Learning-by-Designing literacy-based concept-oriented play (LBCOP) activities: emergent curriculum for/with young CLD children and their teacher

ABSTRACT

It has been argued that developing interactive learning environments that involve learners in integrating contextualized literacy experiences leads to more successful concept formation in young children. This study attempts to revisit Vygotsky’s view of the dialectical relations between culture and individual psychological functioning as mutually constitutive. By highlighting a specific literacy event, this qualitative study investigates an emergent curriculum by designing literacy-based and concept-oriented play (LBCOP) activities to foster young culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) children’s mathematical concept formation. The paper concludes with implications of co-designing LBCOP activities by the teacher and young CLD children for both children’s concept formation and teacher design work.

KEYWORDS:

• Learning-by-designing
• emergent curriculum
• Vygotsky
• young culturally-linguistically diverse (CLD) children
• literacy-based concept-oriented play activities
• concept formation
• teacher design work

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributor

As a curriculum expert and a learning sciences researcher investigating learning, cognition and knowing in authentic practices, Dr. Mi Song Kim has engaged in rich collaborations with schools, practitioners and community members in designing, implementing and scaling-up technology-enhanced curricula. Dr. Kim is currently an Associate Professor in the area of Curriculum Studies at the Faculty of Education in the University of Western Ontario. Prior to the University of Western Ontario, she researched and taught at the Learning Sciences Lab, Early Childhood & Special Needs Education Academic Group, and Learning Sciences and Technologies Academic Group in the National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. She has a strong theoretical foundation in Vygotskian sociocultural research and her research influences innovative teaching and research (e.g., multimodal model-based inquiry, game/play-based learning, student-generated design, mobile learning, ubiquitous learning environment), which has been awarded prestigious FQRSC scholarship from the Government of Québec, the Principal Dissertation Fellowship from McGill, and the Early Researcher Award from the US National Science Foundation.