A positive approach to discipline in an early childhood setting

Sit Down! shouts Judy, with more than a trace of frustration in her voice. She is trying to maintain control of a group of preschoolers who are none too interested in the lesson she has worked so hard to prepare. Jonathan, if you won't join the circle you'll have to sit in the time-out chair, she states with determination.Marianne Modica is Program Coordinator for the Calvary Christian Academy and Happy Day Child Care Center in Wayne, NJ.     

Multiple determinants of caregiver behavior in child care centers

In this study of the multiple determinants of professional caregiving, 237 caregivers (age range: 18–56 years) from 64 Dutch child care centers were extensively observed during their interactions with the children (0–4 years) in their usual care group. The choice of potential determinants of the caregiving quality was guided by Belsky's [Belsky, J. (1984). The determinants of parenting: A process model. Child Development, 55, 83–96] model of the determinants of parenting. Consistent with Belsky's model, quality of caregiving was found to be multiply determined by characteristics of the caregiver, the children and the caregiving context. More specifically, lower-quality care was provided by younger caregivers, to younger children, and by caregivers reporting higher physical occupational workloads. The differences between the participating child care centers proved to explain more variance in the quality of professional caregiving than the differences between the individual caregivers.     

The Possibilities and Potential of Transnational History: A Response to Kazamias’ Call for Historical Research

This article provides background on Kazamias’ historical comparative education work. Transnational history as means to respond to Kazamias’ call to “reinvent the historical” is introduced. The article demonstrates how the logics of transnational history differ markedly from the logics of comparison and transfer. The argument advanced is in favor of educational histories of the present, informed by transnational approaches of the past, not as a complement to comparative methodologies, but as a replacement of them.     

Children, Families and Change: International Perspectives

This special issue draws from several disciplines, including early childhood care and education, social and family policy, and economics to examine global trends affecting children and their families in rapidly changing environments. Authors' and guest editors' experiences and data drawn from ten countries help frame issues of importance to early childhood researchers, educators, policy-makers, and advocates. As the end of the century approaches, such cross-national perspectives on issues affecting the lives of children and families become increasingly relevant to our field. The introduction provides several contextual and theoretical frameworks through which to make connections between the articles in this special issue.     

The Development of Children's Beliefs about Social and Biological Aspects of Gender Differences

2 studies examined children's beliefs about the origins of gender differences and addressed 2 main questions: (a) What age-related changes are there in children's beliefs about the contributions of nature and nurture to the development of gender roles? and (b) Do children differentiate between aspects of gender roles that adults believe to be more biologically determined and those they believe to be more socially influenced? 160 4- to 10-year-olds and 32 adults participated in Study 1. Participants were told about a child raised with only opposite-sex individuals and were asked whether the child would grow up to possess a series of gender-stereotyped, biological, and control properties. Until age 9 or 10, children believed that gender-stereotyped properties would develop in an infant regardless of the social context of upbringing. Study 2 provides evidence that children were not merely reporting stereotypical category associations. These studies suggest that young children may have an early bias to view gender categories as predictive of essential, underlying similarities between members, but later come to acknowledge the role of other causal mechanisms (e.g., the social environment) in shaping how category members develop.     

Cortisol levels of caregivers in child care centers as related to the quality of their caregiving

The present study examined whether stress in professional caregivers – as reflected in salivary cortisol levels – is related to the quality of their caregiving behavior. The 221 professional female caregivers in 64 child care centers were observed in three different situations and saliva samples were taken three times during the morning. Results showed that higher levels of cortisol, particularly at the beginning of the workday, predicted lower-quality caregiver behavior beyond the contribution of three other predictors, namely a higher self-reported physical workload, more children under age two in the care group, and lower caregiver age. Contrary to the expectation, higher cortisol levels did not mediate the relation between higher self-reported physical workload and more children under age two on the one hand and lower-quality caregiving behavior on the other.     

Keys to promote good practices in open and distance learning by a TECCC Approach (Training Embedded Coached Course Construction): illustrations through a Postgraduate Degree and an Annual Competitive Call

In Europe, one of the current challenges is to reach a critical mass of quality Open and Distance Learning (ODL) courses, in order to allow for dissemination of best practices in local languages. After having proposed a definition of what we mean by quality in ODL, this article presents two parallel initiatives contributing to such an ODL deployment. It then presents the LabSET ‘Keys’ to implement a TECCC approach (Training Embedded Coached Course Construction). It underlines the commonalities between the two initiatives presented, deepening and illustrating each pedagogical principle (the ‘Keys’). Building on more than 30 courses recently developed following the TECCC approach, the article tackles some of the challenges faced by the support to trainers aiming at using the Web as an instructional tool to facilitate learner‐centred practices.Clés pour de bonnes pratiques dans l'enseignement (ODL/EOD) par une approche TECCC (Training Embedded Coached Course Construction): illustration à partir d'un diplôme post-graduate et d'une compétition annuelle. En Europe, l'un des défis actuels est le développement d'une masse critique de cours à distance de qualité qui permette la dissémination de bonnes pratiques en langues locales. Après avoir proposé une définition de ce que nous entendons par « cours à distance de qualité », cet article présente deux initiatives parallèles qui contribuent à un tel déploiement d'enseignement à distance. Il présente ensuite les « Clés » LabSET pour la mise en place d'une approche TECCC (enseignement inclus dans une construction de cours étroitement accompagnée). Il souligne les points communs entre les initiatives décrites en détaillant et illustrant chacun des principes pédagogiques sous-jacents (les « Clés »). S'appuyant sur plus de 30 cours développés jusqu'ici par cette approche TECCC, l'article tente de cerner quelques-uns des défis que représente le support aux enseignants qui souhaitent utiliser le Web comme un outil qui facilite un enseignement centré sur l'apprenant.Chiffres, um gute ODL-Praxis ('Open and Distance Learning') durch einen TECCC-Ansatz zu fördern (in Übungen eingebettete unterstützende Kurskonstruktion): Erklärungen durch einen graduierten Grad und einen jährlichen Wettbewerbsaufruf. In Europa ist eine der gegenwärtigen Herausforderungen, eine kritische Masse von qualitativ hochwertigen 'Open and Distance Learning (ODL)' Kursen zu erreichen, um beispielhafte Kurse auch in der jeweiligen lokalen Sprache verbreiten zu können. Nach einem Vorschlag zur Definition von 'Qualit¨at' in ODL werden in dem Artikel zwei entsprechende parallele ODL-Initiativen vorgestellt, anschließend die LabSET 'Schlüssel' zum Einbau eines TECCC-Ansatzes(s.o.). Er unterstreicht die Gemeinsamkeiten zwischen den zwei vorgestellten Initiativen, dabei das jedwede pädagogische Prinzip vertiefend und erläuternd. Auf der Grundlage von mittlerweile mehr als 30 Kursen, die vor kurzem entwickelt worden sind und dem TECCC Ansatz folgen, greift der Artikel einige der Herausforderungen heraus, die sich aus der Unterstützung für die Trainer ergeben, die darauf abzielen, das Web als ein Unterrichtswerkzeug zu verwenden, um lernerzentrierte übungen zu erleichtern.     

Applying contextual interference to the Pawlata roll

Contextual interference is manipulated by changing the practice order of a number of similar motor tasks, so that the learning context of each interferes with that of the other. The effect has been found to generalize to baseball batting, badminton serving and volleyball skills. The present study examined whether this practice technique could be applied to a Pawlata roll in a kayak. The study was further motivated by the fact that many instructors in Britain currently advocate learning the Pawlata roll in one direction only to a criterion of accuracy, thereafter transferring to the opposite direction. Contextual interference literature predicts that skill retention would be better served by practising on alternate sides. Accordingly, 16 undergraduate students with no kayaking experience were randomly allocated to either a low contextual interference group, which followed U'ren's (1993) recommendations, or a high contextual interference group, which practised the skill on alternate sides. The high contextual interference group took less time to acquire the skill, and were also quicker to achieve successful performance in retention (full roll) and transfer (half roll) tests, regardless of the direction of the roll, 1 week later. The time savings in practice were not expected, as acquisition under high contextual interference was improved rather than impaired. This finding suggests that bilateral transfer was increased by randomizing practice. These results are worthy of further investigation, in that they suggest that the recommended training methods may not be optimal.