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The role of cultural tools and motive objects in early childhood teachers' curriculum decision-making about digital and popular culture play
Nuttall, Joce Edwards, Susan Grieshaber, Sue Wood, Elizabeth Mantilla, Ana Katiba, Timothy Chepkwesi Bartlett, Jacinta
Nuttall, Joce
Edwards, Susan
Grieshaber, Sue
Wood, Elizabeth
Mantilla, Ana
Katiba, Timothy Chepkwesi
Bartlett, Jacinta
Abstract
Cultural–historical perspectives on human activity argue that changes in cultural practices, such as teaching in early childhood education, can be fostered by introducing new conceptual resources, a process known as re-mediation. We report from an ongoing study that aims to change early childhood teachers’ curricular practices in response to children’s everyday experiences of the convergence between popular culture and digital play. To date, convergence has only marginally influenced contemporary early childhood curriculum. Seventeen teachers were interviewed after implementing a new cultural tool called ‘web-mapping’ that mobilises the concept of convergence to foster digital and popular culture play in preschools. This paper theorises the re-mediation of teachers’ curriculum decision-making by examining the dynamic relationship between cultural tools and the object motives identified in interviews with the teachers. It concludes by reflecting on the implications for future professional development initiatives that aim to change curricular practices in early childhood education through the introduction of new cultural tools.
Keywords
early childhood curriculum, professional learning, cultural-historical activity theory(CHAT), digital play
Date
2019
Type
Journal article
Journal
Professional Development in Education
Book
Volume
45
Issue
5
Page Range
790-800
Article Number
ACU Department
Institute for Learning Sciences and Teacher Education (ILSTE)
Faculty of Education and Arts
Faculty of Education and Arts
Relation URI
Source URL
Event URL
Open Access Status
License
File Access
Controlled