ERIC Number: EJ1299266
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2021-Apr
Pages: 18
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0020-7187
EISSN: N/A
Place, Peers, and Play: Children's Belonging in a Preprimary School Setting
Kyrönlampi, Taina; Uitto, Minna; Puroila, Anna-Maija
International Journal of Early Childhood, v53 n1 p65-82 Apr 2021
This article focuses on children's perspectives of belonging to a place, in this case a Finnish preprimary school setting. This study explores "place-belonging" in photographs originally taken by the children in their preprimary school activities. "Photo-telling" was applied as a methodology to link narrative and visual approaches. The research data consist of 13 children's photographs and group discussions, in which the children viewed the photographs with the researcher. The study shows that children's belonging in the preprimary school was intertwined with various elements of the setting, including the people, activities, materiality, and institutional and cultural practices. The findings show how the children can make places of their own and contribute to the setting, how they build their own places, and how these places and associated structures affect the children's actions. Play allows the children to gain familiarity and attachment to places, materials, and peers, hence building a sense of belonging to the preprimary school as a setting. Children's photographs and storytelling activities provide educators with a significant means to support and understand children's perspectives on place and belonging.
Descriptors: Sense of Community, Early Childhood Education, Foreign Countries, Photography, Preschool Children, Play, Peer Relationship
Springer. Available from: Springer Nature. One New York Plaza, Suite 4600, New York, NY 10004. Tel: 800-777-4643; Tel: 212-460-1500; Fax: 212-460-1700; e-mail: customerservice@springernature.com; Web site: https://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2123/
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Early Childhood Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Finland
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A