Browsing by Author "Ollas, Hellin"

The aim of this study was to find out how a group of kindergarten pupils and their teacher have experienced their participation in a project on multiliteracies in early childhood education, the MOI project, and to compare these experiences with the expressed aims of the MOI project. The research questions are: 1) In the opinion of the project planner, what are the aims of the MOI project? 2) Does the teacher think that participating in the project has helped the children to learn multiliteracy skills? 3) Which aspects of the project did the children find interesting? To answer the first two questions, two qualitative research interviews were conducted. One with a project planner from the MOI project, and one with the kindergarten teacher whose group took part in the project. To answer the third question, a number of children in this specific group were asked to produce a drawing of some project related activity they had found agreeable. Structured discussions about the drawings were also conducted with the children. The interviews were recorded, transcribed and categorised. The structured discussions with the children were also recorded and coupled with each drawing in question. Also this material was categorised in order to demonstrate the diversity in the children’s different ways of thinking. When the answers given by the teacher and the project planner are examined, it is found that participation in the MOI project has introduced the concept of multiliteracy to the teacher, and also inspired them to work on the matter in the future. This is also in accordance with the expressed aims of the MOI project. As for the children’s learning, the teacher found that they had become better storytellers and they questioned more. They also became more confident at dramatizing, and better at understanding one another in play situations. These are all skills considered by the teacher as relating to multiliteracy, which is also confirmed by the literature. The teacher emphasised, though, that the learning process was individual. The digital aspect of multiliteracy, such as the use of digital equipment, did not become prominent in this group. The majority of children used symbolism in their drawings, even when they were asked to draw concretely. However, thinking and drawing on a symbolic level can be seen as a multiliteracy skill. The theme of the project, “the Feelings of Nature”, was also well represented in the drawings.