6- and 8-year-olds’ performance evaluations: Do they differ between self and unknown others?

The current study investigated kindergarteners and second graders’ ability to monitor and evaluate their own and a virtual peer’s performance in a paired-associate learning task. Participants provided confidence judgments (CJs) for their own responses and performance-based judgments (judgments provided after receiving feedback on their performance) for both their own and a virtual peer’s responses. For the performance-based judgments, children were confronted with their own or the peer’s answer as well as the correct answer. Additionally, participants were asked to credit their own and the peer’s correct and incorrect answers while facing feedback. Results indicate an age-related progression in metacognitive monitoring skills, with second graders differentiating more strongly in their confidence judgments between correct and incorrect responses compared to kindergarteners. Regarding performance-based judgments, children of both age groups provided higher judgments for correctly compared to incorrectly recognized items as well as for their own responses in comparison to the responses of the unknown child. Similarly, when crediting, participants of both age groups gave more credits for correct recognition than for incorrect recognition and for their own responses than for the peer’s responses. The significant interaction between age group and recognition accuracy for the crediting shows that second graders gave more credits for correctly recognized items while kindergarteners gave more credits for incorrect answers than the older children – primarily for their own incorrect answers. In conclusion, the study provides new insights into 6- and 8-year-olds’ evaluations of their own and an unknown child’s performance in a paired-associate learning task by showing that children of both age groups generally judged and credited responses in their own favor. These results add to our understanding of biases in children’s performance evaluations, including metacognitive judgments and judgments provided after receiving feedback.     

Early Full-Time Day Care,Mother–Child Attachment,and Quality of the Home Environment in Chile: Preliminary Findings

Research Findings: Two longitudinal studies are reported examining the effects of full-time day care in Mapuche and non-Mapuche families in Chile. First, the Magellan-Leiden Childcare Study (MLCS) used a sample of 95 mothers with children younger than 1 year old (n = 36 in day care). Second, we partially cross-validated our results in a large and representative sample of 10,723 mothers and their children from the Chilean Encuesta Longitudinal de la Primera Infancia (Early Childhood Longitudinal Survey). In both studies, the quality of care for children provided at home was measured with the Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment. In the MLCS study, additional indicators of the mother–child relationship were measured. Day care was not negatively associated with the mother–child relationship and maternal sensitivity, compared to maternal care, or with the quality of the home environment. Positive changes in attachment security were found in Mapuche children who attended day care centers. Practice or Policy: We were able to confirm that type of care was not differentially associated with quality of the home environment.     

Educational forms of initiation in mathematical culture

A review of literature shows that during the history of mathematics education at school the answer of what counts as ‘real mathematics’ varies. An argument will be given here that defines as ‘real mathematics’ any activity of participating in a mathematical practice. The acknowledgement of the discursive nature of school practices requires an in-depth analysis of the notion of classroom discourse. For a further analysis of this problem Bakhtin’s notion of speech genre is used. The genre particularly functions as a means for the interlocutors for evaluating utterances as a legitimate part of an ongoing mathematical discourse. The notion of speech genre brings a cultural historical dimension in the discourse that is supposed to be acted out by the teacher who demonstrates the tools, rules, and norms that are passed on by a mathematical community. This has several consequences for the role of the teacher. His or her mathematical attitude acts out tendencies emerging from the history of the mathematical community (like systemacy, non-contradiction etc.) that subsequently can be imitated and appropriated by pupils in a discourse. Mathematical attitude is the link between the cultural historical dimension of mathematical practices and individual mathematical thinking.     

Preservice teachers’ perceptions of an ICT-rich learning environment: Development of an instrument

This article reports the development of an instrument to measure preservice teachers’ perceptions of the Study Landscape (SLS), which is an ICT-infused learning environment that encourages preservice teachers to direct their own learning to build a two-way relationship between theory and teaching practice. This study comprised a qualitative and quantitative part. Six factors derived from interviews with users formed the basis of the instrument: (1) Support of Learners’ Initiatives; (2) Support of Information Searches; (3) Support of Interaction; (4) Relationship with Fellow Students; (5) Relationship with Teacher Educators; and (6) Relationship with SLS Staff. Once developed, the questionnaire was responded to by 186 students. Analysis of the data supported five out of six factors.     

Source use and argumentation behavior in L1 and L2 writing: a within-writer comparison

The aim of this study was to test whether Cummins’ Linguistic Interdependence Hypothesis (LIH) might also apply to writing, by determining to what extent writers’ text quality, source use and argumentation behavior are related in L1 and L2, how effective writers’ behavior is and whether their L2 proficiency influenced the relations between them. To answer these questions, twenty students wrote four short argumentative source based essays each in L1 (Dutch) and four in L2 (English). A within-writer cross-linguistic comparison of their texts revealed that their L1 and L2 writing competencies appear to be related. Furthermore, writers’ source use behavior differed to some extent between languages, but the strong positive correlations found between source use features suggest that in most cases this was more a person than a language effect. Similarly, for argumentation behavior, results showed some learner specific features (e.g. inclusion of titles and reference lists), but differences between languages for others (e.g. the inclusion of both arguments and counter-arguments). Effects of the different source use and argumentation features studied on text quality were limited and no clear effect of L2 proficiency on writers’ behavior or their influence on text quality were found. Overall, in line with earlier research, these findings provide some additional support for Cummins’ LIH and the idea that writers might have a common underlying source for writing related knowledge and practices which they can apply in multiple languages.

     

Highbrows in University Education

Is it still possible to combine two programmes of study in higher education, and if so, what are the characteristics of these double‐students and what kind of obstacles do they face? In the Netherlands, about 10 percent of students in university education take two studies at the same time.

Different theoretical approaches offer hypotheses to explain the choice of students for a second study, compared to students who pursue the regular one‐study programme. Human capital as well as financial (socio‐economic) capital theory provides some insights in this choice process. Education programme‐related factors, as well as motivational and (social and academic) integration (Tinto, 1987 Tinto V 1987 Leaving College: Rethinking the Causes and Cures of Student Attrition Chicago The University of Chicago Press  [Google Scholar]) factors, will possibly be important determinants for pursuing one or two study programmes in higher education.     

Characterizing cross-professional collaboration in research and development projects in secondary education

Collaboration between practitioners and researchers can increasingly be observed in research and development (R&D) projects in secondary schools. This article presents an analysis of cross-professional collaboration between teachers, school leaders and educational researchers and/or advisers as part of R&D projects in terms of three dimensions: reasons for collaboration, the division of roles and tasks, and the communication structure. Data were collected in interviews with participants from 12 Dutch projects, from documents and from meetings with participants. The results show that the parties involved can have the same reasons for cross-professional collaboration but that the external educational experts may also have additional objectives. Roles and tasks were divided in different ways, depending on who directs and guides the research and development, and whether teachers were involved as teacher researchers in the project. The communication structure appeared to be linked to the division of roles and tasks, but also to the number of participants in the project. The three dimensions proved to be valuable viewpoints to study cross-professional collaboration in R&D projects in Dutch secondary education. Furthermore, we distinguished four types of cross-professional collaboration in R&D projects. These types differ in the extent to which the school or the external party direct and guide the project: (a) School-directed collaboration; (b) School- and researcher-directed collaboration; (c) School- and adviser-directed collaboration; (d) Researcher-directed collaboration. Our findings can support participants to consciously choose a particular type of cross-professional collaboration that fits their purposes and specific situation.     

Longing for a Better World: Hope in Professional Practices

ABSTRACT

Christians are called to be a witness to the coming of the Kingdom of God and to cultivate practices in which peace and justice may flourish. In order to serve God in their daily work, Christians are faced with situations that cause both hope and despair. In this article, we explore what the concept of hope means for the education of Christian professionals. How does hope help them to fulfill their professional duty, especially in situations in which perseverance and courage are needed? We first elaborate on what Snyder (1994 Snyder, C. R. (1994). The psychology of hope: You can get there from here. New York, NY: Free Press. [Google Scholar]), one of the founding fathers of the field of positive psychology, wrote about hope. However interesting Snyder's ideas may be, we contend that the project-based attitude to the future that guides his research does not help us to develop a full understanding of the ambiguities and urgencies of professional practice. According to the scholarship of Schön (1991 Schön, D. A. (1991). The reflective practitioner. How professionals think in action. Farnham, England: Ashgate. [Google Scholar]) and Bourdieu (1998 Bourdieu, P. (1998). Practical reason. On the theory of action. Cambridge, England: Polity Press. [Google Scholar]), hope has been described as the active anticipation of a future state of affairs. Because hope anticipates a reality that does not yet exist, it always is a risky enterprise. To use a colloquial expression, we can never be sure whether or not we are betting on the wrong horse. Kelsey (2009 Kelsey, D. H. (2009). Eccentric existence. A theological anthropology. Louisville, KY: WJK. [Google Scholar]) reflected on hope from a theological-anthropological perspective. He argued that hope is always a response to something that is eccentric to humankind. Professionals do not bring hope themselves, but rather orient themselves to something that transcends the horizon of human existence. From a Christian point of view, hope is grounded in the community with the living God.     

A randomized controlled trial of a home-visiting intervention aimed at preventing relationship problems in depressed mothers and their infants

This study examined the effect of a mother–baby intervention on the quality of mother–child interaction, infant–mother attachment security, and infant socioemotional functioning in a group of depressed mothers with infants aged 1–12 months. A randomized controlled trial compared an experimental group ( n = 35) receiving the intervention (8–10 home visits) with a control group ( n = 36) receiving parenting support by telephone. There were assessments pre, post, and follow-up after 6 months. The intervention had positive effects on the quality of mother–infant interaction. Infants in the experimental group had higher scores for attachment security and for one aspect of socioemotional functioning, namely, competence. The intervention proved successful in preventing deterioration of the quality of mother–child interaction.