Abstract
Socialization with peers is one of the main goals of early childhood education and care outside of the family but the processes of young children’s sociality in ECEC centres are still to be fully understood. This chapter presents an analysis of toddler’s sociality with peers during their everyday life in an ECEC centre, based on ethnographic data (videos and written notes) collected during a whole morning within the toddler program of a municipal nido in Italy. It highlights that in a group situation children’s attention is aroused by a multiplicity of social stimuli and that they often participate in joint activities with peers. The analysis of toddlers’ participation shows that both social and cognitive processes converge in children’s sociality with peers and contribute to make the ECEC experience an important step in the course of their life. Implications for educational practices in ECEC centres are also discussed.
References
Brenner, J., & Mueller, E. (1982). Shared meanings in boy toddlers’ peer relations. Child Development, 53(2), 380–391.
Clark, H. (1996). Using language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
European Commission. (2011). Early childhood education and care: Providing all our children with the best start for the world of tomorrow. COM, 2011, 66.
European Commission. (2013). Investing in children: Breaking the cycle of disadvantage. Recommendation 2013/112/EU.
Goffman, E. (1971). Relations in public. New York: Harper & Row.
Goffman, E. (1981). Forms of talk. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
Hännikäinen, M., & Rutanen, N. (2013). Important themes in research on and education of young children in day care centres: Finnish viewpoints. Nordisk Barnehageforskning, 6(26), 1–10.
Hartup, W. H. (2005). Peer interaction: What causes what? Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 33(3), 387–394.
Inhelder, B., Cellérier, G., Ackermann, E., Blanchet, A., Boder, A., Caprona, D., Ducret, J.-J., & Saada-Robert, M. (1992). Le cheminement des découvertes de l’enfant. Neuchâtel: Delachaux et Niestlé.
Lave, J., & Wenger, E. (1991). Situated learning: Legitimate peripheral participation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Mueller, E., & Brenner, J. (1977). The origins of social skills & interactions among play-group toddlers. Child Development, 48(3), 854–861.
Musatti, T. (1993). Meaning between peers: The meaning of the peer. Cognition and Instruction, 11(3 & 4), 241–250.
Musatti, T. (1996). Fruhkindliche Betreuung und Erziehung in der Familie. In W. Tietze (Ed.), Fruherziehung (pp. 158–168). Berlin: Luchterhand.
Musatti, T., & Mayer, S. (2011). Sharing attention and activities among toddlers: The spatial dimension of the setting and the educator’s role. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 19(2), 207–220.
Musatti, T., & Mueller, E. (1986). Expressions of representational growth in toddlers’ peer communication. Social Cognition, 3(4), 389–399.
Musatti, T., & Panni, S. (1981). Social behavior and interaction among day-care center toddlers. Early Child Development and Care, 7(1), 5–27.
Musatti, T., Giovannini, D., Mayer, S., & Group Nido Lagomago. (2013). How to construct a curriculum in an Italian nido. In L. Miller & C. Cameron (Eds.), International perspectives in the early years (pp. 85–110). London: Sage.
Piaget, J. (1954). The construction of reality in the child. New York: Basic Books. (Original work published 1937).
Piaget, J. (1962). Play, dreams, and imitation. New York: Norton. (Original work published 1946).
Picchio, M., & Mayer, S. (2015, novembre). The socialization of children of migrant parents during their first year in crèche. Petite enfance, socialisation et transitions. Colloque international Experice – CNAM. Paris.
Picchio, M., Di Giandomenico, I., & Musatti, T. (2014a). The use of documentation in a participatory system of evaluation. Early Years: An International Research Journal, 34(2), 133–145.
Picchio, M., Mayer, S., & Pettenati, P. (2014b). Participer et communiquer: l’expérience de deux enfants de parents immigrants dans une crèche italienne. In S. Rayna et G. Brougère (Dir.), Petites enfances, migrations et diversités (pp. 123–135). Bruxelles: Peter Lang.
Rayna, S., & Laevers, F. (2011). Understanding children from 0 to 3 years of age and its implication for education. What’s new on the babies’ side? Origins and evolutions. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 19(2), 161–172.
Rullo, G., & Musatti, T. (2005). Mothering young children: Child care, stress and social life. European Journal of Psychology of Education, XX(2), 107–119.
Rutanen, N. (2007). Two-year-old children as co-constructors of culture. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 15(1), 59–69.
Rutanen, N. (2012). Socio-spatial practices in a Finnish daycare group for one- to three-year-olds. Early Years, 32(2), 201–214.
Scopelliti, M., & Musatti, T. (2013). Parents’ view of child care quality: Values, evaluations, and satisfaction. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 22(8), 1025–1038.
Selby, J. M., & Bradley, B. S. (2003). Infants in groups: A paradigm for the study of early social experience. Human Development, 46(4), 197–221.
Sinclair, H., Stambak, M., Lézine, I., Rayna, S., & Verba, M. (1989) Infants and objects: The creativity of cognitive development. San Diego: Academic Press. (Original published 1982).
Stambak, M., Barriére, M., Bonica, L., Maisonnet, R., Musatti, T., Rayna, S., & Verba, M. (1983). Les bébés entre eux: Inventer, decouvrir et jouer ensemble. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France.
Vandenbroeck, M., Boonaert, T., Van der Mespel, S., & De Brabandere, K. (2009). Dialogical spaces to reconceptualize parent support in the social investment state. Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, 10(1), 66–77.
Verba, M., & Musatti, T. (1989). Minor phenomena and major processes of interaction with objects and peers in day care center. European Journal of Psychology of Education, 4, 215–227.
Verba, M., Stambak, M., & Sinclair, H. (1982). Physical knowledge and social interaction in children from 18 to 24 months of age. In G. Forman (Ed.), Action and thought (pp. 267–296). London/New York: Academic.
Vincze, M. (1971). The social contacts of infants and young children reared together. Early Child Development and Care, 1(1), 99–109.
Vuorisalo, M., Rutanen, N., & Raittila, R. (2015). Constructing relational space in early childhood education. Early Years, 35(1), 67–79.
White, E. J., & Redder, B. (2015). Proximity with under two-year-olds in early childhood education: A silent pedagogical encounter. Early Child Development and Care, 185(11–12), 1783–1800.
Acknowledgement
The study was carried out within a research project in collaboration between ISTC-CNR and Department of Neurosciences, University of Parma (2009–2010). The authors would like to express their warmest thanks to the children, parents, and educators of the nido “Zucchero Filato”. We are grateful to the pedagogical coordination team of the Municipality of Parma for their support.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2017 Springer Science+Business Media Singapore
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Musatti, T., Mayer, S., Pettenati, P., Picchio, M. (2017). Toddlers’ Participation in Joint Activities with Peers in nido. In: White, E.J., Dalli, C. (eds) Under-three Year Olds in Policy and Practice. Policy and Pedagogy with Under-three Year Olds: Cross-disciplinary Insights and Innovations. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-2275-3_5
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-2275-3_5
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-10-2274-6
Online ISBN: 978-981-10-2275-3
eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)