Browsing by Author "Jauhiainen, Outi"

Objectives. The aim of this study was to examine how children express their participation in their peer interaction during a playworld activity. In this study participation has been approached trough belonging to the group and influencing possibilities, since these has been seen as an important part of participation in early childhood education. Multimodality of interaction was also taken into account. The research questions were: (1) How does children express and build participation in their peer interaction during the playworld activity? (2) How can playworld activity been seen to affect children`s peer interaction and participation? Methods. The study was carried out as a qualitative video observation study. Video data was collected by filming the playworld activities of one preschool group, located in Helsinki metropolitan area, in the spring 2018. Data was analysed by multimodal content analysis and Atlas.ti (qualitative data analysis software) was also used as a support of content analysis. Results and conclusions. It was observed plenty of actions in the children`s peer interaction that showed and build participation. The children used both non-verbal and verbal ways of interaction when expressing group membership and sharing their opinion. The results of the study favor the thought that observing children`s participation is possible only by taking into account the non-verbal resources of interaction. Children were observed expressing togetherness during playworld activities as well as making plenty of play-related suggestions and speeches. The children used different interaction resources in their peer interaction in different stages of playworld activity. Playworld activity and the opportunities it offers for children`s peer interaction, can provide a good environment for children`s participation occur in the early childhood education.