Observing Children in German Daycare Centres: Practitioners’ attitudes and practice

Systematic child observation has a long tradition in early childhood education, and it has been used for diverse educational goals. Cross‐cultural comparisons show that its importance varies across different countries and educational settings. These differences may be relevant for international cooperation. In the context of a project implementing Belgian observation and assessment scales in German kindergartens, we studied German practitioners' attitudes towards systematic observation (prior to the project). The most significant overall finding is the low priority that is attributed to systematic observation both in training and practice. These findings are related to some traditions and ideologies of German ‘kindergarten culture’. A concluding section discusses the role of structured child observation methods in professional development.     

The German dual system of initial vocational education and training and its potential for transfer to Asia

Germany has a “dual system” of initial vocational education and training, one that other countries admire and would like to adopt. Can it hand this model over to them? This article argues that doing so will require far more than a simple process of copying. Instead, any transfer must reflect the existing conditions in the country adopting the system, and must be adapted to its unique social, cultural, and economic objectives. In addition, though the dual system can serve as a model, no other country can implement the dual system as a whole, or components one by one. Instead, it must use five constitutive elements in order to transfer the dual spirit of the German model appropriately. The article ends by describing some considerations that apply to the transfer process and reviews some German projects that transferred the system to countries in Asia.     

Quotenregelungen im Universit?tsgesetz - Eine verfassungsrechtliche und rechtspolitische Bewertung

Die trotz rechtlicher Gleichstellung bestehenden faktischen Ungleichgewichte zwischen den Geschlechtern in Bezug auf die Verteilung von Arbeitspl?tzen bzw Leitungsfunktionen führten im Bereich des ?ffentlichen Dienstes zur Einführung von Geschlechterquoten. Für die Universit?ten sehen das Universit?tsgesetz (UG) bzw das Bundes-Gleichbehandlungsgesetz (B-GlBG) die bevorzugte Aufnahme von Frauen einerseits in bestimmten Universit?tsgremien, andererseits bei der Besetzung von Stellen und bei Bef?rderungen innerhalb der universit?ren Strukturen vor. Der folgende Beitrag versucht die verfassungsrechtlichen Fragestellungen (Vereinbarkeit mit Gleichheitssatz, Bestimmtheitsgrundsatz) im Zusammenhang mit den Quotenregelungen des UG bzw des B-GlBG in concreto aufzuarbeiten bzw allgemein zur Frage der Gerechtigkeit und der rechtspolitischen Notwendigkeit von Quotenregelungen Stellung zu nehmen.     

Formatively assessing prospective teachers’ skills in leading mathematics discussions

Educational Studies in Mathematics - Mathematics discussions are important for helping students to develop conceptual understanding and to learn disciplinary norms and practices. In recent years,...     

The Influence of Adult and Peer Role Models on Children’ and Adolescents’ Sharing Decisions

This study explores how the age (adult vs. peer) and the suggestion (to be fair vs. unfair) of models affect the sharing decisions of 9‐ and 12‐year‐olds (N = 365) from Italy and Singapore. Results demonstrate a developmental shift in the influence of models on children's and adolescents’ sharing decisions in both cultures: Children's decisions were more affected by an adult model's suggestion than by that of a peer model, whereas the opposite was true for adolescents. Regardless of the models’ influence, participants considered equal sharing to be the fair choice and reported being happier when their sharing decisions were generous. Our results highlight the crucial importance of social and developmental factors for the promotion of fairness judgments and emotions.