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"In early childhood education and care (ECEC), the importance of extended conversations with children is emphasised through professional practice principles (i.e. what teachers should do) and in learning outcomes for children (i.e. what children should be able to do). Early childhood curricula, frameworks or statements of learning goals for young children necessarily respond to the historical, educational and political priorities of their communities. There is, however, a universal understanding of the primacy of talk-in-interaction as both the medium of learning and a skill for children to develop. All early childhood curricula reference the fundamental importance of talking with children. Early childhood curricula do not, however, specify how talking with children might be done. The deliberate lack of explicit directions on how to talk with children allows teachers to develop pedagogical strategies that incorporate each child's experiences, abilities and interests, forming a continuum of learning from their home and community environments. The flexibility and responsivity of curriculum frameworks for early childhood education - frameworks developed and evaluated through national education and care policy - enables teachers to create individualized learning for the children and families they work with. The fact that early childhood curricula are not prescriptive aligns with a sociocultural approach to education where programs can adapt and respond to the needs of local communities. It does mean, however, that the practices to implement national curricula and enable learning outcomes are less visible to teachers; this illusiveness can be problematic as learning outcomes for children are specified in ECEC curricula. Teachers know where they are going (ie learning goals) and why (i.e. professional knowledge, beliefs and theory), but they are not always sure how to initiate, navigate and extend conversations with children throughout this journey"--
List of contents
Introduction Amelia Church and Amanda Bateman; 1. Conversation analysis for early childhood teachers Amelia Church, Amanda Bateman and Susan Danby; 2. Sequences Mardi Kidwell; 3. Participation Amanda Bateman; 4. Embodiment Friederike Kern; 5. Emotion Asta Cekaite; 6. Socialisation Matthew Burdelski; 7. Epistemics Ilana Mushin and Rod Gardner; 8. Literacy Marjolein I. Deunk, Myrte N. Gosen, Frans Hiddink, and Jan Berenst; 9. Storytelling Anna Filipi; 10. Digital technologies Sandy Houen and Susan Danby; 11. Mathematics Caroline Cohrssen; 12. Creativity Christine Lee; 13. Multilingualism Jakob Cromdal and Kirsten Stoewer; 14. Belonging Polly Björk-Willén; 15. Play Annukka Pursia; 16. Mental health and wellbeing Michelle O'Reilly and Jessica Nina Lester; 17. Neurodiversity Laura Sterponi and Betty Yu; 18. Friendships Maryanne Theobald; 19. Conflict Amelia Church and Ekaterina Moore; 20. Morality Ann-Carita Evaldsson and Magnus Karlsson; 21. Families Akira Takada.
About the author
Amelia Church is a Senior Lecturer in the Melbourne Graduate School of Education at the University of Melbourne and her research in early childhood education focuses on the quality of child-teacher interactions. Her books include Preference Organization and Peer Disputes (2009) and Children's Knowledge-in-Interaction (co-edited with Bateman, 2017).Amanda Bateman is Associate Professor in Waikato University School of Education. Amanda's research explores various aspects of early childhood education using a conversation analysis approach. Her books include Conversation Analysis and Early Childhood Education (2015), Children's Knowledge-in-Interaction (co-edited with Church, 2017) and Children and Mental Health Talk (co-edited, 2020).
Summary
Offering unique insights into real-life early childhood interactions, this book provides a valuable resource for early childhood teachers. It brings together contributions from a global team to offer practical advice for teaching and talking with children, and includes transcripts to demonstrate the practices of teaching and learning with children.
Foreword
Offering unique insights into real-life early childhood interactions, this book provides a valuable resource for early childhood teachers.
