Abstract:

This article aims to explore how video as a tool can be used to record practices and to elicit the (mis)alignment of these practices to perceptions (e.g., beliefs and emotions) of early childhood teachers in facilitating positive children’s growth. Video as a tool records moment to moment interactions between teachers and children and among children to capture the momentary and spontaneous experiences of teachers in supporting needs of a child. Our study examines how video as a tool can help us understand the perceptions and practices of creative teaching in early childhood settings that may have been neglected. Creative teaching practices encapsulate the here and now, are complex and multi-layered. In the early childhood settings, creative teaching practices engage a mix of verbal and non-verbal communication. In the moments of interactions, teachers act, react, proact, and create actions via automaticity and/or logical deduction. A research question was posed: How does video as a tool help early childhood or preschool educators to relive their creative teaching practices in their day-to-day lessons? Using a visual ethnography approach, the authors of the study reflect upon the processes of preparing four elicitation interviews from 48 sessions of video recording. The study was approved by the university institute of review board. Consents were obtained from the participants before data collection. To reach consensus of video elicitation contents, the authors prepared e-logs, conducted e-log audits, refined elicitation interview protocols, re-examined contextual curriculum, and reframed pedagogies that meet developmental needs. A preliminary conclusion from the study is that video with its complementary technologies (e.g., “slow down” the speed) can reveal every day actions and behaviors that are non-verbal and that occur within “bullet-like” moment-to-moment intervals. The ways to overcome the limitations of video as a tool for understanding creative teaching practices in early childhood settings are also proposed and discussed.

Keywords:

Video, ethnography, creative teaching, early childhood, interview, elicitation.