Parents as pedagogues for 0-3-year-olds’ literacy learning in digitally networked homes

This paper is founded on the premise that most children growing up in contemporary homes in post-industrial countries take part in digitally-mediated literacy practices at home, using devices such as smartphones, tablets, digital TVs and computers to connect with distant family and friends, find information, play games and watch recorded or broadcast programmes. Media usage reports indicate marked year-on-year increases in the digital activity of children aged 3-15 years, including going online, which have sparked debates about children’s safety and security in a digitally-mediated world (Chaudron, 2015; Livingstone et al., 2017). However, the digital activity of 0-3-olds remains under-researched and largely absent from public policy debates, possibly because this younger age range does not yet feature in ‘society’s digital imaginary’ (Livingstone and Third, 2017: 660). Furthermore, the role that parents play as pedagogues has historically been under-valued. The Covid-19 pandemic offers a unique moment in time to re-value home as a vital learning space for young children, yet not all parents have the resources to offer equitable opportunities for children to learn about and with digital technologies. Key objectives of this paper are 1) to identify ways in which parents support children’s contemporary literacy learning at home in digital and print media, and 2) to re-conceptualise the Home Literacy Environment (HLE) as a digitally networked space, where children connect directly with friends and family through diverse digital technologies as part of everyday family literacy practices