The purpose of this study is to fully understand interactions between instructors and two-year-old toddlers, who are having story time with picture books at educational institutes.
By observing these situations, a researcher wanted to figure out two...
The purpose of this study is to fully understand interactions between instructors and two-year-old toddlers, who are having story time with picture books at educational institutes.
By observing these situations, a researcher wanted to figure out two things: the way of the interactions, the respective roles in the interactions.
Therefore, the researcher conducted survey researches visiting kindergarten and having interview.
Those are following questions.
1. How are the interactions of teachers and toddlers in story time?
2. What are the roles of teachers and toddlers in story time?
In order to answer the questions, the author observed one of the teachers at nursery school in Seoul, who has taught 2-year-old 13toddlers.
Observing toddlers while they were having free time especially focused on reading books took 140hours for 12weeks (Oct.2005~Feb.2006).
Collected data by observation, interviewing with teachers, using materials such as photographs, personal records, video, considering documents. The researcher classified, organized, and categorized these data to analyze.
The results of this study presents the following.
1. How are the interactions of teachers and toddlers in story time?
The interactions showed up from five procedures: the start of reading,
The connection of sensory motor-physical activity, the reminiscence of personal experience, the expression of emotion, the expansion of activity.
At the time they started to read the picture books, the types of interactions varied by toddlers' individual needs, teacher's suggestions about making groups, joining in with other toddlers of the same age.
In the course of the teacher reading books, the instructor interacted lively with children by connecting sensorimotor, physical activities, their own life experiences, musical activities, and role plays.
2. What are the roles of teachers and toddlers in story time?
First, when they were reading the story book, toddlers and teachers were seen to remake the story line.
Teachers modified the story according to the development stage each infant was in. They paraphrased the story with easier vocabulary and summarized it if it is too long for the toddlers to understand.
Imitating the teachers, toddlers reorganized the story by using the pictures they were looking at.
Second, toddlers and teachers had shown to relate the story with their own life experiences while they were reading.
Toddlers couldn't read the written text as the teachers, but they remembered what they had listened and delivered the story using the pictures with the words they had used in everyday life.
Third, they shared their information and knowledge to each other. Whenever kids were curious about something teacher answered their questions. Also among children, they communicated ideas and information that they had known.
Fourth, during the story time the instructor and the kids had role of inquiring about anxiety. In this time(2-year-old toddlers) they used to say "why?" for everything. Therefore, the teacher could lead interactions briskly by asking short, simple questions using wh-questions like "what?,who?" to check how well they understood about the contents. Also the instructor made them predict following stories to extend their thoughts.
Fifth, in the course of reading book both students and the teacher managed the problem to go away. While they were reading picture books they frequently made a habit of being in trouble. At that time the instructor solved the problem by explaining the conditions, indicating the way to clear the situation, and changing the mood.
The other kids of the age had shown by expressing their own opinion when the kids asked for the arbitration.