Baby Room – are now reading stories to the babies and playing talking and singing games The Toddler Room - made the book area attractive to the children and placed an adult in the area at all times. Children began to look for stories to be read to them and began to select their own preferences. Adults talk more to the children now. The Pre-school Room – Both children and adults enjoy the BDA. Stories are being extended and turned into table-top games and creative activities. Observation findings… EECERA Prague 2007

26. The Pre-school Room – Both children and adults enjoy the BDA. Stories are being extended and turned into table-top games and creative activities. The children have begun to read books to each other and to the adults ‘they weren’t really reading you know, they were reading the pictures!’. The Afterschool Room - They began to read to each other following encouragement from the adults. Adults provided more creative activities and became more involved with the children, engaging in dialogue. Observation findings… EECERA Prague 2007

27. Research Question… What impact do practical strategies have on the provision of language and literacy opportunities in an early years setting? EECERA Prague 2007

28. Conclusions… With the Practitioners… • A definite increase in confidence with regard to their own literacy • A willingness to share ideas that work within the setting • A willingness to take risks trying out new strategies EECERA Prague 2007

29. Conclusions… With the children… • An increased interest in books and reading from the children • An increase in the children’s self esteem with regard to books and bookmaking • An increase in dialogue between the practitioners and the children EECERA Prague 2007

30. Implications for policy and practice • More training needed to help continue the shift towards positive engagement • More resources needed to help provide this training to services in disadvantaged areas. • More research needed into the language and literacy needs within every community EECERA Prague 2007

31. Thank You EECERA Prague 2007