Social development, alongside personal and emotional development, is one of the most pivotal areas of the development of a child that compounds into defining who the child will eventually become. The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) is the time that the child needs a significant amount of support to effectively develop these skills which will facilitate their relations with other in the world round them. It is on such grounds that this area has gained popularity with a wide range of studies aiming to fill an existing gap and contribute to the existing body of knowledge. Of interest to this study is the social interaction which is a microcosm of social development. Social development focuses on the manner in which the child builds relationships and interacts with other people both in their immediate and distant environments (Allen & Whalley, 2010; Dahlberg, Moss & Pence, 2008; Sylva, Melhuish, Sammons, Siraj-Blatchford & Taggart, 2010). During the EYFS period, it is crucial that the child builds a relationship and creates a strong bond with a practitioner given that they are away from their parents. The bond with the practitioner is aimed at making the children develop self-confidence, understand and explore their environment as well as fostering effective interpersonal relations with other children. The importance of this fundamental foundational stage in the entire life of a child is the major reason that researchers have embarked on a mission to understand the views of the practitioners on supporting social interaction within the early years of a child’s development. The following section will review some of the landmark studies on this scope of research with a view to informing the subsequent analysis on the same.
Practitioners’ understanding of interactions with children during their early years
Before, examining the views of the practitioners, it is important to evaluate their understanding of the interactions which is a vital precursor to understanding the following sections and the entire subject of study. Robson (2012) and Mercer (2008) posit that interactions between children and adults within the early years, with language as the chief interaction instrument, are strings that fabricate the thinking and decision-making skills of the children. Even then, DfE (2013)’s research on the understanding found out that early years practitioners were significantly confused about the tenets of quality interaction during the interviews. Other studies that have previously sought to evaluate the practitioners’ perspective of interaction with children during the early years like Robson and Hargreaves, 2005; Robson and Fumoto (2009); Fumoto and Robson (2006), and Fisher and Wood’s action research project (2012) have linked sustained shared thinking with the practitioners’ pedagogical framework. Purdon (2014), however, disagrees that this is never the case each time when observing the practitioners during practice. From these studies, the common conclusion was that the practitioners understood having enough interaction time as the major aspect of quality interaction with the children within the early years. Besides, the Fisher and Wood’s research project (2012) concluded that the practitioners’ perspectives of quality interaction included one that is playful and engaging, shared experience, emotionally rewarding for both the involved parties, and above all, promotes the development of the child. Despite the differences in contexts, methodologies, and participants, these studies reached almost similar conclusions concerning the understanding of the practitioners concerning quality interaction during the early stages of development of a child. The fact that the various studies are self-reinforcing with regards to findings is sufficient proof of accuracy, reliability, and viability of the studies. Therefore, the findings can be incorporated in evaluating and understanding subsequent sections and the literature.