Community‐based early intervention for children with behavioural,emotional and social problems: evaluation of the Scallywags Scheme

Scallywags is a community‐based, early intervention programme for young children (aged 3–7) with behavioural, emotional and social problems, which integrates work in the home and school with a parenting curriculum and direct work with children. A pre‐post intervention study across multi‐sites of 340 participants is reported. Using standardised measures, the study found statistically significant reductions in problems at home and school experienced by children who completed the programme, and in parental stress levels. Participation was found to be high and the project acceptable to parents, many of whom would be described as hard to reach. The rigorous evaluation of this real‐life service and its positive outcomes highlight the potential of such programmes to tackle the needs of these children and families, and help prevent longer‐term problems associated with early onset behavioural problems, including social exclusion, antisocial behaviour and educational failure.     

Changing Kinesiology and Physical Education by Infusing Information About Individuals With Disabilities

Just as faculty are expected to refer to performance and behavior changes that occur by age, gender, and other factors, an infusion of information about individuals with disabilities requires us to focus on the range of human variability and its relation to physical activity across the life span. This call to infuse information about individuals with disabilities should affect most kinesiology/ physical education undergraduate and graduate curricula in institutions of higher education. Advocacy for this idea has been developing for many years (Hall & Stiehl, 1978; Sherrill, 1988; Stein, 1969). Such infusion could add to and enhance our ability to contribute to the broad goals of society. But for us to assume this role, we must change our curricula to meet our published mission of serving society. This change will help disciplinary and professional preparation programs produce a broader range of scholarly activity and provide leadership that other disciplines may envy     

Scallywags – an evaluation of a service targeting conduct disorders at school and at home

Conduct disorder (CD) is one of the most common childhood psychiatric disorders. Some research has focused on reducing conduct difficulties through parent training programmes. However, there has been limited research focusing on early intervention services that deal with emotional and/or conduct problems in a community setting. The aim of this study was to evaluate the overall effectiveness of the Scallywags service, a multi‐component, early intervention scheme, offering support in the educational and home setting. A total of 411 children, aged 3 to 7 years, was included in this study. Two behaviour inventories were used as the outcome measures. Parents and teachers completed these pre, post, and six months after the intervention. Results demonstrate significant decreases in child conduct problems after the six months intervention, with this change maintained six months later. This study adds to growing research illustrating the importance of multi‐component, early intervention schemes to reduce child conduct problems.     

Investigating Sociability and Cooperation in Four and Five Year Olds in Reception Class Settings Une E´tude de la Sociabilite´et la Cooperation des Enfants Age´s de Quatre ou Cinq Ans dans le Cadre des Cours Pre´paratoires Investigacio´n sobre la Sociabilidad y la Cooperacio´n en Nin ¨ os de Cuatro y Cinco An ¨ os en el Grado de Recepcio´n

The second part of a three-phase study is reported here. Phase one had focused on nursery settings (Broadhead, 1997). This second phase reports on a study in two reception classes (a reception class is the first class in an English primary school where children may be 4 or 5 years old). It has formed the basis for a more extensive third phase of data collection, recently completed in five reception classes. The research is not concerned with teacher-pupil interaction, rather it seeks to describe the language and actions children use when being sociable and cooperative with peers. It gathers data through observations of interacting peers as they play in five areas of provision: water, sand, role play and large and small construction/small world (three of these areas are drawn upon in this paper). In this second phase of research, a Social Play Continuum, developed in the nursery phase and described in Broadhead (1997), was used to collect data. It was subsequently refined to support the more extensive third phase. This paper presents the revised Continuum and describes the refinements. The Continuum may be a potential tool for observing, better understanding and more appropriately intervening in children's play in order to promote the growth towards cooperation. During this second phase a new method of data collection, the use of photography, was incorporated and this is described. Both Vygotsky's and Piaget's work offer underpinning theoretical frameworks as the research seeks to better understand how young children learn to initiate and sustain sociable and cooperative interactions in schools settings. Il s'agit d'un rapport sur la deuxième partie d'une étude de trois phases. La premiôre phase s'était concentrée sur les pouponniôres (Broadhead, 1997). Cette deuxième étape fait un rapport sur une étude dans deux classes préparatoires (c'est-à-dire la premiere année dans une école primaire en Angleterre, oil les enfants ont entre 4 ou 5 ans). Elle a fourni la base d'une troisie ¤ me phase de recherche plus e´tendue dans cinq classes pre´paratoires, et qui est actuellement presque termine´e. La recherche ne se concerne pas de l'interaction e´le ¤ ve-institutrice; elle cherche plutot a de´crire le langage et les actions utilise´s par les enfants quand its agissent d'une manie ¤ re sociable et cooperative. Elle recueillit de l'information en observant ce que font les enfants entre eux pendant qu'ils jouent dans cinq domaines: avec de l'eau, avec du sable, pendant des jeux de roles, et pendant qu'ils construisent de petites choses et aussi des choses plus grandes (cet article se reporte a trois de ces domaines). Dans cette deuxie ¤ me phase de la recherche, on a utilise´un continuum de jeux sociaux, de´veloppe´ dans la premiere phase et deja de´crit (Broadhead, 1997) pour recueillir les donne´es. On l'a perfectionne´ pour mieux convenir a la troisie ¤ me phase plus e´tendue. Cet article pre´sente le continuum re´vise´et de´crit les perfectionnements. Le continuum pourrait etre un outil possible pour observer, mieux comprendre et s'interposer plus convenablement dans les jeux des enfants afin de favoriser le de´veloppement de la cooperation. L'article de´crit egalement une nouvelle me´thode pour recueillir les donne´es (l'usage de la photographie) qu'on avait incorpore´e pendant cette deuxie ¤ me phase. L'oeuvre de Piaget et de Vygotsky contribue une structure the´orique pendant que la recherche essaie de mieux comprendre comment les jeunes enfants apprennent a initier et soutenir des interactions sociables dans le cadre de l'e´cole. En este art´ L culo se presenta la segunda parte de un estudio realizado en tres etapas. La primera etapa se enfocóen el nivel de guarder´ L a (Broadhead, 1997). Esta segunda etapa tiene como propósito informar sobre un estudio realizado en dos clases de recepción (la clase de recepción es el primer an~o que se cursa en las escuelas primarias inglesas cuando los nin~os tienen de 4 a 5 an~os). Esta segunda etapa formólas bases para una tercera etapa de investigación más extensa, la cual está llegando a su culminación en cinco clases de recepción. La investigación no estáenfocada a la interacción maestro-alumno sino que busca describir el lenguaje y las acciones que utilizan los nin~os cuando se vuelven sociables y cooperativos. Esta investigación reúne datos que se han obtenido observando a los nin~os mientras juegan en cinco áreas estipuladas: agua, arena, actuación de personajes y la construcción a grande y pequen~a escala (tres de estas áreas son tratadas en este art´ L culo). Para recolectar datos en esta segunda etapa de investigación se utilizóel Cont´ L nuo del Juego Social, desarrollado en la etapa de guarder´ L a y descrito en Broadhead (1997). El Cont´ L nuo del Juego Social subsecuentemente fue depurado para apoyar la tercera etapa que es más extensa. Este art´ L culo presenta la versio´n revisada del Cont´ L nuo y describe los puntos depurados. El Cont´ L nuo puede ser una herramienta potencial para observar, comprender e intervenir apropiadamente en el juego de los nin~os para promover su crecimiento hacia la cooperación. Durante esta segunda etapa se incorporóel uso de la fotograf´ L a como nuevo método de recolección de datos, el cual también se describe. Tanto el trabajo de Vygotsky como el de Piaget ofrecen marcos teóricos de sustento a medida que la investigación busca entender de una mejor manera cómo los nin~os pequen~os aprenden a iniciar y a mantener interacciones sociales y de cooperación en las escuelas.     

Changing Practice,Feeling Good: primary professional development explored

This article uses teachers’ accounts to explore two issues. The first is concerned with the extent to which key events impact on professional growth and practice enhancement. The second is concerned with how classrooms looked and felt to a sample of primary teachers when, in their view, there were optimum opportunities for learning to occur. Links between these two issues are considered. The research sample is too small for generalisations to be claimed. However, common ground across participating teachers is evident and interesting trends have emerged in relation to practice enhancement. Data reveals the teachers as prepared to take risks, indeed risks seemed inevitable if practice was to develop. How they calculated the risks and how they overcame associated uncertainties is revealed in their thoughts and actions and reported here     

Movement Characteristics of Preschool Children

Abstract

School districts are required under Public Law 94–142 to find and serve handicapped children from age three. In part this is accomplished through screening programs in which parents are encouraged to have children evaluated. This study reports partial results of one such screening program which used the DIAL test, Developmental Indicators for the Assessment of Learning (Mardell & Goldenberg, 1975a), which provided information on movement components and adds to the literature on the performance of preschoolers. The subjects, 610 boys and girls ages 2 years, 6 months to 5 years, 6 months, individually completed the seven tasks comprising each of the gross movement and fine movement components of DIAL. The sample is considered nonhandicapped because special education was later provided for less than 3% of the children screened. Data were divided by age, sex, and race (white, black). Separate MANOVAs and ANOVAs indicated female superiority in performance for fine movement, but a less clear picture for gross movement. Fine movement performance differences favored white subjects but results were also less clear for gross movement. Performance differences across age were primarily linear but with two or more higher order trends being significant for 13 of 14 fine and gross items.     

Curriculum Change in Norway: Thematic approaches,active learning and pupil cooperation - from curriculum design to classroom implementation

Laerplan 97 (L97) is a substantial programme of educational reform in Norway. It includes a subject-based, centrally determined curriculum more detailed than its predecessor, M87 (Monsterplan). L97 combines the compulsory delivery of a core of centrally determined knowledge with the flexibility for teachers to plan and teach with the local environment and resources in mind and in relation to topical issues and learners' interests. Teacher decision making in the selection of content and mode of delivery will be crucial aspects in the successful implementation of L97. This paper takes three key constructs within L97 and examines them more closely: thematic approaches to curriculum delivery, the active and independent learner and the cooperating learner, constructs traditionally associated with pupil autonomy and meaningful learning. Drawing on interviews with those responsible for designing the subject-related curricula and on teacher questionnaires, the study reveals how the journey from educational policy making to effective classroom practice would benefit from a continuing interface with all parties striving to understand links between the origins of ideological underpinnings and the reality of practice. Insights are drawn from curriculum development trends in England where a centrally determined curriculum has now been in place for over a decade and where debates about a learner-centred curriculum seem to have diminished.