Digital literacy in early childhood education: what can we learn from innovative practitioners?

ABSTRACT

We present the main findings of a case study focusing on the digital literacy practices of a Portuguese early childhood teacher known for her innovative pedagogical methods. Data was collected through an in-depth interview centred on the teacher’s perceptions about her digital literacy practices and on the professional development underpinning such practices. The thematic content analysis of the data was based on core principles of early childhood pedagogy, multiliteracies and professional development theories. It revealed that, from this teacher’s perspective, the application of digital literacy practices has both enhanced and challenged her pedagogy. Moreover, the analysis showed that her innovative practices combine functional professional learning with attitudinal dispositions such as professionalism, professional identity, resilience and commitment. Overall, our research highlights the importance of combining both functional and attitudinal dimensions in professional development initiatives aiming to enhance renewed integration of digital literacy practices in early childhood education.

KEYWORDS:

• digital literacy practices
• early childhood pedagogy
• professional development
• functional learning
• attitudinal dispositions

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was funded through national funds of FCT/MCTES-PT by two research centres: CIEd – Research Centre on Education, Institute of Education, University of Minho, projects UIDB/01661/2020 and UIDP/01661/2020; and CIEC – Research Centre for Child Studies, Institute of Education, University of Minho, project UIDB/00317/2020.