Scaffolding attention and perseverance skills in a diverse population of preschool children in Sweden

In two interventions, 139 and 52 preschool children, age 4–6, from low-SES communities in Sweden, used a play-&-learn game in early mathematics for 10 weeks, about 20 min at a time. 50 % of the participating children were Swedish second language speakers with low language proficiency and about 20 % had learning vulnerabilities in the form of developmental language disorders and neurocognitive diagnoses. In contrast to teachers' predictions ahead of the interventions, game log data and teacher observations regarding children's sustained attention and perseverance – core elements of ‘learning-related behaviors’ – suggest that a majority of children, including children with reported learning difficulties, did well with respect to sustained attention and perseverance. It is proposed that the interventions allowed children with learning difficulties to demonstrate – and practice – these skills to a larger degree than expected. A relative difference in outcome between the two interventions is interpreted as an effect of differences in structured guidance and scaffolding by teachers and peers.

Educational relevance statement

The two intervention studies reported in the paper engaged preschool children, age 4–6, in using a play-&-learn educational game in early mathematics for 10 weeks, about 20 min at a time. The children were from environments with low SES indexes. A substantial part of the participants were Swedish second language speakers with low language proficiency and some children had different neurocognitive diagnoses. Ahead of the intervention studies teachers raised doubts regarding the intervention setup, predicting that many children would not be able to stay sufficiently focused on the learning activities. Teachers also predicted that many children would have difficulties to engage in the learning activities as long as 20 min and to hold out all through the intervention period. In contrast to the predictions the data suggests that a majority of the children – including children with learning difficulties – managed well. Specifically, most of the children who encountered substantial challenges in gameplay, again including children with learning difficulties, showed high degrees of perseverance as well as sustained attention. In practical terms the results, together with similar and related results, suggest that high-quality early math activities can have a dual benefit and promote not only growth of math skills, but also growth of central basic skills such as perseverance and sustained attention. With the pressure many preschool teachers experience regarding pedagogical requirements, it may ease their burden to know that growth of more than one important skill can be targeted by one and the same intervention.