'Celebrating Families': an Inclusive Model of Family-Centred Training

This article describes an innovative week of training days, entitled 'Celebrating Families', which took place at Sunfield, Worcestershire, in July 2002. The week, for and around families of children with special needs, arose from a shared vision and philosophy held by three host organisations. Representatives of all three organisations have contributed to this article. Barry Carpenter is chief executive of Sunfield, an independent school which provides education and care for children with severe and complex learning needs, and Sally Conway is the school's co-ordinator of family services. Mandy Addenbrooke is currently working as an independent consultant in communication and autistic spectrum disorders, and, at the time of the training week described here, was regional development officer for Contact a Family in the West Midlands. Elizabeth Attfield is children's services training and advisory officer for Autism West Midlands.
The week of events was underpinned by the notion of the self-defined, extended family. T he format and content of the week were designed to highlight and celebrate the vital roles that extended family members play in supporting one another, and in educating professionals. Workshops and a conference were planned to explore common themes and illuminate unique contributions, and family members were actively involved as 'trainers' as well as delegates. Outcomes were highly positive. Evaluations from participants not only validated the inclusive training model, but also inspired a series of further events for families at Sunfield during 2003 and 2004. 'Celebrating Families' week delivered a clear message: families of children with special needs must be recognised, involved and celebrated.     

Early education teachers’ conceptualizations and strategies for managing closeness with the class in child care

This study investigated teachers’ experiences of closeness during interactions with the group of children in child care. Structured interviews were conducted with 24 female teachers who were teaching children between the ages of three and five (mean age = 3.9) regarding their perceptions of closeness with the group of children in the class. Qualitative analyses of the interviews revealed a group solidarity domain of teacher–group relationships composed of three dimensions which comprise emotional solidarity, consensual solidarity, and functional solidarity, with emotional solidarity most dominant in the teachers’ perceptions. This group solidarity domain was interpreted as being consistent with qualities found in Grusec and Davidov’s group participation domain. The findings that, teachers’ closeness with the group of children in the class were dominated by the emotional dimension is similar to previous research results which report the predominance of personal and intimate interactions in relational closeness between teachers and individual children. Teachers described intentional strategies for managing close group relationships that made use of interactional histories between the teachers and children in the class. These discoveries provide a new perspective on teacher closeness with groups, an area of research not often investigated. It also provides insights into the importance teachers place on connecting emotionally with children when they are with the collective group in the classroom.     

面向职业教育的教育技术专业人才技能培养探讨

职业教育的改革与发展需要现代教育技术的支持和参与 ,需要教育技术专业人才的服务。本文通过对职业教育特征的研究和对职教部门的调查 ,分析职业教育对教育技术专业人才的技能水平的要求 ,建设培养技能所需的硬件环境 ,探讨技能培养的方式     

论我国早期教育专业师资培养的三个维度——意涵解读、困境解剖与实践解答

早期教育是为提升0?3岁婴幼儿童身体素质、情感表达、认知能力、智力发育及人格形塑等学前基本技能,进而有助于婴幼儿协调发展与健康成长所采取的各类正式与非正式的互动式教育活动。早期教育专业师资是具有一定教育专业背景与综合知识技能的,能够为0?3岁儿童提供照料、保育与教育服务的正式职业工作者,包括早教机构管理服务人员及各类专业保健员、育婴师、保育员等。当前,我国早期教育专业人才培养面临专业标准不清、专业师资薄弱、专业课程失调及专业路径阻塞等现实困境。为有效提升新时代早期教育专业师资培养质量,可以加强顶层设计,明晰专业标准;整合教育资源,培养精英教师;遵循人才规律,优化专业课程与加大投入力度,疏通专业路径。     

The Use of Video Games by Kindergartners in a Family Child Care Setting

In this interpretive study of children’s social interactions in a family child care setting, children were seen to spend a significant portion of their time playing, watching others play, and distracted by video games. When children were focused on video games, their interactions with one another were disjointed, rushed, and ineffective. Because children’s interactions are considered to be important learning opportunities, the prevalence of video games in child care settings and the implications of their use should be studied more closely.     

‘Baby teachers’: how pre‐service early childhood students transform their conceptions of teaching and learning through an infant practicum

This qualitative study explores how working with infants changed pre‐service early childhood students’ thinking about important aspects of early childhood education. Through a qualitative analysis of four pre‐service early childhood students’ weekly dialogue journals during a required, one‐semester infant practicum, the authors discovered how the course provided a context for challenging students’ previously held notions about early childhood teaching and learning. Their findings showed that infants’ ways of being were a powerful influence on pre‐service early childhood students’ sense of themselves as teachers and emphasized the value of hands‐on experiences with infants as an important component of early childhood professional preparation.     

论基于教育问题解决的教育智慧与教师培训的转型

教育智慧是教师在特定的教育情境中敏锐地发现并有效地解决教育问题的综合能力。追求和提升教育智慧是教师专业发展的核心目标。教育智慧的形成需要教师个体情意的参与、经验的积累以及良好的学校文化氛围和相应的社会制度条件,但是从动态的生成过程看,教育智慧起始于教育问题,并在解决教育问题的过程中得到发展,因此教师的培训需要面向真实的教育场景,在真实的场景中发现和解决教育问题。     

以教育叙事研究为切点促进幼儿教师专业发展

幼儿教师专业发展是其教育理论知识与教学实践相结合,不断内化为个体理论知识和实践知识的教育机智的过程。教育叙事研究来自实践,服务于实践,是幼儿教师成为学习者和研究者,是促进幼儿教师专业发展的有效方式和手段。     

Moving Toward Family-Centered Early Care and Education: The Past, the Present, and a Glimpse of the Future

Over the past 4 decades, early care and education programs in the United States have struggled to overcome obstacles to active parent and family participation, especially in the wake of recent welfare reform guidelines requiring parents to work outside the home. This article highlights the vision and activities of four Wisconsin Early Childhood Centers for Excellence, which offer family-centered services along with services to young children. Using various strategies, these programs have empowered parents and strengthened bonds between parents and professionals. Their success suggests that new models based on family-centered goals can improve the overall quality of early care and education for young children.     

The professional development needs of learning support coordinators in Singapore primary schools May Ling Quah and Kevin Jones

ABSTRACT

‘Support for learning’ can be conceptualized in many different ways. This paper examines the role of the learning support coordinator in relation to the breadth of factors which cause pupils to experience learning difficulties in primary classrooms. It is against this background that the professional development needs of learning support coordinators is considered. The paper focuses, in particular, upon the needs of learning support teachers who work in primary schools in Singapore. The shortcomings of traditional inservice courses which focus upon curriculum development and pedagogy are discussed in relation to the wide ranging roles which learning support coordinators are expected to fulfil. The assumption that pupil achievement can be enhanced when teachers are ‘trained’ to employ certain teaching methods is questioned and the relevance of an ecological or interpretive model of staff development is discussed. Finally, the particular professional development needs of learning support coordinators in Singapore are considered.     

国外家庭关系不良儿童早期教育干预的研究进展

家庭关系不良儿童是一类受家庭婚姻状态、成员关系以及父母养育方式影响较深的儿童,主要包括单亲家庭儿童、婚姻冲突家庭儿童和重组家庭儿童。本文在总结近十年国外家庭关系不良儿童早期教育干预主要文献的基础上,通过梳理、归纳和评述早期教育干预主体、干预内容、干预方式和干预保障的主要论点,提出了我国深入开展早期教育干预研究工作的具体建议,包括多学科的视角拓展、精细化的内容建构以及混合式的方法应用等。     

英国教师教育的变革趋势

本文概述了英国教师教育改革近三、四年来的新举措 ,分析了英国教师教育的改革特点 ,指出目前正雄心勃勃要办世界一流教育的英国将教师教育改革作为实现这一目标的突破点 ,英国的改革将为全世界教师教育改革提供了一个观察与借鉴的窗口     

探析当前我国家庭教育新变化

文章主要关注当前我国家庭出现的新情况、新问题,以及由此为家庭教育带来的新的变化,尝试为探索解决这些新问题的对策提供些许帮助。     

High‐quality interactions with infants: relationships with early‐childhood practitioners’ interpretations and qualification levels in play and routine contexts

This study investigated factors related to the quality of early‐childhood practitioners’ interactions with infants in play and routine contexts. Participants were 24 practitioners working with 9–20‐month‐old infants in long day‐care infant programmes. Video‐recordings of their interactions with a nominated infant during play and in routine contexts were rated for levels of sensitivity and stimulation. Practitioners were asked to interpret extracts of this video footage and these interpretations were rated according to the complexity of the interpretive narrative. Results indicated relationships between practitioner qualification, their levels of interpretive complexity and the quality of their interactions. The quality of play interactions was significantly higher than that of routine interaction. The implications of these findings in relation to the provision of high‐quality infant day‐care programmes are discussed.     

东亚教育改革与教师素质培养——“第一届东亚教师教育研究国际研讨会”综述

会议围绕"教育改革与教师专业成长"这个主题,就东亚教师形象塑造、教师职前培养、职前教师专业素养形成、教师专业成长等等领域问题开展了研讨,并提出一些有益的观点。     

论在家教早期培养儿童情商的可行性

培养儿童的情商是一条通往成功教育的途径,据心理学的研究表明,儿童在3、4岁时是情商发展的关键期,如果能在儿童情商发展的关键期—幼儿期进行培养的话,必定能取得事半功倍的效果。所以在孩子出生以后,家长把握时机对孩子进行情商教育就显得尤为重要。     

Until somebody hears me: parent voice and advocacy in special educational decision making

When a family finds out their child has a disability, they enter the world of special education which has its own terminology, rules, settings and personnel. In addition to grappling with the meaning of their child's special needs, families are also thrown into the role of principle advocate for their child. The research study reported here presents the findings from focus groups conducted in the United States of America with 27 diverse families on their efforts to obtain the best educational outcomes for their children. In this article, Robyn Hess, Amy Molina and Elizabeth Kozleski bring their collective past experiences, as a school psychologist, bilingual counsellor and special education teacher respectively, to bear on this topic and frame the issue from a systemic perspective. They argue that engaging in conversation with families around their needs, as well as assisting them in their efforts to advocate for their child, is the first step in creating more equal partnerships between parents of children with special needs and educational professionals.