Session Information
31 SES 12 B, Supporting Plurilingualism in Preschool Education
Paper Session
Contribution
Internationally, it is well established that early childhood education (ECE) can contribute positively to children’s development as long as a high educational quality is provided in ECE settings (Anders, 2013). For Germany, studies show that German language development of (plurilingual) children corresponds positively with their attendance in ECE institutions. However, regarding the German (academic) language competencies disadvantages of plurilingual children – compared to monolingual children – are not being balanced (Kotzerke et al., 2013). In fact, the disadvantages cumulate over the individual’s educational career. One reason for this finding is that – for the German context – the quality of interactions in terms of (plurilingual) language support is relatively poor. Especially in segregated childcare facilities, there is a need to improve the aforementioned quality: it decreases in ECE institutions, in which at least 40% of the children have a migrant background (Kratzmann et al., 2013). Nevertheless, when it comes to educational quality in ECE and measuring the quality of interactions, Stamm and Edelmann (2013) criticize the narrowing of quality standards to an “ethnocentric world view of individualistic societies” (p.337). This leads to shortcomings in the past efforts for quality development in ECE. To this effect, studies illustrate that children’s home languages are not valorized and are often not even appreciated in ECE facilities. From a theoretical point of view, the professional competence, especially the theoretical (domain specific) knowledge of educators is of high relevance for the quality of interactions (Fröhlich-Gildhoff et al., 2011). Nevertheless, empirical studies in ECE demonstrate that the relation between the linguistic knowledge, and the quality of interactions regarding (plurilingual) language support cannot be clearly defined yet (Ofner, 2014; Wirts et al., 2017). Other findings emphasize further aspects of the professional competence that influence the quality of interactions; these are the perception of situations, their interpretation and the decision-making as well as pedagogical beliefs (Santagata and Yeh, 2016). However, not only the professional competence determines the said quality but also conditions in the ECE setting, such as leadership (Salem, 2018), team beliefs (Thole et al., 2015) and the conditions in the childcare center and its social environment. In summary, there is a need for studies that consider the complex quality pattern, in which childcare professionals interact, and that take the functional dimension of language for language development and support into account in order to define and examine the quality of interactions. Indeed, this is the objective of the project “Language Support Professionals in Multilingual Childcare Facilities” (“Sprachbildungsprofis in mehrsprachigen Kitas – SprabiPiKs“), which is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research and started in August 2018. Theoretically, the project is based on an expanded understanding of quality in ECE. It takes multilingualism in super-diverse societies and plurilingualism of children growing up in such societies into consideration and defines (plurilingual) language education as a key field of action in ECE (Lengyel and Salem, 2017). Moreover, it focusses on the interrelation of the dimensions of quality in ECE; these are structures, educational beliefs, processes, management and context (Strehmel and Ulber, 2014). Thus, the said understanding emphasizes that it is not only the educator and their professional competence that is relevant for the quality of interactions, but that there is a ‘competent system’ (Urban et al., 2011) that frames and influences it. One of the underlying intentions of this research is to make solid contributions from an intercultural-educational and linguistic perspective to the understanding of the complex quality pattern in which childcare professionals interact. Moreover, it can be assumed that this project helps in enhancing the interactional quality with respect to the diverse linguistic conditions of children.
Method
Subsequently to the current state of research depicted above, the research questions of the project are: 1. How can the construct of interactional quality with regard to (plurilingual) language support be conceived empirically, and how can it be documented, analyzed and verified? 2. Which perception, interpretation and decision-making competencies do professionals with a distinct linguistic knowledge have and which role do these competencies play for the interactions with children? To what knowledge and pedagogical beliefs do the educators refer hereby? 3. Under which conditions in the facilities and the social environment do the professionals interact with children? How are the relations between these conditions and the professional competence of educators on the one hand, and between the quality of interactions with regard to (plurilingual) language support on the other hand? The aim was to include six educators – and thereby childcare facilities – into the study, who have a distinct expertise in (plurilingual) language development and support (“language support professionals”) and who work in childcare facilities in Hamburg, Germany, in which over 40% of the children have a migrant background. For the sampling, three criteria were applied: 1) the childcare center is based in a quarter, in which over 40% of the children in the age of four have a migrant background and 2) the childcare center belongs to a childcare facility manager with more than ten facilities. 3) At least one educator in the facility has a high linguistic knowledge. Following the first two criteria, 446 childcare centers in all seven districts of Hamburg were identified using different public statistical data. In autumn 2018, the facilities were informed about the project (via mail/email) and asked to conduct an online test (SprachKoPF, 51 items on linguistic knowledge; Thoma and Tracy, 2017) in order to identify the “language support professionals”. To answer the research questions, different research methods will be applied: videography in each facility to examine the interactional quality; a group discussion with educators in each facility focused on common beliefs regarding (plurilingual) language education and video-stimulated-recall-interviews to explore aspects of the professional competence of the “language support professionals”. To examine the tasks and role of leaders for (plurilingual) language education as well as the conditions in the respective facility and the social environment, we conduct qualitative interviews with each leader, including a questionnaire on structural characteristics of the facility and a network card.
Expected Outcomes
From an intercultural-educational and from a linguistic perspective, the project examines how childcare professionals, who have a distinct expertise in (plurilingual) language support (linguistic knowledge), interact with mono- and multilingual children, and how the quality of interactions develops with regard to (plurilingual) language development. Observations will focus on the knowledge of said professionals, their perception, interpretation and decision-making competencies, their beliefs and knowledge as well as the general conditions of each facility and its social environment. The aim of the fieldwork is an individual and a comparative qualitative reconstruction of how the competencies of the educators and each facility’s environment correspond to the quality of the aforementioned interactions. Regarding the sampling, eighteen educators conducted the above-mentioned test (N=18). Nine of them showed a high linguistic knowledge, i.e. their test results were higher compared to the mean value (0.33; maximum value 1) of a comparison group (educators; N=81; Thoma and Tracy, 2017). We included six educators – and thereby childcare facilities – in the project, who showed values between 0.4 and 0.72 (highest value of the group). In January 2019, we interviewed three leaders; the other three interviews with leaders will follow in the beginning of February 2019. The data will be transcribed in February and March 2019 and analyzed thematically from April 2019 on. By September 2019, we will be able to illustrate the social environments, structural conditions and how (plurilingual) language education in the six childcare centers is implemented. Furthermore, we will present first results on how leaders define their tasks and role with regard to the implementation of (plurilingual) language education in the facility and quality development. Eventually, we will point out the relations between aforementioned aspects of educational quality and (plurilingual) language education in ECE facilities.
References
Anders, Y. (2013). Stichwort. Auswirkungen frühkindlicher institutioneller Betreuung und Bildung. In Z Erziehungswiss 16 (2), S. 237–275. Fröhlich-Gildhoff, K.; Nentwig-Gesemann, I.; Pietsch, S. (2011). Kompetenzorientierung in der Qualifizierung frühpädagogischer Fachkräfte. Eine Expertise der Weiterbildungsinitiative Frühpädagogische Fachkräfte (WiFF). München: Dt. Jugendinstitut. Kotzerke, M.; Röhricht, V.; Weinert, S.; Ebert, S. (2013). Sprachlich-kognitive Kompetenzunterschiede bei Schulanfängern. In G. Faust (Ed.), Einschulung. Ergebnisse aus der Studie "Bildungsprozesse, Kompetenzentwicklung und Selektionsentscheidungen im Vorschul- und Schulalter (BiKS)". Münster: Waxmann, pp. 111–135. Lengyel, D. & Salem, T. (2017). Zusammenarbeit von Kita und Elternhaus - interkulturelle Perspektiven. In B. Kracke, P. Noak (Eds.): Handbuch Entwicklungs- und Erziehungspsychologie. Wiesbaden: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften. Ofner, D. (2014). Wie hängen Wissen und Handeln in der Sprachförderung zusammen? Eine explorative Untersuchung der Sprachförderkompetenz frühpädagogischer Fachkräfte. Empirische Pädagogik. In Empirische Pädagogik 28 (4), 302–318. Urban, M.; Vandenbroeck, M.; van Laere, K.; Lazzari, A.; Peeters, J. (2011). Competence Requirements in Early Childhood Education and Care. A Study for the European Commission Directorate-General for Education and Culture. Final Report. London and Ghent. Salem, T. (2018). Kooperation zwischen Kita und Grundschule für eine durchgängige Sprachbildung. Münster: Waxmann. Santagata, R.; Yeh, C. (2016). The role of perceptioin, interpretation, and decision making in the development of beginning teachers' competence. In ZDM Mathematics Education 48 (1), pp. 153–165. Stamm, M.; Edelmann, D. (2013). Zur pädagogischen Qualität frühkindlicher Bildungsprogramme: Eine Kritik an ihrer ethnozentrischen Perspektive. In M. Stamm, D. Edelmann (Eds.), Handbuch frühkindliche Bildungsforschung. Wiesbaden: Imprint: Springer VS, pp. 325-341. Strehmel, P.; Ulber, D. (2014). Leitung von Kindertageseinrichtungen. Edited by DJI Deutsches Jugendinstitut. München (WiFF Expertisen, Band 39). Thole, W.; Göbel, S.; Milbradt, B.; Rißmann, M.; Wedtstein, M. (2015). Wissen und Reflexion. Thematisierungsweisen pädagogischer Praxis in Kindertageseinrichtungen. In A. König, H. R. Leu, S. Viernickel (Eds.), Forschungsperspektiven auf Professionalisierung in der Frühpädagogik. Empirische Befunde der AWiFF-Förderlinie, vol. 2. Weinheim u.a.: Beltz Juventa, pp. 124–143. Thoma, Dieter; Tracy, Rosemarie (2017): SprachKoPF-Onlinev07.2. Instrument zur standardisierten Erhebung der Sprachförderkompetenz pädagogischer Fachkräfte. MAZEM. Mannheim. Wirts, C.; Wildgruber, A.; Wertfein, M. (2017). Die Bedeutung von Fachwissen und Unterstützungsplanung im Bereich Sprache für gelingende Interaktionen in Kindertageseinrichtungen. In H. Wadepohl, K. Mackowiak, K. Froehlich-Gildhoff, D. Weltzien (Eds.), Interaktionsgestaltung in Familie und Kindertagesbetreuung. Wiesbaden: Springer, pp. 148–167.
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