Planning and interaction: Teachers’ views on pre-primary read-alouds
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.58955/jecer.136127Keywords:
early literacy, children's literature, shared bookreading, storytimeAbstract
Read-alouds are recurrent in early childhood education and care settings and there is an abundance of scholarly advice regarding the planning and implementation of these sessions. However, most studies concern read-alouds with younger children and there is little knowledge regarding read-alouds during the pre-primary year for Finnish six-year-olds. The present study therefore investigated teachers’ self-reported ways of organising and arguing for their ways of implementing read-alouds in Finnish pre-primary settings. The study focused on what teachers reported paying attention to when planning read-alouds and how they viewed interaction during the read-alouds. Data were collected through a questionnaire completed by 47 teachers and through group interviews with nine teachers. A qualitative content analysis showed that teachers mentioned paying attention to children’s needs, interests, prerequisites and the characteristics of the books in connection to planning. They also described practices that indicated that it is common for them not to be acquainted with the books beforehand or not to have a prior plan. According to the teachers, interaction during read-alouds is common and important. At the same time, some of them expressed that they felt expected to use read-alouds as tools for supporting children’s school readiness by calling for silence during the read-alouds.
References
Alatalo, T., Norling, M., Magnusson, M., Tjäru, S., Hjetland, H. N., & Hofslundsengen, H. (2023). Read-aloud and writing practices in Nordic preschools. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research. https://doi.org/10.1080/00313831.2023.2175243
Alatalo, T., & Westlund, B. (2021). Preschool teachers’ perceptions about read-alouds as a means to support children’s early literacy and language development. Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, 21(3), 413–435. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468798419852136
Basse, L., Sehested, C., & Larsen, M. E. (2008). Den levende bog: Rapportering og evaluerande undersøgelse [The living book:A report and examination with evaluation]. Center for Børnelitteratur, Danmarks Pædagogiske Universitetsskole, Aarhus Universitet. https://www.ucviden.dk/ws/portalfiles/portal/102988227/Den_levende_bog.pdf
Beck, I. L., & McKeown, M. G. (2001). Text talk: Capturing the benefits of read-aloud experiences for young children. The Reading Teacher, 55(1), 10–20. http://www.jstor.org/stable/20205005
Boyd, K. (2013). Teacher read aloud: Exploring an educational tradition through a social practice framework [Doctoral dissertation, University of Manitoba]. http://hdl.handle.net/1993/23219
Damber, U. (2015). Read-alouds in preschool – A matter of discipline? Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, 15(2), 256–280. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468798414522823
Denscombe, M. (2018). Forskningshandboken. För småskaliga forskningsprojekt inom samhällsvetenskaperna [The Research Handbook. For small-scale research projects in social sciences]. Studentlitteratur.
Dickinson, D. K., McCabe, A., & Anastasopoulos, L. (2003). A framework for examining book reading in early childhood classrooms. In A. van Kleeck, S. A. Stahl & E. B. Bauer (Eds.), On reading books to children: Parents and teachers (pp. 95–113). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers.
Carey, M-A., & Asbury, J-E. (2012). Focus Group Research. Left Coast Press.
Evans, J. (2016). Who am I? Why am I here? And where do I come from? Responding to philosophical picturebooks. Education, 44(1), 53–67. https://doi.org/10.1080/03004279.2015.1109815
Finnish National Board of Education (2016). National Core Curriculum for Pre-Primary Education 2014 (Publications 2016:6). Finnish National Board of Education.
Finnish National Board on Research Integrity [TENK]. (2023). The Finnish code of conduct for research integrity and procedures for handling alleged violations of research integrity in Finland. https://tenk.fi/sites/default/files/2023-05/RI_Guidelines_2023.pdf
Flick, U. (2018). Methodological triangulation in qualitative research. In U. Flick (Ed.), Doing triangulation and mixed methods (pp. 25–48). Sage Publications. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781529716634
Gibbs, A. (2017). Focus groups and group interviews. In R. Coe, M. Waring, L. V. Hedges & J. Arthur (Eds.), Research Methods and Methodologies in Education (pp. 190–196). Sage.
Håland, A., Hoem, T. F., & McTigue, E. (2021). The quantity and quality of teachers’ self-perceptions of read-aloud practices in Norwegian first grade classrooms. Early Childhood Education Journal, 49, 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-020-01053-5
Hennink, M. M. (2014). Focus Group Discussions. Oxford University Press.
Hisrich, K., & McCaffrey, M. (2021). Planning and preparing for read-alouds. Illinois Reading Council Journal, 49(2), 12–29. https://doi.org/10.33600/IRCJ.49.2.2021.12
Hofslundsengen, H., Magnusson, M., Svensson, A-K., Jusslin, S., Mellgren, E., Hagtvet, B. E., & Heilä-Ylikallio, R. (2020). The literacy environment of preschool classrooms in three Nordic countries: challenges in a multilingual and digital society. Early Child Development and Care, 190(3), 414–427, https://doi.org/10.1080/03004430.2018.1477773
Justice, L. M., Kaderavek, J. N., Fan, X., Sofka, A., & Hunt, A. (2009). Accelerating preschoolers’ early literacy development through classroom-based teacher-child storybook reading and explicit print referencing. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 40(1), 67–85. https://doi.org/10.1044/0161-1461(2008/07-0098)
Kansanen, P., & Hansén, S-E. (2017). Lärarens pedagogiska tänkande [Teachers’ pedagogical thinking]. In S-E. Hansén & L. Forsman (Eds.), Allmändidaktik – vetenskap för lärare [General didactics - science for teachers](pp. 341–360). Studentlitteratur.
Kindle, K. (2010). Vocabulary development during read-alouds: Examining the instructional sequence. Literacy Teaching and Learning, 14(1–2), 65–88.
Kim, S. J., & Hachey, A. C. (2021). Engaging preschoolers with critical literacy through counter-storytelling: A qualitative case study. Early Childhood Education Journal, 49, 633–646. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-020-01089-7
Kindle, K. J. (2011). Same book, different experience: A comparison of shared reading in preschool classrooms. Journal of Language and Literacy Education, 7(1), 13–34.
Kress, G.R., Selander, S., Säljö, R., & Wulf, C. (Red.) (2021). Learning as social practice: beyond education as an individual enterprise. Routledge.
Lennox, S. (2013). Interactive read-alouds—An avenue for enhancing children’s language for thinking and understanding: A review of recent research. Early Childhood Education Journal, 41, 381–389. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-013-0578-5
Lindgren, B. M., Lundman, B., & Graneheim, U. H. (2020). Abstraction and interpretation during the qualitative content analysis process. International journal of nursing studies, 108, 103632. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2020.103632
Loyd, S. M. (2011). Beyond sentiment: A descriptive case study of elementary school teachers’ experiences selecting children’s literature for read-alouds [Doctoral dissertation, University of Northern Colorado]. https://www.proquest.com/dissertations-theses/beyond-sentiment-descriptive-case-study/docview/919538173/se-2
McCaffrey, M., & Hisrich, K. E. (2017). Read-alouds in the classroom: A pilot study of teachers' self-reporting practices. Reading Improvement, 54(3) 93–100.
Merriam, S. B. (2009). Qualitative research: A guide to design and implementation. Jossey-Bass.
Nasiopoulou, P., Mellgren, E., Sheridan, S., & Williams, P. (2022). Conditions for children’s language and literacy learning in swedish preschools: Exploring quality variations with ECERS-3. Early Childhood Education Journal, 51 1305–1316. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-022-01377-4
Noble, C. L., Sala, G., Peter, M. S., Lingwood, J., Rowland, C. F., Gobet, F. R., & Pine, J. M. (2019). The impact of shared book reading on children’s language skills: A meta-analysis. Educational Research Review, 28, 100290. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.2019.100290
Oberman, R. (2023). From invitation to destination: A systematic literature review of the use of picturebooks in inquiry-based education. British Educational Research Journal, 00, 555–574. https://doi.org/10.1002/berj.3856
Pentimonti, J. M., & Justice, L. M. (2010). Teachers’ use of scaffolding strategies during read-alouds in the preschool classroom. Early Childhood Education Journal, 37(4), 241–248. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-009-0348-6
Repo, L., Paananen, M., Eskelinen, M., Mattila, V., Lerkkanen, M-K., Gammelgård, L., Ulvinen, J., Marjanen, J., Kivistö, A., & Hjelt, H. (2019). Varhaiskasvatuksen laatu arjessa – Varhaiskasvatussuunnitelmien toteutuminen päiväkodeissa ja perhepäivähoidossa [Everyday quality in early childhood education and care – ECEC curriculum implementation at day-care centres and in family day care] (Julkaisut 15:2019). Finnish Education Evaluation Centre. https://karvi.fi/app/uploads/2019/09/KARVI_1519.pdf
Reunamo, J. (2022). Observed reading sessions between 08:00–16:00 hours in Finnish early childhood education. In H. Harju-Luukkainen, J. Kangas & S. Garvis (Eds.), Finnish early childhood education and care. A multi-theoretical perspective on research and practice. Early childhood research and education: An inter-theoretical focus, vol. 1. (pp. 165–179). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-95512-0_12
Sairanen, H., Kumpulainen, K., & Kajamaa, A. (2022). An investigation into children's agency: children's initiatives and practitioners’ responses in Finnish early childhood education, Early Child Development and Care, 192(1), 112–123, https://doi.org/10.1080/03004430.2020.1739030
Santoro, L., Chard, D., Howard, L., & Baker, S. K. (2008). Making the very most of classroom read-alouds to promote comprehension and vocabulary. Reading Teacher, 61, 396–408. https://doi.org/10.1598/RT.61.5.4
Shedd, M. K., & Duke, N. (2008). The power of planning: Developing effective read-alouds. Young Children, 63(6), 22–27. https://www.jstor.org/stable/42730349
Sipe, L. R. (2008). Storytime: young children’s literary understanding in the classroom. Teachers College Press.
Teale, W. H. (2003). Reading aloud to young children as a classroom instructional activity: Insights from research and practice. In A. van Kleeck, S. A. Stahl, & E. B. Bauer (Eds.), On reading books to children: Parents and teachers (pp. 114–139). Erlbaum.
Tjäru, S. (2020). Upprepningar och glada utrop – pedagogers och barns agenda under tre bokstunder i språkbad [Repetitions and happy exclamations - staff and child agendas during three read-alouds in language immersion]. Barn. Forskning om barn og barndom i Norden, 38(4). https://doi.org/10.5324/barn.v38i4.3994
Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: Development of higher psychological processes. Harvard University Press.
Wasik, B. A., & Bond, M. A. (2001). Beyond the pages of a book: Interactive book reading and language development in preschool classrooms. Journal of Educational Psychology, 93(2), 243–250. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.93.2.243
Wasik, B. A., & Hindman, A. H. (2014). Understanding the active ingredients in an effective preschool vocabulary intervention: An exploratory study of teacher and child talk during book reading. Early Education and Development, 25(7), 1035–1056. https://doi:10.1080/10409289.2014.896064
Weadman, T., Serry, T., & Snow, P. (2023). Oral language and emergent literacy strategies used by Australian early childhood teachers during shared book reading. Early Childhood Education Journal, 51, 1335–1348. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-022-01381-8
Wiseman, A. (2011). Interactive read-alouds: Teachers and students constructing knowledge and literacy together. Early Childhood Education Journal, 38, 431–438. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-010-0426-9
Wright, T. S. (2018–2019). Reading to learn from the start. American Educator, 42(4), 4–8.
Wood, D., Bruner, J. S., & Ross, G. (1976). The role of tutoring in problem solving. Journal of Child Psychology, Psychiatry, & Applied Disciplines, 17, 89–100.
Zucker, T. A., Ward, A. E., & Justice, L. M. (2009). Print referencing during read‐alouds: A technique for increasing emergent readers' print knowledge. The Reading Teacher, 63(1) 62–72. https://doi.org/10.1598/RT.63.1.6
