The type and frequency of interactions that occur between staff and children outside in Early Years Foundation Stage settings during a fixed playtime period when there are tricycles available

Bilton, H. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2001-2530 (2012) The type and frequency of interactions that occur between staff and children outside in Early Years Foundation Stage settings during a fixed playtime period when there are tricycles available. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 20 (3). pp. 403-421. ISSN 1752-1807 doi: 10.1080/1350293X.2012.704763

Abstract/Summary

This study reports on an investigation into adult and child interactions observed in the outdoor play environment in four Local Authority early years foundation stage settings in England. In this instance the common two features across the settings were the presence of tricycles and a timetabled outdoor play period. In total, across the four schools, there were 204 children. The study aimed to gain an understanding of the nature of the dialogues between staff and children, that is, the types of exchange that occurred when either the child approached an adult or the adult approached a child. The most frequent type of utterance was also analysed. The study concludes that adults in these settings spoke more than children and the greatest type of utterance was that of the adult about domestic matters. When the child initiated the conversation there were more extended child utterances than domestic utterances. This may suggest that children wish to be involved in conversations of depth and meaning and that staff need to become aware of how to develop this conversational language with children.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/25670
Identification Number/DOI	10.1080/1350293X.2012.704763
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Interdisciplinary Research Centres (IDRCs) > Centre for Literacy and Multilingualism (CeLM) Arts, Humanities and Social Science > Institute of Education > Improving Equity and Inclusion through Education
Publisher	Taylor and Francis
Download/View statistics	View download statistics for this item