Literacy Learning at the Children's Museum (LRA 2013)

Nature of Interactions among Young Children and Adult Caregivers

in a Children’s Museum

Caitlin McMunn Dooley, Ph. D. Meghan M. Welch

cdooley@gsu.edu

COLLEGE OF EDUCATION

Play, Play, Play!• Museum learning = play (Association of Children’s

Museums, 2013; Henderson & Atencio, 2007; Mayfield, 2005; Payley, 2005)

• Play is “dialogic” (Henderson and Atencio, 2007; Lillard et al., 2012; Styles, 2011)

• Interactions in play can influence learning (National Academy of Sciences, 2001)

• Play influences literacy (Roskos & Christie)

• Museum studies focus onadult-led interactions (Eckhoff, 2008; Luke & McCreedy, 2012; Shine & Acosta, 2000 )

Dialogic learning in a children’s museum can be maximized by “supporting children’s interactions with peers and adults”

(Henderson & Atencio, 2007,

p. 245)

RQ #1: What is the nature of child- and

adult-led interactions at a children’s museum?

RQ #2: How might those interactions support

literacy learning?

Context, Participants

InterviewsCaregivers: 12 mothers, 5 fathers, 2 teachers, 7 Staff members, 5 children

Observations30+ children and their caregivers and nearby staff members (2.5 summer mo.)

Urban children’s museum in downtown SE

Methods• Naturalistic study (Denzin & Lincoln, 1994 )

• Qualitative, inductive analysis (Strauss & Corbin, 1998; Harry, Sturges, & Klinger, 2005 )

Data Collection two hours 1-2 x weekly• Field notes• Photos• Interviews (staff, visitors)

Why do you come to the museum?

What does your child learn here?

Does your child learn literacy here?

A mom and her 2-3 year-old son enter and head towards the banana slide. The mom says to the boy, “up the stairs – up the banana – see the banana?” The boy continues up the banana and starts to slide down. “1,2,3 down the banana – good job, you did it,” says the mom.

Analysis• Constant comparative, iterative

analysis process

Interview Themes: Caregivers v. Staff

Agreements:• Kids learn via “discovery”, hands-on• Literacy is conventional books/abcs (staff added symbols, signs)• Museum supports social, peer-to-peer skills• Adults should interact

Disagreements:• Staff said peer-to-peer needs adult support; Caregivers did not note• Staff said adults should label, model, and explain; caregivers

apologized for not interacting• Staff articulated academic learning; caregivers only identified ball

exhibit has supporting academic learning

Learning?

Interview Themes: Kids

Who is leading?What do they do?

Findings: Interactions170 meaningful units

8981 Adult-led

Child-led

Findings: Interactions

1. S

how and tell

2. Le

arning

3. Teach

ing

4. R

efocusin

g

5. P

articip

atory Play

6. A

dvocating

7. D

isciplin

ing0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Children led 81 in-teractionsAdults led 89 interac-tions

Display areas encourage “show and tell”

Recommendations for Exhibit Design

Questions & Discussion

Caitlin McMunn Dooley, Ph. D. Meghan Welch

cdooley@gsu.edu 404-413-8226