Early Childhood Teachers’ Perceptions of the Effectiveness of Their Elementary School’s Approach to Social Emotional Learning: A Mixed Methods Study

Early Childhood Education Journal - The promotion of Social emotional learning (SEL) in elementary schools has increased; however, little is known about early childhood teachers’ perceptions...     

Pre-Service Early Childhood Educators' Perceptions of Math-Mediated Language

This study argues that maximizing early childhood educators' abilities to create social opportunities for co-construction of knowledge rests on two understudied assumptions, one theoretical and one empirical. Theoretically this study rejects the notion of language as an impartial conveyor of knowledge in favor of one in which math and language interact. This alternative framework is termed Math- Mediated Language (MML) and argues that the perception of common terms that adults possess is an important part of the knowledge that practitioners possess about linking conceptually related linguistic and mathematical knowledge. Empirical findings from a survey recording participants' reactions to seven categories of terms with mathematical meanings and three categories of distracter terms were analyzed. The data indicated that when asked to think about math, practitioners more readily accessed words for operation terms than relational terms. Additionally, participants demonstrated stronger tendencies toward additive terms conveying addition or subtraction concepts over multiplicative ones conveying multiplication or division concepts. The findings point to patterns in the ways that participants view mathematical language demonstrating that language interacts with even simple interpretations of basic mathematical terminology. The implications of this are that practitioners interpretations of everyday language may influence their ability to see opportunities for teaching mathematical concepts not only in the context of an explicit math lesson but throughout the broader early childhood curriculum.     

Pre-Service Early Childhood Educators' Perceptions of Math-Mediated Language

This study argues that maximizing early childhood educators' abilities to create social opportunities for co-construction of knowledge rests on two understudied assumptions, one theoretical and one empirical. Theoretically this study rejects the notion of language as an impartial conveyor of knowledge in favor of one in which math and language interact. This alternative framework is termed Math- Mediated Language (MML) and argues that the perception of common terms that adults possess is an important part of the knowledge that practitioners possess about linking conceptually related linguistic and mathematical knowledge. Empirical findings from a survey recording participants' reactions to seven categories of terms with mathematical meanings and three categories of distracter terms were analyzed. The data indicated that when asked to think about math, practitioners more readily accessed words for operation terms than relational terms. Additionally, participants demonstrated stronger tendencies toward additive terms conveying addition or subtraction concepts over multiplicative ones conveying multiplication or division concepts. The findings point to patterns in the ways that participants view mathematical language demonstrating that language interacts with even simple interpretations of basic mathematical terminology. The implications of this are that practitioners interpretations of everyday language may influence their ability to see opportunities for teaching mathematical concepts not only in the context of an explicit math lesson but throughout the broader early childhood curriculum.     

Teachers’ and Children’s Differing Views on Relationships and Their Associations with Academic Outcomes

Early Childhood Education Journal - Preschool children’s relationships with their teachers play an important role in their learning and development. Despite this importance, extant research...     

A Meta-synthesis of Caregivers’ Experiences Transitioning from Early Intervention to Early Childhood Special Education

Early Childhood Education Journal - The transition from Early Intervention (EI) to Early Childhood Special Education (ECSE) is a stressful time for caregivers of children with disabilities....     

Supporting Children’s Healthy Development During Mealtime in Early Childhood Settings

Early Childhood Education Journal - The purpose of this study was to examine the frequency of and relationship between responsive feeding practices used during early childhood education (ECE)...     

Creating Participatory Discourse for Teaching and Research in Early Childhood Science

This paper presents the results of a study conducted with second grade students and pre-service teachers. This study examined the possibilities for engaging children in critical discourse about their classroom science experiences. At the heart of this discussion lies the desire to provide a space for teachers and children to develop relationships and to explore the learning of science together. Themes that emerged include: (1) on-going, focused, critical dialogue between children and teachers supported children in developing agency in the classroom, and (2) on-going conversations created the opportunity for children to reveal their ways of knowing and developing interpretations of the practice of science.     

Teaching Partnerships: Early Childhood and Engineering Students Teaching Math and Science Through Robotics

This paper presents an innovative approach to introducing pre-service early childhood teachers to math, science and technology education. The approach involves the creation of partnerships between pre-service early childhood and engineering students to conceive, develop, implement and evaluate curriculum in the area of math, science and technology by using robotics and the engineering design process. In this paper we first present the theoretical framework for the creation of these partnerships. We then introduce an experience done at Tufts University in which three different forms of partnership models evolved: the collaborators model, the external consultants model and the developers model. We also present different case studies from this experience and finally we conclude with some remarks and observations for making this work scalable and sustainable in other settings and universities.     

Kindergarten Teachers’ Ratings of Children’s Behavioral and Learning Competencies: Predictive Impact on Children’s Third and Fourth Grade Achievement Trajectories

Early Childhood Education Journal - Teachers’ valid observational assessments of children’s competencies in kindergarten are critical, as formal classroom testing is not prevalent....     

Conceptions of the Self in Early Childhood: Territorializing identities

This article draws upon the Deleuzian/Guattarian idea of territorializing movements to trouble the notion of the identity of the learning pre‐school child, produced by developmental psychology, as an individual, natural and developing child as well as the more recent image of the child characterised by autonomy and flexible behaviour. Accordingly, a child's apprenticeship of walking is associated here with the movements of a surfer. This association disturbs the orthodox thought of recognition and representation that makes us define, include and exclude children who do not fit into pre‐established schemes of development and learning. What is created with the image of the walking child as surfer is a line of flight out of a territory marked by resemblance and error. This line of flight challenges the assumption of a theorist of good will, who with the best intentions knows what is best for children.     

The Importance of Teaching and Learning Nature of Science in the Early Childhood Years

Though research has shown that students do not have adequate understandings of nature of science (NOS) by the time they exit high school, there is also evidence that they have not received NOS instruction that would enable them to develop such understandings. How early is “too early” to teach and learn NOS? Are students, particularly young students, not capable of learning NOS due to developmental unreadiness? Or would young children be capable of learning about NOS through appropriate instruction? Young children (Kindergarten through third grade) were interviewed and taught about NOS in a variety of contexts (informal, suburban, and urban) using similar teaching strategies that have been found effective at teaching about NOS with older students. These teaching strategies included explicit decontextualized and contextualized NOS instruction, through the use of children’s literature, debriefings of science lessons, embedded written NOS assessments, and guided inquiries. In each context the researchers interviewed students prior to and after instruction, videotaped science instruction and maintained researcher logs and field notes, collected lesson plans, and copies of student work. The researchers found that in each setting young children did improve their understandings of NOS. Across contexts there were similar understandings of NOS aspects prior to instruction, as well as after instruction. There were also several differences evident across contexts, and across grade levels. However, it is clear that students as young as kindergarten are developmentally capable of conceptualizing NOS when it is taught to them. The authors make recommendations for teaching NOS to young children, and for future studies that explore learning progressions of NOS aspects as students proceed through school.     

Impacts of an Early Childhood Mathematics and Science Intervention on Teaching Practices and Child Outcomes

abstract

This randomized controlled trial examined effects of the MyTeachingPartner-Math/Science intervention on the quality and quantity of teachers’ mathematics and science instruction, and children’s mathematics and science outcomes in 140 pre-kindergarten classrooms. Teachers participated in the intervention for two years with consecutive cohorts of children. Results from Year 1 are considered experimental, however due to high levels of attrition, results from Year 2 are considered quasi-experimental. Across both years, intervention teachers exhibited higher quality and quantity of instruction. In Year 1, there were no significant effects of the intervention on children’s outcomes. In Year 2, children in intervention classrooms made greater gains in teachers’ ratings of mathematics and science skills and performed better on a spring assessment of science skills. These results have implications for designing and evaluating professional development aimed at supporting children’s mathematics and science knowledge and skills.     

可持续性早期儿童发展政策的理念和实施——亚太地区国家早期儿童发展政策制定的进展

早期儿童发展政策是一个社会性政策,它通过政府的投入对有关早期儿童发展重要问题的解决提供指导,为儿童及其家庭提供服务。这一政策应具有社会、政治、经济和人力资源方面的可持续性。政策的组成部分包括理想与目标、活动、管理和财政。政策制定的过程强调多方人员的参与以及有据可依。亚太地区多个国家近年来在早期儿童发展政策的制定方面取得了很大的进展,但同时在政策的实施、管理和财政方面仍面临很大的挑战。     

美国幼儿教师培养的价值取向流变

自美国幼儿教师培养伊始,其价值取向经历了四种不同的价值取向流变:其一,"福禄培尔主义"技能取向,主张在"福禄培尔主义"影响下,幼儿教师培养需侧重技能;其二,科学主义实证取向,认为在科学主义思潮下,幼儿教师培养需建立在心理学基础上学习多种知识,并懂得实证研究方法 ;其三,人文主义人本取向,关注在人文主义主题下,幼儿教师培养之根本在于成人的过程,关怀幼儿教师个体价值;其四,二元价值观融合的专业取向,强调科学主义与人文主义融合趋势下,幼儿教师培养需符合专业要求,并能促进儿童的学习与发展。     

教师教材观的三种取向

本文采取质的研究方法,从教材目标观、内容观以及教学观三个维度对某小学的六位教师进行了连续四个月的跟踪研究.基于对每个维度的分析与比较,本文将教师的教材观概括为三个类型:相对封闭型,即把教材看作教学的近乎唯一依据,强调教材是应付考试、获得确定知识的基础;中间型,即把教材看作"宗",课外拓展看作"影",认为教材兼具考试与为生活服务等功能;相对开放型,即把教材看作教学的"范例"、"引子",在教学中重视内容的拓展性与生成性以及方法的多样性.     

基于幼儿认知能力的科学课程构建研究

根据《幼儿园教育指导纲要（试行）》精神,从幼儿认知能力出发,对幼儿科学课程的相应年龄段课程目标和内容要求进行分析研究,提出三个层次的具体细化指标,为幼儿园教师实施科学课程教学提供具体目标和内容要求。     

论早期教育中的游戏与教学

早期教育领域一直存在两种不同的游戏取向,一种是文化传播或文化定位取向,一种是生成式或响应式取向.在早期教育领域,儿童自由与教师掌控之间的矛盾一直难以解决.教师可以采用综合教学法,增加教师与儿童共同建构知识的可能性.     

论早期教育中的游戏与教学

早期教育领域一直存在两种不同的游戏取向,一种是文化传播或文化定位取向,一种是生成式或响应式取向。在早期教育领域,儿童自由与教师掌控之间的矛盾一直难以解决。教师可以采用综合教学法,增加教师与儿童共同建构知识的可能性。