BookFun – ‘There's more to it than reading a book’ – Implementing a Danish early literacy programme that supports professionalism, language development and social inclusion

Abstract

Several early literacy programmes have documented their effectiveness in enhancing children's early literacy and language development. Despite recent interest in implementing evidence-based programmes, only a few studies have set out to capture the implementation process of early literacy programmes as seen from the programme users' perspectives. The current study's purpose is to identify best practice for the successful implementation of early literacy programmes in Danish day-care centres. The empirical study presents results from a pre-post design interviewing 18 early educators to identify changes in their professional practice after the implementation of the first Danish early literacy programme based on dialogical reading. The results suggest that after the implementation (1) early educators report having changed their shared book reading practices, taken ownership of the programme and successfully integrated it into current practices, (2) the early literacy programme has supported early educators in their professional development and (3) early educators see the early literacy programme as a tool for improving social inclusion among children in day-care centres. Based on the results we conclude that reflecting on current practices, the development of a new professionalism and taking ownership are crucial processes in changing practices and in the successful implementation of new programmes.