I know I don’t read enough or even pick up a book in the baby room sometimes
Download 7.59 Mb.
|
- Navigate this page:
- Abstract
- Acknowledgements
- Table of Contents
“I know I don’t read enough or even pick up a book in the baby room sometimes”: Early Years Teacher Trainees’ perceptions and beliefs about reading with under-threesKaren Marie Boardman Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Education April 2017 Faculty of Social Sciences School of Education
This thesis investigates how Early Years Teacher Trainees (EYTTs) support under-threes with early reading development within their daily provision. It also explores their experiences, views, perceptions and challenges of early reading. Many years, of research into the practice and pedagogy of early reading has led to copious contentious debates and reviews (Johnston and Watson, 2005; Rose Review, 2006; Wyse and Goswami, 2008; Goouch and Lambirth, 2011), resulting in an unnecessary and imperious policy investment in Systematic Synthetic Phonics (SSP) to teach reading in schools. This study suggests that this policy agenda not only influences EYTT’s views and beliefs about early reading, but also their practice with under-threes. This thesis reports the findings of a mixed methods study, which aims to explore the experiences and practices of EYTTs. Phase one consisted of a survey to understand the experiences of practitioners working with under-threes. This was followed by the second phase, which involved five qualitative interviews, two focus group workshops and Zine data to clarify and refine the earlier quantitative results, as well as to explore the practitioners’ views and experiences in more depth (Creswell, 2005). This study stresses the urgent need to support Early Years Teachers in understanding that babies must have access to high quality books and regular shared stories as part of their daily routine. Findings from this study indicate that the emphasis on school readiness (Moss, 2013) within the EYTS training is influencing practitioner’s perceptions of early reading and as such, practitioners may be failing to provide under-threes with the resources, activities and experiences needed to encourage children to engage with reading. AcknowledgementsI would firstly like to thank the research participants and settings for engaging in the research activities with such passion and enthusiasm, when at times this was ‘new territory’ for some of them. I would like to express my utmost appreciation and heartfelt thanks to my supervisor, Dr Rachael Levy, who has been my inspiration throughout the EdD programme of study. Thank you also to my EdD colleagues and my work colleagues. A heartfelt thank you to all my family and friends for your support and encouragement. Special acknowledgements to my dad, my husband, my sister and my two sons, Tom and Jack, who sustained this passion for early reading. This thesis is dedicated to my Grandson Tommy, and Lucy and Lily. Table of Contents“I know I don’t read enough or even pick up a book in the baby room sometimes”: Early Years Teacher Trainees’ perceptions and beliefs about reading with under-threes 1 Abstract 2 Acknowledgements 3 Table of Contents 4 Abbreviations 6 Chapter 1 7 1.0. Setting the scene 7 1.1.Aims of the research study 11 1.2.Research focus 13 1.3.Experiences of early years teacher trainees: A rationale 15 1.4.Contribution to the field of study 20 1.5. Structure of the thesis 21 Chapter 2 23 23
Review of the literature 23 2.0. Introduction 23 2.1. Quality practice and provision 28 2.2. Beginning with literacy 34 2.3. What is early reading? 39 46
2.4. The controversy of early reading and phonics 46 Figure 2.1: ECEC policy documents relating to ‘phonics’ 50 2.5. Perceptions of ‘reading’ for under-threes 51 2.6. Literacy through playful interactions 57 2.7. Tuning into babies: the established links between language acquisition and early reading 61 2.8. Creating literacy environments for under-threes 63 2.8.1. Babies need books 68 2.9. Early Years Teacher Status 70 2.10. Summary 76 Chapter 3 79 Methodology 79 3.0. Introduction 79 3.1. Positionality 80 3.2. Research paradigm 81 3.3. Research design 84 Figure 3.1: Data collection 86 Figure 3.2: Research design 86 3.4. The participants 88 3.5. Main respondent ‘Pen Portraits’ 90 3.6. Ethical considerations 91 3.7. Methods 93 Figure 3.3: Sample survey questions 95 Figure 3.4: Sample interview questions 98 3.8. Data Analysis 100 3.8.1. Survey questionnaire (Appendix O) 102 Figure 3.5: Initial coding frame ‘Survey’ 103 Figure 3.6: Reviewing and defining themes 104 3.8.2. Practitioner interviews 104 Figure 3.7: Initial coding frame ‘Interviews’ 105 Figure 3.8: Overview of interview participants 106 3.8.3. Focus group workshops 107 Figure 3.9: Overview of focus group workshop participants 108 3.8.4. Zines 108 Figure 3.10: Overview of Zine participants 109 3.9. NVivo data; exploration of the themes 109 Figure 3.11: Overview of NVivo text word search query 110 3.10. Reliability, validity and credibility of the data analysis 111 3.11. Limitations of the research 113 3.12. Summary 114 Chapter 4 115 The complexities of early reading with under-threes: 115 Presenting the data 115 4.0. Introduction 115 4.1. Theme 1: Accessible early reading environment for babies 116 4.2. Theme 2: Defining and understanding early reading in practice 140 Figure 4.1: Photograph of one of the definitions crafted by the participants 146 Figure 4.2: Toddler alphabet Post-it wall 167 4.3. Theme 3: Perceptions of confidence in practice 172 4.4. Theme 4: Support for early reading 181 4.5. Summary 186 Chapter 5 188 The experiences and challenges of supporting under-threes with early reading: Discussion and analysis 188 5.0. Introduction 188 5.1. How do EYTTs support very young children with early reading? 189 5.1.1. Understanding early reading: “The children are very young and not ready to read” 190 5.1.2. “The books are in the cupboard or on the shelf and staff get them out at various times” 193 5.1.3. “Too busy to read” 195 5.1.4. “We do letters and sound activities” 197 5.2. What are Early Years Teacher Trainee’s views and beliefs about reading and how does this influence their practice with under-threes? 199 5.2.1. “It’s easier with toddlers and older children”: the notion of feedback 200 5.2.2. “I know I don’t read enough or even pick up a book in the baby room sometimes” 201 5.3. What are the experiences and challenges of EYTTs in supporting very young children with early reading? 203 5.4. What influences EYTT’s practice in the settings in encouraging children’s development in reading? 205 5.5. What are the implications of this for the training of EYTs? 206 5.6. Summary 208 Chapter 6 209 Conclusion and recommendations 209 6.0. Introduction 210 6.1. Methodology insights 211 6.2. Summary of the key findings 213 6.3. Suggested recommendations 216 Recommendation 1: Babies need access to books and print daily 217 Recommendation 2: Early reading is everything ‘everyday’ 217 Recommendation 3: No phonics for under-threes! 217 Recommendation 4: Definition of early reading for under-threes 218 Recommendation 5: Under-threes do not need to be ‘school-ready’ 218 Recommendation 6: Review digital literacies pedagogy and provision for under-threes 219 Recommendation 7: Conduct further research on early reading practices with under-threes 219 Recommendation 8: Review and enhance the EYTS training content 220 6.4. My contribution to the research field 221 6.5. Dissemination, impact and future plans 222 Thesis References 223 Appendix A: Ethical Application 252 Appendix B: Ethical Approval Letter 253 Appendix C: Participant Information Sheet 254 Appendix D: Survey Consent Form 260 Title of Research Project: 260 Supporting under-threes with early reading; the experiences and challenges of Early Years Teacher Trainees. 260 Appendix E: Survey Data Babies 261 Appendix F: Survey Data Toddlers 262 Appendix G: Survey Data 2-year-olds 263 Appendix H: Sample Focus Group Transcript 264 Appendix I: Sample Interview Transcript 271 Appendix J: Sample Zine Entries 272 Appendix K: SPSS Statistical ‘Participant’ Data 274 Appendix L: NVivo Text Query Results 277 Appendix M: Interview Questions 278 Appendix N: Final Coding Map 279 Appendix 0: Survey Questionnaire 280 Profile 280 Appendix P: Survey Responses (PDF and Screenshots) 282 Directory: 17919 17919 -> Study Guide ~ Physical Features of the United States Atlantic Coastal Plains Download 7.59 Mb. Share with your friends:
|