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Creating meaning: An ethnographic study of preschoolers, literary response and play
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to first identify and describe the literary response behaviors exhibited by pre-schoolers in a literature rich setting. Next, the study examined these response behaviors as indicative of the characteristics of theorist Michael Benton's 'secondary world' of literary response (1983) and of psychologist D. W. Winnicott's 'third area' of play (1971). Finally, the study considered the possibilities inherent in these secondary worlds for the creation and exploration of meaning on the part of pre-schoolers. This study utilized ethnographic methods of participant observation, in-depth interviewing, informal conversations, field notes and videotaping. Validity was established and checked through trianglization using the adults in the setting and two outside readers. The findings of this study are culture specific. This ethnographic study offers ways of thinking about, considering and discussing how young children use their experiences of interacting with books and responding to books to create meaning for their lives. Response behaviors were identified, described and organized into three general categories: (1) Individual/dyadic response behaviors involving one child/book(s), two children/book(s) and a child/adult/book(s), (2) Communal response behaviors involving several children/book(s) or several children/adult/book(s), and (3) Guided/directed response behaviors which always involved several children, an adult and book(s), and, in addition, had a specific goal or objective. Response behaviors in each of these categories covered a broad range of activities and formed an integral part of the living and learning experiences of the pre-schoolers in this day care setting. Both physically and humanly this setting was an organized and supportive environment which expected and encouraged interactions with and response to books. Within this setting, reliable and trustworthy relationships were formed which both allowed and encouraged the creation of secondary worlds. Such secondary worlds were intermediate between inner psychic reality and outer shared reality, were dependent upon individual contributions and provided place and opportunity for the creation of meaning. The pre-schoolers used these secondary worlds to explore self identity, emotions, competency development and to expand and integrate their ways of being in the world.
Subject Area
Early childhood education|Elementary education|Language arts
Recommended Citation
Hungerford, Rachael Ann, "Creating meaning: An ethnographic study of preschoolers, literary response and play" (1990). Doctoral Dissertations Available from Proquest. AAI9022696.
https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations/AAI9022696