Developmentally Appropriate Emergent Literacy Activities for Young Children: Adapting the Early Literacy and Learning Model

Whether it be leaping, resisting, or being gently shoved, the field of early childhood education continues moving into the age of accountability. Young children are expected to exhibit many requisite skills prior to kindergarten. Thus, the advancement of pre-reading and writing skills development become one of the many areas of focus for early childhood teachers. This study focused on the advancement of young children’s emergent literacy and letter recognition skills through developmentally appropriate instruction and need based adapted activities using the Early Literacy and Learning Model (ELLM) curriculum. The results suggest that mindfully adapting activities to children’s needs advances children’s emergent literacy development.     

Holistic competence: Putting judgements first

Professional practice can be conceptualised holistically, and in fact during the 1990s the ‘Australian model’ of integrated or holistic competence emerged empirically. This piece outlines that story, and then develops a more rigorous conceptual analysis of what it is to make competent practical judgements, through inferences, in context-specific and accountable ways (such as to one’s peer group of professionals, or to the public). Current research interest in the Schonian swamp-like messiness of judgements (e.g. in clinical medicine) is drawn upon to advance a new epistemology of practice, which takes seriously the ‘know how’ of real work situations, as the basis for a revival of Aristotelianphronesis. Part 2 of this paper is based on Beckett (2004). Quotations are data from a UTS project on professionals’ workplace learning, directed by Paul Hager and David Beckett (2000-1).     

大班教师幼儿入学准备观念的现状调查——以商丘市为例

近年来,幼儿园教育"小学化"问题如火如荼.与之紧密相关的"入学准备""幼小衔接"却迟迟没有一个清晰的界定,导致一线教师无法准确把握儿童入学准备的工作要求.因此,本研究以大班教师为研究对象,运用问卷调查法和访谈法,对大班教师的入学准备观念进行调查分析,结果发现:大班教师的入学准备观念片面且不稳定、与小学衔接不够紧密.基于此,笔者认为应该从普及入学准备知识、促进教师专业发展和加强幼小教育联系三个方面,促进教师观念的有效衔接.     

Learning for an unknown context: a comparative case study on some Swedish and Polish Political Science students' experiences of the transition from university to working life

This comparative small‐scale (Swedish and Polish sample) longitudinal qualitative study investigates political science students' conceptions of their studies, their future profession and their workplace learning. The students (10 in Sweden and 11 in Poland) were interviewed twice, first when they were at the end of their studies and a second time when they had worked for approximately one year. The questions asked were designed to try to understand the transition from higher education to work life. The results indicate that they bring with them a set of academic generic skills from their education when they enter working life. Furthermore, the students in the two countries have very different perceptions of the subject Political Science, and the expectations they have regarding their studies and future working life also differ considerably.     

工作场所的学习和绩效:技术的影响与变革——访著名绩效咨询专家艾莉森·罗塞特博士

通过对美国教育技术领域的研究与追踪,近年来我们逐步了解和认识到,除了学校教育教学领域的研究和实践之外,美国还有近一半的专业人员工作在商业、企业、军队和政府部门领域,他们的共同目标是致力于改进工作场所的学习和绩效(特别是技术支持的学习与绩效改进).由此,美国许多大学教育技术学专业的教授便扮演着至少是双重的角色:学术领域的教授和工作场所的学习与绩效咨询专家,本文所访谈的对象艾莉森·罗塞特(Allison Rossett)博士即是其中的典型代表与佼佼者.她长期从事着工作场所学习和绩效的研究与实践.从早期的工作辅助(job aid)、需求评估(needs assesgnlent)到近期的电子学习、混合学习、绩效支持等,对美国教育技术领域的发展作出了独特的贡献. 罗塞特博士是美国圣地亚哥州立大学(San Diego State University)教育技术系的资深教授,著名的绩效咨询专家.除了为美国的公司、企业、政府部门提供绩效咨询之外,罗塞特博士的影响还远至巴西、苏格兰和印度.罗塞特博士2000年入选<培训>杂志人力资源开发名人堂(HRD Hall of Fame),2004至2006年期间任美国培训与发展协会(ASTD①)国际部主任,鉴于其在工作场所培训与绩效领域的杰出贡献,2002年获ASTD"贡献奖",被评为美国"海军教育和培训学习策略联盟"杰出会员,还服务于美国陆军"远程学习和培训技术"分会. 罗塞特博士的主要研究和咨询领域包括劳动力开发、需求评估、基于技术的学习与绩效支持、电子学习、混合学习等.主要学术著作包括<工作辅助与绩效支持:从教室中的知识到无处不在的知识>(2007),(2002),<超越讲台:在电子世界中传递培训和绩效>(2001,此书获国际绩效改进协会②"教学传播奖"),<先做重要的事情:绩效分析手册>(1999,此书获国际绩效改进协会"教学传播奖"),<工作辅助手册>(1991),<培训需求评估>(1987)等.罗塞特博士的绩效咨询客户主要有微软、IBM、惠普、Fidelity投资公司、Deloitte咨询公司、苏格兰皇家银行及一些致力于电子学习的企业.     

商机无处不在

How many times have you heard a friend or colleague talk about the introduction of some new technology or a new piece of equipment which is going to revolutionise their workplace?     

Investing in high quality preschool: lessons from an urban setting

Abstract

Large numbers of children of low income families in the United States arrive at kindergarten already far behind their more affluent peers on measures of school readiness. In the absence of any federal preschool policy and amidst alarm about this growing divide, universal prekindergarten (UPK) programs have been launched around the United States, at both the state and local levels, to address the school readiness gap. Invest in Children, a public/private partnership in Cuyahoga County (Cleveland, OH) launched a UPK program of high quality, affordable preschool nine years ago. The program’s creation, implementation and challenges are discussed along with evaluation findings that document its positive impact on school readiness. Lessons learned are discussed in terms of the impact of political and economic shifts, as well as state policy changes, on this local program. The program’s planned expansion and enhancements to program design and evaluation are also described.     

Adaptive emotion regulation,academic performance and internalising problems in Flemish children with special educational needs: a pilot study

School readiness of children with special educational needs (SEN) is still understudied. The present study examined how the presumed bidirectional relationship between impaired academic performance (AP) and internalising problems (IP) could be favourably influenced. In this regard, it was assumed that children’s adaptive emotion regulation plays a crucial role, as it was shown to be independently related to improved AP and fewer IP. However, to gain stronger evidence for this assumption, it should be further clarified whether adaptive emotion regulation, AP and IP are also jointly associated and, if so, how this is reflected in children with SEN. To explore these issues, two different models were tested in a cross-sectional pilot including 61 Flemish elementary school children with SEN (39 boys and 22 girls, mean age = 10.0 years old). Teachers reported on adaptive emotion regulation, AP and IP. The results indicated that AP partially mediated the relationship between adaptive emotion regulation and IP (Model 1), while IP fully mediated the relationship between adaptive emotion regulation and AP (Model 2). Practical implications, strengths and limitations were discussed.     

Student Assessment of Self-Efficacy and Practice Readiness Following Simulated Instruction in an Undergraduate Social Work Program

ABSTRACT

The use of simulated instruction is a growing trend in social work education. This study examined the effectiveness of simulated instruction with undergraduate social work students. In this mixed methods study, the extent to which simulated instruction improved self-efficacy and practice readiness was assessed. Results of the study suggest that simulated instruction helps improve key practice skills and increases recognition of diversity in practice. Moreover, students self-reported increased mastery in interviewing, managing emotions, and engaging in culturally competent practice.