Children''s Beliefs about Strategies to Reduce Parental Anger

Age and sex differences in beliefs about strategies for reducing parental anger were assessed. The central question was whether direct intervention strategies are the most effective for, and reflect more advanced understanding of, anger reduction. In Study 1, 120 children ages 4-9 years generated strategies they believed would lessen a parent's anger elicited by 3 situations of increasing complexity. Across ages children proposed direct intervention strategies for the simplest situation, and there was an age increase in suggesting direct intervention strategies for the more complex situations. In Study 2, 180 children, ages 4-12 years, and their parents rated the effectiveness of the strategies generated for the most complex situation (interparental argument). There was no longer a unilinear age increase in believing direct intervention strategies effective. Unlike with older and younger children, there was no agreement between 7-9-year-olds and their parents on the efficacy of direct intervention strategies.     

Children''s Beliefs about Listening: Is It Enough to Be Still and Quiet?

This study examined children's conception of listening and their performance as listeners, 7-, 9-, and 11-year-old children were interviewed for their conceptions of good listening, their beliefs about appropriate actions for confused listeners to take, their attributions of responsibility for a listener's confusion, their reports of how speakers and listeners feel during communication breakdown, and their ability to detect inconsistencies during a comprehension-monitoring task. Results indicated that older children relied less on behavioral orientation and more on attempts to comprehend and other criteria in their definitions of good listening. Children believed that appropriate listening responses depend on the situation, and there was a developmental increase in asking the speaker a question and listening more carefully. With age, children also tended to report more complex negative emotions for listeners and speakers experiencing a breakdown in understanding. Children recalled incongruent material more than congruent material on the comprehension-monitoring task.     

Young Children''s Adaptations to Repeated Separations from Their Mothers

80 infants, toddlers, and preschoolers were observed before, during, and after separations from their mothers, who were attending conferences (M duration = 4 days). Half the sample was separated only once and the other half experienced 3 separations across a 6-month period. The study was designed: (a) to determine how separations affect children's behavior when there are no changes in the family constellation as there typically are during other separations, such as the birth of a new child, and (b) to determine the effects of repeated separations. Fewer changes in sleep and play behaviors suggested that this type of separation was less stressful than separations for the birth of another child. Nonetheless, the separations were still stressful, but principally for the single-separation group. In that group, changes were noted in both play and sleep behaviors. Following reunion, their sleep behaviors and more sophisticated play behaviors returned to baseline. However, activity level and the more insecure behaviors, such as wandering aimlessly, watching other children play, and interacting with their teachers, remained elevated following the mother's return. The multiple-separation group, in contrast, showed only 1 behavior change during their third separation, i.e., reduced interactions with their peers during the separation period, which returned to baseline following reunion. Repeated-measures analyses of the first and third separations of the multiple-separations group suggested that only the first separation was stressful. Thus, the infants and children in this study seemed to adapt to repeated separations.     

Uncovering Young Children''s Psychological Selves: Individual and Developmental Differences

3 major goals were addressed: (1) to examine whether 3 1/2-7 1/2-year-old children have consistent and meaningful concepts that reflect psychological self-understanding, (2) to uncover individual differences in young children's self-concepts, and (3) to determine whether any observed differences are stable over time. A new method was developed for assessing young children's self-concepts. 180 children between 3 and 8 years of age were presented with pairs of statements representing the high and low end points of 10 psychological dimensions. For example, the statements "It's not fun to scare people" and "It's fun to scare people" represent the low and high ends of the psychological dimension of aggression. Children were then asked to pick the statement that best described themselves. The dimensional scores were factor analyzed and higher-order factor scales were constructed. These factor scales were found to be internally consistent and psychologically meaningful in each age group, indicating that even young children have psychological concepts of themselves. Moreover, substantial individual differences were demonstrated on the scales even among the youngest children. Finally, these differences were found to be moderately stable over a 1-month test-retest.     

The Relationship of Teachers' Instructional Decisions and Beliefs about Alternate Assessments to Student Achievement

In the decade since alternate assessments based on alternate achievement standards (AA-AAS) were first required, special education teachers have had to develop content knowledge and pedagogical skills to teach academics to students with significant cognitive disabilities. The purpose of this study is to examine the impact that teachers' instructional decisions and beliefs about AA-AAS have on the academic achievement of students with significant cognitive disabilities. A survey of nearly 400 teachers across three states provided evidence of teachers' beliefs, as well as their instructional planning processes for students. Students' learning characteristics were also identified. Survey responses were analyzed in conjunction with students' 2010–2011 scores on their statewide AA-AAS. The results indicated that students with presymbolic communication systems had a lower likelihood of achieving proficiency in English language arts/reading and math than students with abstract symbolic communication. Students with concrete symbolic communication systems had lesser odds of proficiency in ELA/reading but not in math. Teachers who agreed that AA-AAS had an impact on instruction tended to have students with higher achievement proficiency. However, more negative views of the validity of AA-AAS scores were associated with greater odds of proficiency.     

彷徨与无奈：高校青年教师群体特征的多维剖析

在改革开放条件下成长起来、在商品经济大潮中走上工作岗位的高校青年教师：学术上的焦虑,使他们挣扎在“爱”与“痛”的边缘：经济上的困扰,使他们游离在“走”与“留”的边缘;政治上的淡漠,使他们徘徊在“权”与“钱”的边缘。高校青年教师独特的群体特征,为高校领导工作和高校管理工作提供了更为广泛的工作内容,这些问题的解决既有待于改革的进一步深化,也有待于高校进一步寻求协调方式。     

Between Desires and Beliefs: Young Children's Action Predictions

1 view of children's developing understanding of mind contends that children adopt a succession of naive psychological theories, moving from a desirefocused theory to a mature theory that attributes a greater role to beliefs. Between these, a transition theory, in which desires are primary but beliefs play an auxiliary role, is characteristic. Novel predictions arising from this view were tested in 2 experiments utilizing within participants designs. Preschool children ( N s = 20 and 24) were asked to predict the actions of story characters who believed a desired object to be in one of two containers (which were shown to actually contain the desired object, nothing, or a different object). In both experiments, children's predictions accorded with belief significantly more when objects of the type desired were in both containers than when containers held nothing or other sorts of objects, supporting a transition theory interpretation over competing interpretations.     

Functional Measurement Assessment of Young Children''s Ability to Predict Future Behavior

The reported experiments demonstrate that young children's ability to use previous behavioral information to predict future behavior emerges on quantitative, but not dichotomous, judgment tasks. In a first experiment, kindergartners, second graders, and fourth graders made quantitative liking judgments and predictions for peers after being presented 2 pieces of behavioral information. Children of all 3 age groups used both pieces of information in their liking judgments and predictions. In a second experiment, kindergartners were presented with 2 types of tasks; one was a quantitative prediction, comparable to the task in Experiment 1, and the second were dichotomous predictions, comparable to judgment tasks typically used in other experiments. Children's predictions were significantly more consistent with the behavioral information on the quantitative task than on either of the dichotomous tasks. These results suggest that young children believe in the ability of interpersonal behavior, but have difficulty dealing with the complexity of some prediction tasks.     

少先队与儿童奥林匹克教育

随着奥林匹克运动的不断发展,奥林匹克教育已经成为全球重要的教育命题。中国少先队在少年儿童奥林匹克教育中,尤其是在主题活动的策划、组织与实施方面发挥着重要作用。在北京筹办2008年奥运会之际,少先队需要抓住时机,找准工作重点,丰富教育内容,加强自身建设,将奥林匹克教育深入推进,促进少年儿童的全面发展。     

Attitudes and Beliefs of Prekindergarten Teachers Toward Teaching Science to Young Children

This study explored infield prekindergarten teachers’ attitudes and beliefs toward teaching science to young children. In addition, prekindergarten teachers’ previous and future interests in science-related professional development were assessed. Data were collected through a self-report measure, the preschool teacher attitudes and beliefs toward science. The sample consisted of 112 prekindergarten teachers. Findings suggest prekindergarten teachers may be more comfortable with conducting and integrating science activities and understanding the benefits of science for young children’s global development than previously thought. However, teachers continue to indicate feelings of inadequacy and anxiety toward their own science knowledge and ability to support children’s scientific learning. Future research should examine additional methods of assessing science teaching in prekindergarten classrooms, such as direct observation, as well as the impact of professional development on attitudes, beliefs, and practices of prekindergarten teachers when teaching science.     

幼儿同伴关系发展特点与教育

同伴关系既是儿童社会化的内容,也是儿童社会化的重要途径.幼儿期是同伴关系开始发展的时期,此时期儿童同伴关系的发展对儿童日后社会性发展具有重要影响.本研究采用同伴提名法对93名小中大班幼儿进行了研究,结果表明:(1)随着年龄增长,幼儿同伴关系的选择性逐渐增强,(2)幼儿期存在明显的同性别交往倾向,(3)随着年龄增长,幼儿的评价标准逐渐统一,由主观盲目向客观标准转变.因此,教师要注重幼儿同伴关系的培养,帮助幼儿发展社会交往技能.要注意帮助幼儿学习:(1)与其他小伙伴主动接触,(2)维持积极的关系,(3)合理解决冲突.     

幼儿错误信念理解与语言关系的纵向研究

本研究采用纵向实验研究的方法,在六个月的时间里,考察了51名三岁半不同语言能力幼儿错误信念理解与一般语言能力发展之间的关系。结果发现:在3岁半到4岁之间,汉语幼儿的错误信念理解能力发生了显著变化;语言能力超常组在错误信念任务上的表现显著好于普通语言能力组幼儿;幼儿错误信念理解能力和一般语言能力发展之间存在密切联系,但难以确定二者相互作用的方向。     

亲子关系与青少年网络游戏行为的相关性调查

长期以来,人们总是把亲子关系和亲子互动看作是针对低幼儿童的家庭教育,而忽略了处于青春期的中学生的亲子教育。这一时期的青少年一方面经历着生理上的变化,另一方面承受着巨大的学习压力,往往容易把电脑（网络）游戏作为情感宣泄和逃避现实的窗口,相关社会问题也由此引发。本文针对这些现状,通过实地调研访谈,提出了通过构建虚拟亲子互动游戏化学习社会,来改善网络时代中学生家庭的亲子关系。     

幼儿发展评价:关注过程重在发展

幼儿评价是幼儿园课程实施中重要的一环,对幼儿进行发展性评价已在幼儿园产生共识,但在实际工作中,教师缺乏开展发展性评价的有效策略。我们经过三年研发的“幼儿多元成长记录”改变了传统的评价观念,实现了评价的动态性、多元化、综合性和过程性。     

Primary Teachers' Beliefs about Family Competence to Influence Classroom Practices

Collaborative, equal partnerships between families and schools have been emphasized in early childhood education. However, researchers and practitioners have most often viewed the partnership from the perspective of what families can learn from the school rather than what school staff can learn from families. This study examined the beliefs of kindergarten, first and second grade teachers regarding families' competence to contribute knowledge to their child's educational process. A mixed method design using nominal group technique, Q methodology and interviews was employed. Thirty-three teachers, from a variety of schools, participated in nominal group discussions as a source of Q statements. Q sorts were conducted with 43 teachers. Results indicated three distinct factors characterizing teachers' attitudes regarding family competence to influence classroom practice. Seven teachers, representing the varied beliefs expressed through the Q sort, were interviewed to clarify the three factors emerging from the Q analysis. The findings suggest the need to consider the beliefs of current, as well as prospective, teachers regarding the frequently neglected "other half" of the partnership, school staff learning from families.     

教师的安全压力与儿童的幸福——农村幼儿独自上幼儿园引发的思考

本研究采用以录像为媒介的集体访谈和多重话语人类学的方法,探讨了由中国某农村幼儿独自往返于家庭与幼儿园之间这一现象引发的城乡幼教工作者对幼儿园安全问题的看法.受访的城市幼教工作者对农村幼儿独自上学、回家的现象表现出关注往往始于他们对幼儿人身安全的担心,但随着访谈的深入,许多人对这一现象表示理解,甚至表达了对农村幼儿能力强、农村幼儿园教师安全压力相对较小的羡慕.城乡对比之下,研究者与部分受访者达成共识:幼儿园教师感受到的安全压力影响了他们的日常教育行为,并进一步影响到幼儿在园的体验与感受.     

图画故事书与学前儿童的发展

图画故事书是学前儿童阅读的起点,是儿童人生的第一本书.图画故事书通过文字和图画共同传达故事信息,有别于其他形式的语言或视觉艺术,它独特的表达系统比较契合儿童心理特点.同时,图画故事书阅读又是一种复杂的心理过程,需要学前儿童具备大量的知识、经验和策略.因此,对学前儿童的语言、想象、思维、情感、社会化及审美能力发展都具有重要的价值.