View in EDS

Parental support of emergent literacy in the final preschool year in Austria during COVID-19-induced lockdowns.

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Title: Parental support of emergent literacy in the final preschool year in Austria during COVID-19-induced lockdowns.
Authors: Scharnagl, Verena, Smidt, Wilfried
Source: International Journal of Early Years Education; Mar2025, Vol. 33 Issue 1, p197-218, 22p
Subject Terms: PARENT attitudes, EMERGENT literacy, STAY-at-home orders, PRESCHOOL children, CHILD development
Abstract: The support of emergent literacy skills in preschool children has been considered highly important for the development of children's competencies and their academic success in school. In addition to parents, preschool teachers are expected to support children's emergent literacy skills with educational activities; this is specifically true for underperforming children. However, the COVID-19 pandemic and corresponding lockdowns, closures, and emergency care for preschool children impeded the development of children's emergent literacy skills. As a result, parental support for children's emergent literacy skills has come under scrutiny. With reference to Austria, the study aims to gain insights into parents' self-reported perspectives on their implementation of behaviours to support emergent literacy skills and their justifications for their support or non-support during COVID-19-induced lockdowns through nine semi-structured interviews. The findings reveal that the parents interviewed indicated to support emergent literacy actively, passively, or hardly at all. Justifications referred to children's interest but also to reservations about whether preschool is too early to focus on literacy emergence. The study may provide hints for pedagogical work in preschools in post-COVID-19 times. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of International Journal of Early Years Education is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Database: Complementary Index
Description
Abstract:The support of emergent literacy skills in preschool children has been considered highly important for the development of children's competencies and their academic success in school. In addition to parents, preschool teachers are expected to support children's emergent literacy skills with educational activities; this is specifically true for underperforming children. However, the COVID-19 pandemic and corresponding lockdowns, closures, and emergency care for preschool children impeded the development of children's emergent literacy skills. As a result, parental support for children's emergent literacy skills has come under scrutiny. With reference to Austria, the study aims to gain insights into parents' self-reported perspectives on their implementation of behaviours to support emergent literacy skills and their justifications for their support or non-support during COVID-19-induced lockdowns through nine semi-structured interviews. The findings reveal that the parents interviewed indicated to support emergent literacy actively, passively, or hardly at all. Justifications referred to children's interest but also to reservations about whether preschool is too early to focus on literacy emergence. The study may provide hints for pedagogical work in preschools in post-COVID-19 times. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
ISSN:09669760
DOI:10.1080/09669760.2024.2322935