Scribbling and Early Literacy Connections: How do Early Childhood Teachers Perceive Scribbles?

Abstract

The purpose of this qualitative, phenomenological study was to understand early childhood teachers’ perceptions surrounding the topic of childhood scribbles as they relate to emergent literacy. Sociocultural theory provided a foundation for this research because of its focus on relationships between children, other children, and teachers to foster learning experiences. Additionally, social semiotic theory also guided this research because childhood scribbles represent children’s “signs” which can also influence communication and literacy skills. The participants were nine preschool, transitional kindergarten, kindergarten, and first grade teachers (N = 9) who volunteered to complete an open-ended survey, follow-up interviews, and a short survey before and after participating in a “Scribbles Workshop”. This study was guided by a central research question: What are early childhood teachers’ perceptions of children’s scribbling in the classroom environment, with regard to emergent literacy? Findings highlight an overarching theme: Scribbling promotes student and teacher interaction, which is critical to increased emergent literacy. A “Scribbling Interaction Cycle” is interpreted from the data and instances where teachers mentioned the importance of the student and teacher interacting to obtain meaning. Fourteen additional themes are presented which correspond to each explored construct. Findings are discussed and implications are given which relate to improved teacher education at the university level, policy changes at the state and national level, and revising kindergarten and first grade English language arts standards to include developmentally appropriate guidelines.