To be on the opinion that process quality in educational settings is from high relevance, we have to look inside the preschool practice to find out what is going on there. Results of diverse studies reveal, that children benefit from early childhood facilities. According to this preschool can be an effective intervention especially for disadvantaged and vulnerable groups of young children. This is only true if these facilities are of high quality (Sylva et al. 2003). Many developmental theories point to the fact that early experiences play a special part for the life course. These theories suggest, that early experiences are an important predictor of improvement in children´s development; especially supportive interactions with caretakers or preschool teachers indicating a high process quality are relevant, because the child-caretaker- as well as the student-teacher-relationship has a crucial influence on children´s development and later school success.

Starting point of this research project is process quality in educational settings.

Results of diverse studies reveal that children benefit from early childhood facilities – especially children from low-income families. This is only true if these facilities are of high quality. Many developmental theories point to the fact that early experiences play a special part for the life course. These theories suggest that early experiences are an important predictor of improvement in children’s development; especially supportive interactions with caretakers or preschool teachers indicating a high process quality are relevant, because the child-caretaker as well as the student-teacher-relationship has a crucial influence on children’s development and later school success.

Therefore we have to make sure, that high process quality predominates in our early childhood facilities. This is particular shown by the study of Tietze et al., published in 1998.

The Tietze-Studie gives only a rough impression of the process quality in German early childhood facilities. The pilot study I’m presenting takes a more differentiated look at the child-caretaker or the student-teacher interactions in different preschool- and kindergarten-classrooms.

The aim of this study was to get a deeper understanding of preschool practise. The study refers to the interaction process between preschool teacher and child(ren). The emphasis lies on the question whether a social constructive learning environment dominates preschool practise.

Theoretical and educational relevance:

My study is based on interaction theories and focusses on co-constructive and instructive “moments” within the child-teacher interactions.

Observational studies of mother-infant interactions have shown that caretakers who provide relatively high amounts of responsive verbal and play stimulation tend to have developmentally advanced infants (Olson, Bates & Bayles 1984).

It is also known that peer-interaction is rich on cognitive stimulation if the children are involved in co-constructive processes as for instance Youniss (1994) described.

Sylva et al. (2003) pointed out that moments of “sustained shared thinking” in children-teacher interactions enrich children´s cognitive development.

In total it was shown that special interaction-characteristics consistently improve childrens’ development. So it is of high interest if and how far interactions of this type can be observed in German early childhood facilities.

Focus of my study where interactions within the current daily routine, as for instance free play situations, circle games, picture book reading a.s.o.. Especially I looked für “pedagogical moments”. That means teacher-student-interactions which suggested high learning potentials. These interactions can be characterized by the endeavors of the caretakers or teachers to hold the attention of children and to engage children in activities.

Research questions:

Following research questions are standing in the centre of the research process.

Question referring to the learning environment:

Which learning atmosphere dominates preschool practise?

Question with descriptive character:

How long do preschool teacher stay in interaction process with child(ren)?

Do preschool teacher spend a lot of time in interaction processes with the children?

How often do they stay in longer interaction processes (> 3 min. /“sustained interactions”)?

How often do preschool teacher change the topic of interest?

Is it possible to identify special types of preschool teachers?

Question of qualitative character:

Which strategies of interaction do preschool teacher prefer? 

Methodology:

The Method of this study was an ethno methodical design.

Data collection start with videotaping (approximately 60 minutes/each preschool teacher).

The camera catches particularly the activities of the preschool teachers.

Sample:

N=61 preschool teacher from two counties

Analysis process:

The analysis process was taken by microanalysis:

The microanalysis was performed in four steps.

As a first step, the classroom-atmosphere was rated, using the Caregiver Interaction Scale (CIS) developed by Arnett (1989).

As the second step the videotapes were analysed by time-/event sampling at 60-second intervals. It was coded whether the preschool teacher stays in an interaction with a child or a group of children or if he joins in another interaction. In this way it is possible to explore the “pedagogical moments” (pedagogical is applied here to refer to the instructional techniques and strategies (Blatchford et al. 2002)) that takes more than 3 minutes (> 3 min. /“sustained interactions”).

As the third step – only “sustained interactions” taking more than 3 minutes were further analysed. All “sustained interactions” were transliterated and analysed referring to social and play setting characteristics.

Afterwards the statements of the preschool teachers were connected with special items (especially developed rating system) that gain instruction and constructive behaviour. 

As the forth step – the preferred strategies like explanation and comments were analysed more detailed (Passmore 1962).

Findings

On the whole relatively low “sustained interactions” show in detail a rich stimulation in these observed preschools.

These results reveal that preschool teachers do not tap the full potential of sustained interactions.

Learning theories suggest that instructive and co-constructive methods have high influence on learning processes. It’s known that appropriate learning experiences within childrens’ zones of proximal development foster child development  best.

In this study it is shown that preschool teachers give a lot of guidance and direct instruction that link with less sensitivity towards childrens’ own skills. Only a few preschool teachers were sensitive enough to these situations.

The interactions are not dominated by challenges. The results refer to an external preschool education that prepares the room for the child but does not use extended interaction to discover new themes and experiences and thus  foster children´s development.

From a social-constructivist’s perspective learning is more than adults mediating childrens’ learning experiences.

These results refer to divers studies in early childhood education that have shown that preschool teachers stand back too soon and do not provide the field for “sustained shared thinking”.