Enhancing Help and Solidarity Interactions Among Roma and Immigrant Preschoolers Through Interactive Groups

• In Event: Trauma, Chaos, Resistance

Abstract

Engaging in social exchanges with different people enriches children’s concurrent and future learning opportunities, since early peer interactions play a key role in establishing the first structures of social relationships and foundations for future development. Building on the importance of diversifying interactions, Interactive Groups (IGs) are a specific dialogue-based classroom organization that allocates students in small heterogeneous groups with an adult volunteer per group. This case study explores in depth the type and frequency of positive peer interactions in IGs in a preschool classroom serving mainly Roma and immigrant children with a very low SES. The results show that in this context, children acknowledge each other’s work and provide help, guidance and solidarity interactions when solving academic tasks.

Authors

• Andrea Khalfaoui, University of Deusto

• Garazi Lopez de Aguileta, University of Wisconsin - Madison

• Rocio Garcia-Carrion, University of Deusto

• Carme Garcia Yeste, Universitat Rovira i Virgili