OBSTACLES AND OPPORTUNITIES: CREATING EARLY CHILDHOOD PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT SCHOOLS

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to highlight key findings from a study of 24 early childhood preservice teachers as they moved away from a reliance on traditional interpretations of child‐centered curricula toward one of collaborative inquiry. Participants enrolled in a 15 week undergraduate teaching methods course were assigned to teaching teams to implement collaborative projects with the same group of 3–5‐year‐old children. The study utilized both quantitative and qualitative measures to assess conceptual level, changes in reflectivity, and inquiry‐oriented teaching. Results suggest that the emergence of collaborative inquiry among preservice teachers is a dynamic and diverse process not readily assessed by static measures or discreet skills. Collaborative projects did provide a context for creating communities of learners within which time, space and opportunity to practice, reflect and use language and other tools contributed to young teachers’ development of inquiry.     

方言与文化的立体观照--序林华东的《泉州方言文化》

泉州方言是汉语中存古成分最多的一个方言.将泉州方言和泉州文化互为观照,可以使泉州方言的研究更为深入,同时也为闽方言的研究提供有益的借鉴.     

Relations of Children's Effortful Control and Teacher-Child Relationship Quality to School Attitudes in a Low-Income Sample

RESEARCH FINDINGS: The purpose of this study was to examine the relations of children's effortful control and quality of relationships with teachers to school attitudes longitudinally in an ethnically diverse and economically disadvantaged sample. Data were collected as part of a larger intervention project during mid-fall, winter, and late spring (ns = 823, 722, and 758, respectively) for 2 cohorts of 3- to 5-year-olds (collected during 2 different school years). Children's effortful control was assessed in the fall with parents' and teachers' reports and 2 behavioral measures. Teacher-child relationship quality was assessed mid-year with teachers' reports of closeness and conflict. Attitudes toward school were assessed in late spring using teachers' and students' reports of school avoidance and liking. Effortful control, in general, was positively correlated with teacher-child closeness and school liking and negatively correlated with conflict and school avoidance. Using structural equation modeling and controlling for sex and ethnicity, we found that effortful control was positively related to teacher-child relationship quality, which in turn was positively related to school attitudes. Furthermore, the relation of effortful control to school attitudes was mediated by teacher-child relationship quality. PRACTICE OR POLICY: Results provide evidence for the importance of relational processes that take place within the classroom context and have implications for teachers and clinicians working to increase school success in ethnic minority and low-income children.     

Higher education experiences of elite student-para-athletes in the UK

This article presents the narrative accounts of six elite student-para-athletes attending higher education full time in the UK. Whilst literature concerning the student-athlete population in the UK is growing, there is no research at present that brings to the fore the voices of student-athletes who represent their country in Paralympic sports. In addition, research concerning the experiences of higher education students with disabilities in the UK is heavily concerned with the experience of learning as opposed to the more nuanced experiences of ‘being’ a university student. Accounts concerning the lived experience of higher education were gathered via semi-structured interviews and analysed through a process of interpretative phenomenological analysis producing an intricate, intimate and personal theme for each participant. Analysed and presented as individual case studies, the research demonstrates the uniqueness of experience despite the existence of common and shared life environments. The accounts explore three life-worlds – university, elite sport and disability – and expose the difference in meaning-making by each participant to the identities of ‘athlete’, ‘student’ and ‘disabled’, specifically within the context of higher education. The accounts are presented as three themes that illuminate the contrast in experience: (1) university as a normative and positive experience; (2) university as a disappointing and hindering experience; and (3) university as an experience of personal salvation and purpose. Findings are mapped to the social-relational model of disability to better understand the relationship between individual perception, impairment and environment.     

中国经济转型中公共物品提供机制的演变与改革

我国经济转型时期的公共物品供给严重不足，一方面是由于财政支出中用于基本公共物品的支出未得到相应提高，政府退出一部分微观经济领域的同时，提供公共物品方面的职能没有得到及时加强；另一方面是由于大多数领域的公共物品提供主体单一的状况没有根本改变，基本上仍然由政府来提供。要改变这种状况，就要调整财政支出结构，适当增加对科教卫、社会保障、基础设施和政权建设等基础性公共物品的支出，并改变政府在提供中的角色和方式，即由以直接提供为主转变为以间接提供为主。