Putting Theory in Context: Insights From Portraits of Learning and Teaching in Early Childhood

• In Event: Moscone Center North Roundtable Session 11
  In Roundtable Session: Probing the Paradox: Illuminating the Ecology of Education Through Portraiture

Abstract

Bronfenbrenner’s ecological theory of development (1977) positions context as central to child development. However, much research in early childhood education and psychology seeks to control for contextual factors. Portraiture allows me to build on lab-based findings by extending my inquiry to include lived experiences of teachers and children.
In my work, I explore the nature of teacher and student responses to mistakes during instruction, particularly in early childhood settings. Despite decades of research on feedback (Hattie & Timperley, 2007) and a few studies of teacher responses to mistakes (e.g., Santagata, 2004; Tulis, 2013), rarely do scholars examine how learning from mistakes plays out in situ. According to Bronfenbrenner (1977), children develop in nested and interacting systems (e.g., classroom as a microsystem; parent-teacher communication as a mesosystem, school-funding levies as part of the exosystem). Further, a child’s learning is optimal in the zone of proximal development (Vygotsky, 1978)—the space for growth between independent and scaffolded performance. My portraits of responses to mistakes evidence both foundational theories.

Each portrait I have written explores how mistake-related interactions and norms operate in daily life. I immerse myself in a single location for weeks or months, closely observing ordinary micro-level interactions during instruction. In addition to writing fieldnotes and Impressionistic Memos, I also video-record all instruction. Later, I review relevant interactions and transcribe dialogue as well as descriptions of body language, facial expressions, tone of voice, and more. This process unveils the fine-grained details of the human interactions in these learning spaces and informs my understanding of “What is happening here, what is working, and why?” (Lawrence-Lightfoot & Davis, 1997, p. 141-2). I also utilize transcripts/recordings during teacher interviews to prompt reflections.

To date, I have developed six portraits that include five adults and ~85 young children–observed over time and in context:
• Four, in-depth portraits of individual Kindergarten teachers and the myriad ways they respond to student mistakes;
• A cross-case portrait that juxtaposes the prevailing framing of mistakes in two Kindergarten classrooms; and
• A portrait of mistakes and learning as a preschool child learned to write her name.
I have gleaned four overarching insights from my experience with portraiture in early childhood settings (the presentation will include examples drawn from my studies):
1. Early childhood instruction is as much about social-emotional development as it is about academic content.
2. Learning is relational, contextual, and happens over time through ordinary, micro-level, human interactions.
3. Rather than controlling for complexity, portraiture allows me to represent how it unfolds in real life.
4. Comparing micro-level interactions across contexts starkly illuminates structural inequalities.

Too often, educational researchers remain siloed in their methodological traditions. Portraiture helps me bridge disciplines to explore how findings from lab-based research play out in real-world contexts. The combined empiricism and aesthetics of portraits make them rigorous, relevant, engaging, and readily-accessible. Portraits of teachers and children in early childhood settings reveal new avenues for inquiry by highlighting aspects of phenomena that may have previously been overlooked.

Author

• Maleka Donaldson, Smith College