Statistical and probabilistic education in Early Childhood textbooks

Abstract

This study analyzes the presence of statistics and probability in nine textbooks for Spanish students from 3 to 6 years old, considering that contemporary international curricular guidelines promote the teaching of these contents from the age of 3. To obtain the data, an instrument was designed based on the technique of content analysis and subsequently validated by six experts. The final version of the analysis instrument consists of seventeen categories, organized in four dimensions: 1) Textbook description; 2) Statistics and probability presence; 3) Contents that are treated; 4) Planning and management. The results obtained show that the presence of statistics and probability in the textbooks analyzed is scarce and they do not offer enough information to teachers to promote statistical and probabilistic literacy. It is concluded that it is necessary that textbooks reconsider the tasks proposed to students aged 3 to 6 so that, as a whole, they can develop a critical posture in the face of the data flood and situations of uncertainty in our environment.

Keywords:
Statistics and probability; Teaching planning and management; Textbooks; Literacy; Early Childhood Education