Practitioner narratives of supporting children from disadvantaged backgrounds with their early language development in a mainstream early years setting

Finnemore, Lisa (2023). Practitioner narratives of supporting children from disadvantaged backgrounds with their early language development in a mainstream early years setting. Student dissertation for The Open University module E822 Masters multi-disciplinary dissertation: education, childhood and youth.

This dissertation was produced by a student studying the Open University module E822 Masters multi-disciplinary dissertation: education, childhood and youth. The research showcased here achieved a Distinction.
Please note that this student dissertation is made available in the format that it was submitted for examination, thus the author has not been able to correct errors and/or departures from academic standards in areas such as referencing.
Copyright resides with the author.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.21954/ou.ro.000175af

Abstract

Discourses surrounding a word gap between children from disadvantaged families and their more affluent peers informed the basis of this small scale investigation. A phenomenological approach was used to explore early years practitioner narratives of their pedagogical influences, with consideration given to Bourdieu’s (1986) forms of capital in supporting the understanding of these. A thematic analysis concluded that Bourdieu’s forms of capital are useful when exploring practitioner pedagogy, with a key recommendation for reflection of practitioners’ capital within pedagogical approaches to be recognised.