Children’s development of a theory of mind

A critical review of the literature on the theory of mind is presented. Consistent with the “early onset” view, it is suggested that important precursors of a theory of mind are found much earlier than the age of 4. Research on emotional development and intentional communication is reviewed to suggest that some rudimentary understanding of other people’s minds occurs before the age of 2. Later, 3-year-olds’ engagement in pretense and deception demonstrates a more sophisticated understanding of other people’s mental states. Limitations of the false belief task for determining the acquisition of a theory of mind will be discussed with reference to findings in the adult literature.     

Parent-teacher partnership and high school students’ development in mainland China: the mediating role of teacher-student relationship

Parent-teacher partnership is associated closely with adolescents’ development. However, little is known about the association between parent-teacher partnership and Chinese high school students’ development. Therefore, this study examines whether and how parent-teacher partnership (objective contacts and subjective relationship quality) relates to high school students’ academic, career, and personal/social development among a national representative sample of 4,606 high school teachers from 61 high schools across 10 provinces of Mainland China. Both parent-teacher contacts and relationship were related to high school students’ development across all three domains (i.e., academic, career, and personal/social development). Parent-teacher relationship was more closely related to students’ developmental outcomes than parent-teacher contacts. Parent-teacher contacts were associated directly and indirectly with students’ developmental outcomes via parent-teacher relationship and teacher-student relationship. Implications for future studies and practice were discussed.     

Tracking the development of China’s top universities using scientometric indicators, 1997–2005

This study reviews the developments of 9 Chinese top universities supported by “985 Project” during 1997–2005 based on the analysis of a series of scientometric indicators, including the total number of publications indexed by Science Citation Index Expanded and Social Sciences Citation Index, the cumulated impact factor of publications, the number of publications divided by the number of faculty members, the average impact factor of publications, percentage of publications in top 20 percent journals, the percentage of internationally collaborative publications, the number of publications in six broad subject fields and the Index of Disciplinary Balancing. The findings are helpful to the understanding of the achievements of Chinese top universities during this period as well as the remaining gaps between them and world-class universities. __________ Translated from Kexuexue Yu Kexue Jishu Guanli 科学学与科学技术맜理 (Science of Science and Management of S. & T.), 2007, (9): 132–138     

China’s Man-made Satellite

On April 24,1970 came the news that China had launched her first man-made satellite. Since then several other satellites have been launched for the collection of scientific information. In 1977 China succeeded in recovering the satellite. This marked a big step forward in the development of our satellite technology (技术).     

Progressive Revolution-On Chinese-English Translation of China’s Public Signs

In 1978, there came the refreshment of reform in the whole China, like mushrooms after rain. During his southern tour, Deng Xiaoping, the general secretary of People’s Republic of China, gave the proclaim which opened a new page for Reform-Opening up policy when China’s economic development had been involved into the ocean of international economy. At the background of the new cooperation, the study on C-E translation of China’s public signs has been gradually paid attention to. Then there are many more scholars going for the study of public signs ,who have been kept steps with the world in recent studies;It is helpful to improve the atmosphere of China’s language and humanity accomplishments and to strengthen the soft power and civilized image.     

Effects of kindergarten retention for at-risk children’s psychosocial development

Kindergarten retention is a popular practice for children who are considered unready for primary school. However, past research has not yet succeeded to find consistent, strong empirical evidence supporting the practice. In the current study, kindergarten repeaters’ development in nine psychosocial domains is compared with that of equally at risk but (1) continuously promoted age-mates and (2) promoted age-mates who repeated first grade instead. Analysing data from a large-scale longitudinal study using propensity score matching and multilevel modelling, the findings reveal no harm of kindergarten retention for at-risk children’s long term psychosocial development. Rather, we find that, relative to equally at-risk but continuously promoted children, kindergarten repeaters benefit from retention with respect to higher levels of well-being, and peer relations, and lower levels of hyperactivity, aggression and asocial behaviour. Compared to similar children who were promoted but who were retained in first grade instead, kindergarten repeaters are found to benefit more from retention with respect to higher levels of well-being, self-confidence, attitude to work and independent behaviour, and lower levels of hyperactivity.     

The contributions of Bernstein’s sociology to education development research

Global and national agendas to improve the ‘quality’ of Education For All have brought focus to pedagogic processes in developing country contexts. How can development research pay attention to the social and political significance of pedagogical projects and understand the micro-processes of classroom reform? This paper considers how Basil Bernstein’s sociological theories helped develop a nuanced account of pedagogic reform in a study of Indian primary education. I explore how the analysis encouraged by Bernstein’s concepts of recontextualisation and educational codes may contribute to current thinking on the role and significance of pedagogy in development research and evaluation activities. The paper also raises caution about the selectiveness and limits of efforts to capture, identify, measure or assess pedagogic processes and change. A Bernsteinian research approach is not immune from producing the kinds of reductionist accounts of pedagogy of which the analysis is wary.     

Children’s early numeracy in England,Finland and People’s Republic of China

This research investigated the similarities and differences between countries in young children’s early numeracy skills related to age, culture, and gender. The participants were five‐year‐old children from Beijing (People’s Republic of China), England, and Finland. The rationale for the cross‐cultural comparison originates from research results with older children showing that Asian children outperform children from America or Europe, and from the lack of such information concerning younger children. The results showed that in all locations older children performed better than the younger children. Cultural differences were found: young children from Beijing outperformed those from England and Finland in overall early numeracy performance, as well as in sub‐tests for understanding of quantities and relations (i.e. relational skills), and counting skills. Finnish children had better scores than English children in the whole early numeracy scale and in the relational scale. The results are discussed in relation to culture, instruction in preschools, and learning support at home, as well as the effects of language characteristics. The culture’s appreciation of and approach to mathematics learning in early childhood is a plausible explanation for the cross‐cultural differences found in this study.     

深度体验Today’s China

2015年,国家留学基金管理委员会委托国内32所高校举办了"感知中国"文化社会体验活动,这是国家留学基金委为获得中国政府奖学金的来华留学生举办的一项大型社会实践活动,通过组织学生参观企业、农村、社区和历史文化古迹等,加深来华留学生对中国国情和社会发展情况的了解,提升他们作为中国政府奖学金生的荣誉感。全国21个省、自治区、直辖市的142所奖学金院校     

From environment to sustainable development: China’s strategies for ESD in basic education

This paper intends to provide an overview of the reorientation of education in China in the period 1998–2009 with regard to development issues. During this time, the focus has shifted gradually from the environment and health to education for sustainable development. The article centres on highlighting the main interventions and strategies adopted by China’s schools to make this reorientation possible, including: the introduction of new visions of sustainable development and project planning; the establishment of organisational mechanisms and capacity-building measures for their implementation in the field; the integration of ESD into teaching and learning processes; the maintenance of an action-research mechanism for innovations; and the sharing of lessons with both the national and the international community in order to make the implementation of ESD more effective.     

Formation of Los Angeles’s low density and high car dependence

As a typical car-dependent city, Los Angeles (LA) is extensively used as an example in research to illustrate car influences on city form. Focusing on the features of LA’s geologic conditions and civil circumstances, we argued that the relationship between LA’s low-density pattern and car dependence is more involved than previously deemed simple causality. The low density should be primarily credited to the spacious requirement of the mining industry, frequent earthquakes and multiethnic population of the city. Oil reserves in LA fueled its economic boom and fast urbanization that coincided with the start of mass production of cheap cars, and cars became medium-priced consumables for average families. Politicians preference for short construction-period projects enabled fast establishment of LA’s highway infrastructure. The popularity of car use in return faciliatated further development of the low-density pattern of the city. The low-density urban form and car dependence created environmental and social problems for LA. Looking at P. R. China’s motorization and urban development, we found that the trajectory of Beijing’s motorization between 1978 and 2003 coincides with that of the U.S. in the 1910s and 1920s. Lessons from LA’s urban and transportation development should be suggestive to China’s urban and transportation planning.     

Type of child care and children’s development at 54 months

The types of non-maternal child care received by more than 1000 U.S. children were examined from birth to 54 months and related to family selection factors and to child outcomes. Individual children tended to experience a variety of different types of care and not to fit into clear patterns of either stable care types or progressive patterns of movement from less structured to more highly structured care settings. Across the entire sample, however, hours in center care were higher in the preschool period than earlier, whereas hours in relative care remained stable and hours in child care homes decreased. Mothers who were single, those with more education and less traditional beliefs about child rearing, and families with higher incomes and fewer children in the household were more likely to use more hours of center care than other families; single mothers and those with fewer children also used more hours of care in child care homes. Minority families, those with low incomes, and mothers with less education and fewer children used more hours of relative care. With family selection factors and quality of child care controlled, only hours in center care across the time period from 3 to 54 months were related to child outcomes. Children who experienced more center care were reported by caregivers at 54 months to have somewhat higher externalizing behavior problem scores than other children, although these scores were not in the clinical or at-risk range. Center care hours were also related to cognitive and language outcomes, with more hours in infancy associated with lower preacademic test scores and more hours in the toddler period with higher language scores.     

Do regulable features of child-care homes affect children’s development?

Data from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care were used to assess whether regulable features of child-care homes affect children’s development. Child-care homes selected were those in which there were at least two children and the care provider received payment for child care (ns=164 when the study children were 15 months old, 172 at 24 months, and 146 at 36 months). Caregivers who were better educated and had received more recent and higher levels of training provided richer learning environments and warmer and more sensitive caregiving. Caregivers who had more child-centered beliefs about how to handle children also provided higher quality caregiving and more stimulating homes. In addition, when settings were in compliance with recommended age-weighted group size cut-offs, caregivers provided more positive caregiving. Quality of care was not related to caregivers’ age, experience, professionalism, or mental health, or to the number of children enrolled in the child-care home or whether the caregivers’ children were present. Children with more educated and trained caregivers performed better on tests of cognitive and language development. Children who received higher quality care, in homes that were more stimulating, with caregivers who were more attentive, responsive, and emotionally supportive, did better on tests of language and cognitive development and also were rated as being more cooperative. These findings make a case for regulating caregivers’ education and training and for requiring that child-care homes not exceed the recommended age-weighted group size.