An Observational Study of Print Literacy in Canadian Preschool Classrooms Article

Lynch, J. (2011). An Observational Study of Print Literacy in Canadian Preschool Classrooms . EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION JOURNAL, 38(5), 329-338. 10.1007/s10643-010-0414-0

cited authors

  • Lynch, J

authors

abstract

  • The purpose of this study was to examine the role of print literacy in preschool classrooms. There were seven preschool teachers working in central Canada who were observed over three sessions. The process of analytic induction was used to formulate categories based on interviews, classroom observations and documents. The following categories were identified from the data: book engagement and availability, writing engagement, and print displays and materials. There were some consistencies across centres in the availability of print materials; however, variation often existed in the types of interactions with print. For example, in some preschool classrooms, teachers had a more structured approach toward writing development while in others, they did not. Such differences in practice may be attributed to different beliefs and knowledge of early literacy development. The results of this study offer insight on the role of print literacy in preschool classrooms. © 2010 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.

publication date

  • January 1, 2011

published in

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

start page

  • 329

end page

  • 338

volume

  • 38

issue

  • 5