Metacognition and Self-Regulation in James,Piaget, and Vygotsky

This article investigates the intertwined constructs of metacognition and self-regulation as they emerge in the works and theories of James, Piaget, and Vygotsky. To coordinate this exploration, we use an interpretive framework based on the relation of subject and object. In this framework, James’s perspective on metacognition and self-regulation is aligned with the Self, Piaget’s with the other and object, and Vygotsky’s with the medium or agency of language. We explore how metacognition and self-regulation function within the realm of human behavior and development as described in the works of each of these theorists. Key questions or issues that emerge for current research are outlined, and the limitations and benefits of each theorist’s perspective vis-à-vis metacognition and self-regulation are discussed.     

What emotional-centred challenges do children attending special schools face over primary–secondary school transition?

Primary–secondary school transition encompasses multiple social, academic and environmental changes which can negatively impact children’s emotional well-being. Children with Social, Emotional and Mental Health difficulties (SEMH) are believed to be especially vulnerable during this time. However, the voices of children with SEMH are heavily underrepresented in this field within practice and research. The present case study examined how children with SEMH difficulties within one special school experience primary–secondary school transition and how they are supported, in order to make recommendations to improve this period. The case study was qualitative and longitudinal, conducted over 18-months and methodologies included ethnographic observations, child photo-elicitation focus groups (with 11 Year 6 children) and three adult interviews. Findings demonstrated that over primary–secondary school transition children with SEMH difficulties (a) negotiate significant structural changes in support (often unanticipated) and (b) need to feel a sense of safety and belonging. To manage this effectively, transition provision for children with SEMH difficulties needs to consider their short-term emotional well-being whilst still in primary school, in addition to their long-term well-being looking ahead to secondary school. Greater collaboration and communication across schools and stakeholders can help ensure children receive continuity in standards and support.     

‘And what language do you speak at home?’ Ethnocentrism and cultural openness in teacher–parent interactions in disadvantaged and ethnically segregated schools

ABSTRACT

This article, based on a deep ethnography in schools located in a disadvantaged multicultural context in Geneva (Switzerland), questions the way in which the local school system and teachers comprehend the cultural diversity of students and their parents. Oscillating between recognition and assimilation, teachers publicly adhere to discourses that emphasise cultural diversity, while limiting its expression, especially when a student encounters school difficulties. Teachers’ meetings with parents are significantly influenced by the majority perspective, leaving the parents with little place to express their own needs. Nonetheless, within the conversation, some parents are able to assert practices that differ from those promoted by the host society. Ultimately, it seems that, in the absence of a multicultural position, teachers are limited to adopting hybrid practices that create unease and are evidence of limited understanding of multiculturality.     

The Story of Alpha – In Three Parts

The article presents a retrospective history of the ALPHA series of publications. This action-research project (later called "cooperative research") on literacy and basic education is divided into three periods of seven years each. The first one, "Construction", involved assisting the nascent literacy movement in Québec and Canada by given it a theoretical, critical and ideological basis. In the second period, "Ruptures", the project distanced itself somewhat from the literacy movement, whose success, according to the author, was dubious. During the same period ALPHA systematised its critical function and internationalised its field of research. The third phase, "Wanderings", involved a different research paradigm, in which the project explored basic education at community level in connection with local development initiatives. This biographical/autobiographical account ends with the last publication ALPHA 2000, evincing an ecological vision for alternative education and sustainable communities, partly documented in the Arab countries.     

Memory and Executive Functioning in 12‐Year‐Old Children With a History of Institutional Rearing

We examined visual recognition memory and executive functioning (spatial working memory [SWM], spatial planning, rule learning, and attention shifting) in 12‐year‐olds (n = 150) who participated in the Bucharest Early Intervention Project, a randomized controlled trial of foster care for institutionally reared children. Similar to prior reports at 8 years of age, institutionally reared children showed significant deficits in visual recognition memory and SWM. Deficits in attention shifting and rule learning were also apparent at this time point. These data suggest that early experiences continue to shape the development of memory, learning, and executive functioning processes in preadolescence, which may explain broader cognitive and learning difficulties commonly associated with severe early life neglect.     

Beyond the Tyranny of the Real: Revisiting Burke's Pentad as Research Method for Professional Communication

This article answers Carl Hemdl's call for furthering critical approaches to research in professional communication by forwarding Kenneth Burke's concepts of symbolic action, dramatism, and the pentad. This article illustrates, through an analysis of data gathered in a case study of technical writers, how Burke provides us with tools that can produce more varied terministic screens for how critical researchers conceptualize, interpret, and analyze workplace communication.     

The Relations between Frontal Brain Electrical Activity and Cognitive Development during Infancy

The relations between changes in the scalp-recorded electroencephalogram (EEG) and the development of the ability to perform successfully 2 cognitive tasks attributed to frontal lobe functioning were examined in 13 infants from 7 to 12 months of age. Infants successful in performing the A-not-B task with increasingly longer delays across the second half of the first year of life showed changes in power in scalp-recorded brain electrical activity in the frontal region and an increase in anterior/posterior EEG coherence. Infants with rapid mastery of object retrieval did not differ in frontal EEG development from infants who exhibited the normal developmental progression in object retrieval performance. In a task examining inhibition of reaching to a novel toy, there were no differences in frontal EEG as a function of performance. Results from a cross-sectional sample revealed similar findings. These data confirm work with nonhuman primates on the importance of maturation of frontal cortex in the successful performance on certain tasks (A-not-B), but do not confirm nonhuman primate data on the importance of frontal cortex for other tasks (object retrieval). The data also suggest that the electroencephalogram may be useful as a noninvasive measure of central nervous system development during the first year of life.