Childrens Participation In Their Learning In The Kindergarten Multi-Dialogical Approach

Abstract

The multi-dialogical approach (MDA) in the kindergarten aims to improve kindergarten children's social and communicative skills, for example: the ability to converse in dialogical discussion and actively participate in planning their activities and learning. When children participate in their learning, they can make an important contribution to the dialog because the children’s point of view is recognized, and the discussion can focus on their world and their way of thinking. This is one way in which the children can be included in the planning of their activities and in their learning. The article presents part of a research study investigating the development of social communication patterns among children in a multi-dialogical kindergarten. The article focuses on the children's participation in their learning according to the kindergarten multi-dialogical approach. The research drew data from participatory observation on children's participation in their learning. According to the multi-dialogical approach, children learn to take part in planning their activities and their learning; children's participation is observed during their daily involvement in the kindergarten routine, as well as in more complex activities, such as leading research processes and kindergarten projects. This forms the foundation for the multidialogical approach, allowing the child to practice dialog skills through dialogical discourse and to actively participate in their learning.

Keywords: Multi- dialogical approachchildren's participationchildren planning activitiesnegotiation

Introduction

This work describes the use of the multi-dialogical approach (MDA) in the kindergarten. It aims to examine the connection between the use of the MDA and the development of kindergarten children's social and communicative skills, for example: the ability to converse in dialogical discussion and actively participate in planning their activities and learning. Among other things, preschool education aims to allow the child to grow and to evolve into an involved citizen, who has the ability to judge and criticize and is a curious independent thinker, demonstrating initiative. The fundamental assumption of multi-dialogical education, which underpins this work, is that when a child learns about his world out of their own inner interest, the child will evolve into that type of adult. The aim of this study is to examine the core aspects of this educational method namely, the behavioural patterns and social communication processes of children who learn in a multi-dialogical kindergarten.

When children participate in their learning, they can make an important contribution to the dialog because the children’s point of view is recognized, and the discussion can focus on their world and their way of thinking. This is one way in which the children can be included in the planning of their activities and in their learning (Emilson & Johansson, 2009; Pramling-Samuelsson & Sheridan, 2003).

The qualitative part of the research was conducted in two parallel stages: participatory observations of 25 children learning in a kindergarten according to the MDA were filmed and transcribed. The researcher also conducted semi-structured interviews with 15 kindergarten teachers, seven of whom work according to the MDA and eight who work according to the traditional educational approach. To supplement data from the qualitative study, a closed-ended quantitative questionnaire was constructed and administered to 130 kindergarten teachers.

Problem Statement

The gap in knowledge that this study aimed to fill is due to the fact that most studies, which have been conducted in the dialogical learning field in various countries have focused on elementary school children. Other studies, which related to kindergartens, have mainly examined interactions between the kindergarten teacher and the child (Fumoto, 2011) and the influence of mediated learning on children (Tzuriel & Shamir, 2007). However, as far as can be ascertained, there has been no investigation of the implementation of different educational approaches in early childhood or of their implications for the children and their development.

Research Questions

The research questions were: (1) which unique social, behavioural and interpersonal communication patterns occur among kindergarten children in a multi-dialogical kindergarten? And (2) which social, communication and interpersonal differences will be found between children educated in multi-dialogical kindergartens and children educated in traditional kindergartens?

Purpose of the Study

The research aimed to examine the development of children’s social-communication patterns, such as initiative, leadership and participation in their learning in a multi-dialogical kindergarten.

Research Methods

Findings

Analysis of the qualitative data that emerged from the filmed participatory observations in the multi-dialogical kindergarten indicated that the during the children’s activities, the children delved deep into their fields of interest as part of the learning patterns characteristic of a kindergarten using the MDA. Evidence of this appeared in Film 10 in which Marie (5.9) investigated the subject of native American Indians and guided a group of children on this subject. Marie shared her knowledge with the children and the children saw her as having expertise in this field.

Marie (5.9) opens a file that she has prepared on the subject of the Indians, she shows it to the group and says: “Here these are Indians, they live in tepees but they don’t only live there, they sleep there, they eat there, they light bonfires and play on bamboo pipes, they eat buffalo, and they make combs from the buffalo’s bones”.

Dealing with this field of interest stimulates the children to ask the girl with the knowledge questions:

Ziv (5.11): “Marie, that mask, that head – is it one of a real animal?”

Marie (5.9): “Yes …”

Yahel (5.1): “Marie, who are they fighting? You still haven’t explained it to us?”

Marie (5.9): “I’ll explain it to you now. They fight with traders and they fight about trades…”.

Yahel (5.1): “What are trades?”

Marie (5.9): “Trades are for example, if you want me to give you something, then I give you [something] and you give it to me”.

It seems that when the kindergarten works according to the MDA, it is characterized by the children’s desire to develop their knowledge of their field of interest in depth. The children are clearly able to explain and to transmit knowledge that they have acquired to their peers. Moreover, the other children relate to their friends who are leading the session as the source of knowledge and ask them questions on different subjects as part of the social-communication patterns developed in the kindergarten.

Analysis of the qualitative data from the interviews with the teachers indicates that when the MDA is used in a kindergarten, the fact that children learn about and go deeper into their fields of interest means that they develop a strong curiosity to learn. Noam explained: “The children are far more open-minded and have a desire to learn because the learning takes place in their fields of interest…Learning in this manner responds to the children’s needs”. Carmel noted that “the learning in the kindergarten should not only come from above, from the teacher” and Liron said: “I really pay attention and observe which contents interest the children”. Anat added: “When the learning comes from the child, and interests the child, when it is the need of the child, as happens in the MDA, then it will be much more significant”. So that “I think that it is more correct to learn out of interest, and out of meaning, especially in our times, when knowledge is so accessible” added Noam.

The multi-dialogical kindergarten is characterized by the fact that its contents are constructed in line with the children’s fields of interest. The teacher identifies these fields by paying close attention to the children and observing their activities. This produces deep and meaningful learning and constitutes part of the social-communication patterns that develop in the multi-dialogical kindergarten.

Analysis of the quantitative data from the questionnaire revealed significant differences between the reports concerning the extent of children’s participation in their learning processes of MDA teachers and traditional teachers. MDA teachers gave higher grades for the level of children’s participation in their learning than the grading given by traditional teachers (3.99 in comparison to 2.79 respectively, t=8.34, p<0.01). More specifically, it was found that the MDA teachers gave significantly higher grades for the level of children’s participation in the different learning processes examined in the questionnaire in comparison to the grading given by traditional teachers.

See Full Size >

Conclusion

The findings reveal correlations between the implementation of the MDA in kindergartens and the development of the kindergarten children's social-communicative patterns.

Significant differences were found between the evaluations of children's participation in their learning processes by the MDA teachers and the evaluations of the traditional teachers. This participation depends on the teacher’s approach, to what extent the teacher facilitates the children's participation, whether the contents and the way in which they are handled are based principally on her choices or on the children’s areas of interest and initiatives. In a traditional kindergarten, children also participate in their learning processes but the contents and he ways in which they handled are mostly the result of the teacher’s choices, there is significantly less participation by the children. This finding is supported by previous research indicating that children’s participation in their activities and learning in the kindergarten allows them to gain valuable social abilities experience including the skills of attentiveness and involvement, expressing a personal opinion, knowing how to share their experience with their friends, practicing decision-making , learning how to negotiate and learning to wait for their turn in a dialog and how to share things with friends (Clark & Moss, 2005; Leinonen & Venninan, 2012; Venninen, Leinonen, & Ojala, 2010). In this sense it is noted that all children can, in fact, participate in their learning; though of course this depends on the teacher’s approach and the extent to which she is willing to allow this (Nyland, 2009). This is expressed in the preparation of the learning curriculum, which may simply be a set of facts that everyone must know with very little choice or which can become a genuine learning curriculum based on the child's interest and investigation and relying on the child’s strengths (Gardner, 1996). To summarize: Social-communication patterns such as involvement, the ability to express oneself and to share experience and declare a personal opinion, ability to negotiate, to share, and to make decisions are shaped and depend on the way in which the kindergarten's learning curriculum is constructed and on the extent to which children participate in its planning and in the learning in the kindergarten.

References

1. Ben-Yosef, A., (2009). Circles of connection: Concerning the fostering of a discourse culture in a humanistic educational institute. Rannana: MOFET Institute. [Hebrew]
2. Bocos, M., (2007). The theory and praxis of pedagogical research. [Teoria şi practica cercetării pedagogice]. (in Romanian), Cluj-Napoca, Editura Casa Cărţii de Ştiinţă.
3. Caspi, M., (1979). Education tomorrow. Tel Aviv: Am Oved. [Hebrew]
4. Clark, A. & Moss, P., (2005). Spaces to play: more listening to young children using the Mosaic approach. London, National Children’s Bureau.
5. Danner, S. & Jonyniene, Z., (2012). Participation of children in democratic decision-making in kindergarten: Experiences in Germany and Lithuania. Socialinis Darbas/Social Work, 11, 411-420.
6. Efrat, M. & Ungureanu, D., (2015). Is the egg spoiled? A big question from a small child. Proceeding of the International Conference on Education Reflection and Development. Romania: Cluj-Napoca.
7. Emilson, A. & Johansson, E., (2009). The Desirable toddler in preschool: Values communicated in teacher and child interactions. In D. Berthelsen, J. Brownlee & E. Johansson (Eds.), Participatory learning in the early years: research and pedagogy, London: Routledge.
8. Fiore, L. & Suares, S.C., (201)0. This issue. Theory into Practice, 49(1), 1-4.
9. Firstater, E. & Efrat, M. (2014). Social communication patters of children in a kindergarten operating according to the dialogical education approach. Rav Gvanim, Research and Discourse, 14, 11-48. Under the auspices of “Study and Research in Teacher Training”, Jerusalem: Ministry of Education and Gordon Academic College of Education. [Hebrew].
10. Fumoto, H., (2011). Teacher–child relationships and early childhood practice. Early Years, 31, 19-30.
11. Lansdown, G., (2001). Promoting children’s participation in democratic decision-making. Florence.
12. Leinonen, J. & Venninen, T., (2012). Designing learning experiences together with children. Procedia-Social and Behavioural Sciences, 45, 466-474.
13. Levine, G., 1(989).Another kindergarten. Tel Aviv: Ach. [Hebrew]
14. Lyle, S., (2008). Dialogic teaching: Discussing theoretical contexts and reviewing evidence from classroom practice. Language and Education, 22, 222-240.
15. Mason, J. ( 1996). Qualitative researching. London: Sage Publications.
16. Ministry of Education, (2010). Guidelines for educational work in kindergartens. Jerusalem: Department for Pre-Primary Education, Ministry of Education. [Hebrew]
17. Nystrand, M., Gamoran, A., Kachur, R. & Prendergast, C., (1997). Opening dialogue: Understanding the dynamics of language and learning in the English classroom. New York: Teachers College Press.
18. Pramling-Samuelsson, I. & Sheridan, S., (2003). Participation as value and pedagogic approach. Pedagogisk forskning i Sverige, 8(1–2.), 70-84.
19. Rinaldi, C., (2006). In dialogue with Reggio Emilia. London, Routledge.
20. Shkedi, A., (2003). Words that attempt to touch, Qualitative research - Theory and implementation. Tel Aviv: Ramot. [Hebrew]
21. Stake, R. E., (1995). The art of case study research. London: Sage Publications.
22. Tzuriel, D. & Shamir, A., (2007). The effects of Peer Mediation with Young Children (PMYC) on children’s cognitive modifiability. The British Psychological Society, 77, 143-165.
23. Venninen, T., Leinonen, J., & Ojala, M. (2010). Parasta on, kun yhteinen kokemus siirtyy jaetuksi iloksi–Lapsen osallisuus pääkaupunkiseudun päiväkodeissa. Tutkimusraportti.[When the shared experience transforms a collective joy”–Children’s Participation in Day Care centers. Research report], Helsinki: SOCCA-Pääkaupunkiseudun sosiaalialan osaamiskeskus., 3.