ERIC Number: EJ1431558
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2024
Pages: 19
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1350-293X
EISSN: EISSN-1752-1807
Exploring Children's Participation from Froebelian Practitioners' Perspectives in Scottish Context
European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, v32 n4 p621-639 2024
Participation has been discussed as a multi-layered concept with varied outlooks on children's lived experiences. Children's participation occupies a complicated terrain in that whose participation counts and how it manifests itself within complex adult-child relations are enduring questions in the early childhood field. This qualitative study explored early years practitioners' perspectives about children's participation through their Froebelian lenses in the Scottish context. Semi-structured in-depth interviews (n = 14) were conducted online (May 2020-September 2020). As a result of the thematic analysis, three interrelated themes unfold practitioners' conceptualisations of children's participation: (i) listening to children's perspectives, (ii) acting upon children's perspectives and (iii) active learning and development. The study shows that Froebelian approaches open diverse intellectual spaces for practitioners to consider children's participation, agency and competency alongside everyday pedagogical encounters. Children's participation, which was not a common concept in Froebel's time, is reconceptualised by the practitioners in this research and identified as a substantial but fluid concept in children's multiple experiences, which is also acknowledged as children's rights.
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Preschool Teachers, Child Caregivers, Early Childhood Education, Holistic Approach, Caregiver Attitudes, Teacher Attitudes, Childrens Attitudes, Active Learning
Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 530 Walnut Street Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Tel: 215-625-8900; Fax: 215-207-0050; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research; Tests/Questionnaires
Education Level: Early Childhood Education; Preschool Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: United Kingdom (Scotland)
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A