‘We have to be professional’ – Swedish preschool teachers’ conceptualisation of digital media

Abstract

This paper describes how a group of preschool teachers participating in a design workshop sketched ideas for how ICT (information and communication technology) can be developed in relation to preschool practice. The design process, which was modelled on creative research methods and future workshops, is presented in detail. The main findings, based on a data-driven analysis of verbal and written statements and design sketches, show that ICT is mainly conceptualised as either a possibility in the support of specific competences (such as language development) or a threat to, for example, the notion of real communication and also to well-established conceptualisations of preschool practice. Keywords Preschool Teachers, Future Workshop, Design THEME AND OBJECTIVEIn times when digital media are ubiquitous, and more and more children use an increasing variety of digital media at an earlier age than ever before, such media are still new phenomena within many formal educational settings in general, and in preschool practice in particular. Even though there are testimonials of benefits from using digital media in preschool, from research as well as practice, the actual use of information and communication technology (ICT) in preschool is limited. This article addresses this complexity, by investigating Swedish preschool teachers' conceptualisation of digital media, in order to better understand what possibilities, and obstacles, preschool teachers experience in using digital media in their everyday pedagogical profession. The assumption is that it is of uttermost importance that pedagogical staff within formal educational settings develop a critical understanding and an adequate use of such media, in order to better meet the needs and expectations of young children.In this vein, a workshop with twelve preschool teachers was conducted in January 2014, focusing on how ICT in general, and tablets in particular, can be used and developed to support the development of young children. The introductory literature review will therefore focus on what qualities ICT brings to preschool (and early childhood education) practice, rather than elaborating on studies concerning the challenges of implementation (Howard, Miles, & Rees-

Wag the dog - The nature and foundations of preschool educators' positive ICT pedagogical beliefs

“…By comparison between theory and data I mean that while no strict deductive analysis was applied in this study, previous research has still acted as a "theoretical thread" in the analysis process (see Grönfors, 2011). In the context of the current paper, the main theoretical thread was the notion that while early childhood educators in general value the learning of social skills over the learning of academic skills (Kowalski et al, 2001;Lee, 2006), the importance of learning academic skills is more prominent in educators' ICT-related beliefs (e.g., Blackwell et al, 2016;Dong & Newman, 2016;Hernwall, 2016;Ihmedieh, 2009;Palaiologou, 2016). Nevertheless, as early childhood educators' general and ICT-related pedagogical beliefs have not been studied within a single research project, it is not known whether these inconsistencies take place between the educators or within the educators.…”

Wag the dog – The nature and foundations of preschool educators' positive ICT pedagogical beliefs

“…By comparison between theory and data I mean that while no strict deductive analysis was applied in this study, previous research has still acted as a "theoretical thread" in the analysis process (see Grönfors, 2011). In the context of the current paper, the main theoretical thread was the notion that while early childhood educators in general value the learning of social skills over the learning of academic skills (Kowalski et al, 2001;Lee, 2006), the importance of learning academic skills is more prominent in educators' ICT-related beliefs (e.g., Blackwell et al, 2016;Dong & Newman, 2016;Hernwall, 2016;Ihmedieh, 2009;Palaiologou, 2016). Another thread was that in the research literature about early childhood educators' general pedagogical beliefs, student- Nevertheless, as early childhood educators' general and ICT-related pedagogical beliefs have not been studied within a single research project, it is not known whether these inconsistencies take place between the educators or within the educators.…”

“…However, while socio-emotional skills are highlighted in general pedagogical goal beliefs, ICT is specifically understood as a medium for learning academic skills (e.g., Blackwell, Lauricella, & Wartella, 2016;Dong & Newman, 2016;Ihmedieh, 2009), and only 24% of the teachers in a study by Palaiologou (2016) agreed with a statement that digital devices can facilitate play-based pedagogy as a cooperative tool. The literature offers no comprehensive account for why ICT is mostly seen as a tool for academic excellence, but one reason could be that teachers in early childhood education have been found to use technological affordances as the starting point for their ICT pedagogical planning (Dong & Newman, 2016;Hernwall, 2016), and analyses of educational mobile applications for young children show that the supply is dominated by apps advertised to promote the learning of literacy and mathematics (Highfield & Goodwind, 2013;Vaala, Ly & Levine, 2015).…”

“…None of these phenomena are limited only to Finland. While doubts and concerns are still expressed (e.g., Dong, 2016;Hernwall, 2016;Palaiologou, 2016), 2 it has become evident that the vast majority of teachers in early childhood education feel positive about using ICT with children (e.g., Aubrey & Dahl 2014;Gialamas & Nikolopoulou, 2010;Jimoyiannis & Komis, 2007).…”

“…Similarly, the lack of equipment, experience, and training is a common theme in international research reports (e.g., Aubrey & Dahl, 2014;Hernwall, 2016;Palaiologou, 2016;Petrogiannins, 2010).…”