1. Abstract Introduction Method Discussion
What Preschool is Like: Children’s Interviews, Photographs, and Picture Selection from Two Different Contexts
Darlene DeMarie, Jenna McLain, Laura Mockensturm, & Kendall MacKay
Autophotography: Top 5 Coded Themes
Abstract
Introduction
Objects: 45%
Friends: 19%
Play: 15%
Teachers: 6%
Children’s
Work: 5%
Many young children are not able to articulate their thoughts fully in words. Therefore, if our method of data collection included only verbal interviews, we might not capture children’s perspective fully. Autophotography (Ziller, 1990) involves giving people cameras to take photographs to answer a question, and it can enhance researchers’ understanding of children’s perspective. Through autophotography children show what they think is important (Britsch, 2010; DeMarie, 2001). Previous research using autophotography revealed differences in children’s perspective of their elementary school by grade and according to their schools’ success according to standardized tests (DeMarie, 2010). Picture selection is another method of data collection employed to gather children’s perspectives (DeMarie, 2010; Stephenson, 2009). Picture selection can be standardized, and it offers a way for researchers to understand what participants think is important. Similar to autophotography, it minimizes verbal demands.
In the present study interviews, autophotography, and picture selection were employed to understand what children thought was important about preschool. Previous research had not employed these methods collectively with such young children. The following questions were explored:
Do interviews, autophotography, and picture selection capture the thoughts and views of preschool age children about preschool?
Do interviews, autophotography, and picture selection capture differences in the preschools that may be due to their diverse contexts?
Multiple methods including autophotography, picture selection, and interviews were used to obtain the perspective of preschool children about their preschools.  The goal was to compare children's views about preschools in two different contexts: rural Ohio and urban Florida.  The procedure involved interviewing children about their preschool and what they learned, allowing children to take photographs of what they thought best showed what preschool was like, and selecting from 6 pictures the ones that best showed what preschool was like and the one that was most important to them.  The three different methods helped to gain a more comprehensive representation of preschool through children’s eyes. The results of the data analyses were in agreement with previous research that play was one of the most important parts of preschool to preschool children.  However, the context and the environment did influence the type of play the preschool children described.  Other contextual differences also emerged. For example, there were differences in what the children said they learned. Furthermore, there were statistically significant differences in what the children said best represented the preschool and what was most important to them.  Understanding the perspectives of children enrolled in early academic learning facilities is important. In order to promote development and learning, educators and parents must understand and acknowledge children’s views of what represents positive experiences at their preschool.
Picture Selection: % Who Selected Choice for Which Picture Best Shows
What Preschool is Like/ Which Picture Shows What Is Most Important to You?
Results
Method
Participants:
The 51 children who were 3- to 6-year-olds either attended a preschool in rural Ohio or a preschool in urban Florida.
Ohio: All 20 preschoolers were in one classroom (mixed age: 3 to 5 yrs.).
Florida: 31 children in separate classrooms: 3-4 (n=19) & 4-5 (n=12) yrs.
Procedure:
Verbal Interviews: Children were asked individually about their preschool experiences: 1) Tell me about a day at preschool. 2) What do you do at preschool? 3) What does your teacher teach you at preschool? etc. Voice recorders allowed transcription of the interviews.
Autophotography: Children were given a camera and were asked to “take photographs to show others what your preschool is like.” Follow-up questions for each photo included:
1) Tell me about this photo; 2) Why did you take this photo? and
3) How does this photo show your preschool?
Picture Selection: Children individually chose from 6 pre-selected and standardized photographs ones that answered 2 questions:
1) Which picture best shows what preschool is like? The picture selected was removed, and the process continued until all photos were selected. The order of selection was recorded.
2) Which picture shows what is most important to you?
Interviews: Play was the most commonly coded theme in all children’s interviews and photographs. This supported findings in previous research. However, the type of talk about play differed by context.
Florida: There was significantly more talk about outdoor play and playground equipment in Florida than in Ohio [F(1, 49) = 5.49, p=.023].
Ohio: There was significantly more talk about indoor play with toys and centers
in Ohio than in Florida [F (1, 49) = 8.12, p = .006]
Autophotography: Play was the 3rd most common theme category for pictures taken by all children. However, whereas 13 photographs were taken of the outdoor playground in Florida (46% of all photographs), only 1 photograph was taken of the outside playground in Ohio (5% of all photographs). The proximity of the play space probably was an important factor.
Picture Selection: Play was the 2nd most commonly selected picture as “most important” to children.
Discussion
There was support that interviews, autophotography, and picture selection captured children’s perspectives about preschool. Play was very important to children in both contexts, but the type of play differed in Florida and in Ohio, despite all data collection occurring during the summer months.
Interviews, autophotography, and picture selection were successful in uncovering significant differences between the two preschools. The contextual differences were evident mainly through qualitative analysis.
A variable that was not considered was potential impulsivity of preschool children. Some of the children only took pictures of objects and people in close proximity to the interview location.
Ideally, a longitudinal study should be conducted to look at children’s perspectives of preschool over time to see whether they are consistent.
The research conducted at elementary schools showed that children who were high achievers tended to take more photographs of friends than children who were low achievers. It would be interesting to see if autophotography can be used as a predictor of connectivity later in elementary school.
Patriotism in Ohio:
“[My teacher]
teach me about
John Glenn.”
Sample
Photograph
Themes with Children’s Descriptions
Indoor Play
In Ohio:
“We play with
toys… and the
blocks.”
Coding
Art in Florida:
“The rollers,
there’s stuff we put
the Play-doh to make
spaghetti. The
hammers bang...
the Play-doh.”
Outdoor Play
in Florida:
“I have fun on
the playground.”
Both interviews and photographs were examined for dominant themes. Two individuals then coded all interviews for key themes (e.g., “play,” “reading,” and “food”). The number of times each child mentioned/photographed a theme was tallied. Blurry pictures or pictures with many tiny things made it difficult to decipher participants’ intentions. Therefore, we coded what the children said they wanted to photograph, rather than coding from the actual photographs.
Sample Quotes from Preschool Children in
Ohio and Florida