CE28 - Cognition, éducation, formation tout au long de la vie

Why preschool fails to level the playing field? Examining the role of language interactions in the classroom and assessing an intervention for teachers. – PRESCHOOL

PRESCHOOL

Why preschool fails to level the playing field? Examining the role of language interactions in the classroom and assessing an intervention toward teachers

Examining the role of language interactions in the classroom and assessing an intervention toward teachers

France is one of the countries where socio-economic status (SES) has the greatest influence on academic achievement. This influence of SES is observed very early during development as at the age of 2 low SES children already have lower verbal skills than high SES children. In France, preschool is designed to reduce these initial inequalities by providing low SES children with greater familiarity and readiness in counting, speaking and pre-reading. However, although early and regular attendance in preschool confers to all children an advantage in first grade, attending preschool does not reduce social inequalities in educational outcomes.<br /><br />The first objective of the project is to examine why preschool settings fail to reduce initial academic disparities related to SES. Our main hypothesis is that preschool settings do not allow equal participation of children from different SES. Because of academic norms that match middle and high SES children socialization but mismatch low SES children socialization, we assume that low SES children have a lower level of oral participation during collective exchanges than middle and high SES children. Regarding the children, we predict that compared to middle and high SES children, low SES children are not only less likely to speak after being solicited but also less likely to “take the floor” (i.e., speak without being asked to or interrupt) during collective exchanges. Indeed, starting preschool while being less familiar with academic knowledge and skills (e.g., names of the letters, books for children), and the expression of personal opinions, but also with less family experiences to value (e.g., cultural activities such as visit of museums, travel) do not facilitate active participation in the classroom. Regarding the teachers, we expect them to be (unintentionally) less likely to foster low SES children’s participation by asking them fewer questions and giving them less opportunities to speak, but also to be less likely to allow low SES children to “take the floor”. Adopting a developmental perspective, the second objective of the project is to investigate how these SES differences in oral participation evolves from the beginning to the end of preschool. Indeed, although there is some research showing a strong correlation between SES and verbal skills before preschool and after preschool, to our knowledge no research has addressed the evolution of these inequalities during preschool socialization. The third objective is to design, implement and assess an intervention aiming at changing teachers’ practices in order to improve low SES oral participation and thereby reduce initial academic disparities. The underlying principle of this intervention is to make teachers aware of initial cultural disparities between the children but also to provide them with strategies to foster oral participation of low SES children.

To address the two first objectives, we will conduct observations in 20 French classrooms, for a total sample of around 500 children. In order to overcome some limitations inherent to direct observations in natural settings, we will use a video recording and a coding device to examine children’s and teachers’ behaviors in preschool settings. This device allows collection of quantitative data by recording videos of class sessions for behavior coding. To address the third objective, we will develop, implement and assess an intervention aimed at changing teachers’ practices. Participants will be 40 teachers, for a total sample of around 1000 preschoolers. To assess the effectiveness of the intervention, children’s verbal skills will be assessed in September before the intervention and in June at the end of the academic year.

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1. Goudeau, S., & Cimpian, A. (2021). How Do Young Children Explain Differences in the Classroom? Implications for Achievement, Motivation, and Educational Equity. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 16, 533-552. doi.org/10.1177/1745691620953781

2. Goudeau, S., Sanrey, C., Stanczak, A., Manstead, A., & Darnon, C. (sous presse). Why lockdown and distance learning during the COVID-19 pandemic are likely to increase the social class achievement gap. Nature Human Behaviour.

France is one of the countries where socio-economic status (SES) has the greatest influence on academic achievement. This influence of SES is observed very early during development as at the age of 2 low SES children already have lower verbal skills than high SES children. In France, preschool is designed to reduce these initial inequalities by providing low SES children with greater familiarity and readiness in counting, speaking and pre-reading. However, existing studies do not indicate that preschool actually reduces these initial inequalities. Although early and regular attendance in preschool confers to all children an advantage in first grade (e.g., alphabet recognition, speaking), attending preschool does not reduce social inequalities in educational outcomes. Indeed, low SES children enter first grade lagging behind high SES children in terms of speaking, reading and writing.
The first objective of the project is to examine why preschool settings fail to reduce initial academic disparities related to SES. Our main hypothesis is that preschool settings do not allow equal participation of children from different SES. Because of academic norms that match middle and high SES children socialization but mismatch low SES children socialization, we assume that low SES children have a lower level of oral participation during collective exchanges than middle and high SES children. Regarding the children, we predict that compared to middle and high SES children, low SES children are not only less likely to speak after being solicited but also less likely to “take the floor” (i.e., speak without being asked to or interrupt) during collective exchanges. Indeed, starting preschool while being less familiar with academic knowledge and skills (e.g., names of the letters, books for children), and the expression of personal opinions, but also with less family experiences to value (e.g., cultural activities such as visit of museums, travel) do not facilitate active participation in the classroom. Regarding the teachers, we expect them to be (unintentionally) less likely to foster low SES children’s participation by asking them fewer questions and giving them less opportunities to speak, but also to be less likely to allow low SES children to “take the floor”. Adopting a developmental perspective, the second objective of the project is to investigate how these SES differences in oral participation evolves from the beginning to the end of preschool. Indeed, although there is some research showing a strong correlation between SES and verbal skills before preschool and after preschool, to our knowledge no research has addressed the evolution of these inequalities during preschool socialization. The third objective is to design, implement and assess an intervention aiming at changing teachers’ practices in order to improve low SES oral participation and thereby reduce initial academic disparities. The underlying principle of this intervention is to make teachers aware of initial cultural disparities between the children but also to provide them with strategies to foster oral participation of low SES children.
To address the two first objectives, we will conduct observations in 20 French classrooms, for a total sample of around 500 children. In order to overcome some limitations inherent to direct observations in natural settings, we will use a video recording and a coding device to examine children’s and teachers’ behaviors in preschool settings. This device allows collection of quantitative data by recording videos of class sessions for behavior coding. To address the third objective, we will develop, implement and assess an intervention aimed at changing teachers’ practices. Participants will be 40 teachers, for a total sample of around 1000 preschoolers. To assess the effectiveness of the intervention, children’s verbal skills will be assessed in September before the intervention and in June at the end of the academic year.

Project coordination

Sébastien Goudeau (Centre d'étude et de recherche sur la cognition et l'apprentissage)

The author of this summary is the project coordinator, who is responsible for the content of this summary. The ANR declines any responsibility as for its contents.

Partner

CeRCA Centre d'étude et de recherche sur la cognition et l'apprentissage
UPDESCARTES -EA 4471 Laboratoire de Psychologie Sociale - menaces et société (LPS)

Help of the ANR 203,813 euros
Beginning and duration of the scientific project: October 2019 - 48 Months

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