Fitness and fun for three-to-five year olds

As early as 1977, research studies demonstrated that one or two risk factors for coronary heart disease were present in 65 percent of boys and girls aged seven to twelve years. In more recent studies, three- to five-year-olds were found to be very inactive at home and at school, and one- to two-year-old children having obese parents were less active than children having nonobese parents.Sue Ellen Miller is Associate Professor in the School of Health and Sport Sciences, Ohio University, Athens, OH.     

Changing tune: reconceptualizing music with under three year olds

Recent years have seen a rapid increase in opportunities for very young children in the UK to participate in musical activity. These opportunities are provided by a range of music professionals who are expanding their work into the early years sector. Support for this increase in early childhood music draws on recent research into aspects of musicality, fuelling a growing conviction that music is developmentally beneficial. This article, while not implying any diminution in the potential value of music in the upbringing of very young children, calls for a more rigorous and critical use of research evidence. The main argument presented is that research evidence is being used discriminately to divert attention onto the transferable benefits of music into domains such as basic skills—music as means—rather than direct attention to musicality as it is manifest in earliest childhood. The article draws on ideas evolved in practice during an action‐research project which aimed to develop arts practice in early childhood settings. The project team of artists—recruited from a range of disciplinary backgrounds, including music—gradually developed a generic model of improvisatory arts activity which emphasized dynamic temporal‐spatial activity. This model of practice connected with the corpuses of recent research into infant musicality at points which, I will argue, are more congruent with their findings than the discriminatory readings. The revised model is further discussed and expanded with reference to some priorities and theoretical positions which are currently influential in early childhood arts practice.     

Basic Competence in Mathematics: Swedish and English 16 year olds

The transition to mass participation in post-16 education, which had occurred considerably earlier in other European countries, has finally taken place in England. However, high drop-out and failure rates persist, particularly on vocational qualification routes. Our hypothesis is that an important factor is the lack of basic competence of lower-achieving English students in the key skills - English language and mathematics - required for success in further study. Our research addresses the validity of the argument by investigating whether any significant difference can be detected between the skills of English students entering post-compulsory education and those of students in countries where drop-out and failure rates are low. The country investigated in this study was Sweden where participation of 16 year olds in post-compulsory upper-secondary education is currently over 90%; and where some 90% of those enrolling normally obtain an academic or vocational qualification. Some General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) mathematics questions were incorporated into the national test taken by Swedish 16 year olds at the end of compulsory schooling; and significant differences were found in the scores of the lower 40% of the cohort in the two countries. The results are consistent with the hypothesis; and also go beyond previous Swedish-English comparisons, which reflect the general emphasis in international studies on younger age groups (typically 9 and 13 year olds).     

Preparation for year 6 national tests

This paper examines the preparation of pupils for end of Key Stage 2 national tests. Evidence cited in the SCAA and QCA reports has highlighted the extent of preparation but has not been used to discuss the complexities of preparation processes, nor to reconceptualise the changing relationships of teaching, learning and assessment within Year 6. Changes of such proportion require sustained and in-depth consideration. This paper discusses the context of KS 2 testing within an assessment framework, examines the types of learning being tested and offers five teaching strategies considered essential both for helping pupils prepare for the national tests and for developing lifelong learning.     

A comparison of year 1 and year 6 students' conceptions of evaporation and condensation: dimensions of conceptual progression

A range of challenging activities centred on evaporation and condensation were explored with year 1 and year 6 children. Their explanations in group discussion, written responses and interview were analysed, using NUD*IST qualitative analysis software, to explore the nature and coherence of their conceptions. The data was used to critically evaluate previous claims in the literature concerning the characteristics of progression in understanding of evaporation, and to identify the main dimensions that characterize the differences in children's explanations. The older children displayed a surer sense of ontological categories, greater epistemological sophistication including their ability to link explanations and evidence, greater precision in the use of conceptual language, and a greater range of associations they could make.     

Analysis of problem solving strategies on electricity problems in 12 to 13 year olds

Strategies implemented by 12–13 year olds to solve electricity problems are examined. Three factors account for observed strategies:

1. type of problem representation, itself dependent on the knowledge base;
2. cognitive personality dimensions;
3. form of problem statement.

Individual interviews were conducted. Each problem statement contained a perceptual ‘trap’ designed to induce contradictory responses. Strategies were coded for accuracy, latency, justification and control. Five types of problem solving strategies were observed:

1. a strategy based on misconceptions such as the vanishing current model;
2. a similar strategy but greater verbalization of doubt;
3. rush to use formulas;
4. sequential analysis of circuit;
5. application of principles learned in class.

Analysis shows that the target problems fell into two classes: problems that triggered automatic (canonical or calculatory) responses, and problems which were much more disruptive. The latter differentiated students who could handle contradictions and control their responses. Mention is also made of difficulties caused by the signified/signifier relationship.     

Verbal abuse in school. Constructions of gender among 14‐ to 15‐year‐olds

Verbal abuse has been identified as a common element in the life of children in school. This paper explores how this discursive practice is used in the construction of masculinities and femininities among children aged 14–15 through observations and interviews in classes in two schools in Stockholm. Verbal abuse, often with sexual content, contributed to ‘toughness’, a central component of hegemonic masculinity in the schools. Popular, tough boys generated most of the verbal abuse, but were not necessarily regarded as verbally abusive; rather, responsibility for the bulk of verbal abuse was attributed to ‘rowdy’ boys. Girls’ verbal abuse was not similarly advantageous for their femininity; instead, both through being verbally abusive and being the target of abuse, girls risked being positioned negatively. It appears that verbal abuse in school simultaneously orders masculinities and femininities, and structures heterosexual relations between the genders.