A study into the effects of a blended professional development program on pre-primary teachers' Language Stimulating COmpetenceS (LASCOS)

The quality of language stimulating interactions in early childhood education (ECE) has an important impact on the academic language skills of young children, which in turn is a powerful predictor of learning success. Although research shows that high quality teacher-child interactions are crucial for academic language learning, paradoxically, a wide range of classroom interaction studies point to the relatively poor quality and low quantity of language stimulating interactions in preschool, which is even lower in the interactions with at-risk children. This project aims to bridge the gap between evidence-based teaching practices and actual classroom practices through a blended (online and offline) learning professional development intervention (PDI) that enhances pre-service and in-service teachers’ language stimulating (LS) competences (dispositions, situation-specific skills and classroom performance), both through individual and social learning. The online PDI component offers an innovative practice environment through video-based simulation exercises. The offline component targets teachers’ inquiry and innovation of real-life practices through collaborative video reflections, on-the-job exercises and individualised feedback. The main research objective is to investigate the effects of the PDI on ECE teachers’ LS competences. The mixed methods approach combines survey data, simulation data, observational data, case study data from online and offline reflections, and focus group data. The research responds to a lack of experimental research mapping the competence development of ECE teachers in the field of language stimulating interactions. The valorization aims at developing the PDI and optimizing it for sustainable implementation based on the research insights. The integration of the research and valorization leads to an evidence-based professional development program (PDP) with regard to LS competences.