Unit:
Department of Early Childhood EducationΒιβλιοθήκη Τμήματος Εκπαίδευσης & Αγωγής στην Προσχολική Ηλικία (ΤΕΑΠΗ)
Author:
Theodotou Evgenia
Dissertation committee:
Μαρία Σφυρόερα, Επίκουρη Καθηγήτρια, Τμήμα ΤΕΑΠΗ, Εθνικό και Καποδιστριακό Πανεπιστήμιο Αθηνών
Αλεξάνδρα Ανδρούσου, Αναπληρώτρια Καθηγήτρια, Τμήμα ΤΕΑΠΗ, Εθνικό και Καποδιστριακό Πανεπιστήμιο Αθηνών
Αντιγόνη Παρούση, Αναπληρώτρια Καθηγήτρια, Τμήμα ΤΕΑΠΗ, Εθνικό και Καποδιστριακό Πανεπιστήμιο Αθηνών
Βασίλης Γιαλαμάς, Καθηγητής, Τμήμα ΤΕΑΠΗ, Εθνικό και Καποδιστριακό Πανεπιστήμιο Αθηνών
Ζωή Γαβριηλίδου, Καθηγήτρια, Τμήμα Ελληνικής Φιλολογίας, Δημοκρίτειο Πανεπιστήμιο Θράκης
Γαλήνη Ρεκαλίδου, Καθηγήτρια, Τμήμα Επιστημών της Εκπαίδευσης στην Προσχολική Ηλικία, Δημοκρίτειου Πανεπιστημίου Θράκης
Μαρία Κρέζα, Λέκτορας, Παιδαγωγικό Τμήμα Προσχολικής Εκπαίδευσης, Πανεπιστήμιο Κρήτης
Original Title:
Αξιοποίηση μορφών τέχνης στην κατεύθυνση της ανάπτυξης του γραμματισμού στο νηπιαγωγείο
Translated title:
Using different art forms to develop literacy in the early years settings
Summary:
Literacy is an important ability of people as it is highly linked with every area of learning. Thus, it is critical to find meaningful ways to support young children to develop their literacy performance. The arts are a promising approach as according to research (see Hanley et al, 2009) they are the most preferable activity choice of children and they also provide a liberal environment in which they can interact and communicate effectively. Considering the lack of research in examining the holistic effects of the arts in children’s development, the aim of this research was to investigate an interdisciplinary approach of the arts and literacy in children’s performance in literacy and social skills, involvement and literacy as a social practice in the age group of 5-6 years old. More specifically, it was investigated if there were the arts in general or a specific art form that could contribute more to children’s performance in literacy and social skills, involvement and literacy as a social practice. It was expected that drama would have a better contribution. This was based on the fact that according to Sionti & Papadopoulos (2011) and Fleming et al. (2004) drama requires higher levels of participation because it required high levels of physical activity and improvisation.
An interdisciplinary framework was designed and suggested for this purpose and it was tested in a pilot implementation and in a final study against a control group. There was a random selection of 4 early years classrooms in Attica in Greece with 83 children and 4 early childhood teachers in total. In the final study there were 3 experimental groups, which each one of them were implementing the suggested interdisciplinary framework using a different kind of the arts. The effects of the intervention in children’s performance in literacy and social skills, involvement and literacy as a social practice were measured using a mix method approach with qualitative and quantitative data. The practitioners’ perspectives regarding the intervention were also gathered. The findings verified the beneficial effects of the arts in children’s literacy and social skills, involvement and literacy as a social practice. When the arts were using as a means to develop literacy activities, children had a better performance from children in the control group. In contrast, with our hypothesis there was no significant difference between drama and the rest art forms. This leads us to suggest that there is no specific art form that has greater gains comparing with the other ones but it is the arts in general that have a beneficial impact on children’s performance in literacy and social skills, involvement and literacy as a social practice.
The added value of this piece of research rests on the fact that it examined holistically the effects of the arts on children’s performance in literacy and social skills, involvement and literacy as a social practice, which is something that is missing from the empirical literature. These findings are useful to early childhood practitioners as a pioneering approach and to researchers as a motivating factor for further examination of this topic.
Main subject category:
Language
Keywords:
Literacy, arts, involvement, social skills, literacy as a social practice, child-led projects, literacy events, literacy practices, paintings, puppets, puppetry, drama play
Number of references:
283
