Invented Writing Activities in Nordic Early Childhood Education and Care – Traces of Didactics in Practice

This study investigates early childhood education and care (ECEC) teachers’ reported practices and views regarding children’s invented writing. A total of 222 teachers from Finland, Norway, and Sweden responded to a questionnaire on their practices regarding invented writing activities and rated st...

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Main Authors: Sofie Tjäru, Randi Høyland, Hilde Hofslundsengen, Maria Magnusson
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Cappelen Damm Akademisk NOASP 2024-12-01
Series:Nordic Journal of Literacy Research
Subjects:
Online Access:https://nordicliteracy.net/index.php/njlr/article/view/6120
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author Sofie Tjäru
Randi Høyland
Hilde Hofslundsengen
Maria Magnusson
author_facet Sofie Tjäru
Randi Høyland
Hilde Hofslundsengen
Maria Magnusson
author_sort Sofie Tjäru
collection DOAJ
description This study investigates early childhood education and care (ECEC) teachers’ reported practices and views regarding children’s invented writing. A total of 222 teachers from Finland, Norway, and Sweden responded to a questionnaire on their practices regarding invented writing activities and rated statements on a Likert scale. The data were analyzed quantitatively with descriptive statistics, and open answers were analyzed qualitatively using content analysis. The results showed that few teachers arranged daily writing activities and that writing was especially uncommon with children aged three years and younger. A dominant view expressed was that children needed to be of a certain age for writing to be relevant and that the children were simply too young. The writing that did take place focused on letters and children’s names. Although most teachers reported that the alphabet was visibly displayed in their ECEC units, few teachers had included writing materials in play settings. However, some teachers reported physical and social learning environments that engaged children in invented writing. We believe that the latter teachers’ accounts indicate a didactic approach in Nordic ECEC that could serve as a starting point for future investigations regarding the didactics of invented writing in ECEC.
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publishDate 2024-12-01
publisher Cappelen Damm Akademisk NOASP
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series Nordic Journal of Literacy Research
spelling doaj-art-c16f804b57fe4c89a9e4d4099d1aea1c2024-12-11T13:53:28ZengCappelen Damm Akademisk NOASPNordic Journal of Literacy Research2464-15962024-12-0110410.23865/njlr.v10.6120Invented Writing Activities in Nordic Early Childhood Education and Care – Traces of Didactics in PracticeSofie Tjäru0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5564-5226Randi Høyland 1https://orcid.org/0009-0006-0327-6477Hilde Hofslundsengen2Maria Magnusson3Åbo Akademi University, FinlandWestern Norway University of Applied Sciences, NorwayWestern Norway University of Applied Sciences, NorwayLinnaeus University, Sweden This study investigates early childhood education and care (ECEC) teachers’ reported practices and views regarding children’s invented writing. A total of 222 teachers from Finland, Norway, and Sweden responded to a questionnaire on their practices regarding invented writing activities and rated statements on a Likert scale. The data were analyzed quantitatively with descriptive statistics, and open answers were analyzed qualitatively using content analysis. The results showed that few teachers arranged daily writing activities and that writing was especially uncommon with children aged three years and younger. A dominant view expressed was that children needed to be of a certain age for writing to be relevant and that the children were simply too young. The writing that did take place focused on letters and children’s names. Although most teachers reported that the alphabet was visibly displayed in their ECEC units, few teachers had included writing materials in play settings. However, some teachers reported physical and social learning environments that engaged children in invented writing. We believe that the latter teachers’ accounts indicate a didactic approach in Nordic ECEC that could serve as a starting point for future investigations regarding the didactics of invented writing in ECEC. https://nordicliteracy.net/index.php/njlr/article/view/6120emergent writingECECdidacticsearly literacy
spellingShingle Sofie Tjäru
Randi Høyland
Hilde Hofslundsengen
Maria Magnusson
Invented Writing Activities in Nordic Early Childhood Education and Care – Traces of Didactics in Practice
Nordic Journal of Literacy Research
emergent writing
ECEC
didactics
early literacy
title Invented Writing Activities in Nordic Early Childhood Education and Care – Traces of Didactics in Practice
title_full Invented Writing Activities in Nordic Early Childhood Education and Care – Traces of Didactics in Practice
title_fullStr Invented Writing Activities in Nordic Early Childhood Education and Care – Traces of Didactics in Practice
title_full_unstemmed Invented Writing Activities in Nordic Early Childhood Education and Care – Traces of Didactics in Practice
title_short Invented Writing Activities in Nordic Early Childhood Education and Care – Traces of Didactics in Practice
title_sort invented writing activities in nordic early childhood education and care traces of didactics in practice
topic emergent writing
ECEC
didactics
early literacy
url https://nordicliteracy.net/index.php/njlr/article/view/6120
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AT hildehofslundsengen inventedwritingactivitiesinnordicearlychildhoodeducationandcaretracesofdidacticsinpractice
AT mariamagnusson inventedwritingactivitiesinnordicearlychildhoodeducationandcaretracesofdidacticsinpractice