The purpose of this research was to examine the ways in which Korean families of English Language Learners (ELLs) and teachers supported literacy in young children, as well as the kinds of interactions between families and teachers that supported ELL children's literacy development. The sample for this study consisted of four Korean ELL students attending public early childhood programs in Texas, their teachers and families. A constructivist grounded theory-based approach to data generation was employed, utilizing a wide variety of data collection methods such as questionnaires, interviews, observations, photography, field notes, and video recording. Grounded analysis, content analysis, and narrative analysis were then used in order to analyze the data. The case analysis showed that the parents and teachers did their best using their own resources within their own contexts. However, their educational goals and practices were not noticed or shared by each other. The families' and teacher's challenges and limited resources resulted in the creation of invisible expectations of the other parties. However, by watching video clips about literacy practices and reading handouts about each person's literacy values, goals, experiences, and photo projects, the families and teachers recognized each other's literacy resources, negotiated different expectations, and mediated communication channels to facilitate ELL children's literacy development. In the cross-case analysis, one major theme emerged: the search for understanding two different social and cultural contexts to find an overlapping resource to support ELL children's literacy learning. In detail, the more sophisticated emergent description of literacy support of the Korean family participants was provided through the lenses of the sociocultural approach, bidirectionality, and intergenerational trajectories. With regard to the construction of literacy by the teacher participants, I found that behind their support is their own perception of a bilingual child: monolingual viewpoint vs. bilingual viewpoint. Furthermore, the teachers' bilingualism was related to parental involvement in the school curriculum. The analysis then found an overlapping resource to use to enhance ELL students' learning: the practice of classroom book reading. Finally, recommendations for future applications of the Intergenerational Literacy Connection (ILC) model and some future directions for research are also discussed.

Submitted by Maicon Juliano Schmidt (maicons) on 2015-03-30T12:12:02Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Cristiane Kessler de Oliveira.pdf: 661129 bytes, checksum: 4fee65776888846b52bafb4d2bc017cc (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-03-30T12:12:02Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Cristiane Kessler de Oliveira.pdf: 661129 bytes, checksum: 4fee65776888846b52bafb4d2bc017cc (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-01-31 / Nenhuma / Este estudo problematiza e analisa os impactos do Programa Primeira Infância Melhor nos modos de viver e de pensar das famílias atendidas. Desenvolvido pela Secretaria da Saúde do Rio Grande do Sul em parceria com Prefeituras Municipais do Estado, o PIM trabalha com famílias em situação de vulnerabilidade social, que tenham gestantes e crianças de até seis anos de idade. A presente pesquisa analisa as representações sociais veiculadas nesses espaços, buscando responder às seguintes questões: Quais as representações de infância para as famílias atendidas pelo PIM no município de Santo Antônio da Patrulha? As famílias, a partir das orientações e do acompanhamento recebidos, modificam a maneira de lidar com suas crianças, de interagir com estas e de se comunicar? Quais as representações do PIM para as famílias? O caminho investigativo traçado desenvolveu-se a partir de dados coletados em entrevistas semiestruturadas com seis famílias atendidas pelo Programa e três Visitadoras, responsáveis por este acompanhamento. O referencial teórico centra-se nos conceitos de representações sociais de Serge Moscovici, de habitus de Pierre Bourdieu e de mediação, de Lev Vygotsky. Os resultados da investigação revelaram que o Programa é representado, para as famílias, como apoio, informação, cuidado, estimulação, vínculo e brincadeira. Revelou também mudanças nas representações de infância dessas famílias que, a partir do PIM, passam a valorizar mais o vínculo e a brincadeira. Foram observadas, ainda, mudanças nas representações do papel de mãe, como o fato de estas passarem a considerar a importância do tempo com a criança em detrimento da organização da casa. / This study both problematizes and analyzes the impacts of the Early Childhood Program (PIM) on the ways of living and thinking of families served by the Program. Developed by the Health Department of Rio Grande do Sul together with city halls, PIM works with socially vulnerable families in which there are pregnant women and children up to six years old. This research analyzes the social representations spread in those spaces, in an attempt to answer the following questions: What are the childhood representations of the families served by PIM in Santo Antonio da Patrulha County? Regarding the guidance and follow-up provided by the Program, do the families change the way they deal, interact and communicate with their children? Which are the families representations of PIM? The investigation path has developed from data collected through semi-structured interviews with six families served by the Program and three Visitors who are in charge of the follow-up. The theoretical basis focuses on the concepts of social representations by Serge Moscovici, habitus by Pierre Bourdieu, and mediation by Lev Vygotsky. The results have shown that the Program is represented to the families as support, information, care, stimulus, connection and play. Changes in those families‟ childhood representations have also been noticed. Through PIM, the families have given more value to connection and play. Furthermore, changes in the representations of the mothers role have been noticed, since mothers began to regard the time spent with children as more important than keeping the house tidy.

Despite credible research to support a constructivist-based approach in early childhood programs, policymakers continued to push for a more academic-based philosophy in an effort to reach standardized testing goals. Reggio Emilia, a constructivist-based early childhood philosophy that originated in Northern Italy, has been shown to be an excellent model to facilitate optimum learning in young children. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to investigate parental experiences when choosing the constructivist-based early childhood program, Reggio Emilia, for their children and to explore parents' perceived benefits after their children attended. A constructivist conceptual framework was used to provide context for the Reggio Emilia philosophy. A purposeful sampling strategy was used to select a Reggio Emilia inspired program, Foundations Early Learning Center, in the American Midwest. Five parents who had enrolled their children at Foundations Early Learning Center for a minimum of 6 months participated through in-depth interviews. Data were analyzed, categorized, and clustered into similar themes that described the phenomenon. Results indicated parents identified an overall satisfaction for choosing a Reggio Emilia experience for their preschool children. Ten perceived benefits from parents were identified that were associated with their children after they attended the Reggio Emilia inspired program. Findings of the current study have the potential to bring awareness to policymakers and early childhood program directors when making decisions on what type of educational philosophy to implement into early childhood programs with results favoring the choice of a constructivist-based Reggio Emilia inspired program over alternative options.