Economic Recession,Teacher-Reported Cuts to School Resources,and Children's Economic and Psychiatric Problems in Young Adulthood

The study investigated whether cuts to school resources made during economic recession contribute to children's psychiatric and economic problems in early adulthood. The cohort consisted of 817 Finnish children. Data was gathered from teachers during a recession (child age 12) and from national registers on children's post-recession use of psychiatric and income benefit services (age 18–28). Children's need for remedial instruction, special education, or psychosocial services was associated with later use of income support and psychiatric services. Those receiving special education had an increased risk for adulthood use of psychiatric services as compared to those who needed, but did not receive, this service. A decrease in material resources and teachers' loss of motivation predicted children's later use of psychiatric services.     

Sexual assemblages: mobile phones/young people/school

This paper asks, what more can we think in relation to debates around young people's use of mobile phones at school? Rather than attempting to answer the question of whether mobile phones are ‘good’ or ‘bad’ for young people, this paper recasts the debate's ontological underpinnings. To do this feminist appropriations of the Deleuzian concept of assemblage and a relational materialist notion of ‘more-than-human’ are drawn on. By recognising sexuality-as-assemblage, it is possible to see more-than-human elements (such as mobile phones) as implicated in the becoming of sexuality at school. This conceptualisation implies new texture and dimensionality to the wider project of (re)producing sexual meanings and identities at school. It also necessitates acknowledging an ontologically different understanding of the human-non-human divide, that decentres young people and/or phones as to ‘to blame’ for ‘negative’ practices like sexting. Instead, agency manifests via the intra-activity that occurs when mobile phones and young people are in-relation.     

The Development of Nonsymbolic Probability Judgments in Children

Two experiments were designed to investigate the developmental trajectory of children's probability approximation abilities. In Experiment 1, results revealed 6- and 7-year-old children's (N = 48) probability judgments improve with age and become more accurate as the distance between two ratios increases. Experiment 2 replicated these findings with 7- to 12-year-old children (N = 130) while also accounting for the effect of the size and the perceived numerosity of target objects. Older children's performance suggested the correct use of proportions for estimating probability; but in some cases, children relied on heuristic shortcuts. These results suggest that children's nonsymbolic probability judgments show a clear distance effect and that the acuity of probability estimations increases with age.     

Children's Developing Mathematics in Collective Practices: A Framework for Analysis

This article presents a cultural-developmental framework for the analysis of children's mathematics in collective practices and illustrates the heuristic value of the framework through the analysis of videotaped episodes drawn from a middle-school classroom. The framework is presented in 2 related parts. The first targets the children's emerging mathematical goals in collective practices, with a particular focus on the complex role that artifacts play in children's emerging goals. The second part focuses on children's developing mathematics that takes form in their goal-directed activities: (a) Microgenetic analyses concern the process whereby children structure cultural forms like artifacts to serve particular functions as they accomplish emerging mathematical goals; (b) sociogenetic analyses concern the spread or travel of mathematical forms and associated functions within a community of individuals; and (c) ontogenetic analyses concern the interplay between the forms that children use and the functions that they serve over the course of children's development. The analyses of the classroom episodes points to the promise (and limitations) of the framework as a method for furthering our understanding of the interplay between social and developmental processes in children's mathematics.     

大学生课堂使用手机问题调查与引导路径——以南京某高校为例

随着经济的不断发展,手机功能的日益增多,大学生拥有智能化手机,并在课堂上使用已成常见现象.本文以南京某高校在校本科生为调查研究对象,采用问卷调查,对目前大学生课堂使用手机的基本情况作了分析,阐述了大学生课堂使用手机问题存在的原因,并有针对性地提出了加强对大学生课堂使用手机这一不良现象的教育策略和引导路径.     

Children's Theories of the Self

This article provides a theoretical review of the developmental origins of children's “folk theories” about the nature of the self, linking theoretical developments in philosophy with empirical discoveries from developmental psychology. The article first reviews children's views about the material nature of the self, outlining evidence that children naturally think about the self as distinct from the body. It then discusses children's understanding of the persistence of the self over time and, finally, explores children's views about conflict within the self. Together, these findings suggest that preschoolers possess stable, coherent, and predictive theories about the nature of the self that are stable across individuals, early emerging, and in some cases undergo interesting developmental change.     

Access,use and perceptions of teachers and students towards mobile phones as a tool for teaching and learning in Tanzania

This study explored the access, use and perceptions of teachers and students towards mobile phones as a tool for facilitating teaching and learning beyond the classroom walls. A total of 29 pre-service teachers and four college instructors from Dar es salaam University College of Education (DUCE) as well as 12 in-service teachers and 40 students from Kibasila secondary school in Tanzania, participated in the study. Data were collected by using pre-service teachers’ questionnaire, students’ questionnaire, and the instructors’, and in-service teachers’ interviews. Findings showed that all in-service teachers, college instructors and pre-service teachers had mobile phones. Also 60 % of school students owned mobile phones, or had access to mobile phones. Students, pre-service teachers and college instructors were in favour of the use of mobile phones for learning, but the majority of in-service teachers were against it. Since mobile phones are the most available technological tools in schools, this study, recommend a professional development programme for in-service teachers to help them develop a positive attitude towards mobile phones use in teaching and learning.     

The Pebble in the Pond: Children's constructions of power,politics and democratic citizenship

A civics and citizenship education curriculum is currently being developed for all levels of Australian schools in an attempt to prepare young people for effective participation in the complex, evolving society of Australia in the 21st century. Clearly children should be encouraged to explore issues to do with power and politics and it is important to include factual information about the structures and processes of government in any curriculum materials. However, this paper argues that children's lived experience as members of families, schools and the wider society provide understandings that must be taken into account if we wish them to really appreciate the principles and purposes that underpin democratic practices. This qualitative study investigates the perceptions of 27 children, between 5 and 12 years of age, in relation to their constructions of power and politics. It uses a developmental framework to understand the children's talk and to chart the increasing complexity of their concepts.     

An Exploration of Children's Experiences of Art in the Classroom

Despite the numerous benefits art has for children, research suggests that there is a lull in the development of expression in children's drawings during the primary school years and that many children give up on art between the ages of 10 and 12. Research investigating this phenomenon has taken an educational focus and aimed to identify potential shortcomings in the primary education system which could impact negatively on children's artistic development and interest in art. This article builds on previous educational research by exploring children's perceptions of the art education they receive. In this small exploratory study semi‐structured interviews were conducted with six children in each of the Key Stages of English compulsory education: Key Stage 1 (5–6 year olds); Key Stage 2 (7–8 year olds); Key Stage 3 (11–12 year olds) and Key Stage 4 (14–15 year olds). A qualitative thematic analysis is used to explore children's experiences of art in the classroom, the kinds of support they receive in art lessons and how art lessons can be improved. It is hoped that the exploration of children's experiences of art in the classroom will enable movement towards an engaging and relevant approach to art education.     

Challenges of Integrating Mobile Technology into Mathematics Instruction in Secondary Schools: An Indonesian Context

Implementing mobile learning in curriculum-based educational settings faces challenges related to perceived ethical and learning issues. This study investigated the affordances of mobile technologies to support mathematics instruction by teachers. An exploratory study employing questionnaires and semi-structured interviews revealed that, while mathematics instruction can be augmented with mobile learning, the majority of schools in Indonesia have banned student use of mobile phones in classrooms. Teachers are concerned about the improper use of mobile phones that could impact their students' mental well-being and distract them from learning. Most teachers perceive mobile technologies to be disruptive and seem reluctant to use them for teaching delivery. However, teachers are eager to experiment with digital technologies within mathematics instruction. Our findings suggest infusing alternate technologies that fit better with the school's teaching and learning environment. This includes web-based applications that can run on different digital devices ranging from desktop computers, laptops, and tablets, to mobile phones. We propose setting up communities of practice for mathematics teachers to share their instructional repertoire on integrating digital technologies within the classroom.     

Mixed-Age Interactions in Family Child Care

Preschool-age children's experiences within the mixed-age setting of family child care homes and the influences of these experiences on development were examined. Development variables included social and cognitive play, and receptive and expressive language. Consistent with Vygotsky's developmental theory, children's interactions with mixed-age peers were more powerful predictors of development than the mere availability of mixed-age peers. Interactions with older peers were associated with more complex cognitive play behaviors. Interactions with younger and same-age peers were associated with less complex social and cognitive play and lower receptive language scores. Characteristics of the child care setting appeared to moderate children's behavior in the mixed-age environment. Children in higher quality family child care homes with responsive caregivers were less likely to interact with younger children. No evidence was found of different developmental outcomes across developmental domains for older versus younger children.     

Training preservice teachers to use evidence-based practices: Effects of coaching with performance feedback on teacher and child outcomes

Three-term contingency trials (TCTs) involve planned/naturally occurring antecedents, child's demonstration of target behaviors, and planned/naturally occurring consequences. Positive relationships between teachers' frequent use of TCTs and children's learning were noted in literature. This study aimed to investigate impact of an intervention package including training and coaching with performance feedback on experienced and novice special education preservice teachers' use of TCTs and relationship between teachers' implementation and child outcomes through two single-case experiments using multiple baseline across participants design. Three special education preservice teachers and three children with disabilities participated in each study. Results indicated intervention package was effective in increasing preservice teachers' use of TCTs. Preservice teachers generalized their use and sustained it during maintenance sessions conducted after intervention ended. Furthermore, as frequency and accuracy of preservice teachers' implementation increased, percentage of children's correct responses in relation to target skills improved. Implications for future practice and research are discussed.     

Nature as children's space: A systematic review

The emerging interest in “spaces of childhood” over the past two decades can be identified across numerous disciplines. A substantial body of research has indicated that children's active engagement within the natural environment is associated with a range of cognitive, physical, affective, and moral developmental benefits. Although research on children's space and place is a burgeoning field, currently only one identified systematic review exists within the literature investigating the benefits of children's engagement in nature. The aim of this article was thus to systematically review and synthesize the findings of children's understandings and engagement with nature as a space. After a systematic search of the literature, 83 articles were included in this review with study samples spanning across children aged 3 to 18 years old. The review underscores four thematic domains derived utilizing thematic analysis. It is ostensible from the results that children's perceptions of and engagement in nature as a space and place are multifarious, benefiting children's well-being in myriad ways. At a foundational level, more research is required to deepen understandings about how children in differing contexts construct nature.     

Disabled children's evolving digital use practices to support formal learning. A missed opportunity for inclusion

This paper takes an interdisciplinary approach combining digital education with disability theory to investigate disabled children's digital use practices for formal learning. Evidence suggests that children's lives have been transformed through engagement with digital technologies, eg, computers, laptops and mobile devices. Even so, empirical studies about disabled children's uses of technology remain limited, particularly studies that engage with disabled children's own views in context. In response, an exploratory, participatory research study was designed to gain up-to-date insights into how visually impaired children, as an illustrative case, experienced digital technologies for learning within the context of inclusive education policy. Disabled children and teachers were interviewed in mainstream schools in England; results were analysed using social practice theory to identify digital use practices characterised as digital learning and digital accessibility practices alongside children's experiences. Outcomes were mixed. Youngsters saw benefits to using digital technologies, particularly tablets, for learning. Nevertheless, digital accessibility practices were potentially stigmatising and carried an extra task load to overcome barriers that occurred when teachers had not developed inclusive digital pedagogy. The paper discusses the implications of these findings and calls for further research to guide schools to use digital technologies to support inclusion.     

Children's Attention to and Comprehension of Explicit versus Implicit Information on Television

The present study focused primarily on children's processing of two different kinds of information contained in two animations. The two animations were divided into 24 and 10 sections. Each section was classified as an explicit or implicit section concerning the derivation of the answer to the question based on each section. The subjects were 48 kindergartners (aged 4 and 5) who were divided into two groups to view these two animations. The group receiving a distraction stimulus (slides projected on a curtain) was designated as the distractors group while the other with no distractors was designated as the no‐distractors group. The results for children of both age 4 and 5 fell into three categories. (1) Distractive slides significantly reduced children's visual attention to both explicit information and implicit information. There was no significant attention difference between age 4 and 5. (2) Distraction produced little effect on children's comprehension of implicit information while producing a significant reduction in the comprehension of explicit information. (3) Children aged 5 markedly outperformed those aged 4 on the comprehension of implicit information. It was suggested that children processed the implicit information actively whereas they processed the explicit information reactively. Results also proved that preschoolers have the ability to comprehend implied information, and that this ability increases substantially with age.     

Bi-directional dynamics underlie the complexity of talk in teacher–child play-based conversations in classrooms serving at-risk pupils

This study examined the transactional, utterance-by-utterance dependencies in the syntactic complexity of teachers’ and children's talk during small-group conversations in preschool classrooms. The sample included 39 teachers and select children in their classroom, which targeted enrollment to children experiencing documentable risk factors. Patterns of sequential dependencies demonstrated a bi-directional interdependence in teachers’ and children's complex syntactic use, whereby both teachers and children appeared sensitive to each other's use of complex syntactic forms. Teachers’ use of complex syntax increased the likelihood that children's adjacent utterance would contain complex syntax; similarly, children's use of complex or simple syntax increased the likelihood that teachers’ adjacent utterance would mirror their syntactic level. Associations were small to moderately large in strength, but varied across individual classrooms. The findings point to complex, bi-directional relationships underlying the complexity of talk within the classroom language environment.     

Fostering children's acceptance of educational apps: The importance of designing enjoyable learning activities

Educational applications (apps) offer opportunities for designing learning activities children enjoy and benefit from. We redesigned a typical mobile learning activity to make it more enjoyable and useful for children. Relying on the technology acceptance model, we investigated whether and how implementing this activity in an app can increase children's intention to use. During the 27-day study, children (N = 103, 9–14 years) used the app to memorize one-sentence learning plans each day. Children used three different app-based learning activities throughout the study. In two standard activities, children reread or reassembled the words of the plan. In the redesigned activity, children represented the meaning of the plan with emojis. Children repeatedly reported on their attitude towards each activity. Subsequently, children reported perceived enjoyment and intention to use the app. Results showed children found the emoji activity most enjoyable, and enjoyment of the emoji activity contributed uniquely towards intention to use. Additionally, children's enjoyment of the app mediated their intention to use the app in the future. Overall, the study suggests that children's enjoyment of an app is crucial in predicting their subsequent intention to use, and it provides a concrete example of how emojis can be used to boost enjoyment.

Practitioner notes

What is already known about this topic

• Educational applications provide children with unrestricted access to mobile learning resources.
• Positive attitudes towards educational applications predict behavioural intention to use these applications, at least in young adults.
• There is a need for more research examining the relevance of enjoyable learning activities in fostering children's sustained usage of an educational application.

What this paper adds

• Positive attitude towards the use of emojis during learning activities uniquely contributed to children's behavioural intention to use the application.
• Perceived enjoyment predicted behavioural intention to use the application.
• Perceived enjoyment mediated the effect of attitude towards using learning activities on the behavioural intention to use the mobile educational application.

Implications for practice and/or policy

• These findings highlight the importance of enjoyment for children's' acceptance of educational applications.
• Enjoyable learning activities are necessary to ensure sustained usage of educational applications.
• The paper provides a concrete example of how emojis can be used to boost enjoyment of a typical mobile learning activity.

     

Mobile phone images and video in science teaching and learning

This article reports a study into how mobile phones could be used to enhance teaching and learning in secondary school science. It describes four lessons devised by groups of Sri Lankan teachers all of which centred on the use of the mobile phone cameras rather than their communication functions. A qualitative methodological approach was used to analyse data collected from the teachers' planning, observations of the lessons and subsequent interviews with selected pupils. The results show that using images and video captured on mobile phones supported the teachers not only in bringing the outside world into the classroom but also in delivering instructions, in assessing students' learning and in correcting students' misconceptions. In these instances, the way the images from the mobile phone cameras supported students' learning is explained using a variety of approaches to understand how images support learning.     

Primary special school teachers' knowledge and beliefs about supporting learning in numeracy

This paper presents findings from a qualitative study of a group of 12 teachers in primary special schools in Scotland for children with moderate learning difficulties. It sets out an analysis of classroom observations and interviews that explored teachers' knowledge and beliefs about teaching and learning in mathematics with children with moderate learning difficulties. The teachers were interviewed pre‐ and post‐intervention; this was a research‐based professional development programme in children's mathematical thinking (Cognitively Guided Instruction) which teachers then developed in their classrooms. The findings showed that prior to the professional development, the teachers had a limited knowledge of children's mathematical development with teaching frequently informed by intuitive beliefs and dated and sometimes discredited practices. Most teachers had low expectations of children with learning difficulties. Post‐intervention, the teachers reviewed this stance and affirmed that a deeper understanding of children's mathematical thinking provided a more secure knowledge base for instruction. They also recognised the extent to which learners were constrained by existing classroom practices. The paper argues for the commonality of this knowledge base and considers the problematic nature of viewing such knowledge as sector specific.