Teaching behavior of young children in day-care: An observational study

Abstract

In this study, we adopt a longitudinal observational approach to examine teaching behavior of young children at a daycare center in Tokyo. Previous studies have largely focused on young children as learners under the guidance of adults, but, in this study, we regard young children as active participants within the teaching process. As a volunteer assisting in the care of three- to five-year-old children, the first author recorded instances of instructional interactions among peers and adults. The findings reveal that much of the instruction was spontaneously initiated by the children themselves. Such instruction encompassed declarative knowledge, procedural knowledge, and rules, with instruction strategies ranging from verbal explanations to demonstrations. Natural pedagogy theory posits that adults employ ostensive cues when communicating with infants （e.g., attentional speech, pointing, and other gestures）, but this study found that such cues are frequently used by children. These findings suggest that children possess a capacity to act as competent instructors from an early preschool age.