Teacher training intervention for early identification of common child mental health problems in Pakistan

School-based interventions involving teacher training programmes have been shown to benefit teachers’ ability to identify and manage child mental health problems in developed countries. However, very few studies have been conducted in low-income countries with limited specialist services. The aim of the study was to evaluate the impact of the training programme on teachers’ knowledge and awareness. A total of 114 primary school teachers from five schools in Karachi participated in a two-day (10–12 hours) workshop to provide them with an understanding of common child mental health problems and train them in basic skills. Their pre- and post-training knowledge was evaluated through a rating scale and open-ended questions. Single tailed t-test, involving paired differences, was applied for participants’ scores. Pre-/post-training differences were statistically significant. The training sessions were associated with an improvement in teachers’ knowledge and awareness of various signs and symptoms of common child mental health problems. The greatest improvement was noted in response to strategies of managing difficult behaviours, as 61% of respondents were able to formulate appropriate behavioural management techniques after the training. In low-income developing countries like Pakistan, teachers should be trained in early-intervention programmes for the identification and school-based management of less complex emotional and behavioural problems. Such interventions can maximise the use of sparse mental health resources.     

Exploring young children's (mathematical) thinking: preservice teachers reflect on the use of the one-to-one interview

One-to-one interviewing is one of the most powerful ways of exploring young children's thinking. While there are a few studies which report the use of this pedagogic strategy by preservice teachers, more are needed. This paper describes an early childhood mathematics education assignment which preservice teachers in a teacher-education college in Ireland undertake with four- and five-year-old children. It presents an analysis of data from a selected sample of 58 preservice teachers' reflections on their dialogues with individual children. It describes how the preservice teachers engaged with the process of interviewing the children; how they reflected on their interactions with the children; their reflections on the children's engagement; and their reflections on young children's mathematics generally. Some dilemmas faced by the participants in the course of the interviewing are highlighted. Findings demonstrate the integrated nature of the knowledge that early childhood teachers need to teach early childhood mathematics effectively. The learning arising from this assignment relates to early childhood mathematics thinking, to the psycho-social nature of learning in early childhood and to pedagogy in early childhood education.     

Creating the effective school : The role of evaluation

The concept of children's rights evolved during the 1980s giving prominence to the role of children as active participants in the construction of their lives. The rhetoric of children's rights has emerged as an important consideration in all policy and practice relating to children. Implementation of children's rights in practice is necessary to maximise their potential to improve the lives of children. This paper presents an argument for the importance of giving meaning to the implementation of children's rights in the Individual Education Plan (IEP) process for pupils with autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) in Ireland. The study, on which this paper is based, was conducted in two stages using both qualitative and quantitative approaches. The first stage focused on the development of a set of indicators for the IEP process based on a children's rights framework and informed by the perspectives of children, parents and teachers, alongside the literature on best practice on IEPs. In the second stage, a survey questionnaire was designed, based on the children's rights indicators, to evaluate current IEP practice in Ireland for pupils with autistic spectrum disorder. This article outlines the development of a set of indicators for the IEP process. It also presents findings of the survey which evaluates current practice in relation to the IEP process for pupils with ASD in Ireland. The article focuses specifically on Article 3(1) of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) which stipulates that in all actions concerning children, ‘the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration’.     

Using Lesson Study to Support the Teaching of Early Number Concepts: Examining the Development of Prospective Teachers’ Specialized Content Knowledge

Growing awareness of the importance of education in the early years has led professional organizations and policy makers to consider the effectiveness of mathematics education for young children. Factors such as educational environments, early years curricula and teacher education are some of the many aspects that have been examined. This paper describes the types of mathematical content knowledge that 25 prospective primary teachers developed as they designed, taught and reflected upon early number lessons. This Lesson Study approach involved two mathematics educators and 25 prospective primary teachers designing, teaching and re-teaching five early number lessons in two elementary classrooms with 4–5 year old children. The results suggest that effective teaching of early number concepts draws on mathematical knowledge that is specialized and unique to teachers; in other words Specialized Content Knowledge (SCK). The study found that engaging in Lesson Study promoted mathematics SCK development in two primary ways, notable by: (1) raising awareness of the complex relationships between early number concepts that contribute to developing robust early number understandings and (2) developing expertise in identifying the nature and source of children’s mathematical errors. The development of participants’ early number SCK is described and recommendations are made for the design of experiences in Initial Teacher Education (ITE) to support teachers in the provision of high quality mathematics experiences to young learners.     

Developing students' ability to engage critically with science in the news: identifying elements of the ‘media awareness’ dimension

Worldwide, science education reform movements are stressing the need to promote ‘scientific literacy’ among young people. Increasingly, this is taken to include empowering students to engage critically with science-related news reporting. Despite this requirement now featuring in statutory curricula throughout the UK, there has, to date, been a dearth of research-informed advice to assist science teachers as they identify appropriate instructional objectives in this regard and design relevant learning activities through which these might be achieved. In this study, prominent science communication scholars, science journalists, science educators and media educators were interviewed to determine what knowledge, skills and habits of mind they judged valuable for individuals reading science-related news stories. Teachers of science and of English from nine secondary schools in Northern Ireland addressed the same issue. A striking – and significant – finding of the study was the very substantial number of statements of knowledge, skill and disposition offered by participants that relate to ‘media awareness’, an issue largely overlooked in the science education literature. The school-focused phase of the research suggests that cross-curricular approaches involving teachers of science collaborating with those of English/media education or media studies may best serve to address this important curricular goal.     

An exploratory study of early childhood educators' views on culture and play

Abstract

This study explored early childhood teachers’ views relating to culture and play by collecting information from them on cultural differences and parental perceptions of play, culturally appropriate play (CAP) practices and barriers in its implementation. The participants of the study were 14 early childhood educators working in long day care (LDC) or out, of, school, hours care (OOSH) settings located in Sydney, Australia. Children in the selected centers represented various cultural and linguistic backgrounds.

Teachers in the present study reported noticeable differences in the play of children of diverse cultural backgrounds. However, they believed that the differences in children's play were attributable to the children's proficiency in English language and gender rather than to their culture. The teachers reported they had limited or no information on the children's cultural patterns of play at home. The lack of information on cultural patterns of play, perhaps, has led to difficulties in understanding the cultural origins of play or in accommodating cultural differences into programming. The results highlight the need for educators to have greater knowledge of the cultural bases of play to enable them to provide, in partnership with parents, culturally appropriate play experiences for children.     

Science Trainee Teachers' Pedagogical Content Knowledge and its Influence on Physics Teaching

This study examined Malaysian science teachers' pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) of selected physics concepts. The two components of PCK investigated were (i) knowledge of students' understanding, conceptions and misconceptions of topics, and (ii) knowledge of strategies and representations for teaching particular topics. The participants were 12 trainee teachers from various academic science backgrounds attending a one-year postgraduate teacher-training course. They were interviewed on selected basic concepts in physics that are found in the Malaysian Integrated Science curriculum for lower secondary level. The findings showed that trainee teachers' PCK for promoting conceptual understanding is limited. They lacked the ability to transform their understanding of basic concepts in physics required to teach lower secondary school science pupils. The trainees' level of content knowledge affected their awareness of pupils' likely misconceptions. Consequently, the trainees were unable to employ the appropriate teaching strategies required to explain the scientific ideas. This study provides some pedagogical implications for the training of science teachers.     

The Impact of an Ongoing Professional Development Program on Prekindergarten Teachers' Mathematics Practices

Mathematics is a natural part of daily life for young children as they explore and investigate the world around them. To build on these experiences, and to begin establishing a mathematical foundation, early childhood educators must not only be knowledgeable about mathematical concepts, they must also be aware of the most developmentally appropriate ways in which to teach these concepts to young children. After participation in an ongoing professional development program, specifically targeting teachers of prekindergarten children in public school, Preschool Programs for Children with Disabilities (PPCD), Head Start, and child care settings, teachers reported positive changes in math practices. Specifically, teachers reported a stronger alignment to national mathematics standards and increased awareness pertaining to developmentally appropriate mathematics practices as they apply to early childhood classrooms. Teachers reported a shift towards more hands-on activities and a shift away from the use of worksheets in their prekindergarten classrooms. Implications from this study suggest that ongoing professional development that is designed to meet the specific needs of early childhood educators can have a positive impact on reported mathematics content knowledge and instructional practices.     

Pre-service teachers' beliefs about and attitudes toward mathematics: the case of Dudu

There is a need to move beyond the use of predetermined categories to classify teachers' orientations and an attempt should be made to understand, from the teachers' perspectives, their orientations and the beliefs from which they are generated. Such an understanding may help in the development of mathematics teacher education programmes that will assist teachers to formulate appropriate attitudes toward mathematics. This paper provides an in-depth study of one pre-service elementary teacher's views about mathematics and mathematics teaching. Dudu is a `case' that fits in with the emergent themes identified in the larger sample. Data for the study were collected by means of audio tape, an observational framework, field notes, student's written work and unstructured and formal interviews. The themes that emerged and that were emphasised by the participant were: limited vision for mathematics, construction of meaning in mathematics, knowledge of mathematics content and poor self-perception of pre-service primary mathematics teachers. The findings also suggest that although the participant reported uneasiness in learning mathematics, she was very enthusiastic about her teaching practice.     

Teaching our Traveller children to read: an action research project

In both Ireland and the UK, Traveller children reportedly suffer the lowest rates of educational attainment of any group. This study aimed to promote evidence‐based practice in the teaching of reading to Traveller children and thereby to raise their levels of achievement. This involved teachers delivering an evidence‐based intervention over a specified time frame (three months) and collecting pre‐ and post‐intervention data. The project involved 11 teachers in ten settings. There were seven primary and two secondary schools and one Youthreach project involved in the study. Participants were in the age range 6–17 years. Research findings indicated that participants made very significant gains in reading, and their rates of progress compared well with best international standards. The implications of these findings are discussed.     

Dissolving boundaries: cross-national co-operation through technology in education

This article reports research on cross-national co-operation through Information and Communications Technology (ICT) within the statutory curricula of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Using quantitative and qualitative methods, the views and experiences of teachers in partner schools in the north and south of Ireland were sought on the capacity and potential of asynchronous computer conferencing and videoconferencing to generate collaborative work in a cross-border setting, to promote cultural awareness among primary and post-primary pupils, and to improve teacher and pupil competence in ICT. The results showed a significant improvement in ICT competence, and also revealed that technical training, enthusiasm and commitment were the key factors for success, and that not only did the pupils develop an awareness of the cultural identity of distant peers, but their sense of responsibility, self-esteem and motivation grew. This particularly helped less able and quieter pupils. There was unexpected rôle reversal when children helped their teachers within an ICT context, a situation not found elsewhere in the curriculum. Additionally, there were beneficial effects on literacy, group work and independent learning, and the skills acquired were transferable. The commitment of the teachers to continue this cross-national work with limited support is a measure of its potential sustainability.     

The impact of media representation of disabilities on teachers' perceptions

The study investigates a link between media portrayal of disabilities and its influence on teachers' perceptions of their students. By using semi‐structured interviews and questionnaires, participants (N = 8) gave an insight into their perceptions of the impact TV programmes and films have on their understanding of disability and teaching style. The findings reveal that the participants found the majority of media to sensationalise disability, perpetuate stereotypes and lack appropriate representation of people with disabilities in general. The teachers within the sample also acknowledged media as impacting their understanding, awareness and knowledge of disabilities and approaches, but they did not see it as impacting their teaching practices directly.     

Early childhood mathematics teaching: challenges,difficulties and priorities of teachers of young children in primary schools in Ireland

Issues of pedagogy are critical in all aspects of early childhood education. Early childhood mathematics is no exception. There is now a great deal of guidance available to teachers in terms of high‐quality early childhood mathematics teaching. Consequently, the characteristics of high‐quality early childhood mathematics education are clearly identifiable. Issues such as building on young children’s prior‐to‐school knowledge; engaging children in general mathematical processes; and assessing and documenting children’s learning are some of the key aspects of high‐quality early childhood mathematics education. The extent to which teachers of four‐ and five‐year‐old children in primary schools in Ireland incorporate current pedagogical guidance in early childhood mathematics education was explored in 2007 in a nationally representative questionnaire survey of teachers of four‐ and five‐year‐old children attending primary schools. This paper presents some of the findings of the study in relation to teachers’ self‐reported challenges, difficulties and priorities in teaching early childhood mathematics. Implications are drawn for professional development, curriculum guidance and educational policy.     

Greek kindergarten teachers' beliefs and practices in early literacy

This work describes a survey conducted in Syros Island in Greece. The intention was to ascertain kindergarten teachers' perceptions about early literacy and the skills and knowledge they consider as important for pre‐school aged children. The participants were all the kindergarten teachers of the island (N = 19) and the data were collected during a workshop where three groups tried to make a conceptual map of ‘literacy’. The results show that, overall, kindergarten teachers adopt a very broad definition of literacy as communication ability but restrict their practices to phonics instruction. Because this attitude differs significantly from the provisions of the official curriculum, which is based on emergent literacy perspective, it is obvious that due to the lack of specialised education and support the participants prefer a hidden curriculum, which is based on the assumption that mere acquaintance with graphophonemic relations is enough for the initial level of education. The findings of this research show that teachers lack awareness of recent research and pedagogy concerning early literacy development and demonstrate the urgent need for development of specialised educational programmes for in‐service kindergarten teachers.     

Project Spraoi: two year outcomes of a whole school physical activity and nutrition intervention using the RE-AIM framework

We aimed to assess the impact of Project Spraoi: a school-based physical activity (PA) and nutrition intervention that reached 473 primary school children and 43 school staff in Cork (Ireland). Four primary schools (2 intervention, 2 control) with similar characteristics participated and for 2 school years, intervention schools were assigned an ‘Energizer’, who promoted PA and healthy eating. A subsample of children from the intervention schools (n?=?106) and matching controls (n?=?125) had measures of body mass, waist circumference, blood pressure, fitness, nutritional knowledge/attitudes and PA recorded at baseline and after 2 school years. Process evaluation techniques assessed the impact of the intervention on teachers, parents and children. Analysis of covariance revealed the intervention was associated with smaller waist circumference relative to gender and age (p?<?0.0005), slower resting heart rate (p?=?0.003) and favourable nutritional attitudes among 10 year olds. No significant change across other variables or among 6 year olds was found. Teachers, parents and children reported positive outcomes for PA behaviour and nutritional knowledge/attitudes. Project Spraoi has shown to improve heart rate and prevent further gains in fat mass amongst older aged children. The positive impact of the intervention supports the need for its continued delivery, particularly as children age.     

An exploration of teachers' current perceptions of children with emotional and behavioural difficulties

Difficulties exist in identifying and providing services for children with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties (SEBD). As teacher referral is an essential link in service delivery this study investigated teachers' current perceptions of SEBD by examining characteristics of children nominated by their teachers as having SEBD. While the majority of children were nominated for externalizing behaviours, teachers rated girls as having more severe externalizing difficulties than boys. In contrast, there was no significant difference between teachers' internalizing ratings of boys and girls, despite the fact that girls reported more severe depressive symptomatology. Moreover, teachers rated gender‐contrary behaviours more severely than gender‐consistent behaviours. Consistent with achievement results, teachers rated the majority of children as having moderate to severe academic difficulties. Little agreement was found between characteristics reported by teachers and children. Implications are discussed within the context of the school psychologist's role in working with teachers to increase awareness of the profile of these children.     

The development of informal statistical inference content knowledge of pre-service primary school teachers during a teacher college intervention

Teachers who engage primary school students in informal statistical inference (ISI) must themselves have good content knowledge of ISI (ISI-CK). However, little is known about how college education for pre-service teachers can contribute to the development of their ISI-CK. To address this shortcoming, we used a case study to investigate ISI-CK development in a class of 21 pre-service primary school teachers who participated in a short intervention (180 min). Based on qualitative and quantitative analyses of the pretest, posttest and intervention data, the results suggest that most participants acknowledged it is possible to make uncertain inferences. An assignment to search the media for inferential claims seemed to create awareness regarding inference and the need to distinguish between a sample and a population. A simulation involving random sampling and varied sample size probably increased the participants’ knowledge of sampling variability and random sampling. No development was seen in the participants’ knowledge about sufficient sample sizes. The statistical investigation conducted by the participants during a model lesson may have strengthened their awareness of ISI, but it also revealed that many participants continued to favour distributed sampling over random sampling. Further research on belief formation with regard to data as evidence, sampling methods and the expression of uncertainty in the context of ISI is needed.     

The pleasure of recognition: intertextuality in the talk of preschoolers during shared reading with mothers and teachers

Mature readers draw on a complex web of previous experiences when interpreting written and visual texts. Yet very little is known about how preschool children, who cannot yet read, make connections between texts. This study explores how 13 4‐year‐old children made intertextual connections during shared reading with their mothers (seven children) and their preschool teachers (six children). The findings indicate that very young children actively draw on their knowledge of other texts, and their personal lived experiences, to reflect on the meanings they encounter in unfamiliar picture books. The functions served by the children's intertexts ranged from the simple pleasure of recognition to more sophisticated comparisons between texts in terms of theme and plot. The extent to which the adults were able to integrate the children's intertexts into the discussions varied. An awareness of the important role played by intertextuality in children's interpretations of texts may provide early childhood professionals with a framework within which to plan systematically for the language and literacy development of young children in their care.