The Development of Social Cognition: Preschoolers' Use of Mental State Talk in Peer Conflicts

Research Findings: This research examines preschoolers' use of mental state terms in naturally occurring peer conflicts in the classroom to determine how children use mental state terms for organizing their social interactions. Analyses focus on the types, frequencies, and social interactive functions of mental state terms. Utterances (N = 166) with mental state terms from 124 conflict episodes were analyzed. Children used a number of different mental state terms, want and need being the most frequently used, to index their own and their interlocutors' desires for subtle interactive purposes. Want was paired most often with bids for action, objects, inclusion in a play area, or clarification of another child's mental state. Need was most often used when directing the other child's action or attention, to justify, clarify, or insist on their own action or previous request. Practice or Policy: Findings suggest that children's peer conflicts constitute a rich setting for the active construction of social relationships through the use of utterances with mental state language. This emphasis on peer interactions has the potential to inform new ways of supporting children's self–other development as a foundation for academic success.     

Predictors of school readiness in five‐ to six‐year‐old children from an Australian longitudinal community sample

This paper reports on school readiness (SR) and its predictors in five‐ to six‐year‐old children from a prospective, longitudinal study of children from eight months to seven years (the Early Language in Victoria Study – ELVS). The ELVS children came from a representative sample of children recruited though the State Government Infant and Child Health Centres at the age of eight months who were studied at yearly intervals with a combination of parent surveys and face‐to‐face assessments. The study had a focus on language, pre‐literacy and behavioural development. In pre‐school and preparatory grade, teachers of the children completed a brief questionnaire rating SR characteristics, including cognitive, language and personal/social competencies. The data bank on these children provided a set of hypothesised child and family predictors of the SR score which were tested via factor analysis and regression analyses. Significant predictors of SR in the equation were evident from two years of age, and were all related to language and pre‐literacy factors from two to six years. Twelve per cent of the children showed language impairment (LI) at five years according to their scores on the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals, 4th edition (CELF‐4). In an additional analysis we found that these children were significantly lower on SR; they were also of lower social class compared with the remainder of the sample. The most influential factors in readiness for school were child language competencies and pre‐literacy capacities, including phonemic awareness and letter knowledge. Preparation for school involving systematic emphasis on language and pre‐literacy enrichment is recommended for all children before school entry and particularly for children at risk, including those coming from socio‐economic disadvantage and those with delayed and impaired early language development. This addition to pre‐school programmes can have lasting positive effects into pre‐school and beyond, and prevent early school failure.     

Designing and Developing Assessments of Complex Thinking in Mathematics for the Middle Grades

Designing an assessment system for complex thinking in mathematics involves decisions at every stage, from how to represent the target competencies to how to interpret evidence from student performances. Beyond learning to solve particular problems in a particular area, learning mathematics with understanding involves comprehending connections among mathematical ideas and applying them in ways that may not have been taught directly. A challenge in characterizing mathematical competency is to capture not only the variety of skills and concepts, but also their connections. Designing assessments based on learning progressions may be one way to respond to this challenge. We discuss our experience developing a learning progression and an associated task model for mathetical functions.     

Connecting with the World of Work: horizontal accountability processes in institutions providing Vocational Education and Training (VET)

In VET systems, connectivity with the world of work has been on the agenda for many years: for Western and Southern European countries, since the 1980s as a consequence of the 1973 oil crisis, and then for Central and Eastern European countries, since the early 1990s. In the last few decades, awareness has grown that European prosperity depended heavily on the skills of the workforce and the innovativeness and competitiveness of the economy. In the EU, it has long been acknowledged that VET plays a key role in integrating young people in the labour market and providing skills and competences that foster innovation and entrepreneurship. More recently, VET has also been seen as a precondition to overcome the current economic crisis in Europe. This article analyses how institutions that provide VET can address these demands. It begins by describing European VET policy, characterising it as soft governance. Furthermore, based on data and insights from CEDEFOP and OECD research and publications, an overview is given of strategies and measure es and of the practice of VET providers connecting and cooperating with the world of work throughout Europe. The article goes on to analyse in greater depth the concept of horizontal accountability and stakeholder theory, providing a framework to study the external orientation and connectivity with the world of work of VET colleges in The Netherlands. The Dutch VET system is described and compared with other systems in Europe. Drawing on empirical data, the horizontal accountability processes in which Dutch VET colleges engage are unravelled, examining with which parties and about what they connect. Finally, some conclusions are proposed.     

Job Mobility and Premature Departure of Principals in Primary and Secondary Education in the Netherlands

As a result of complex school reforms the role of the principal has undergone significant changes, internationally. Consequently, a considerable number of principals leave their positions, both voluntarily and involuntarily. This article presents the findings of a study into job mobility, concentrating on involuntary or premature departure amongst principals in primary and secondary education in the Netherlands. All primary and secondary schools with job mobility over a period of three years were traced: 920 schools reported job mobility for 1009 principals. The authors then examined which part of this job mobility consisted of premature departure. For this purpose, three characteristics of job mobility were investigated: involuntariness, labour disputes and official reasons reported for job mobility. The data were also analysed for male and female principals separately.     

Implementing a new senior secondary curriculum in Hong Kong: instructional leadership practices and qualities of school principals

This paper attempts to identify the leadership practices and qualities of school principals engaged in implementing a curriculum reform in Hong Kong. Based on interview data of school principals, this paper shows that the types of instructional leadership practices that school principals adopt and the contextual conditions in which these practices occur are key factors explaining the differential effectiveness of implementation efforts. Six efficacious instructional leadership practices and two contextual conditions critical to their development were identified. This paper reconceptualises instructional leadership as a collective and transformational endeavour, functioning in communities of practice to support school development at different levels.     

Peer Conflicts of Preschool Children: Issues, Resolution, Incidence, and Age-Related Patterns

This study examined 2-, 3-, and 4-year-olds' peer conflicts in the naturalistic classroom setting during free-play time. 400 preschoolers from 25 classrooms were videotaped. Only the first conflict event generated by each target-child observation was included in the analysis. Of the 400 target-child observations, 322 generated a conflict event. In general, there was a shift in the issues of conflict from tangible material concerns to those that were more mental and social. 2-year-olds had a higher proportion of distribution of resources conflicts than did 3- and 4-year-olds. Conflicts about play and ideas significantly increased with age while those stemming from physical harm were low overall. Further, child-generated resolutions increased while insistence decreased significantly with age. What changes with development appears to be the issues of conflict and the way they are handled; not the incidence of conflict per se. These findings support the proposal that conflicts are natural contexts in which children develop socially, morally and cognitively. Implications for teaching are discussed.