Effects of early childhood education training and video interaction guidance on teachers’ interactive skills

ABSTRACT

Research has demonstrated that teachers working in early childhood education and care (ECEC) are proficient in offering emotional support to young children, but markedly weaker when it comes to instructional support. We conducted a controlled experimental study in the Netherlands, to investigate the effects of targeted in-service training on improving teachers’ instructional support. Teachers (N = 72) were randomly assigned to four conditions: an intensive early childhood education (ECE) training (N = 17), video interaction guidance (VIG) (N = 16), a combination of both training programs (N = 18), or a control condition with no training (N = 21). Teachers’ interactive skills were measured pre- and postintervention, according the scales of the Caregiver Interaction Profile (CIP). The ECE training improved the proficiency of teachers’ verbal communication and offering developmental stimulation. VIG proved to be effective in teachers’ fostering positive peer interactions between children. Intensive and targeted training can successfully improve the quality of teachers’ instructional support in ECEC settings, although more research on effective elements of professional development of ECEC teachers is needed.     

Can environmental education increase student-athletes’ environmental behaviors?

Environmental education was incorporated within a mentoring program (i.e. treatment group) for student-athletes at the University of Georgia. These student-athletes’ environmental attitudes, behavioral intent, knowledge, self-efficacy, self-regulatory learning, motivation, and learning strategies were assessed before and after their environmental education mentoring program. Results indicated student-athletes in the treatment group improved their self-reported environmental behaviors (t(32)?=?2.34, p = 0.03) and self-efficacy (t(32)?=?2.07, p = 0.04). However, future research should seek to determine how traits of student-athletes, such as their gender and chosen sport, may impact their level of environmental literacy and any possible impacts due to their mentors’ environmental values.     

Educators’ understanding of young children’s typical and problematic sexual behaviour and their training in this area

As part of a wider study, this paper reports on Australian educators’ understanding of children’s typical and problematic sexual behaviour and their source of training in this area. A sample of 107 educators from government, independent and Catholic primary schools, preschools and care organisations across Australia answered an online questionnaire regarding their understanding of and experiences with children’s problematic sexual behaviours and their management strategies. The majority of educators were able to identify children’s age-appropriate typical sexual behaviour and some elements of problematic sexual behaviour; however, individual knowledge was not extensive. Approximately 35% (n = 35) of educators said they had not been trained in identifying and responding to children’s problematic sexual behaviour. Of those who said they had received training, the majority (82%, n = 53) described having participated in a compulsory course on reporting suspected abuse to government (a mandated reporting course). Ninety per cent (n = 89) of educators reported that courses specific to children’s problematic sexual behaviours should be offered. This suggests that mandated reporting courses do not offer in-depth training specific to problematic sexual behaviour. Implications for professional development are discussed.     

Taking a Return to School: Using Self-Study to Learn about Teacher Educator Practice

The work of teacher educators is complex and multifaceted and requires knowledge of pedagogy and practice in both schools and teacher education institutions. This complexity, combined with calls for teacher educators to work in close partnership with schools, sees some in teacher education working in hybrid roles and across the boundaries of schools and universities. Drawing on a self-study conducted over a one-year return to teaching, I explore my return home to teach in a secondary school and I examine the continuing impact of this experience on my practice as a teacher educator. Using the concept of tensions as a conceptual framework to analyse the data I explore three tensions in this article: (1) teacher as technician versus teacher as pedagogue; (2) challenging versus being responsive to other’s views of learning; and (3) teacher versus teacher educator identity. I explore how a return to teaching in school and the tensions I experienced enabled me to develop my practice and understandings as a teacher educator. I argue that rich professional learning can result from using self-study to examine teacher educator practice, particularly for teacher educators working in hybrid roles and partnership contexts.     

Developing and Supporting Faculty Training for Online Social Work Education: The Columbia University School of Social Work Online Pedagogy Institute

ABSTRACT

With the growth of online and distance education in social work, faculty training and support need to be provided to ensure high-quality online social work education. A model for training social work educators in online teaching is outlined that focuses on pedagogy, technology, and social work values. Columbia University School of Social Work’s Online Campus provides a five-week Institute on Pedagogy and Technology for Online Courses for prospective social work instructors. The Institute provides a faculty training model that can be adopted in other social work programs, and seeks to model best practices in online education.     

Adaptation in the transition to school: perspectives of parents,preschool and primary school teachers

Background: Transition to school is a highly demanding phase at an intellectual, social and emotional level and is, therefore, an opportunity for growth and development. Despite the greater emphasis given to school transition in Portugal over recent years, namely by means of new educational policies, studies on the adaptation processes involved in the transition to primary school are still scarce.

Purpose: The present qualitative study sets out to contribute to the knowledge on the adaptation process of children to school transition (around age 6) in Portugal, by comparing preschool teachers’, primary school teachers’, and parents’ perceptions about success indicators and relevant factors in the transition to school.

Design and method: In order to collect data, 14 focus group interviews with different participants were conducted, three with preschool teachers (N = 18), three with primary school teachers (N = 13), four with parents conducted before the child’s transition to primary school (N = 14) and four with parents conducted after the child’s transition to primary school (N = 20).

Results: While the preschool and primary school teachers stressed factors of a family nature, such as parental involvement and parental support of children, the parents referred more frequently to the overall running of the school and the characteristics and methodology of the teacher as being relevant to the adaptation process in the first year of primary education.

Conclusions: The findings suggest different factors associated with adaptation to school and also offer clues for designing strategies to facilitate such adaptation. New strategies are needed to facilitate the construction of a robust educational family–school partnership.     

What and how teacher educators prefer to learn

In which areas and domains do individual teacher educators prefer to work on their professional development? What kind of learning activities do they want to take on and with whom? Are there significant differences in these preferences between teacher educators? This article reports on a recent survey (N = 268) about the professional development of teacher educators and differences in learning preferences between less and more experienced teacher educators and between university-based and school-based teacher educators. Findings show, for example, that while most university-based teacher educators were mainly interested in improving their teaching, less experienced school-based teacher educators were more focussed on aspects such as coaching skills. In this study, ‘learning profiles’ have been developed for four categories of teacher educators. These profiles may help to create more meaningful arrangements for teacher educators’ initial education and further professional development in a context where teacher education is required to have a more school-based as well as a more research-based orientation.     

Preschool Contexts and Teacher Interactions: Relations with School Readiness

The majority of early education programs promote children’s learning through a mix of experiences in child- and teacher-managed contexts. The current study examined time spent in child- and teacher-managed contexts and the nature of children’s experiences with teachers in these contexts as they relate to children’s skill development. Participants were preschool children (N = 283, M age = 52 months, 48% girls, 70% Mexican or Mexican American) from families of a lower socioeconomic status. Observations captured children’s time in child- and teacher-managed contexts and experiences with teachers in each context. School readiness was assessed directly and through teacher reports. Research Findings: Time spent in teacher-managed contexts was positively related to children’s academic and social skill development. Experiences in child-managed context predicted vocabulary, math, and social skills when teachers were directly involved with children. Overall, the findings suggest that teacher engagement is related to positive outcomes even during child-managed activities. Practice or Policy: Given these findings, preservice and professional development programs for early childhood educators should have a component that focuses on how to enhance the teacher’s role during child-managed activities.     

Maternal Attribution and Chinese Immigrant Children’s Social Skills: The Mediating Role of Authoritative Parenting Practices

SYNOPSIS

Objective . This study explores the contributions of Chinese immigrant mothers’ parenting cognitions and parenting practices to their children’s social skills. Design . We used a cross-sectional design to examine the mediating role of authoritative parenting in associations between Chinese immigrant mothers’ parenting attributions and their children’s social skills. Chinese immigrant mothers (N = 208, M _age = 37.36 years) reported their attributions regarding successes and failures in their daily caregiving experiences, authoritative parenting practices, and demographic information. Their preschool children’s (M _age = 4.51 years, 46.2% females) social skills in school were rated by their teachers. Results . Maternal attributions of successful events to uncontrollable causes and unsuccessful events to controllable causes were associated with more authoritative parenting. In turn, more authoritative parenting was associated with more competent social skills in children. In contrast, maternal attributions of successful events to controllable causes and unsuccessful events to uncontrollable causes were associated with less authoritative parenting, which in turn was associated with poorer social skills in children. Conclusions . Promoting Chinese immigrant mothers’ attributions that preserve positive efficacy during daily parenting tasks may enhance their engagement in warm, autonomy-promoting and regulatory parenting, which in turn may facilitate their children’s social skills.     

A comprehensive approach to managing school safety: case studies in Catalonia,Spain

Background: Schools should be safe spaces for students, teaching staff and non-teaching staff. For the concept of ‘safety’ to be meaningful, it must be interpreted broadly to encompass well-being in its widest sense. A common challenge for schools and educational authorities is, therefore, to manage school safety appropriately not only to prevent physical accidents and incidents, but also with the purpose of creating an environment that promotes physical, emotional and social well-being, both individually and collectively.

Purpose: The aim of this research paper is twofold: (a) to explore the concept of safety as it is interpreted by schools and analyse the extent to which schools are committed to the goal of creating safe and healthy school environments; and (b) to identify organisational and management practices that promote the safety of school staff and users.

Design, sample and methods: The research was carried out from a qualitative perspective, based on a study of multiple cases carried out in Catalonia, Spain. The case studies (N = 9 schools) were selected by means of a purposive sampling process in order to obtain a selection of schools covering different education stages and under different types of ownership. The data collection process involved carrying out semistructured interviews (N = 39) with school principals, health and safety officers, teaching staff and non-teaching staff; focus groups with families (N = 2) and a review of general documentation and specific safety documents (N = 58). The data collected were completed and verified by means of interviews with experts (N = 3). The interviews, focus groups and notes arising from the document review were transcribed literally and analysed thematically, following a cross-case analysis structure.

Results: The data analysis indicated that creating safe and healthy environments was not always an explicitly endorsed principle or goal for schools. However, all members of the educational community were involved in ensuring adequate levels of school safety; and diverse management and organisational actions and measures were implemented to ensure physical, emotional and social safety.

Conclusions: We conclude that according to a broad interpretation of safety, which encompasses well-being in its widest sense, a comprehensive school safety management approach had not been fully adopted by schools in the studied sample. Whilst involvement in safety practices was evident, many actions appeared to be carried out without full consideration of the wider promotion of school safety. The study suggests the importance of training and awareness activities for education professionals in order to build and promote safety culture and to facilitate the introduction of a comprehensive school safety approach in the day-to-day management of schools.     

Evaluating the school assets that promote positive adolescent development from the perspective of the student / La evaluación de los activos escolares para el desarrollo positivo adolescente desde la perspectiva del alumnado

Abstract

The aim of this study was to develop a valid and reliable instrument for evaluating students’ perceptions of their school’s key strengths, or school assets, using the positive adolescent development approach. To do this, we first created a scale after carrying out a review of the instruments already in use to evaluate school climate and aspects related to the school context which have been identified as factors that promote the socio-personal development and adjustment of adolescents. Secondly, expert judgement was sought to ensure the validity of the scale’s content. And finally, in order to analyse the psychometric properties of the scale, it was given to a sample of 2,400 adolescents (1,068 boys and 1,332 girls) aged 12–17 (M = 14.73, SD = 1.25) in secondary education in state and private schools in Western Andalusia. The results obtained endorsed the scale’s psychometric properties. The external and predictive validity of the instrument remains to be tested in future studies.     

Geriatric community health workers’ views about aging,work, and retirement: implications for geriatrics and gerontology education

ABSTRACT

Seasoned geriatric community health workers offered valuable data that will inform educators and community health workers working with older persons. Geriatric community health workers’ views about retirement and about facilitators and barriers that keep them engaged with older adults during retirement were identified. Twenty geriatric community health workers participated in semi-structured, qualitative interviews conducted by the research team. Sixty percent of the participants (N = 12) reported plans not to work during retirement, although 40% (N = 8) expressed interest in full- or part-time employment post-retirement. When asked about their expectations to stay in the field of aging or gerontology in some capacity during retirement, 30% (N = 6) expected to stay in gerontology during retirement. The findings from this research will help organizations and educational institutions create programs and resources that will encourage geriatric community health workers to continue working in the field of aging during retirement.     

The effect of visitor motivation on the success of environmental education at the Toronto Zoo

With the number and scope of environmental challenges continuing to increase, an understanding of the effectiveness of conservation programs is essential in order to allocate limited resources. This paper examines the effectiveness of environmental education within a zoo setting, focusing on the role of learners’ identity-related motivation. Results from survey (n = 296) and interview (n = 116) data collected from visitors to the Toronto Zoo suggest that education success is dependent on visitors’ dominant motivation, with preliminary data suggesting that Spiritual Pilgrims and Experience Seekers demonstrate greater gains in knowledge of environmental issues compared with Facilitators. Given that most zoo visitors fell into this Facilitator group, this finding may have an effect on future zoo management decisions. In addition, the proportion of visitors falling into each motivation group was significantly different than those previously found in the United States (p = 0.05), suggesting that zoo education strategies developed internationally may not be directly transferable to the Toronto Zoo.     

Effects of support on stress and burnout in school principals

Background: More than ever before, school principals are dealing with stress and burnout, resulting from increasing role demands and decreasing decision latitude and autonomy. Following the Demand–Support–Constraints model, reasons for stress and burnout can be found in the lack of social support in the environment.

Purpose: This longitudinal study investigates whether changes in social support from colleagues, supervisors and/or the broader community affect levels of principal stress and burnout.

Sample: Approximately 26% of Australia’s school principals took part (N = 3572): primary (n = 2660) and secondary (n = 912) spread across all Australian states and territories. Age ranged between 46 and 55 years, and mean leadership experience was 12 years.

Design and methods: Since stress and burnout are psychological phenomena that develop over time, a longitudinal approach was adopted. Data were collected across four waves, spread over four years, from 2011 to 2014.

Results: It was found that social support predicts decreased stress and in turn burnout in school principals, however differences were found according to the type of social support. The data provide strong evidence for a positive effect of stress on burnout (e.g. the more stress at time 2, the more burnout in principals at time 3) and partial support for indirect negative effects of social support on burnout (e.g. the more support from colleagues at time 2, the less burnout in principals at time 3). However, we also found two instances of positive effects of social support from the broader community on burnout. This suggests that the more support principals receive from the broader community, the more likely they are to show burnout symptoms. This might be explained as the ‘the downside of empathy’, where principals who are strongly supported by their community might also feel more connected to that community. When their community is struggling, they are probably struggling as well.

Conclusions: The findings highlight the positive impact the wider school community can play in providing supplementary professional support to the principal. Unbundling or repackaging the job responsibilities with an administrative team that shares the leadership of the school, could be part of the solution.     

Memory training program for older adults

ABSTRACT

Objective: Memory loss affects a large proportion of older adults. Research indicates a positive association between memory training and better memory performance as people age. However, studies on specific memory training using an experimental design are limited. This study explored whether memory training has improved memory performance in a group of older adults.

Method: A convenience sample of 48 participants was recruited from two communities. Disregarding dropouts, this left 23 experimental (mean age = 65.4 ± 6.0, range = 56–80) and 19 control participants (mean age = 64.5 ± 4.9, range: 57–72). The intervention consisted of 60-min classes held on a weekly basis continuing for 8 weeks. The class session was held after a 1-h exercise class and before a 1-h session of cognitive games. The pre–post objective memory performances, including associative, list, text, place, grocery learning, and transfer-effect of daily event memory (ecology validity), were examined to determine whether the intervention was effective.

Results: Intragroup: With Wilcoxon test, the findings showed that the intervention of both the list and place learning had significant differences for the experimental group, but not for the control group. Intergroup: The main effects were found for the associative and text learning. The mixed design ANOVA indicated that there is an interaction (time x group) on the dependent variable of the place learning test. Daily events memory: We found within group that the pre–post differences were significant for the experimental group but not for the control group.

Conclusion: The study showed that memory training can help older adults to ameliorate memory loss problems and these findings deserve more attention.     

How meaning-oriented learning is enhanced in Dutch academic primary teacher education

The present study identifies ways of how meaning-oriented learning is enhanced in academic primary teacher education, a new route to the teaching profession in the Netherlands. Meaning-oriented learners are generally described in the literature as being capable to regulate their own learning, to understand a topic thoroughly, to form their own opinion about it and to draw their own conclusions. Semi-structured interviews were held with both student teachers (n = 32) and educators (n = 18) who participated in this new route. Interviewees perceived common ways of enhancing meaning-oriented learning, such as encouraging students to structure, relate and critically process knowledge. Other ways are related to the development of students’ professional identity as an academic primary teacher in general, for example, through students’ reflection on the development of such an identity and their sharing of knowledge, not only with peers and educators, but also externally in publications, on a conference or on the Web. The present study indicates that the newly developed route to the teaching profession successfully contains elements that provoke meaning-oriented learning. The results of this study are useful for the (further) development of teacher education contexts in which the enhancement of meaning-oriented learning by student teachers is an important aim.     

The Distance Education journal at 40: crossroads and horizons

ABSTRACT

The development of distance education (DE) over the last 40 years is compared with the evolving content of the Distance Education journal during the same period. DE in general has been described as encountering a series of crossroad decision points, and as identifying numerous optimistic horizons beyond them. The decisions made and horizons sought have not always been prudent, however, and the journal’s critical approach and logical sequence of priorities have encouraged DE to avoid ill-considered options. Currently, the journal is challenged with helping the field to overcome mainstream educators’ lack of awareness of the traditional DE literature, media, and methods, and negative reactions to the effects of the massive open online course (MOOC). The approach taken by the journal during its first 40 years will help to overcome such problems and to keep the field on track.     

Professional development of kindergarten teachers in Croatia – a personal choice or an obligation

The quality of educational processes with children of preschool age and long-term educational outcomes are largely related to the work quality of teachers. Lifelong learning and professional development, as predictors of quality, need to be regarded as an ongoing task for kindergarten teachers. Findings of an empirical study of Croatian kindergarten teachers’ views (N = 388) on professional development point to a link between teachers’ intrinsic motivation and their professional development. Motivation explains 46.87% of the variance Personal commitment to professional development. A slight positive correlation was found between the level of formal education and the frequency of professional development (r = .216, p < .01). Although the level of education of kindergarten teachers is not a good independent predictor, it affects readiness to self-fund professional development (p < .01). As for the significance of conferences as a form of professional development, participants of the study identified them as an effective opportunity (M = 4.68, SD = .52), promoting both quality practices (M = 4.69, SD = .54) and exchange of experiences (M = 4.68, SD = .56). The length of participants’ professional work experience affects their assessment of the significance of practitioners’ networking as a way of improving the quality of everyday practices (F = 1.43, p < .05).     

Making Social Work Count: A Curriculum Innovation to Teach Quantitative Research Methods and Statistical Analysis to Undergraduate Social Work Students in the United Kingdom

Students in the United Kingdom (UK) are found to lack knowledge and skills in quantitative research methods. To address this gap, a quantitative research method and statistical analysis curriculum comprising 10 individual lessons was developed, piloted, and evaluated at two universities The evaluation found that BSW students’ (N = 81) self-efficacy improved significantly from pre- to posttest, but statistical knowledge improved only slightly and the improvement was not statistically significant. The findings point to recommendations for social work educators in the UK and beyond to consider when integrating the 10-input quantitative method curriculum and when teaching research methods and statistics to undergraduate social work students.     

The desire to emulate parental emotional strategies and its relation to emotion dysregulation among emerging adults

Emotion regulation (ER) is an integral aspect of emerging adults’ mental health, yet little is known about interpersonal factors that influence ER in during this period. This investigation examines emerging adults’ desire to emulate parental ER skills in the relation between perceived parental ER and emerging adults’ emotion dysregulation.A sample of 79 emerging adults (M_age = 18.55 years, SD = .32; 88.6% female, 69.6% White) completed measures of perceived parental ER (Affective Style Questionnaire [ASQ]Hofmann and Kashdan 2010), emotion dysregulation (Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale [DERS]Gratz and Roemer 2004), and desire to emulate parental ER (Perception of Emotion Regulation Scale [PERS]).A desire to emulate parental ER skills moderated the relationship between perceived parental ER and emerging adults’ emotion dysregulation in general (B = -.10, SE = .048, t = ?2.07, p = .043), and low emotional awareness in particular (B = -.04 SE = .02, t = ?2.47, p = .02).Findings suggest that emerging adults with an increased desire to emulate parents with lower ER skills report greater emotion dysregulation. Implications for clinical practice, along with future directions for the field of ER, are discussed.