Sociocultural Perspectives on Transition to School from Pacific Islands Early Childhood Centres

Sociocultural theories of learning and development underpin a number of studies of young children's experiences as they move from early childhood education centres to school settings. This paper summarises research designed to investigate children's transition to primary school from Pacific early childhood centres in New Zealand. The study records experiences of transition to school of families from each of five Pacific groups (Cook Islands, Niue, Samoa, Tokelau, and Tonga). The emphasis is on language and children's other experiences as they move from Pacific Islands early childhood centres into English-language primary schools. Findings from in-depth interviews with children, parents, early childhood teachers, and school teachers are summarised, and brief reference is also made to analyses of the content of the 19 participating schools' charters. The paper draws on sociocultural perspectives to comment on aspects of facilitating transition. Les the´ories socioculturelles d'apprentissage et de de´veloppement soutiennent un certain nombre d'e´tudes sur les expe´riences des petits enfants pendant qu'ils se de´placent des centres d'e´ducation de la petite enfance a ¤ un cadre d'e´cole. Cet article re´sume la recherche conc¸ue pour e´tudier la transition des enfants a ¤ l'e´cole primaire des centres d'e´ducation de la petite enfance d'iles Pacifiques en Nouvelle-Ze´lande. Cette e´tude enregistre des expe´riences de transition a ¤ l'e´cole des familles de chacun de cinq groupes Pacifiques (iles Cook, Nioue´, Samoa, Toke´lao, et Tonga). L'emphase est sur la langue et les autres expe´riences des enfants pendant qu'ils se de´placent des centres d'e´ducation de la petite enfance d'iles Pacifiques dans les e´coles primaires de langue anglaise. Des re´sultats des entrevues de´taille´es avec des enfants, avec des parents, avec des enseignants spe´cialise´s dans l'e´tude la petite enfance, et des enseignants d'e´cole sont re´sume´s, et on fait une re´fe´rence bre ¤ ve aux analyses du contenu des chartes des 19 e´coles qui participent. L'article tire sur des perspectives socioculturelles pour faire des observations sur des aspects de la facilitation de la transition. Las teori´as socio-culturales del aprendizaje y el desarrollo apuntalan un nu´mero de estudios sobre las experiencias de nin ¨ os pequen ¨ os cuando pasan de los centros de educacio´n para la primera infancia al medio de la escuela. Este ensayo resume la investigacio ´n disen ¨ ada para investigar la transicio´n de los nin ¨ os a la escuela primaria de centros preescolares del Paci´fico en Nueva Zelanda. El estudio registra experiencias de la transicio´n a la escuela de familias de cada uno de cinco grupos del Paci´fico (islas Cook, Niue, Samoa, Tokelau, y Tonga). El e´nfasis esta´ en el lenguaje y las otras experiencias por las que pasan los nin ¨ os al desplazarse de los centros pre-escolares de las Islas del Paci´fico a las escuelas primarias de lengua inglesa. Se resumen aqui´ los resultados de entrevistas detalladas con los nin ¨ os, los padres, los maestros de la primera infancia, los ensen ¨ antes de escuela y se hace breve referencia a los ana´lisis del contenido de los estatutos de las 19 escuelas que participan. El ensayo utiliza las perspectivas socioculturales para comentar sobre los aspectos de la facilitacio´n de esta transicio´n.     

The Interrelation of First-Year College Students’ Critical Thinking Disposition, Perceived Academic Control, and Academic Achievement

While a great deal of research has examined students’ critical thinking skills, less is known about students’ tendencies to use these skills. Specifically, little is known about what factors contribute to students developing a disposition to think critically or what impact this disposition has on college students’ academic achievement. Perceived control, which has been found to be an important factor in college students’ academic success, may be an important factor in developing this disposition. The current longitudinal study examined the reciprocal-effects between critical thinking disposition and perceived academic control, and their comparative influences on academic achievement in 1196 first-year college students. Using a two-wave, two-variable cross-lag structural equation model, a reciprocal-effect was found whereby students’ perceived academic control predicted their subsequent critical thinking disposition, and students’ critical thinking disposition predicted their subsequent perceived academic control. Furthermore, after controlling for high school academic performance, perceived academic control was found to have a stronger impact on students’ GPAs than critical thinking disposition. Implications of fostering a critical thinking disposition and perceived academic control among college students are discussed.

Examining Rater Effects on the Classroom Assessment Scoring System

The Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS; Pianta et al., 2008) is a popular measure of teacher–child interactions. Despite its prominence, CLASS scores have fairly weak relations with various child outcomes (e.g., Zaslow et al., 2010). One potential reason for these findings could be systematic differences in observer severity. As such, the purpose of this study was to explore the scope and impact of rater effects on CLASS scores with a sample of 77 teachers who were rated by 13 observers. Results indicated significant rater effects across all three CLASS domains. Adjusting for these effects, however, did not improve relations between CLASS scores and child outcomes. Implications for the CLASS and related assessments are discussed.     

Attributional (explanatory) thinking about failure in new achievement settings

Attributional (explanatory) thinking involves the appraisal of factors that contribute to performance and is instrumental to motivation and goal striving. Little is understood, however, concerning attributional thinking when multiple causes are involved in the transition to new achievement settings. Our study examined such complex attributional thinking in the transition from high school to university, a shift from familiar to novel learning environments, in the context of Weiner’s attribution theory (1972, 1985, 1995, 2006). At the start of the academic year, students rated the extent to which each of six common attributions contributed to poor performance to ascertain their relative importance to each other. A fixed order of attributions was reported as contributing to poor performance that was identical across five independent cohorts of first-year students (effort, test difficulty, strategy, professor quality, ability, luck, respectively). Cluster analysis revealed that students differed in combining these attributions into clusters suggesting diminished or enhanced control over poor performance. These differences in attribution clusters were associated with cognitive and affective outcomes at the start of Term 1, and with course grades and GPA at the end of Term 2. Student differences in complex attributional thinking are discussed in terms of transitions to new achievement settings.     

Future Avenues for Educational Neuroscience From the Perspective of EARLI SIG 22 Conference Attendees

The 2018 EARLI SIG 22 Neuroscience and Education conference aimed to facilitate the discussion and sharing of research and translation in educational neuroscience. In this article, we first describe and evaluate the approach taken in organizing the conference, which followed recommendations from the educational neuroscience community. We then summarize responses to a survey that captured delegates' visions of research and translation, their intentions following the conference, and the support they need moving forward. From 88 completed surveys, we first note a common desire for more discussions and collaborations across disciplines, and between teachers and researchers. We highlight particularly novel ideas that are not frequently addressed in the community so far, including discussion of ethical issues, inclusion of learners in research development, open resources for teacher training in neuroscience, and mentoring networks for community members. In sharing these ideas, we highlight future directions for the field as it continues to develop.     

What to do when feeling bored?: Students' strategies for coping with boredom

The goal of this study was to explore different strategies for coping with boredom. A questionnaire was developed targeting two dimensions of coping, namely approach versus avoidance oriented coping and cognitive versus behavioral oriented coping. First, based on the responses of 976 students (51% female) from grades 5 to 10, the structure of the coping with boredom scales was verified by confirmatory factor analysis. In a second step, 3 different boredom-coping groups were identified by latent profile analysis. These three groups were named Reappraisers, Criticizers, and Evaders. Third, differences between these groups concerning their frequency of experiencing boredom, their academic achievement, and other emotional, motivational, and cognitive aspects of academic achievement situations were analyzed. Relative to the other 2 groups, Reappraisers preferred cognitive-approach strategies, were less frequently bored, and experienced the most positive pattern of emotional, motivational, and cognitive outcomes. Finally, methodological and educational implications and directions for future research are discussed.