Nurturing literacy development in early childhood

Understanding the importance of literacy skills in early learning is a crucial role of the teacher.

It is this belief that inspired early childhood lecturers Chelsea Bracefield and Fiona Woodgate to explore how kaiako can create opportunities to promote engagement in a literacy rich environment.

In their article ‘Early literacy and the teacher's role’ published in NZTC’s online ECE journal He Kupu, Chelsea and Fiona investigate a range of strategies to support kaiako in fostering oral, written and visual literacies, which encourage children to make meaning from contexts and communicate their ideas.

“We had noticed that there were many articles and sources of literature that spoke of the importance of providing children with early literacy learning opportunities, but not many that focused specifically on what this may look like within a New Zealand early childhood context,” Fiona shares.

Chelsea Bracefield

Chelsea believes that by describing and narrating in their daily practice, teachers can promote literacy development by exposing tamariki to new word associations.

“Research has shown us that children hold a range of knowledge about the world around them. If kaiako purposefully narrate as children engage in activities, they learn to associate words and names with actions and objects.

“Kaiako can also bring story books to life with narration, creating stronger engagement. Sounding out letters, drawing attention to pictures and highlighting that they are reading from left to right produce valuable learning opportunities.”

Drawing on her own teaching practice, Fiona says it is important for kaiako to form a bond with each child, which in turn builds a solid foundation for literacy learning to take place.

“Personally, I believe that all learning begins from a foundation of strong relationships and knowing the child – understanding their previous experiences and prior knowledge.

“From this foundation, authentic experiences and learning opportunities can be constructed in collaboration with the child and their family, which support the child’s development of meaning, self-identity and mana.”