‘Look, my name! I can write’ – Literacy events and digital technology in the preschool atelier

• Published in: Journal of early childhood literacy Vol. 24; no. 2; pp. 253 - 275
• Main Author: Magnusson, Lena O
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London, England SAGE Publications 01.06.2024; Sage Publications Ltd
• Subjects: aesthetic literacy; atelier; Children; Digital technology; Early childhood education; Innovative Learning; Innovativt lärande; Literacy; literacy events; multidimensional voice; Preschool education; visual literacy; Sweden; multidimensional voice; aesthetic literacy; literacy events; atelier; early childhood education; digital technology; visual literacy
• ISSN: 1468-7984; 1741-2919; 1741-2919
• DOI: 10.1177/14687984211058943

This article explores and displays some of the literacy events taking place in the context of early childhood education in Sweden. More specifically, the literacy events are part of the educational practices in the atelier of Reggio Emilia inspired preschools in Sweden. As parts of an ethnographic study of aesthetic activities, including digital technology, these literacy events awoke the researcher’s interest. The literacy events are analysed from a sociocultural perspective reinforced by the use of multimodal theory. The results show how the literacy events in the ateliers become playful explorations. The children use the atelier’s specific cultural and social potentiality to explore and develop written and oral language as part of the visual and aesthetic literacy practices taking place there.