Conversations in early childhood classrooms: review of literature, preliminary findings from a professional development intervention, and policy suggestions

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Date
2018
DOI
Authors
Curenton-Jolly, Stephanie
Rochester, Shana
Syed, Yusra
Gardner, Shari
Version
Accepted manuscript
OA Version
Citation
Stephanie Curenton-Jolly, Shana Rochester, Yusra Syed, Shari Gardner. "Conversations in Early Childhood Classrooms: Review of Literature, Preliminary Findings from a Professional Development Intervention, and Policy Suggestions."
Abstract
This chapter focuses on classroom conversations during the early childhood years, before formal schooling. We argue that encouraging high-quality conversations between teachers and young children is consistent with empirical findings and professional wisdom demonstrating that such conversations are positively related to children’s language outcomes. Classroom discourse is at the core of strong pedagogy and practice. Yet, few professional development trainings and/or college courses specifically focus on how conversation can be used as an instructional tool. Analyses throughout the article point to the urgency for policy makers to invest in the education and training of future early childhood teachers (both pre-service and in-service) around this issue, especially for those teaching culturally and linguistically diverse learners.
Description
License
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International