Engagement and Emergent Literacy Practices in Swedish Preschools.

The purpose of this study is to examine children's engagement in different emergent literacy activities. The study uses seven quality dimensions, each of which provides insight into the social learning environment created by preschool teachers through their pedagogical and didactic practices.

Overall, the results of the study showed strong correlation between children's engagement and the supportive interventions carried out by preschool staff. Based on the observations, the study concludes that the social dimensions of the learning environment can account for 50% of the variation in children's engagement during the observed activities; the most significant input came from the preschool staff's instructional learning formats. Among other things, these activities consist of pedagogical strategies that stimulate children's active participation - for example, singing, rhyming or painting. According to the results of the study, children's engagement in language stimulating activities cannot be truly affected unless the activities are integrated in the learning environment's pedagogical and didactic dimensions.

Based on the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS) observation tool, the study's quantitative research method consists of observations of various language-stimulating activities in Swedish preschools. CLASS makes it possible to examine correlations between the pedagogical practices of the staff and the children's engagement in different learning activities. Group observations were carried out in 55 preschool units by two independent persons and included both indoor and outdoor activities. A total of 165 preschool teachers were observed during several different daily activities that involved one or more children.

Norling, M., Sandberg, A. & Almqvist, L. (2015). Engagement and Emergent Literacy Practices in Swedish Preschools. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal 23(5), 619-634.