Transacting With Texts: Pre-Readers Utilizing Executive Function as Problem-Solvers, Interpreters, and Analysts

Transacting With Texts: Pre-Readers Utilizing Executive Function as Problem-Solvers, Interpreters, and Analysts

Sara Gusler, Victoria Carr, Holly Johnson
Copyright: © 2022 |Pages: 24
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-7998-8730-0.ch003
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Abstract

This chapter presents an applied model for supporting preschool children's executive function, skills that serve as protective factors against risks associated with poverty, using Rosenblatt's transactional theory. The authors posit pedagogy that elicits children's responses to an author's/illustrator's picturebook whereby preschool readers' responses are mediated by the teacher through reflective discussion. Children are encouraged to reflect upon literary characters' motivations, behaviors, and problem solving. A demonstration case analysis shows how this model is implemented in a diverse and inclusive university laboratory preschool program where approximately half the children are served through Head Start, a federal program for children living in poverty. Given the preschool years are an especially sensitive period for acquisition of executive function skills, the authors assert that supporting young children's transactions with and interpretations of a text is the type of transactional strategy that has potential for narrowing the opportunity gap.
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Background

Early Childhood Education

Early childhood education (ECE) varies greatly in quality, accessibility, and affordability around the world. Of the 175 million pre-primary aged children in the world, nearly half are not enrolled in preschool (UNICEF, 2018); approximately one third of eligible children are not enrolled in preschool or kindergarten in the United States (NCES, 2018). Yet, given what is known about the importance of high-quality early education, attention to quality, accessibility, and affordability of educational opportunities is of national importance.

Current preschool options are found in public schools and the private sector where they are often embedded within childcare settings. Additionally, university laboratory child development centers have provided early education and research on high-level practices for over a century (Elicker & Barbour, 2012). Within these settings, children who live in low-income families may receive educational services through Head Start, a federal early childhood program in the United States, sponsored by the Department of Health and Human Services. Head Start has served more than 37 million children living in poverty or situationally at-risk situations such as foster care since its inception in 1965 (ECLKC, 2019). Studies on the effectiveness of Head Start yield mixed results, but are generally positive, especially with regard to social and academic skills and access to dental and health care. It is significant to note, however, that stronger outcomes for Head Start are found in high quality programs with effective curricula and degreed teachers (Armor & Sousa, 2014; Yoshikawa et al, 2013). This highlights the need for elevated educational strategies and consistent positive adult-child relationships that support the development and learning needs of all young children, but it is critical for children who experience chronic exposure to adverse conditions often associated with poverty.

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