Bolstering and Bridging – Pre-Primary Teachers’ Purposes and Views of Reading Aloud

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Abstract

This study investigates what purposes teachers attach to reading books aloud in pre-primary edu-cation. Data were collected through a digital questionnaire filled out by 44 teachers working with 6-year-olds in Finnish pre-primary education. Qualitative and inductive content analysis showed that the teachers saw read-alouds as versatile opportunities with several different purposes. Teachers stated that they read aloud to support language development, enhance pedagogical content or current interests, promote transversal competencies and create a certain atmosphere. The teachers’ responses suggested that they believe that read-alouds can further children’s social skills in several ways, bridge and bolster other pre-primary content and prepare children for future educational contexts. Few teachers seemed to regard read-alouds as opportunities to pro-mote aesthetic responses to literature or children’s learning about literature as such, despite books being central to read-alouds. Further study and discussion may indicate whether it would be beneficial to strengthen purposes in closer connection to literature and aesthetic responses, as read-alouds can bring their own learning potential in addition to being versatile tools for other content and activities.
Translated title of the contributionAtt stötta och förbinda: Förskollärares mål och synsätt angående bokstunder
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1-19
Number of pages19
JournalNordic Journal of Literacy Research
Volume9
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 28 Aug 2023
MoE publication typeA1 Journal article-refereed

Keywords

  • early childhood education and care
  • pre-primary education

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