School-Aged Children who are Educated at Home by their Parents: Is there a role for educational psychologists?

This paper reviews the literature on home education with reference to issues that may concern educational psychologists. It notes the fast growing number of families (at present, 1% of the UK school population) who have chosen to educate their school-aged children at home. The great majority of home-educated children are reported to be well adjusted and to be achieving highly. However, samples used to study home education have been self-selected and may not accurately reflect all home education practice. Possible reasons for home education are discussed, as well as the approaches to teaching and learning reported in the literature. Implications are outlined for the work of educational psychologists.     

Self-regulation in young children: Is there a role for sociodramatic play?

This study tested Vygotsky’s assumption that sociodramatic play in early childhood contributes importantly to the development of self-regulation. It also explored whether the link between sociodramatic play and self-regulation differs for impulsive and nonimpulsive preschoolers. In a short-term longitudinal design, 51 middle-income 3- and 4-year-olds were observed in their preschool classrooms. Naturalistic observations of total dramatic play, complex sociodramatic (CSD) play, and solitary dramatic play and of self-regulation in two classroom contexts—clean-up periods and group circle time—were gathered at Time 1, in the fall of the school year. To assess development of self-regulation, clean-up and circle time observations were repeated at Time 2, in late winter and early spring. CSD play predicted development of self-regulation during clean-up periods, whereas solitary dramatic play was negatively correlated with improvement in clean-up performance. The CSD play/improved self-regulation relationship was particularly strong for high-impulsive children, nil for low-impulsive children. Findings are consistent with Vygotsky’s theory and suggest that sociodramatic experiences may be especially advantageous for impulsive children, who are behind their peers in self-regulatory development.     

Spirituality in children and young people: a suitable topic for educational and child psychologists?

In this article the concept of spirituality, especially with relation to school age children and young people, is discussed. Some of the possibilities and constraints present in this area are noted, especially the unease with which many researchers and practitioners view such a difficult to define topic and also its traditional association with religious organisations.

However, in more recent literature, the spiritual dimension has been seen as a universal human characteristic (within which spirituality in religion is viewed as a sub‐set), which is characterised by a deeper state of meaningfulness. In the case of children and young people, modern writers have argued that the encouragement of spiritual growth is important because it is related to a non‐material, ethical and self‐awareness aspect of their development and is a necessary counterbalance to the attainment‐focused demands of the National Curriculum.

As an aid to future study in this area, a possible measurement of spirituality in school‐aged children (The SQ Pupil Inventory) is reproduced at the end of this article. This inventory represents the work in progress of the late Beverley Ruddock who was carrying out her doctoral research in this topic until her sudden death in late 2008.     

Is there room for multidimensional learning in a standardized curriculum?

This article presents the results of a study that interpreted views of curriculum and practice of teacher education faculty at a public institution of higher learning in the USA. It offers information about the ongoing challenges of affecting a balanced approach to teacher education at colleges and universities in a standardized learning setting. Participants' responses indicated professors perceive curriculum and standardization differently than instructors. Professors are more likely to describe the curriculum they teach ideologically whereas instructors described course content or paraphrased course titles. Further, professors were more likely to question whether they were meeting the needs of students and the impact of the standardization of curriculum. These findings raise many questions about the intellectual integrity of teacher preparation programs that are increasingly standardized and increasingly reliant on instructors rather than tenured faculty to teach program courses.     

Is there a role for direct instruction in problem-based learning? Comparing student-constructed versus integrated model answers

Problem-based learning (PBL) requires students to formulate learning issues that need to be answered by studying multiple literature resources. Advocates of high instructional guidance argue that this is too cognitively demanding for students and ineffective for learning. Therefore, we examined the effects of studying an integrated model answer in the self-study phase in PBL. Participants (N = 62) engaged in a simulated group discussion, ending with the establishment of learning issues. Then they either studied integrated model answers to the learning issues, or undertook a standard PBL self-study phase in which students needed to construct their own answers based on multiple literature resources. Higher learning outcomes were obtained for the participants who studied integrated model answers when compared to the participants who constructed their own answers. These higher learning outcomes were obtained with lower investment of self-study and equal investment of mental effort during learning.     

Is there a role for paediatric Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners in the management of child sexual assault in Australia?

In Australia, paediatricians and Child Protection Specialists provide the medical and forensic examinations of child victims of sexual assault. There are workforce challenges in the recruitment and retention of doctors to undertake child sexual assault (CSA) work particularly in remote and rural areas. Pediatric Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (PSANE) programs have existed in the USA and the UK for many years. Using Rapid Evidence Assessment (REA) methodology, a systematic search of the literature was performed to ascertain what is known about SANE programs, to evaluate the evidence for their effectiveness across a number of domains (accessibility, health and legal outcomes and cost effectiveness) and to inform policy on models of care and elements of best practice which may be appropriate for local implementation in Australia. This review showed that despite the limited evidence available and significant gaps in the evidence, SANEs provide a high standard of medical care and are not detrimental to the legal process. By providing recommendations regarding the potential value, effectiveness and feasibility of establishing a PSANE program in Australia, this article may be of interest to other high income countries facing similar workforce challenges in meeting the needs of children with alleged sexual assault.     

Is there a pattern?

One. Mathematics is the language of nature. Two. Everything around us can be represented and understood through numbers. Three. If you graph these numbers, patterns emerge.     

天赐男孩——Is there a home for him?

上一期中,Kyle从天而降,遇到了尼科尔?特拉格。这一期里他走进了特拉格一家,听到了人们关于他的议论,于是他感到迷茫了,也感到孤单了。那么特拉格一家能不能给他一个温暖的家呢?     

Is there a "disability" for learning a foreign language?

Recently, talk of a new type of learning disability (LD)--a foreign language learning disability, or FLLD--has made its way into the LD and foreign language (FL) literature. However, no empirical evidence has been published to support the concept of a "disability" for FL learning by those professionals who use the term. In this article, the author takes the position that there is not a distinct "disability" that can be called an FLLD. He reviews several years of research evidence indicating that any proposal for such a distinct entity is problematic. To support his position, he reviews problems with the current definition and diagnostic criteria for LD. He then cites the many difficulties inherent in the development and use of (a) a logically consistent, easily operationalized, and empirically valid definition of and (b) diagnostic criteria for the FLLD concept. The author then discusses how FL learning problems occur along a continuum of very strong to very poor language learners, and he explains how the proponents of an FLLD misuse the concept of FL aptitude. Finally, the author cites implications resulting from the research evidence on FL learning problems and use of the term FLLD.     

COVID-19 causes unprecedented educational disruption: Is there a road towards a new normal?

PROSPECTS - COVID-19 confronts the education system with a new and massive crisis. What should a “new normal” look like for future generations? How can countries use the innovativeness...     

Is ‘gender-sensitive education’ a useful concept for educational policy?

This article responds to Astrid Sinnes and Marianne Løken’s article ‘Gendered education in a gendered world: Looking beyond cosmetic solutions to the gender gap in science’ by exploring the idea of ‘gender-sensitive’ education and its usefulness in educational policy. It draws on theoretical discussions of the concept of gender and of difference to consider ways in which ‘gender-sensitive’ education might serve the task of promoting equality and justice.     

Is there an impact of household computer ownership on children's educational attainment in Britain?

If personal computers (PCs) are used to facilitate learning, then a home computer might be considered a potential input in an educational production function. Using data on British youths from the British Household Panel Survey between 1991 and 2001, this paper explores the link between ownership of a home computer at ages 15 and 17 and subsequent educational attainment in the principal British school examinations taken at ages 16 (GCSEs) and 18 (A-levels). The data show a significant positive association between PC ownership and the number of GCSEs obtained and with the probability of passing five or more GCSEs. These results survive a set of robustness tests, including using other household durables and “future” PC ownership as proxies for household wealth and other unobservable household level effects. Home computer ownership is also associated with a significant increase in the probability of passing at least one A-level and with an increase in the probability of successfully completing three or more A-levels, conditional on having passed at least one A-level.