What did you do in school today? Using the school environment to foster communication between children and parents

Early Childhood Education Journal -     

The influence of instruction modality on brain activation in teenagers with nonverbal learning disabilities: two case histories

Teenagers with nonverbal learning disabilities (NLD) have difficulty with fine-motor coordination, which may relate to the novelty of the task or the lack of "self-talk" to mediate action. In this study, we required two teenagers with NLD and two control group teenagers to touch the thumb of each hand firmly and accurately to the fingertips of the same hand, in an order specified by verbal or tactile instruction. Brain activity patterns (measured using functional magnetic resonance imaging) suggest that unlike control participants, the NLD participants used internalized speech to facilitate the novel task only when instructions were verbal. NLD participants also showed activity in a more widely distributed network of neural structures. These findings provide preliminary evidence for remediation strategies that encourage internal speech.     

从领导的视角看香港幼儿教育的学习空间:一种现象学的方法

近年来,香港的幼儿教育开始受到重视,政府对幼儿教育机构负责人的管理也开始加强。本文籍由从事现象学研究的学者常用的访谈法对6位幼儿期教育机构的领导进行了访谈,访谈的内容主要涉及与学习概念有关的个人发展经历和其在幼儿教育机构工作时的经验。从幼儿教育机构的领导的视角来看待香港幼儿教育的学习空间,本文探索了在他们的早期学校教育、教师培训和幼儿教育机构教学经历中的一些好的学习经验以及成人学习与幼儿学习的明显区别。     

Desktop multimedia environments to support collaborative distance learning

Desktop multimedia conferencing, when two or more persons can communicate among themselves via personal computers with the opportunity to see and hear one another as well as communicate via text messages while working with commonly available stored resources, appears to have important applications to the support of collaborative learning. In this paper we explore this potential in three ways: (a) through an analysis of particular learner needs when learning and working collaboratively with others outside of face-to-face situations; (b) through an analysis of different forms of conferencing environments, including desktop multimedia environments, relative to their effectiveness in terms of meeting learner needs for distributed collaboration; and (c) through reporting the results of a formative evaluation of a prototype desktop multimedia conferencing system developed especially for the support of collaborative learning. Via these analyses, suggestions are offered relating to the functionalities of desktop multimedia conferencing systems for the support of collaborative learning, reflecting new developments in both the technologies available for such systems and in our awareness of learner needs when working collaboratively with one other outside of face-to-face situations.     

A second chance to dream: initiating ODeL in secondary school re-entry programs for young adult secondary school dropouts the case of Mumias District,Western Kenya

Abstract

The Kenyan education system has very limited re-entry options for learners who drop out before attaining secondary school certificate. It is very difficult to access training and or secure a job that requires at least secondary school education. This study examined the prospects of initiating Open and Distance e-Learning(ODeL) in re-entry programmes into high school for out of school Young Adult Secondary School Dropouts (Y.A.S.S.D). The study focused on the enablers and challenges of initiating ODeL in the secondary school re-entry programmes. An alternative flexible and sustainable community based ODeL model that potentially can address re-entry for the Y.A.S.S.D is proposed. A qualitative phenomenological design was used; focus group discussion and interviews were conducted from a purposeful sample of participants. The study revealed that the potential of ODeL in addressing re-entry into secondary school for Y.A.S.S.D great. Majority of the participants were aware of the existing secondary school re-entry options, however, ODeL appeared new. Despite there being challenges in introducing the ODeL mode of study in secondary school re-entry programmes, it is viable and requires further exploration. The enablers of this mode of study are largely in place to the extent appreciated by participants in the study.     

Contested spaces: trans-inclusive school policies and parental sovereignty in Canada

ABSTRACT

This article analyses five public consultation meetings about revisions to an LGBTQ-related school board policy on unceded Coast Salish territory in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. These meetings focused largely on the new provision that students in publicly funded schools be allowed to use the washroom that corresponds with their gender identity. Almost all of the objections to the policy revisions were articulated by parents of non-queer, or not openly queer students. We found that these parental concerns centred around two perennial issues in Canadian educational studies; namely, how schools regulate students’ gender identities and expressions, and the role of the state in publicly funded schooling. We conclude by drawing upon emerging literature on best practices for trans youth in schools to offer alternative visions for how these issues can be better addressed with the public, and parents in particular.     

The interventionary state in China and programs and curricula at a Chinese vocational university

Through case study methods, we examine a vocational university in China to ascertain if and the extent to which industrial modernization, the global economy and economic market forces, and state planning have altered this institution. We focus specifically upon a vocational university in China, as these institutions comprise the newest higher education sector in that nation and those most logically connected to work in the new global economy. Anning Ding, the first author and principal investigator, is a native of China, and English is his second language. The first author used interview data in a larger study and we plan to use these data again for another publication.     

Interference of time-related and unrelated cues with duration comparisons of young children: analysis of Piaget's formulation of the relation of time and speed.

The analysis of the relation of time and speed led Piaget to conclude that the time-speed confusion characterizing the intuitive stage undergoes development. He claimed that in the first stage, a child comparing the duration of two moving bodies attributes longer duration to the faster body, whereas in the second stage, he attributes longer duration to the slower body. It is proposed here that time-speed confusion is mediated simply by "more is more," and hence, as long as the child continues to confuse time with speed, he believes "faster" implies longer duration. Moreover, this confusion should not differ either in form or extent from the confusion of time and many other arbitrary quantitative dimensions (e.g., intensity of light). 72 children, 4-7 years old, compared duration differing either on speed or on intensity of light. As predicted, the tasks did not differ on performance level or on error types. Moreover, the performance on both tasks was consistent with the predictions of a facet model pertaining to analysis of time problems. Confusion dissipated with age and was similar for boys and girls.     

The Impact of Self-assessment on Achievement: The effects of self-assessment training on performance in external examinations

Can the quality of students' work be improved through training in self- assessment practices? This paper considers the impact of training high school students on their performance in external examinations. Teachers were selected from a sample of high schools and trained in how to develop students' self-assessment skills. Ten high schools representative of the top, middle and bottom levels of academic achievement in national examinations were chosen and students trained in self-assessment by their normal class teachers as part of their final year curriculum. An experimental group comprising 256 participants received formal training in self-assessment skills for the entire three terms of the academic year. A control group was selected from matched classes not receiving such training. A significant difference favouring those trained in self-assessment was found overall and in each curriculum area. While it is demonstrated that self-assessment training can have an impact on student performance the paper considers the circumstances of the study and whether similar outcomes might be possible in less favourable conditions.