Use of tablet technologies, like the iPad, are now commonly used in families and have become cust... more Use of tablet technologies, like the iPad, are now commonly used in families and have become customary in the everyday lives of children. This paper explores how the use of iPads at school influences children’s activities at home and how children’s activities at school can be influenced by home activities. A case study of one child (aged 5.8 years) in Year 1 in a primary school in Saudi Arabia is presented to explore the relationship between children’s active engagement with iPads at home and school. In the case study, video observations of the child’s iPad activities at home and school are analysed. The research draws upon cultural–historical theory and concepts of demands and motives. The argument is made that the introduction of iPads into the classroom generates new demands on children and stimulates new motives towards the use of iPads in both the school and at home. This can generate a reciprocal digital relationship that advances child development in ways that support changes in classroom practices as well as at home.
Even though studies of the accessibility of digital technologies in educational contexts have bec... more Even though studies of the accessibility of digital technologies in educational contexts have become progressively more extensive, understanding children’s motive for play or for learning is essential for identifying the way they relate to touch technology. This research paper seeks to understand the relation between the motive for play and the motive for learning when iPads are introduced into a grade one class in the Saudi Arabian education setting, where there is no custom for the use of digital technologies (five children, age range 5.5 (6 years old; n=80 hours of video observations; n=12 hours of children and class teacher interviews). The teacher put in place a new learning configuration involving the iPads, and by studying how the children interpret this new situation it is possible to see what factors influence the development of their motive for play to their motive for learning. The findings are important for the Saudi context, but also for early years teachers generally because it gives insights into how digital tools can act as a vehicle through which learning can be enhanced
The phenomenon of perezhivanie has received increasing attention in
recent years; however, an und... more The phenomenon of perezhivanie has received increasing attention in recent years; however, an understanding of perezhivanie as a concept remains elusive. This article discusses perezhivanie as a theoretical concept from within a cultural-historical framework; through this, the article aims to foreground the significance of this concept for studying young children ’s development. In this article we show development through drama in both everyday life and conditions specifically created for the study of children’s development, where we show the significance and power of perezhivanie in research. It is argued that perezhivanie as a concept productively contributes to the study of children’s development.
Early childhood education in Australia has generally been considered to be inclusive of children ... more Early childhood education in Australia has generally been considered to be inclusive of children from birth to 8 years of age (Fleer, 2000). However, in practice we find that some state or territory authorities consider only the period prior to school to be under their jurisdiction. The variability in how early childhood education is framed is also evident in the naming of institutions. In Australia there is no universal term to label the educational setting immediately prior to schooling. For example, in the Australian Capital Territory and in New South Wales the year immediately ...
Cultural-historical theory has provided a dynamic approach to framing research and has drawn scho... more Cultural-historical theory has provided a dynamic approach to framing research and has drawn scholars’ attention to community activities for building children’s capabilities (Vygotsky, 1998). Within this context ‘funds of knowledge’ best describes how learning in communities generates social, economic, and cognitive capacities within the home and community (see Moll & Greenberg, 1990). In this chapter, assessment is framed as developing an understanding of a collective cultural-historical enterprise through positioning children as researchers of their own technological knowledge and capability, as located within their home and community practices in the form of funds of knowledge. A study of young children engaged in researching their own home, school, and community environments in relation to their technological activities is outlined in order to make visible the conceptual argument being put forward in this chapter.
Transitions as a particular concrete practice across countries have been extensively studied from... more Transitions as a particular concrete practice across countries have been extensively studied from a sociological perspective, revealing that children who live mobile lives grow up between cultures and may have issues with identity formation, belonging, rootlessness and unresolved issues of loss and grief. However, we know very little about the small day to day movements of families in everyday life as important micro movements, where the demands of moving countries are re- alized as emotionally charged events. The focus of this paper is on the multiple transitions of an Australian expatriate family moving from Saudi Arabia to Malaysia. In drawing upon the concept of perezhivanie, this paper presents new understandings of transitions as a dialectical relation between international and micro movements where children's belongings act as an important cultural tool for supporting the international move. A new perspective on transitions as emo- tionally charged events is theorized, contributing to understandings of the concept of transition as an affective relation between an international shift and a micro movement during the process of embedding personal belongings into the new local context.
Recent cultural-historical literature stresses the need for understanding the role of signs in em... more Recent cultural-historical literature stresses the need for understanding the role of signs in emotional development. This article examined how the signification of children’s emotions in everyday parent-child interactions creates the conditions for the emergence of intrapersonal emotion regulation. Four families with children aged 3-6 years were studied in Australia. Findings indicated that parents’ re-signing supported the emergence of children’s intrapersonal emotion regulation. We argue that the cultural line of emotional development needs to be foregrounded and the process of development theorized, thus contributing to better understandings of the process rather than the product of children’s development of emotion regulation.
Longstanding play research has focused on defining what play is, the social benefits of play, and... more Longstanding play research has focused on defining what play is, the social benefits of play, and how play acts as a pedagogical tool for supporting young children's learning. The theoretical development of play has received very little attention, particularly, in relation to cognition. This article challenges traditional perspectives on play research and the role of play in early learning and
Understanding children’s development in the context of the practices of teachers, curriculum writ... more Understanding children’s development in the context of the practices of teachers, curriculum writers and governments interested in young children has always been complicated, dynamic and diverse. In Volume 2 of this handbook, a global picture of this complexity is presented in terms of innovative and long- standing early childhood programs, curriculum and assessment practices, pedagogy and diverse conceptualisations of child, family and communities. Two central ques- tions drove the analysis of the content reported in this volume: What and how are practices being developed in early childhood education settings? What and how are new directions and insights in research and practice being paved for children’s development in families and communities? As will be shown in this first chapter of Volume 2 of the handbook, models of curricula, assessment and pedagogy appear to be based on fundamentally different conceptions of child development, the role of the teacher, what is play and how children are positioned within or across the family and early childhood setting. As might be expected in an international analysis, long standing and contemporary models of early childhood practice should speak directly to plurality. However, through an analysis of early childhood practices across coun- tries from the perspective of the northern and southern hemispheres, a very different picture emerges. The findings suggest that first, the dominant early childhood education models and practices have come from Eastern and Western European countries, many of which have been adopted in countries in the southern hemisphere. It is argued that this colonising act is due in part to the dominant modes of communication through English journals and established networks that inform what counts as an innovative program, curriculum or pedagogical practice. Second, the analysis shows an emerging global trend for re-conceptualising child development dialectically to include family and community who are also in a process of development, rather than to attribute child development to just the child or as the result of an early childhood program. These findings, in addition to what is reported in Volume 1 of this Handbook, seek to make a scholarly contribution to moving the compass from the Northern and the Southern hemispheres. This volume leaves room for more localised models and practices from the global South that speak differently to what and how early childhood practices are regularly conceptualised and promoted.
This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative... more This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY
Use of tablet technologies, like the iPad, are now commonly used in families and have become cust... more Use of tablet technologies, like the iPad, are now commonly used in families and have become customary in the everyday lives of children. This paper explores how the use of iPads at school influences children’s activities at home and how children’s activities at school can be influenced by home activities. A case study of one child (aged 5.8 years) in Year 1 in a primary school in Saudi Arabia is presented to explore the relationship between children’s active engagement with iPads at home and school. In the case study, video observations of the child’s iPad activities at home and school are analysed. The research draws upon cultural–historical theory and concepts of demands and motives. The argument is made that the introduction of iPads into the classroom generates new demands on children and stimulates new motives towards the use of iPads in both the school and at home. This can generate a reciprocal digital relationship that advances child development in ways that support changes in classroom practices as well as at home.
Even though studies of the accessibility of digital technologies in educational contexts have bec... more Even though studies of the accessibility of digital technologies in educational contexts have become progressively more extensive, understanding children’s motive for play or for learning is essential for identifying the way they relate to touch technology. This research paper seeks to understand the relation between the motive for play and the motive for learning when iPads are introduced into a grade one class in the Saudi Arabian education setting, where there is no custom for the use of digital technologies (five children, age range 5.5 (6 years old; n=80 hours of video observations; n=12 hours of children and class teacher interviews). The teacher put in place a new learning configuration involving the iPads, and by studying how the children interpret this new situation it is possible to see what factors influence the development of their motive for play to their motive for learning. The findings are important for the Saudi context, but also for early years teachers generally because it gives insights into how digital tools can act as a vehicle through which learning can be enhanced
The phenomenon of perezhivanie has received increasing attention in
recent years; however, an und... more The phenomenon of perezhivanie has received increasing attention in recent years; however, an understanding of perezhivanie as a concept remains elusive. This article discusses perezhivanie as a theoretical concept from within a cultural-historical framework; through this, the article aims to foreground the significance of this concept for studying young children ’s development. In this article we show development through drama in both everyday life and conditions specifically created for the study of children’s development, where we show the significance and power of perezhivanie in research. It is argued that perezhivanie as a concept productively contributes to the study of children’s development.
Early childhood education in Australia has generally been considered to be inclusive of children ... more Early childhood education in Australia has generally been considered to be inclusive of children from birth to 8 years of age (Fleer, 2000). However, in practice we find that some state or territory authorities consider only the period prior to school to be under their jurisdiction. The variability in how early childhood education is framed is also evident in the naming of institutions. In Australia there is no universal term to label the educational setting immediately prior to schooling. For example, in the Australian Capital Territory and in New South Wales the year immediately ...
Cultural-historical theory has provided a dynamic approach to framing research and has drawn scho... more Cultural-historical theory has provided a dynamic approach to framing research and has drawn scholars’ attention to community activities for building children’s capabilities (Vygotsky, 1998). Within this context ‘funds of knowledge’ best describes how learning in communities generates social, economic, and cognitive capacities within the home and community (see Moll & Greenberg, 1990). In this chapter, assessment is framed as developing an understanding of a collective cultural-historical enterprise through positioning children as researchers of their own technological knowledge and capability, as located within their home and community practices in the form of funds of knowledge. A study of young children engaged in researching their own home, school, and community environments in relation to their technological activities is outlined in order to make visible the conceptual argument being put forward in this chapter.
Transitions as a particular concrete practice across countries have been extensively studied from... more Transitions as a particular concrete practice across countries have been extensively studied from a sociological perspective, revealing that children who live mobile lives grow up between cultures and may have issues with identity formation, belonging, rootlessness and unresolved issues of loss and grief. However, we know very little about the small day to day movements of families in everyday life as important micro movements, where the demands of moving countries are re- alized as emotionally charged events. The focus of this paper is on the multiple transitions of an Australian expatriate family moving from Saudi Arabia to Malaysia. In drawing upon the concept of perezhivanie, this paper presents new understandings of transitions as a dialectical relation between international and micro movements where children's belongings act as an important cultural tool for supporting the international move. A new perspective on transitions as emo- tionally charged events is theorized, contributing to understandings of the concept of transition as an affective relation between an international shift and a micro movement during the process of embedding personal belongings into the new local context.
Recent cultural-historical literature stresses the need for understanding the role of signs in em... more Recent cultural-historical literature stresses the need for understanding the role of signs in emotional development. This article examined how the signification of children’s emotions in everyday parent-child interactions creates the conditions for the emergence of intrapersonal emotion regulation. Four families with children aged 3-6 years were studied in Australia. Findings indicated that parents’ re-signing supported the emergence of children’s intrapersonal emotion regulation. We argue that the cultural line of emotional development needs to be foregrounded and the process of development theorized, thus contributing to better understandings of the process rather than the product of children’s development of emotion regulation.
Longstanding play research has focused on defining what play is, the social benefits of play, and... more Longstanding play research has focused on defining what play is, the social benefits of play, and how play acts as a pedagogical tool for supporting young children's learning. The theoretical development of play has received very little attention, particularly, in relation to cognition. This article challenges traditional perspectives on play research and the role of play in early learning and
Understanding children’s development in the context of the practices of teachers, curriculum writ... more Understanding children’s development in the context of the practices of teachers, curriculum writers and governments interested in young children has always been complicated, dynamic and diverse. In Volume 2 of this handbook, a global picture of this complexity is presented in terms of innovative and long- standing early childhood programs, curriculum and assessment practices, pedagogy and diverse conceptualisations of child, family and communities. Two central ques- tions drove the analysis of the content reported in this volume: What and how are practices being developed in early childhood education settings? What and how are new directions and insights in research and practice being paved for children’s development in families and communities? As will be shown in this first chapter of Volume 2 of the handbook, models of curricula, assessment and pedagogy appear to be based on fundamentally different conceptions of child development, the role of the teacher, what is play and how children are positioned within or across the family and early childhood setting. As might be expected in an international analysis, long standing and contemporary models of early childhood practice should speak directly to plurality. However, through an analysis of early childhood practices across coun- tries from the perspective of the northern and southern hemispheres, a very different picture emerges. The findings suggest that first, the dominant early childhood education models and practices have come from Eastern and Western European countries, many of which have been adopted in countries in the southern hemisphere. It is argued that this colonising act is due in part to the dominant modes of communication through English journals and established networks that inform what counts as an innovative program, curriculum or pedagogical practice. Second, the analysis shows an emerging global trend for re-conceptualising child development dialectically to include family and community who are also in a process of development, rather than to attribute child development to just the child or as the result of an early childhood program. These findings, in addition to what is reported in Volume 1 of this Handbook, seek to make a scholarly contribution to moving the compass from the Northern and the Southern hemispheres. This volume leaves room for more localised models and practices from the global South that speak differently to what and how early childhood practices are regularly conceptualised and promoted.
This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative... more This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY
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recent years; however, an understanding of perezhivanie as a concept
remains elusive. This article discusses perezhivanie as a theoretical concept from within a cultural-historical framework; through this, the article aims to foreground the significance of this concept for studying young children ’s development. In this article we show development through drama in both everyday life and conditions specifically created for the study of children’s development, where we show the significance and power of perezhivanie in research. It is argued that perezhivanie as a concept productively contributes to the study of children’s development.
recent years; however, an understanding of perezhivanie as a concept
remains elusive. This article discusses perezhivanie as a theoretical concept from within a cultural-historical framework; through this, the article aims to foreground the significance of this concept for studying young children ’s development. In this article we show development through drama in both everyday life and conditions specifically created for the study of children’s development, where we show the significance and power of perezhivanie in research. It is argued that perezhivanie as a concept productively contributes to the study of children’s development.