Moral Education in Early Childhood: The Limits of Constructivism

Broadly speaking there are two polar views on moral education - traditionalism and progressivism. Traditionalists tend to believe that moral values are eternal and universal. They prioritize such “hard” virtues as discipline, courage, restraint, and obedience, and believe in directive behavioral instruction with meaningful consequences for rule-following and rule-breaking. Progressives, the dominant voice in early childhood education, believe that moral values are variable, dependent on social context. They prioritize such “soft” virtues as unselfishness, caring, generosity, and tolerance, and believe virtues are acquired in a “sociomoral environment” of nurturing adults who stress cooperative interchanges and minimal authority. While most programs, despite their “tilt”, acknowledge the need for a balance, they do not specify criteria for making the pedagogical decisions. Without such explicit criteria, a “strong” version of constructivism may demand more of children than they can deliver given their developmental limitations. Two criteria are suggested for determining when traditional methods may usefully supplement constructivist ones: First, one must decide if the matter at stake is a bottom-line non-negotiable value such that a child's dissension is unacceptable. Second, one must determine if the preschooler, given her cognitive egocentricity, moral realism, and “romancing of reality” can make a rational (decentered) choice. There follows a more detailed discussion of blended approaches (traditional and constructivist) within the overall goal of helping children build a moral identity.     

Use of Louisiana's Digital Cultural Heritage by Wikipedians

Analysis of how cultural heritage institutions' (CHI) digital assets are being cited on Wikipedia can be beneficial to understanding user needs and interests as well as priorities for collection development and digitization. This case study details an analysis of Wikipedia links to online resources from Louisiana cultural heritage institutions in order to determine what types of cultural heritage resources users are citing on Wikipedia, what is the content of the Wikipedia articles with Louisiana CHI citations, and how this can influence the work of CHI. The results of the study include findings that digital library items and archival finding aids are the most cited sources from cultural heritage institutions on Wikipedia and are particularly popular for Louisiana-specific Wikipedia articles on society and the social sciences and culture and the arts. Some possible strategies for determining digitization and collection development priorities based on these findings are also detailed.     

Prediction: A six-year follow-up

The prereading and reading performance of a group of 370 predominantly Hispanic, bilingual public school children was followed for six years. The aim of the study was to compare the factorial make-up and predictive validity of tests used in the current research with findings from a previous study. The early study had followed the children from the end of their kindergarten year until the end of second grade. For purposes of the present study a 13-test predictor battery was administered to the children at the beginning of their first-grade year. This battery included a number of measures used in the early study, among them a 5-test Screening Index developed in the course of that study. Records were obtained of the follow-up children’s 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th grade reading test scores. Factor analysis of the pool of 13 predictor tests showed a two-cluster battery structure. These clusters closely resembled two of the four factors defined in the early study. As used with the group of bilingual children, the Screening Index misclassified many of the failing readers, as well as others who went ahead to read at grade level. The Screening Index quite accurately identified, across grades, children who eventually read well. A number of predictor tests administered at beginning of first grade continued to show significant correlations with reading at all grade levels. The consistent contribution of the predictor tests with reading points to their continuing usefulness as a point of departure for assessing children’s readiness to read. The investigation was conducted by the staff of the de Hirsch-Robinson Reading Clinic, Department of Pediatric Psychiatry, Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center, and the New York State Psychiatric Institute. The work has been supported by generous grants from a number of private donors, among them The Beinecke Foundation, The Morgan Family Fund, The Lita Annenberg-Hazen Charitable Trust, Mr. Seymour Milstein of the Milstein Family Foundation, and Mrs. William Carey.     

Multidimensional assessment of resilience in mothers who are child sexual abuse survivors

OBJECTIVE: There has been relatively little attention given to positive adaptation following childhood sexual abuse (CSA), and typically such resilience has been explored primarily in the intrapersonal domain. This study explored questions about later resilience following CSA within a multidimensional framework by assessing resilience across intrapersonal, interpersonal, and intrafamilial domains. METHOD: This community sample consisted of 79 mothers with a history of CSA who had a child living at home with them. Participants completed four outcome measures (Center for Epidemiologic Studies--Depression Scale, Parenting Stress Index [PSI] Health Scale, PSI Parenting Competence Scale, and a measure of marital satisfaction). Risk and protective factors examined in relation to outcome included mother's age, socioeconomic status, severity of the CSA experience, coping strategy (avoidance, seeking social support, and problem solving), child characteristics, and spousal/partner support. RESULTS: Results indicated that when multiple adaptational domains were assessed, mothers showed discrepancies in how adequately they functioned across domains. While severity of the CSA experience was only weakly associated with outcome, use of avoidant coping emerged as a significant risk factor and was strongly and consistently associated with negative outcome across domains. Spousal/partner support was a strong protective factor and buffered the relationship between depressive symptoms and parenting competence. Difficult child characteristics were significantly associated with mothers' perceptions of physical health and parenting competence. CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest the importance of comprehensive multimethod assessments of resilience and extend the knowledge of factors associated with positive outcome. The results highlight the need for further research exploring current contextual risk and protective factors associated with resilience in each domain.     

Discovering democracy in Australia

Discovering Democracy is designed to give tomorrow’s Australian citizens the knowledge and skills they will need in order to know what values and institutions they can and must change and which should endure. They will know how their democratic system behaves. They will be confident in their ability to act within it as citizens. If it is successful, Australia will not need another public education campaign before Australians celebrate their next civic anniversary.     

Self‐reports in Research on High Ability

Self‐reports are particularly suitable for research with the gifted, who are often self‐aware and articulate. By this means, features which could otherwise be missed by standardised tests and observations can add greatly both to the richness of the data and to their validity. However, because of the great variety, unexpectedness and complexity of responses, there are problems of collection and analysis, such as distortion by reporter or researcher. Verbal protocol analysis is suggested as one solution. A 14‐year study in Britain using self‐reports, along with a battery of standardised tests, compared gifted and (otherwise matched) nongifted youngsters (N= 210). This supplied information, unobtainable by other means, on, for instance, the subjective aspects of academic acceleration, teacher‐pupil relationships, the effects of labelling, and intellectual strategies of the gifted. These insights are valuable for care of the gifted and for policy making.     

Waterplay

Waterplay is enjoyed by everyone, from birth to death. The doctor prescribes daily baths for the baby not only for cleanliness but because it is a soothing experience for both parent and child. In general, this time is one of the most enjoyable periods in the young parents' day. When the baby is old enough to be put into a small tub, patting the water and watching a floating object are quite enjoyable while being bathed.Joan M. Hildebrand is a Policy, Assessment and Training Specialist in the Maryland Department of Human Resources. She also serves as an Adjunct Faculty Member of Anne Arundel Community College.     

The development and validation of the Interpersonal Support in Physical Activity Consultations Observational Tool

This study describes the development and psychometric characteristics of an observational instrument that examines four aspects of interpersonal support (or lack of) provided during physical activity (PA) promotion consultations (i.e., Autonomy Support, Involvement, Structure and Interpersonal Control), as identified by Self-determination Theory (SDT). The reliability and validity of the Interpersonal Support in Physical Activity Consultations Observational Tool (ISPACOT) were examined within an exploratory randomised control trial. Recorded consultations (N = 42) conducted by qualified PA advisors (N = 14) at 13 leisure centres across the West Midlands (UK) were rated. Intra-class correlation coefficients (ICC) indicated moderate to high inter-rater reliability for overall interpersonal support (0.80), and the Autonomy Support (0.74), Involvement (0.73) and Structure (0.91) dimensions, but low reliability for Interpersonal Control (0.35). The advisors, who conducted PA promotion consultations that were rated as low in their interpersonally supportive features, were perceived by their clients as being less supportive (F(1,10) = 5.0, p <.05). Ratings on the ISPACOT differentiated advisors who were trained in SDT principles and those who were not. Overall, the findings provided preliminary evidence for the reliability and convergent validity of the ISPACOT.     

Unemployment,Apprenticeships and Training: does it pay to stay on at school?

Data from the National Child Development Study are used to compare the progress up to age 23 of young people who reached 16 in March 1974 and who left full time education at 16, 17 or 18. Later leavers had higher unemployment rates on first entering the labour market because of rising national unemployment, but in the long term had a clear advantage. More significantly, those who left at 17 or 18 with qualifications no better than those of minimum age leavers suffered no long term disadvantage in comparison with the latter, despite their loss of potential work experience, and some groups had lower unemployment rates in the long term than minimum age leavers with equally good qualifications. Apprenticeships were more common among later leavers than expected, and later leavers compared favourably with early leavers in terms of other forms of in‐work training. It is concluded that the ‘non‐academic sixth’ could have a useful role alongside YTS.