I want to join you! An inquiry on a child’s strategies of entering peer activities.

• Main Authors: Mei-yu Fu, 傅美瑜
• Other Authors: Hueih-fen Lin
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2007
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/36494517086949146449

碩士 === 國立臺南大學 === 幼兒教育學系碩士班 === 96 === The main purpose of this study was to investigate a kindergarten child’s strategies of entering peer activities. Due to its continuous nature, the strategies used were divided into two parts: before and after entering peer activities. The subject was a five-year old girl, Ching, who demonstrated frequent interactions with classmates and yet has mostly boys as her play companion. Qualitative methods were employed, with long-term observation in natural setting, interviews and archival collection for data collection. The findings of this study were as following: 1.“Notch above others” was Ching’s strategic guiding principle for entering peer activities. Three categories of strategies each with distinctive characteristics were used to achieve this goal: the statutory authority strategy, Ching’s self superiority strategy, and interest enticing strategy. 2.“Leading peer activities” was the ultimate goal for Ching’s entry. Even after Ching was already the head of the on-going activity, she continuously used strategies to maintain her leading status assertively. Evidence showed the status of her initial entry determined the context of which subsequent strategies were used. In other words, strategies before and after entry were continuous in nature. 3.Inductive and deductive thinking were useful tools in combination with strategy use. Ching constantly applied these tools on matters of people, activities, and resources. Knowledge obtained through inductive and deductive thinking thus established her superiority. 4.Elastic strategy regulation was an important factor for Ching’s entry success. Although the contexts of peer interactions were constantly changing, Ching regulated her strategies toward target peers, their intentions and strategies successfully. Flexibility in the regulation of strategy use pronounced her entry success into peer activities. Interesting discoveries in comparison to previous research findings were included in the discussion. Most noteworthy ones, among others, were: individual differences in strategy use were more prominent than gender differences, and “context” was the most important factor in determining appropriate strategy use. Finally, suggestions as guidelines for teachers and future researchers were proposed.