Portraits of Partnership: The Hopes and Dreams Project

This article describes an innovative practice in family involvement developed by one early care and education center engaged in professional development. The Hopes and Dreams Project documented family involvement in children’s lives and education through the pairing of pictures and narratives about their lives, histories, priorities, goals, and responsibilities with the school community. Narrative inquiry was a powerful method for increasing understanding of complexity of family involvement. Findings showed that families’ priorities in forming partnerships included the importance in belonging to the community, being involved in their children’s lives and education, experiencing diversity, and experiences in childhood for children’s futures. This research supports the importance of redefining family partnerships in early care and education in a manner that is inclusive of family values and priorities. The implications are that early care and education providers have an important role in developing and defining involvement practices that empower families and educate professionals.     

The Early Literacy Support Programme (ELS) and the blend and clash of national educational policy ideologies in England

In this article we consider the development of key policy issues in England, related to the area of literacy learning and children who are considered to have difficulties in literacy in their early years. We trace the tensions which have arisen since the 1980s between different policies and practices in these areas. These tensions include pressures to raise standards of literacy and to support children with difficulties, and the establishment of a prescribed curriculum for young children. In particular, we focus on the blend and clash of national educational policy ideals in areas related to literacy and children who have been categorised as having ‘special educational needs’, and how these have influenced the development of the Early Literacy Support Programme (ELS) (DfES, 2001 Department for Education and Skills 2001a Early Literacy Support Programme, materials to support teachers working in partnership with teaching assistants London DfES  [Google Scholar]a; 2001 Department for Education and Skills 2001b Early Literacy Support Programme, session materials for teaching assistants London DfES  [Google Scholar]b). This is a programme set up by the Department for Education and Science in England for children in Year 1, aged 5 to 6 years old.     

美国个别化家庭服务计划概况及启示

个别化家庭服务计划是美国整个早期干预工作的基石。自1986年美国首次提出为0到3岁的特殊婴幼儿制定个别化家庭服务计划以来,个别化家庭服务计划在理论和实践方面都取得了巨大的发展,积累了丰富的经验和教训。文章通过回顾个别化家庭服务计划在美国法律中的发展历史,介绍个别化家庭服务计划的基本内涵、制定和实施过程以及在实践中存在的问题,以期在法律保障、干预团队建设以及服务提供方面为我国特殊儿童早期干预工作的开展提供借鉴。     

关于应用型本科音乐专业人才培养的思考

在科学技术日益发达、精神文明获得充分发展的今天,社会迫切需要能将科技和文化转化为生产力的应用型人才,其中包括音乐人才。培养应用型本科音乐专业人才应该以市场需求为导向,并相应地做出合理定位人才培养目标、调整课程设置、改革教学方法等举措。     

清末民初大店庄氏家族转型初探

鸦片战争以降,中国逐渐沦为半殖民地半封建社会,政治、经济、文化与社会生活等方面都发生了巨大的变化。同时,中国也经历了一场全面而深刻的社会转型,其中就包括传统家族的转型。山东临沂大店的庄氏家族,历经明清两朝500余年的发展。为了适应新的社会环境,在清末民初几十年的时间里,大店庄氏在族人身份、族人的教育、家族结构、家族居住地等方面逐渐实现了转型。转型基本成功,但不彻底,具有多方面的特点。     

浅析十七年文学的特征

十七年文学虽然存在着许多的不足与缺陷,但其在中国文学史上的地位是不可抹杀的。笔者从三个方面探讨了十七年文学的特征：文学对政治的暧昧;城市的隐匿;民间化倾向。     

Does executive function mediate SES and home quality associations with academic readiness?

This study examined the extent to which executive function (EF) mediated associations of socioeconomic status (SES) and home-environment quality with academic readiness (math, letter and word identification, and knowledge of story-and-print concepts). Forty-nine 54–66-month old children and their mothers participated in a home observation and laboratory visit. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed the EF mediated associations between SES and math outcomes. These findings were observed after controlling for child verbal abilities. Implications for the role of verbal ability in EF, the developmental context in predicting EF, and the influence of EF on academic readiness are discussed.     

Being a Student on a Part-time Early Years Degree

This paper offers a critical examination of the student experience of a new part-time degree in Early Childhood Studies. The current Scottish Executive emphasis on encouraging lifelong learning through improved access, extended participation and the provision of opportunities for progression has created a climate where studying part-time while continuing to work is receiving active government support. The degree examined in this paper offers Early Years staff the opportunity to continue their personal development as they work and it fits well with the increasing recognition of the need for a more valued and qualified workforce in Early Years. Data on student experiences was collected at the end of the first calendar year of the course through structured student evaluation of the modules delivered and through student responses to a 'Support for Learning Agenda'. The agenda was used twice during the year to encourage reflective comment about ongoing participation in the course and also as the basis for discussion with a personal tutor. Results from the two sets of data highlighted the complexity of balancing work, personal and study commitments in part-time study. The issues which emerged for discussion and further investigation included expectations of the learning environment, the difficulties of making transitions from one type of learning environment to another and a number of issues related to combining study and work. The paper concludes by considering the implications for policy and practice.