Preschool teachers' and students' attitudes towards playful preschool activities: a cross-cultural comparison between Germany and the Netherlands

This study compares the attitudes of preschool teachers and students between the Netherlands and Germany towards typical play activities in preschool. The data were responses to short video clips of preschool children's play and elicited the respondents’ attitudes through questionnaires. The data were analysed by classifying the written responses into four categories. The frequencies of the categories were tested with MANOVA with regard to expert–novice position and country. Differences between professionals and novices were found, and for professionals only, the four categories were interrelated, showing a stronger holistic view of early childhood activities. Differences were also found between the countries, and two of the categories seemed especially sensitive to cultural differences. We discuss how reflection on activities can add to a higher degree of professionalism, as well as a more profound understanding of ways to improve preschool teacher training.     

A cultural lens on Yucatec Maya families’ COVID-19 experiences

Health guidance during the COVID-19 pandemic led families around the world to spend more time isolated together, disrupting leisure activities, schooling, social interactions, and family work (UNICEF, 2021). Using the lens of Yucatec Maya families’ cultural values and practices, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 18 Yucatec Maya rural women in Mexico (M_age = 32; and for comparison, 13 middle-class European-American women (M_age = 41)), with children 6–7 years old, to analyze families’ experiences during the pandemic. Faced with the same isolation as in the United States, our exploratory analysis revealed Maya families experienced external stresses but at the same time were generally comfortable with their children's everyday activities and their social-emotional well-being, illuminating consequences of the communities’ cultural theories about development.     

Moral perception, situatedness, and learning to listen

This article examines the moral dimensions of listening, paying special attention to the ways in which individuals’ particular situation bears on their perception. Listening, on the account offered here, is a moral endeavor, with consequences for the listener, as well as for those listened to.     

Delivery Method: Does it Matter? A Study of the North Carolina Developmental Mathematics Redesign

In 2009, the North Carolina Community College System (NCCCS) began the process of redesigning developmental mathematics (DMA) courses. The first classes were offered in 2012 with final state implementation in fall 2013. The purpose of this study was to examine the subsequent gateway course success rates achieved by former DMA students in relation to the delivery method (i.e., teacher-centered, student-centered, and computer-centered) used in the redesigned North Carolina DMA courses. Students included in this study took a gateway math course and a developmental math course during the same or previous academic year. Students who participated in student-centered and computer-centered instruction in their DMA course had a statistically significant pass rate in subsequent gateway courses compared with students receiving teacher-centered instruction. Along with the findings, this paper discusses considerations for redesign, including the choice of delivery methods and instructional techniques, and recommendations for further research.     

An analysis of verbal language in Saturday morning children's programs

Content analyses of program variables and verbal content features were conducted on Saturday morning children's programming. Three tools were developed for the study which assessed general context features, supportive and defensive language, and other verbal language features. The results describe the verbal climate of Saturday morning programs.     

Forms of support and challenges to developing international-mindedness: a comparative case study within a national and an international school in Turkey

ABSTRACT

This paper uses mixed methods to explore perceptions of international-mindedness within two case study schools in Istanbul, Turkey: a national school with mostly Turkish students and an international school with students from many nationalities. Using a conceptual framework developed by an international education programme, the authors critically analyse pillars of international-mindedness: multilingualism, intercultural understanding, and global engagement. Findings reveal that the national school was striving to overcome limitations of homogeneity, while the international school struggled to address its assumptions that a heterogeneous population alone would be enough to encourage intercultural understanding. Neither school had developed clear conceptual links among multilingualism, intercultural understanding, and global engagement. Thus, deliberate efforts are needed to provide students with experiences that foster international-mindedness. Other researchers and educators can use this framework and associated methods to examine how international-mindedness is implemented in different schools in other regions of the world.     

Preschoolers Continually Adjust Their Epistemic Trust Based on an Informant's Ongoing Accuracy

Children aged 4–7 years (N = 120) played four rounds of a find‐the‐sticker game. For each round, an informant looked into two cups and made a claim about which cup held a sticker. At the end of each round, children guessed the sticker's location, and then the sticker's actual location was revealed. For three of the rounds, the informant accurately reported the sticker's location. But critically, for one round—either Round 1, 2, or 3—she was inaccurate. Children continually adjusted their trust in the informant as they obtained more information about her accuracy. Relations between the informant's pattern of accuracy and children's trust were robust, neither mediated nor moderated by children inferences about her intent or traits.