The purpose of study was to understand the act of sharing among preschoolers in their daily classroom life. It's specifically meant to examine the types and contextual meanings of sharing observed during play in a group of 4-year-old children in Class...
The purpose of study was to understand the act of sharing among preschoolers in their daily classroom life. It's specifically meant to examine the types and contextual meanings of sharing observed during play in a group of 4-year-old children in Class "Sky" of M childcare center. Two research questions were posed: 1. What types of sharing are observed among peers in Class "Sky" 2. What are contextual meanings of the act of sharing for the children in Class "Sky" The study was done in a 4-year-old classroom of a childcare center located in the city of Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province. The data were collected through participant observation with 11 children and 1 classroom teacher. The children were observed 27 times, using video taping, between November 5, 2012 and January 25, 2013. The teacher was interviewed twice formally, and many times informally. The collected data included the transcripts of video tapes and teacher interviews, the researcher's field notes, and classroom journals. All the data were sorted, organized and categorized for the analysis through careful reading and re-reading. The major findings of the study can be summarized around two research questions as follows. Research Question 1: What types of sharing act are observed among peers in Class "Sky" The children exhibited, first, sharing of play space by leaving some room for friends to move in or by moving themselves close to their friends. Sharing of play space led to increased opportunities for sharing play with friends. And sharing of play materials among friends were found, usually distributing equally among friends. But at the same time, some children practiced uneven sharing, capitalizing on the advantageous status of the ownership of play materials. In addition, sharing skills and knowledge to help friends, sharing of emotions to console sick friends, and sharing of previous experience that led to increased level of information and thoughts through communication were found. Research Question 2: What are contextual meanings of the act of sharing for the children in Class "Sky" Four different contextual meanings of sharing act were identified: satisfying one's own needs, revealing oneself, constructing new knowledge and being together. First, the act of sharing for children is meant to satisfy one's own needs, either by demonstrating one's power over friends or taking play materials from one's friends. This often caused conflict among children. Furthermore, the desire to keep the power over friends by getting hold of play materials as much as possible served as the cause for another conflict. Second, sharing, for children, was an attempt to making themselves known and get recognized, and they had self-confidence when they got recognized by peers. They were receptive toward their peers who appreciated them in order to enjoy playing with each other in a friendly manner, and their friendly relationship lasted for a long time. Third, through the act of sharing, they were able to understand the characteristics of their work, and to construct new knowledge. Finally, they could share the community spirit while they negotiated ideas to abide by their communal rules in the classroom. These reflect the essential nature of sharing that was meant to benefit all by keeping the individual and the whole community in harmony.