Examining How Stakeholders Made Sense of the Learning Experiences Kindergarteners Are and Should Be Having

• In Event: 79.038 - Early Childhood Education and the Transition to Kindergarten

Abstract

The explorative video-cued multivocal ethnographic research study investigated how a sample of families, educators, researchers, and policymakers (n=108) made sense of the types of learning experiences kindergarteners are and should be having and why. By examining these issues, the findings of this study suggest these stakeholders sought to redefine the learning experiences that are currently taking place in school. They wanted to replace them with a thick set of learning experiences that attend to kindergarteners’ development and knowledge so that all children can positively function in school and society. If schools fail to provide children with such experiences, these stakeholders worried this would do both short and long-term damage to kindergarteners in and out of school.

Authors

• Christopher P. Brown, The University of Texas at Austin

• Da Hei Ku, The University of Texas at Austin

• David Barry, Boston Public Schools