Non-traditional day care center

General note: Title and date provided by Bettye Lane.

Day care center

General note: Title and date provided by Bettye Lane.

Non-traditional day care center

General note: Title and date provided by Bettye Lane.

Child with progressive toy

General note: Title and date provided by Bettye Lane.

Granddaughter with Grandfather

General note: Title and date provided by Bettye Lane.

Non-traditional day care center

General note: Title and date provided by Bettye Lane.

Non-sexist toy display at NOW Conference

General note: Title and date provided by Bettye Lane.

Non-traditional day care center

General note: Title and date provided by Bettye Lane.

HELPING YOUTH WITH AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER DEVELOP SOCIAL COMPETENCE IN COMMUNITY-BASED SETTINGS

The purpose of the current dissertation is to identify the features of effective interventions by exploring the experiences of youth with ASD who participate in such interventions, through two intervention studies (Studies 1 and 2) and one interview study (Study 3). Studies 1 and 2 were designed to support the development of social competence of youth with ASD through Structured Play with LEGO TM (Study 1, 12 youths with ASD, ages 7–12) and Minecraft TM (Study 2, 4 youths with ASD, ages 11–13). Over the course of the sessions, the play of the youth developed from parallel play (children playing alone, without interacting) to co-operative play (playing together with shared objectives). The results of Study 2 showed that rates of initiations and levels of engagement increased from the first session to the final session. In Study 3, 12 youths with ASD (ages 10–14) and at least one of their parents were interviewed to explore what children and their parents want from programs designed to improve social competence, which activities and practices were perceived to promote social competence by the participants, and which factors affected their decisions regarding these programs. The adolescents and parents looked for programs that supported social development and emotional wellbeing, but did not always have access to the programs they would have preferred, with factors such as cost and location reducing their options. Three overarching themes emerged through analysis of the three studies: (a) interests of the youth; (b) structure, both through interactions and instruction; and (c) naturalistic settings. Adolescents generally engage more willingly in interventions that incorporate their interests, such as play with Minecraft TM in Study 2. Additionally, Structured Play and structured instruction were crucial components of providing safe and supportive contexts for the development of social competence. Finally, skills learned in naturalistic settings tend to be applied more successfully in everyday situations. The themes are analysed through the lens of Vygotsky’s (1978) perspectives on learning, play, and development. Implications of the results for practitioners and researchers are discussed.

David Bowie, brinquedos adultos e outras dimensões estranhas do universo de Twin Peaks

The article is based fundamentally on the authors' participation in the International Conference “I’ll See You Again in 25 Years: The return of Twin Peaks and generations of cult TV”, held on 21 and 22 May 2015, at the School of Arts and Media, at the University of Salford in England. Starting from there, it makes an irregular discussion of issues and working angles around the television series launched in 1990, a work by David Lynch and Mark Frost. Some issues gain particular attention: 1) the relations of the series to the album Outside (1995) by David Bowie; 2) the population of adult toys related to the series, as derivative products, driven by fans in their most playful exercises of affection and remembrance. Despite the article’s intentionally adopted tone of an “academic report”, it can evoke rich theoretical questions in a field of objects that are in a complex upgrade process and have to be subsequently treated according to more regular methodological procedures, seeking further theoretical and epistemological clarifications

Cooperative or collaborative learning: Is there a difference in university students’ perceptions?

The hypothesis that the same educational objective, raised as cooperative or collaborative learning in university teaching does not affect students’ perceptions of the learning model, leads this study. It analyses the reflections of two students groups of engineering that shared the same educational goals implemented through two different methodological active learning strategies: Simulation as cooperative learning strategy and Problem-based Learning as a collaborative one. The different number of participants per group (eighty-five and sixty-five, respectively) as well as the use of two active learning strategies, either collaborative or cooperative, did not show differences in the results from a qualitative perspective.

Flickor, pojkar och leksaker i förskolan : En sociokulturell observationsstudie på två förskolor med inriktning på inomhuslek

Studien syfte är att undersöka hur flickor och pojkar leker, på två förskolor, med inomhusleksaker och om det finns några skillnader mellan könen i leken som avspeglar, förmedlar och bildar förståelser för samhällets könsstereotypa normer kring vad som anses kvinnligt respektive manligt. För att ta reda på detta har observation med hjälp av fältanteckningar använts, med fokus på skillnader mellan flickornas och pojkarnas val av leksaker och sätt att leka. Resultatet visar på att det finns vissa skillnader mellan de flesta pojkarnas och flickornas val av leksaker på de observerade förskolorna, men att det framförallt är sättet att leka som visar på de största skillnaderna. Det har också framkommit att flickorna och pojkarna på förskolorna i observationerna, oftast valde samma typ av leksaker. Men i dessa fall har leksakerna varit typiskt ”pojkiga”, samtidigt som skillnaderna i sättet att leka fortfarande varit tydligt framträdande. Dessa skillnader har sedan diskuterats utifrån hur de kan få betydelse för flickornas och pojkarnas förståelse för könsroller, deras framtidsval och utveckling.

Markets, Depots and Sales Tables: The Women's Institute's Rural Retailing

In 1917 the Coventry Evening Telegraph noted that the problems of ‘surplus garden produce’ had arisen and that ‘smallholders were being encouraged to group together in order to bring their supplies in quantity to market. Women’s Institutes have been formed, and these arrange for the opening of a market for a certain number of hours one day a week’. WIs, which had begun being formed under the auspices of the Agricultural Organisation Society from 1915 could be seen to be one of the earliest examples of Farmers Markets. These rural women were to improve the food supply in wartime when there was a food crisis; shortages, queues, price rises and in 1918 the introduction of rationing. The WIs encouraged food saving and preservation their markets enabled small holders, cottage gardeners and allotment holders to find a financial non- exploitive outlet for their produce. Markets and retail outlets developed in a number of towns or even cities in rural areas: Worcester, Leamington Spa and Lichfield and in post-war Britain depot trading centres were set up in some county towns Maidstone in Kent in 1919, Winchester in 1920. Between them they provided rural women with a retail space initially for their garden produce and then in time for the preserves, baking and craftwork. Jam, cakes, toys, knitted toys and garments even a wedding trousseau were ordered or sold through these retail outlets. The Markets were not restricted to WI members and often sold work produced by small­holders, the disabled and ex-servicemen. Membership required buying at least one share; as they were a co-operative venture there was a limit on the number of shares it was possible to purchase. Sales tables at some monthly WI meeting provided yet another retail outlet for rural women. This paper will explore the significance of these retail opportunities to rural women: as a chance to earn much needed cash, in placing a value on domestic labour and as an indication that when looking at rural women’s lives, in first half of the twentieth century, divisions between being consumers and producers of food and domestic products may be more fluid than it is something assumed.

Barns intryck av omgivningen på en ortopedteknisk avdelning : - En kvalitativ studie om hur barn uppfattar miljön och mötet på en ortopedteknisk avdelning

Bakgrund: För att uppnå en god barnanpassad vård inom ortopedteknik krävs information om hur barn uppfattar mötet på en ortopedteknisk avdelning. Genom att ta del av barns tankar, åsikter och förslag kan verksamheter i framtiden lättare argumentera för exempelvis hur lokaler bör inredas och hur man bör bemöta barn.   Syfte: Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka hur barn upplever mötet på en ortopedteknisk avdelning i avseendet vårdmiljö och möte med ortopedingenjören.   Metod: En kvalitativ metod där deltagarna får rita och berätta kallad “Draw and tell” och åtta intervjuer med barn mellan 6 till 12 år om deras upplevelse efter besöket hos en ortopedingenjör genomfördes. Intervjuerna transkripterades och en innehållsanalys genomfördes.   Resultat: Vissa gemensamma faktorer hittades i intervjuerna så som att det ansågs att det samtalades för mycket utan att engagera barnet samt att aktiviteter som fanns sågs som bra då det kunde bli lite väntan under besöket. Det fanns flera förslag på andra aktiviteter som önskades under väntan och speglade barnens egna intressen så som datorspel och böcker.   Slutsats: Denna studie visar att det som ortopedingenjören är viktigt att engagera barnen vid mötena samt att aktiviteter finns till hands under långa väntetider.   Nyckelord: Barns upplevelser, ortopedteknik, ortopedingenjör, bemötande, miljö

Práticas de ensino supervisionada e a importância da creche na transição para o Jardim-de-Infância

O presente Relatório Final de Estágio foi desenvolvido no âmbito da unidade curricular de Prática de Ensino Supervisionada III (PES III) do 2.º Ciclo de Estudos, do Mestrado em Educação Pré-Escolar e Ensino do 1.º Ciclo do Ensino Básico e inclui duas partes distintas. A primeira parte diz respeito às práticas de estágio desenvolvidas no decorrer da unidade curricular Prática de Ensino Supervisionada (PES). Aí, proceder-se-á a uma reflexão crítica acerca do trabalho desenvolvido nos referidos contextos e das experiências de aprendizagem que daí resultaram. A segunda parte do relatório final de estágio está relacionada com a execução de um trabalho de investigação centrado nos seguintes objetivos: compreender a importância da frequência da creche no desenvolvimento e aprendizagem das crianças, identificar a opinião dos profissionais sobre a creche e as suas atividades e conhecer a relação pais/Jardim-de-Infância/Creche. O estudo em causa segue uma metodologia qualitativa, mais concretamente o estudo de caso e envolve duas educadoras de creche, três educadoras do jardim-de-infância, nove pais das crianças da creche e sessenta e uma crianças (9 responderam às entrevistas acerca da frequência da creche e 52 executaram o desenho alusivo à visita à sala de creche). Com a realização deste trabalho de investigação pretende-se acima de tudo obter resposta à seguinte questão: “Qual a importância da frequência da Creche na transição para o Jardim-de-Infância?” Tendo em conta o estudo realizado foi possível obter determinadas conclusões de acordo com as perpetivas dos profissionais (educadoras de creche e educadoras do jardim-de-infância), pais e crianças do jardim-de-infância. No parecer dos profissionais a creche é importante no sentido de autonomia (gerir a separação dos pais), em termos de regras, altruísmo e partilha de brinquedos, bem como o desenvolvimento global das crianças. Os pais consideram que a creche proporciona o desenvolvimento pessoal e aprendizagem das crianças. Para além disto, a mesma permite educar os seus filhos e é a primeira etapa da educação escolar. Porém, existem pais que referem que o facto de deixarem os seus filhos na referida instituição está relacionado com a inexistência de tempo da sua parte.De acordo com as entrevistas realizadas às crianças do jardim-de-infância podemos verificar que a frequência da creche foi fundamental para o crescimento saudável das crianças, sendo que 89% das crianças têm lembranças positivas sobre o primeiro dia de creche, 57% das crianças menciona como atividades que mais gostavam brincar com as bolas, 100% mencionaram que preferem brincar com outras crianças, 78% revelaram a existência de uma interação positiva entre as mesmas e a educadora, bem como 100% afirmou existir reações positivas à participação dos pais nas suas atividades.