Improvisation: An analytic tool for examining teacher-child interactions in the early childhood classroom

This article explores the use of improvisation (improv) as a lens for viewing and describing teacher-child interactions. The author describes the relationship between the principles of improv and the characteristics of responsive teaching, and how improv can be used as a lens for seeing relational activity. The author hypothesizes that improv would provide a valuable tool for understanding and describing what is happening between teachers and children. An in-depth case study was conducted of an experienced early childhood teacher in a play-based classroom. Analysis was done using both the codes derived from the teacher-child interaction literature and improv theory. Improv analysis offered a nuanced picture of what early childhood teachers are doing in practice. The findings revealed that using improv provides a lens for seeing teacher-child interactions as an ensemble activity and what the teacher is doing in terms of its usefulness to the activity. While this study focused on a single teacher in one classroom, the findings demonstrate the potential of an improv lens for developing and deepening our understanding of early childhood teaching. (c) 2006 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.