RMIT Early Childhood Education: Conversation Analysis Report Analysis

This conversation analysis report examines a dialogue between a teacher and young children (23 months or under) in an early childhood education setting. The report analyzes a recorded conversation, focusing on the teacher's use of verbal and non-verbal communication, and how the interaction aligns with the principles of the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF). The report explores the concepts of 'being,' 'belonging,' and the importance of play in early childhood education. It highlights the teacher's competency in creating a conducive learning environment and meeting the developmental needs of the children, while also discussing areas for potential improvement. The analysis considers the significance of individualizing the teaching process and creating a welcoming environment to accommodate cultural diversities. Furthermore, the report emphasizes the importance of practical learning experiences and positive interactions in early childhood education.

Running head: CONVERSATION ANALYSIS REPORT 1
Conversation Analysis Report
Name
Institution

CONVERSATION ANALYSIS REPORT 2
Conversation Analysis Report
Transcript
Context: The dialogue is between the teacher the eight-month old baby Zoe and the four-month
old baby Harrison, and baby Lola. The dialogue takes place at a place with which the kids are
familiar. The teacher engages the kids where they do routinely get a bottle feeding. The one
minute-twenty two-second-long video clip demonstrates a dialogue which the teacher had with
the kids. The communication between the teacher and the kids shows a lot about the kind of
relationship that should be established during the teaching of kids using recommended
pedagogies.
Transcript:
00.01: Child playing
00.02: Child staring
00.03: Child looking
00.04: Child playing
00.05: Child staring
00.06: Child staring
00.07: Child staring
00.08: Child playing
00.09: Child playing

CONVERSATION ANALYSIS REPORT 3
00.10: Child moving
00.11: Child staring
00.12: Child playing
00.13: Child playing
00.14: Child playing
00.15: Child playing
00.16: Child playing
00.17: Child playing
00.18: Child playing
00.19: Child playing
00.20: Child playing
00.21: Child playing
00.22: Child playing
00.23: Child playing
00.24: Child playing
00.25: Child playing
00.26: Child playing

CONVERSATION ANALYSIS REPORT 4
00.27: Child playing
00.28: Child playing
00.29: Child playing
00.30: Child playing
00.31: Child playing
00.32: Child staring
00.33: Child staring
00.34: Child staring
00.35: Child staring
00.36: Child staring
00.37: Child staring
00.38: Child staring
00.39: Child staring
00.40: Child staring
00.41: Child staring
00.42: Child crawling
00.43: Child crawling

CONVERSATION ANALYSIS REPORT 5
00.44: Child crawling
00.45: Child crawling
00.46: Child crawling
00.47: Child crawling
00.48: Child crawling
00.49: Child crawling
00.50: Child crawling
00.44: Child crawling
00.45: Child crawling
00.46: Child crawling
00.47: Child crawling
00.48: Child crawling
00.49: Child crawling
00.50: Child crawling
00.51: Child crawling
00.52: Child crawling
00.53: Child crawling

CONVERSATION ANALYSIS REPORT 6
00.54: Child crawling
00.55: Child crawling
00.56: Child crawling
00.57: Child crawling
00.58: Child crawling
00.59: Child crawling
01:00: Child playing
01:01: Child playing
01.02: Child playing
01.03: Child playing
01.04: Child playing
01.05: Child playing
01.06: Child playing
01.07: Child playing
01.08: Child playing
01.09: Child playing
01.10: Child playing

CONVERSATION ANALYSIS REPORT 7
01.11: Child playing
01.12: Child playing
01.13: Child playing
01.14: Child playing
01.15: Child playing
01.16: Child playing
01.17: Child playing
01.18: Child playing
01.19: Child playing
01:20: Child playing
01.21: Child playing
01.22: Child playing
01.23: Child playing
01.24: Child playing

CONVERSATION ANALYSIS REPORT 8
Introduction
Learning is a life-long process that takes place throughout one’s life. In Australia, there is
an education system which is followed in the teaching and learning process of everyone right
from a tender age up to adulthood. Early Childhood Education (ECE) is one of the most
important stages in the life of a person. As its name suggests, ECE is an education system that
targets the kids. For the kids to earn and acquire the right knowledge, they must be taught by
knowledgeable teachers who possess the right pedagogical knowledge, professional training and
experience in the teaching of kids. In this paper, there is a reflection of a typical ECE learner-
teacher classroom dialogue. The reflection focuses on the effectiveness of the Early Years
Learning Framework (EYLF) in the teaching of the kids.
Reflection of the Dialogue
The dialogue took place between the teacher and a 23-month old kid. The setting of the
dialogue was done in an environment that was conducive for the kid because it is familiar with it
and often uses it to play and interact with the world around him. In the dialogue, the teacher uses
verbal and non-verbal cues to communicate with the child. Although he kid has not developed a
strong linguistic competence, there appears to be a strong connectedness between the two. On
more than one occasion, the kid seems to be responding to the instructor. However, based on the
observations made, it appears as if the teacher succeeded in creating a favorable environment
that could accommodate the kid. This happened because the teacher gave the kid enough time to
play because, at this age, it is what it enjoys most.
From the observations made, I would like to point out that the dialogue is an example of
what happens in a typical ECE classroom. The teacher has done everything within his capacity to

CONVERSATION ANALYSIS REPORT 9
appeal to the kid and establish a good interpersonal relationship with him. The dialogue is a true
reflection of the applicability of the pedagogical competencies in the teaching of modern-day
kids. The successes in the dialogue demonstrate how effective the pedagogies should be applied
in the teaching and learning process (Palaiologou, 2016). A competent teacher who has a sound
knowledge of the teaching pedagogies should be able to individualize the teaching process and
tailor it towards the teaching of each and every learner. This should be done because of the
uniqueness in every learner that requires different approaches to understand, manipulate, and
satisfy.
Relevance of the Early Years Learning Framework in the Teaching and Learning Process
Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) is an education framework that the Council of
Australian Government developed to create a framework for the teaching of children. According
to EYLF, learning is a life-long process that takes place throughout one’s life. The framework
acknowledges that learning begins before conception and continues thereafter as one grows.
EYLF is based on the concepts of becoming, belonging, and being. The dialogue that was
between the teacher and the kid incorporated the concepts of EYLF. The teacher used his skills
to demonstrate how effective the EYLF ideas can be applied in the teaching of pre-school kids.
A thorough analysis of the dialogue reveals that it encompassed the elements of being. In
EYLF, being is used to mean that in a learning environment, the learner should be given an
opportunity to explore the world around him so as to be familiar with it and learn something
from it. This was actually done in the dialogue because there was this flexibility. Although the
teacher had powers to control what the kid could do, he appeared to be flexible because he never
restricted the kid a lot (Poulton & James, 2018). During the course of the dialogue, the kid could

CONVERSATION ANALYSIS REPORT 10
get time to move around and explore his immediate surroundings. Such kind of flexibility is
appropriate for a pre-school kid because he child is still growing and should get a chance to
explore the world as much as it can. Such explorations are useful because they act as sources of
new knowledge on which the kids should rely upon to learn as they grow. Therefore, by
incorporating this concept in the dialogue, the teacher is affirming his knowledge of the EYLF
pedagogies that should always be applied when teaching pre-schoolers (Uibu, Salo, Ugaste &
Rasku-Puttonen, 2017). It enriches learning ad makes it more effective.
The dialogue incorporated the use of the element of belonging. In EYLF, belonging is
used to justify that a child should have a sense of identity. Just like any other human being, the
children have belonging needs that they should do everything within their capacity to meet. So,
in a classroom setting, the teacher should be at the forefront of providing the kids with an
environment that can accommodate and give them a sense of identity (Davis, Torr & Degotardi,
2015). In the EYLF, the sense of identity should be created by allowing the kids to freely interact
with the instructor, parents, and peers. This is exactly what was done during e dialogue (Keegan,
2016). Although not so many people were involved in the dialogue thee is enough proof to
justify that the teacher made all the necessary efforts to meet the belonging needs of the kid. This
was done by providing the teaching in a familiar environment in which there were other people
with whom the kid could freely interact and feel satisfied (Fettig & Artman-Meeker, 2016). The
presence of the kid’s peers made the environment to be accommodative for it. So even if he was
communicating to the teacher, the kid could feel secured because of the presence of the people
with whom he is familiar.
In EYLF, an ideal learning environment is characterized by freedom of exploration.
Meaning, the kid should get a chance to learn in a flexible environment that enables it to explore

CONVERSATION ANALYSIS REPORT 11
the environment. One way through which the kids can get to explore the world is by engaging in
playing activities. In pre-school teaching, playing is a very important activity that should always
be incorporated during the teaching and learning process. Playing is recommended because it
benefits the kids in many ways (Curiel & Sainato, 2016). Most importantly, it makes learning
practical and lively. When he kids play, they get to experience life and learn lots of skills which
can prepare them to be active people who can use their knowledge to solve real life challenges.
In the dialogue, the teacher did a great job because he gave the kid an opportunity to play.
Although the play seemed to have consumed lots of time, it was healthy for the child since it
enabled it to experience what the environment had to offer (Daniels, Radil & Goegan, 2017).
This is, indeed, a good approach because it is in line with the principles of EYLF which
emphasizes the need of practicality during the teaching and learning process.
The dialogue was of a high quality because it met most of the pedagogical standards that
befit a pre-school kid. The teacher took care of the diversity and security that are considered as
major components of the EYLF teaching process. Right from the onset, the dialogue appears to
be accommodative because the teacher had chosen to be flexible in the way he was interacting
with the kid. The allowed the kid to freely interact with him and create a cohesive relationship
regardless of the differences between them (Nisbet & Shucksmith 2017). The welcoming nature
of the teacher shows that he was ready to accommodate cultural diversities that might exist
between him and the kid. This is a clear justification that the teacher was interested in teaching
the kid well. It shows that the teacher has adequate knowledge on how the EYLF principles can
be applied in the teaching of learners (White & Fleer, 2019). When teaching, the teacher should
ensure that he creates room for positive interactions. The teacher and the learner should interact

CONVERSATION ANALYSIS REPORT 12
well even if they have diverse backgrounds. To achieve this, the teacher should be as flexible as
possible.
The success of the dialogue is attributed to the competence of the teacher. The way in
which in which the teacher managed the dialogue shows that he has adequate knowledge on the
pre-school teaching strategies. Teacher’s competency in the pre-school pedagogy enabled him to
succeed in this dialogue. The success of the teacher was manifested in the manner in which he
used language to communicate to the kid (Shahali, Halim, Treagust, Won & Chandrasegaran,
2017). Communication is the most important resource in the teaching and learning process. A
teacher who communicates well definitely teaches well. A thorough review of the dialogue
indicates that the teacher made a proper use of verbal and non-verbal communication skills.
Everything ranging from articulation, audibility, and language usage was rightly in order
(Neumann & Neumann, 2017). The teacher used a very simple language that could be easily
understood by the kid. At the same time, the teacher took the necessary steps to make the process
as friendly as possible. He ensured that he created a friendly environment that appealed to the
learner and made it comfortable during the entire period of the dialogue. All these show that the
teacher is competent.
However, despite all the successes observed in the dialogue, the truth is that it was not
wholly successful because there are some loopholes that were noticed. The first weakness that
was observed in the dialogue is that the teacher did not explore the use of non-verbal
communication as it ought to (De Melendez & Beck, 2018). An appropriate and extensive use of
the non-verbal signs would enable the teacher to effectively communicate with the kid (Dudley,
Cotton & Peralta, 2015). At the same time, the learning process was not inclusive because it did
not involve many people. For it to be interactive, the teacher would have involved the

CONVERSATION ANALYSIS REPORT 13
participation of others. After all, EYLF requires an interactive setting that involves a close
collaboration between the teacher, parents, and the community at large.
Conclusion
Teaching is an important activity that should always be taken seriously. It has an
important contribution to make to a learner’s life. Teaching can be more challenging especially
when dealing with the pre-school kids who still have to be taught nearly everything ranging from
language, basic numeracy, and the social skills that they need to apply in day-to-day life as they
grow up. However, for all these to be effectively done, a teacher should have a sound of the pre-
school pedagogy. For the teaching process to be effectively done all the teachers should apply
the principles of EYLF because they can enable the teacher to handle the learners well and equip
them with the right knowledge that they need to create a positive impact on the learners. That is
exactly what the dialogue entails.

CONVERSATION ANALYSIS REPORT 14
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CONVERSATION ANALYSIS REPORT 15
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CONVERSATION ANALYSIS REPORT 16
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