Adolescent prosocial behavior: the role of self-processes and contextual cues

Peer- and teacher-reported prosocial behavior of 339 6th-grade (11-12 years) and 8th-grade (13-14 years) students was examined in relation to prosocial goals, self-processes (reasons for behavior, empathy, perspective taking, depressive affect, perceived competence), and contextual cues (expectations of peers and teachers). Goal pursuit significantly predicted prosocial behavior, and goal pursuit provided a pathway by which reasons for behavior were related to behavior. Reasons reflected external, other-focused, self-focused, and internal justifications for behavior; each reason was related to a unique set of self-processes and contextual cues. Associations between prosocial outcomes and sex and race (Caucasian and African American) were mediated in part by self-processes and contextual cues. The implications of studying prosocial behavior from a motivational perspective are discussed.     

Investigating Maternal Self-Efficacy and Home Learning Environment of Families Enrolled in Head Start

The aim of this study was to examine the relationships between mothers’ self-efficacy beliefs, their preschool children’s home learning environments, and literacy skills. A sample of 112 mother–child dyads was recruited from Head Start centers in rural and urban communities. The measures included maternal self-efficacy and maternal perceptions of child’s readiness to read as well as the Stipek Home Learning Activities (SHLA) scale, Home-Learning Environment Profile (HLEP), and the Stony Brook Family Reading Survey (SBFRS). Modeling path analysis was performed. Model fit indices indicated that the resulting model was a good fit for the data. Concerning the direct effects of maternal self-efficacy on home learning environment, positive significant effects for the SHLA measure as well as the HLEP were found. However, no direct effect was found with regard to maternal self-efficacy on SBFRS indicating evidence for the domain specificity of efficacy beliefs. Implications of the study include findings that higher maternal self-efficacy is related to creating a more positive home learning environment. Additionally, higher maternal perceptions of child readiness to read mediates the relationships between higher maternal self-efficacy and a more positive home literacy environment. Moreover, these findings highlight the link between home learning environment and children’s receptive vocabulary skills.     

Equity in access? The number of the books available in grade 1, 3 and 5 classroom libraries

Learning Environments Research - In this study, we examined students’ access to text, defined as the number of texts freely available to children in their classrooms. From 60 elementary...     

Evaluating climate change behaviors and concern in the family context

Abstract

Although research suggests that family dynamics likely play a role in shaping children’s behaviors, few studies focus on environmental behaviors, and none to our knowledge investigate how parents shape climate change mitigation behaviors among their children. We begin to fill this gap through a quantitative case study using matched household-level survey data from 182 coastal North Carolina families (n?=?241 parents aged 29–77; n?=?182 students aged 11–14) associated with 15 middle school science teachers. Family climate change discussions, parent behaviors, and children’s climate change concern levels predicted the degree to which children will participate in individual-level climate mitigation behaviors. These results provide evidence that promoting climate-related conversations within households may promote climate action even when parents are apathetic about climate change. Similarly, parental behaviors, but not their concern levels, were important predictors of adolescent behaviors. This study highlights novel ways that family dynamics may promote climate change mitigating behaviors and a new pathway to promoting climate mitigation at familial, and ultimately, societal levels.     

First Graders’ Understanding of Measurement

This study focused on the meaning of measurement to a group of 16 first grade students. A university professor and the teacher of the students partnered together using qualitative analysis of field notes, student interviews, and student work samples gathered from September through May of a school year. Findings indicate students’ knowledge of measurement including transitivity, unit iteration, conservation of number and length, and social knowledge of measurement terms and tools increased over the year. Researchers identified six themes of students’ measurement understanding including that children’s literature played a motivating role in student-initiated measurement activities. Recommendations call for first grade measurement activities focused on what it means to measure rather than on how to measure. Researchers caution that educators using mathematics curriculum and assessment should not assume that primary grade students understand conservation and unit iteration.     

Early means early: understanding popular understandings of early childhood development in South Africa

Scientific and policy advances are putting early childhooddevelopment (ECD) at the center of efforts to improve humandevelopment. This study was undertaken to understand whatknowledge and attitudinal barriers exist that 25 hinder the full-scaleroll-out of services for the youngest children and their families.We used anthropological methods honed by the FrameworksInstitute to plumb beliefs about early childhood development amongmembers of the public and implementation and policy stakeholders,and compare those with the findings from ECD research. Whilemembers of the public and stakeholders agree on the importance ofECD, as demonstrated in other country settings, a major barrier todirecting services to the youngest children is a perceptual tendencyto ‘age up’. That is, to consider learning and other important skillsas being acquired in the pre-school rather than infancy period.Communication strategies that incorporate debate are neededto give full effect to the ECD and related policies, especiallyaround the topics of prioritizing the youngest 40 children, physicalpunishment, child rights, and the pervasiveness Q5 of threats toECD arising from poverty and disadvantage.