The infant system : for developing the physical, intellectual and moral powers of all children, from one to seven years of age /

Mode of access: Internet.

An investigation of parents' and children's beliefs of early literacy acquisition from a cross -cultural perspective

It has been reported that the cultural-historical experiences of ethnic group members can play a role in the literacy beliefs of those members. Socioeconomic conditions can also influence the belief system of the groups' constituents. This study investigated parents' and children's beliefs pertaining to early literacy acquisition as related to the ethnicity and socioeconomic status (SES) of the participants. The objectives were to determine (a) the differential patterns regarding emergent literacy and traditional skills approaches as they interact with ethnicity and SES and (b) the correspondence between parents and children's beliefs about literacy acquisition. ^ The study was conducted with 152 parents (38 low-income Hispanic, 38 middle-income Hispanic, 38 low-income African-American, and 38 middle-income African-American) and 36 of their 3-, 4-, or 5-year-old children (18 male and 18 female). ^ The parents were asked to check those items with which they agreed on a survey that consisted of an equal number of items from the traditional skills-based and emergent literacy orientations. These responses were used to determine the differences and interaction by ethnicity and SES. The children responded to open-ended questions related to the instruction of reading and writing skills. The parents' responses and children's answers were compared to ascertain the matching parent-child dyads by ethnicity and SES. ^ An item analysis was conducted to strengthen the internal reliability consistency coefficient of the traditional skills-based and emergent literacy scales as measured by the Cronbach Alpha. ^ A two-way multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) revealed a significant difference in traditional skill-based beliefs for the low-income African-American and Hispanic parents. There were no significant findings for the parents' traditional skill based or emergent literacy beliefs based on ethnicity, for the interaction between ethnicity and SES, or for the relationship between parents' and children's literacy beliefs by ethnicity and SES. ^ It can be concluded that low-income African-American and Hispanic parents believe in the traditional skills approach, indicating that these parents find it necessary for children to have sufficient school readiness skills prior to learning to read or write. In addition, the parent and child dyads had a strong tendency toward emergent literacy beliefs. ^

Educación moral y literatura infantil : estudio de la formación moral en la infancia a partir de algunas teorías de los sentimientos morales

Este trabajo realizado como requisito de grado del programa de Filosofía de la Universidad Colegio Mayor de Nuestra Señora del Rosario, aborda el tema de la educación moral en la infancia a partir del análisis y discusión de algunas teorías de la moral. También hace un acercamiento a la literatura infantil en lo relativo a la función que se le puede atribuir como recurso o herramienta para la formación moral. De este modo, el trabajo se estructura siguiendo una argumentación que primero pretende esclarecer los conceptos que se vinculan con el tema de la educación moral como los son el de socialización, el de infancia, el de desarrollo, el mismo concepto de educación moral, y otros que permiten identificar y problematizar esta cuestión en relación con los niños y las particularidades de su comportamiento, sus procesos cognitivos y el modo en que se dan sus relaciones sociales. Por ello el trabajo recoge aportes de la sociología y de la psicología que complementan el tema, que es observado aquí, principalmente, desde la filosofía moral. Estos conceptos ayudan a estructurar el problema que se plantea relativo a la manera cómo se construye lo moral en la infancia. A partir de ellos se desarrolla el resto del texto, primero, con el análisis crítico que se hace en el capítulo dos a la teoría racionalista de la moral, la cual se pone en discusión con los planteamientos de algunas teorías de los sentimientos morales y del desarrollo emocional. Luego, en el capítulo tres se examina la teoría de las virtudes de Aristóteles, destacando la mayor capacidad que tiene de comprender comportamientos morales no racionales, como los de la infancia, que se relacionan con lo que desde la sociología se entiende como el entorno social en el que se desarrolla la moral individual. Finalmente, en el capítulo cuatro, se examina la literatura infantil como un recurso que sirve para la formación moral en los niños, debido a los procesos cognitivos y sociales, que esta literatura favorece. En este capítulo se retoman las cuestiones tratadas a lo largo del trabajo acerca de lo moral y la formación en la infancia para ponerlas en relación con ejemplos de la literatura infantil tomados de los Cuentos de los Hermanos Grimm que permiten identificar algunos elementos que vinculan la lectura de estos cuentos con los procesos de formación moral.

Don't we care?: the ethics and emotional labour of early years professionalism

This paper argues that early childhood education and care (ECEC) has a legitimate aspiration to be a 'caring profession' like others such as nursing or social work, defined by a moral purpose. For example, practitioners often draw on an ethic of care as evidence of their professionalism. However, the discourse of professionalism in England completely excludes the ethical vocabulary of care. Nevertheless, it necessarily depends on gendered dispositions towards emotional labour, often promoted by training programmes as 'professional' demeanours. Taking control of the professionalisation agenda therefore requires practitioners to demonstrate a critical understanding of their practice as 'emotion work'. At the same time, reconceptualising practice within a political ethic of care may allow the workforce, and new trainees in particular, to champion 'caring' as a sustainable element of professional work, expressed not only in maternal, dyadic key-working but in advocacy for care as a social principle.

Movimento jogo e brincadeira na educação infantil: as expectativas das famílias

Childhood is a theme that has attracted many controversies and discussions, and winning approaches to the increasingly large over time: biological, psychological, educational, welfare and, more recently, sociological. It is known that the movement, play and game activities are important recurrent and integral development of children, and should be present prominently in early childhood institutions. Based on these assumptions is that this study aimed to analyze the didactic-pedagogical principles postulated by the law, official guidelines didactic teaching and literature, with regard to meeting the needs of children in early childhood education. Unveiling the expectations of the families responsible for children in relation to early childhood education, especially with regard to movement, and play games and compare to what extent these expectations turn away or close to the guidelines on teaching and pedagogical movement, games and postulated in official documents, legislation and literature. To this end, we carried out literature search, selection and analysis of texts relevant to the understanding of the theme. Fieldwork was conducted in a Municipal School of Early Childhood Education Full-time (Emei) of Bauru/SP, and involved the analysis of the Political-Pedagogical Project of the institution, semi-structured interviews with five teachers and five children in the family responsible for Garden II (ages 5 to 6 years). Data were analyzed using thematic content analysis of Bardin and triangulated by the confrontation of literature/legislation, the Pedagogical Political Project of the institution and the expectations of families/guardians. We also realize that the Pedagogical Political Project of EMEI is in routine activities with the children, movement, and play the game are covered and are worked. According to teachers interviewed they assist in learning other areas of work (Oral and Written Language, Nature and Society, etc.) learning of moral...

I-Spi: innovative shared practical ideas: a support guide for literacy and numeracy in the early years of schooling, for home tutor/supervisors in distance education

Innovative Shared Practical Ideas (I-Spi) is a guide to help you and your children learn together. It is designed to affirm, support and strengthen your role as home tutor/supervisors in your daily learning sessions with your children. In this guide particular emphasis is given to the value of talk, formal and informal early literacy and numeracy practices (including ideas from distance school lessons, from home tutor/supervisors, research, and beyond), assessment of these practices together with informal assessment ideas for gauging your children’s literacy and numeracy progress, and stepping in and building on strategies

Supporting Metacognitive Development in Early Science Education: Exploring Elementary Teachers' Beliefs and Practices in Metacognition

Metacognition is the understanding and control of cognitive processes. Students with high levels of metacognition achieve greater academic success. The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to examine elementary teachers’ beliefs about metacognition and integration of metacognitive practices in science. Forty-four teachers were recruited through professional networks to complete a questionnaire containing open-ended questions (n = 44) and Likert-type items (n = 41). Five respondents were selected to complete semi-structured interviews informed by the questionnaire. The selected interview participants had a minimum of three years teaching experience and demonstrated a conceptual understanding of metacognition. Statistical tests (Pearson correlation, t-tests, and multiple regression) on quantitative data and thematic analysis of qualitative data indicated that teachers largely understood metacognition but had some gaps in their understanding. Participants’ reported actions (teaching practices) and beliefs differed according to their years of experience but not gender. Hierarchical multiple regression demonstrated that the first block of gender and experience was not a significant predictor of teachers' metacognitive actions, although experience was a significant predictor by itself. Experience was not a significant predictor once teachers' beliefs were added. The majority of participants indicated that metacognition was indeed appropriate for elementary students. Participants consistently reiterated that students’ metacognition developed with practice, but required explicit instruction. A lack of consensus remained around the domain specificity of metacognition. More specifically, the majority of questionnaire respondents indicated that metacognitive strategies could not be used across subject domains, whereas all interviewees indicated that they used strategies across subjects. Metacognition was integrated frequently into Ontario elementary classrooms; however, metacognition was integrated less frequently in science lessons. Lastly, participants used a variety of techniques to integrate metacognition into their classrooms. Implications for practice include the need for more professional development aimed at integrating metacognition into science lessons at both the Primary and Junior levels. Further, teachers could benefit from additional clarification on the three main components of metacognition and the need to integrate all three to successfully develop students’ metacognition.

Pain and distress reactivity and recovery as early predictors of temperament in toddlers born preterm

Background: Pain reactivity may reflect underlying mechanisms of constitutional aspects of temperament. Aim: To examine whether the neonatal biobehavioral reactivity and recovery responses from pain and distress, as well as the gestational age, the illness severity and the amount of painful procedures undergone the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) stay, predict temperament later in toddlerhood, in vulnerable children born preterm. Study design: Prospective-longitudinal study. Subjects: Twenty-six preterm and very low birth weight infants followed from birth to toddlerhood. Outcome measures: Illness severity was assessed with the Clinical Risk Index for Babies (CRIB) score. The medical charts were reviewed prospectively for obtaining the amount of pain exposure in NICU. For assessing the behavioral and cardiac reactivity and recovery from pain and distress, the neonates were evaluated during routine blood collection in the NICU in the first 10 days of life. Pain and distress reactivity and recovery was measured using the Neonatal Facial Coding System score, the duration of crying. and the magnitude of average heart rate. At toddlerhood, mothers answered the Early Childhood Behavior Questionnaire. Results: Higher biobehavioral reactivity to pain and distress predicted higher temperamental Negative Affect, above and beyond gestational age, illness severity and amount of pain exposure in NICU. However, we did not find a predictive relation between gestational age, CRIB score and number of painful procedures undergone NICU and toddler`s temperament. Conclusions: The findings highlight the relevance of the neonatal individual characteristics of reactivity for identifying more vulnerable infants for future problems in biobehavioral regulation. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

O desenvolvimento de competências sociais na educação de infância: a música como estratégia de intervenção

Relatório da Prática Profissional Supervisionada Mestrado em Educação Pré-Escolar

Mothers' beliefs concerning severity and need for intervention in child maltreatment

Dissertação de mestrado integrado em Psicologia Clínica e da Saúde

Formação de professores: uma prática pedagógica frente aos desafios das necessidades educativas especiais: um estudo de caso numa IES Particular em Manaus-Am

Dissertação de mestrado em Educação Especial (área de especialização em Dificuldades de Aprendizagem Específicas)

Carie du biberon: un caillou dans la chaussure de la santé [The impact of childhood caries].

The early childhood caries affect primary dentition before the eruption of the permanent teeth. It is set to extended use of a bottle containing fermentable carbohydrates. The early childhood caries is not only a dental disease: it is a social, cultural and behavioral condition that reflects the practices and beliefs around the child. Swiss data indicate that in aged 2 children, one of for could be affected by this devastating oral disease, mainly in vulnerable populations. The primary care physician has an important role in the screening of preschool children, in determining the risk level of the child for early childhood caries. Physicians can advise families, especially pregnant women, about preventive measures and behavior, leading to a dramatic drop of early childhood caries prevalence.

Designing new learning experiences? : exploring corporate E-learners’ self-regulated learning

The context of this study is corporate e-learning, with an explicit focus on how digital learning design can facilitate self-regulated learning (SRL). The field of e-learning is growing rapidly. An increasing number of corporations use digital technology and elearning for training their work force and customers. E-learning may offer economic benefits, as well as opportunities for interaction and communication that traditional teaching cannot provide. However, the evolving variety of digital learning contexts makes new demands on learners, requiring them to develop strategies to adapt and cope with novel learning tools. This study derives from the need to learn more about learning experiences in digital contexts in order to be able to design these properly for learning. The research question targets how the design of an e-learning course influences participants’ self-regulated learning actions and intentions. SRL involves learners’ ability to exercise agency in their learning. Micro-level SRL processes were targeted by exploring behaviour, cognition, and affect/motivation in relation to the design of the digital context. Two iterations of an e-learning course were tested on two groups of participants (N=17). However, the exploration of SRL extends beyond the educational design research perspective of comparing the effects of the changes to the course designs. The study was conducted in a laboratory with each participant individually. Multiple types of data were collected. However, the results presented in this thesis are based on screen observations (including eye tracking) and video-stimulated recall interviews. These data were integrated in order to achieve a broad perspective on SRL. The most essential change evident in the second course iteration was the addition of feedback during practice and the final test. Without feedback on actions there was an observable difference between those who were instruction-directed and those who were self-directed in manipulating the context and, thus, persisted whenever faced with problems. In the second course iteration, including the feedback, this kind of difference was not found. Feedback provided the tipping point for participants to regulate their learning by identifying their knowledge gaps and to explore the learning context in a targeted manner. Furthermore, the course content was consistently seen from a pragmatic perspective, which influenced the participants’ choice of actions, showing that real life relevance is an important need of corporate learners. This also relates to assessment and the consideration of its purpose in relation to participants’ work situation. The rigidity of the multiple choice questions, focusing on the memorisation of details, influenced the participants to adapt to an approach for surface learning. It also caused frustration in cases where the participants’ epistemic beliefs were incompatible with this kind of assessment style. Triggers of positive and negative emotions could be categorized into four levels: personal factors, instructional design of content, interface design of context, and technical solution. In summary, the key design choices for creating a positive learning experience involve feedback, flexibility, functionality, fun, and freedom. The design of the context impacts regulation of behaviour, cognition, as well as affect and motivation. The learners’ awareness of these areas of regulation in relation to learning in a specific context is their ability for design-based epistemic metareflection. I describe this metareflection as knowing how to manipulate the context behaviourally for maximum learning, being metacognitively aware of one’s learning process, and being aware of how emotions can be regulated to maintain volitional control of the learning situation. Attention needs to be paid to how the design of a digital learning context supports learners’ metareflective development as digital learners. Every digital context has its own affordances and constraints, which influence the possibilities for micro-level SRL processes. Empowering learners in developing their ability for design-based epistemic metareflection is, therefore, essential for building their digital literacy in relation to these affordances and constraints. It was evident that the implementation of e-learning in the workplace is not unproblematic and needs new ways of thinking about learning and how we create learning spaces. Digital contexts bring a new culture of learning that demands attitude change in how we value knowledge, measure it, define who owns it, and who creates it. Based on the results, I argue that digital solutions for corporate learning ought to be built as an integrated system that facilitates socio-cultural connectivism within the corporation. The focus needs to shift from designing static e-learning material to managing networks of social meaning negotiation as part of a holistic corporate learning ecology.