The mediating role of concepts for collective reasoning about integrating play, teaching and digital media in preschool: A potential for enabled agency for early childhood teachers

The study explores how the theoretical framework Play-Responsive Early Childhood Education and Care (PRECEC) influences a kindergarten team’s ability to reflect on the integration of digital media in play and teaching. The study focuses on how theoretical concepts from PRECEC function as cultural tools that mediate the understanding and discussion of digital play in kindergarten. The research question is: How does PRECEC mediate a kindergarten team’s ability to reflect on play and teaching in interaction with digital media?

The study shows that the concepts from PRECEC help kindergarten employees understand and discuss how they can use digital media in play and teaching. The participants found that to be part of children’s play, adults must have knowledge about the children’s digital references, such as TV shows and apps. Digital media were seen as useful for providing facts and supporting play but could also hinder imagination if they controlled the play too much. The results show that by using PRECEC concepts, kindergarten staff can plan activities that take children’s interests in and experiences of digital media into account, making the teaching more inclusive and engaging.

The study is part of a research and development project conducted in a Swedish kindergarten. The participants made up a team that included one kindergarten teacher, one recreational educator and one nurse, who worked with children aged 1-3 years. The study included four focus group meetings conducted via Zoom over a period of three months. These meetings were transcribed and analysed using socio-cultural discourse analysis (SCDA) to investigate how theoretical concepts from PRECEC influenced the participants’ ability to reflect.

Stavholm, E., Lagerlöf, P., & Wallerstedt, C. (2023). The mediating role of concepts for collective reasoning about integrating play, teaching and digital media in preschool: A potential for enabled agency for early childhood teachers. Journal of Early Childhood Research, 21(4), 484–497.