'Well,I've Not Done Any Work Today. I Don't Know Why I Came to School'. Perceptions of Play in the Reception Class

The place of play in the education of young children has been the focus of much interest in the past. But the findings from this research project demonstrate that there remains a significant amount of confusion about the role that play has in young children's education. In particular we found that there is a clear distinction between the rhetoric and reality of play in the reception class. Further, there was evidence of real anguish for some early years workers who were failing to offer the play activities that they knew should be provided. These findings are particularly interesting at present, since the debate on the role of play has once again emerged as fundamental in the attempt to define a curriculum appropriate to the needs of the 3-6 year olds who, from the year 2000, will be required to work within the highly contentious Foundation Stage of the National Curriculum.     

Uninterrupted,Sustained, Silent Reading: the rhetoric and the practice

The study investigated whether the rhetoric of uninterrupted, sustained, silent reading (USSR/ERIC) was evident in primary classrooms where the practice was professed to operate. Nine primary schools in three different counties were surveyed, and the sample included both urban and rural schools. Structured interviews were undertaken with the headteacher and two members of staff in each school, followed by classroom observations, focusing on what do teachers do in practice during USSR/ERIC. From both interviews and observations it was evident that teacher interpretation of how the sessions should be organised and managed was not specifically that of the rhetoric, with only one school closely following the prescribed model. Whilst the value of a quiet reading time was generally acknowledged and much good practice observed in sessions, it would appear that many models which operate under the guise of ‘uninterrupted sustained silent reading’ are governed by teacher preference or pupil need.     

The Long-Term Care Workforce Crisis: Dementia-Care Training Influences on Job Satisfaction and Career Commitment

The present study compares changes in job satisfaction and career commitment among Alzheimer's care staff participating in a two-phase, state-level training collaborative to improve dementia care. Results reveal an increase in extrinsic job satisfaction and a decrease in career commitment. Findings could be related to the effects of both the training interventions and the time lag in data collection. Decreases in career identity depended on whether participants showed a deeper involvement in aging concerns with respect to future employment. Implications for the implementation of future interventions for direct-care staff within a context of organizational and systems-based change are discussed.     

Construction and Validation of a Chinese Value of Learning Scale (CVLS)

The Chinese Value of Learning Scale (CVLS) is a 5-item instrument for assessing the value of learning in Chinese culture. The psychometric properties of CVLS were investigated in a convenient sample of 583 Chinese soon-to-be-aged adults in Hong Kong. CVLS possesses high internal consistency and exhibited satisfactory short-term test-retest reliability. CVLS also exhibited high face validity and mild convergent validity with other 48-item openness-to-experience scale (OTES) from Revised NEO Personality Inventory, and is significantly related to the past and actual learning experience. In view of its brevity and easy administration, CVLS offers a useful instrument to further investigate the value of learning in Chinese culture and its possible relationship with adults' learning behaviour.     

Chinese Retirees' Learning Interests: A Qualitative Analysis

This paper reports the results of two semistructured focus group interviews with 17 retirees that explore the issues these retirees perceived as central to their learning in later life (LLL). Focus is especially placed on the factors leading to their learning interests after retirement. A total of six themes (past experience in adulthood and voluntary work, perception of learning, social support, living alone, self-efficacy, and openness) were identified to be related to learning interest in later life. This study has implications for future research and service planning of LLL in the Chinese population.     

Theoretical Development,Factorial Validity,and Reliability of the Online Graduate Mentoring Scale

In this study, we sought to confirm the theoretical framework underlying an Online Graduate Mentoring Scale by establishing the scale’s factorial validity and reliability. Analysis of data received from doctoral students and alumni/ae of the College of Education of one large, online, accredited university reduced the initial theoretical framework from seven to six attributes, and resulted in a revision of the scale. Further research is needed to test the theoretical framework with other relevant populations and to refine the scale itself by reducing skewness and attaining item balance.     

BMI group-related differences in physical fitness and physical activity in preschool-age children: a cross-sectional analysis

In the Ballabeina study, we investigated age- and BMI-group-related differences in aerobic fitness (20 m shuttle run), agility (obstacle course), dynamic (balance beam) and static balance (balance platform), and physical activity (PA, accelerometers) in 613 children (M age = 5.1 years, SD = 0.6). Normal weight (NW) children performed better than overweight (OW) children in aerobic fitness, agility, and dynamic balance (all p <.001), while OWchildren had a better static balance (p < .001). BMI-group-related differences in aerobic fitness and agility were larger in older children (p for interaction with age = .01) in favor of the NW children. PA did not differ between NW and OW (p > or = .1), but did differ between NW and obese children (p < .05). BMI-group-related differences in physical fitness can already be present in preschool-age children.