Fyysinen varhaiskasvatusympäristö päiväkotien varhaiskasvatussuunnitelmissa

The National Curriculum Guidelines on Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) in Finland says that ECEC is developed holistically through observing children´s and the educator community´s activities and the ECEC environment. The background of this research was that assesment should be based on commonly agreed principles, which are recorded e.g. to unit-specific ECEC curriculum. The objective of this research was to investigate how unit-specific ECEC curriculums have descriped the physical indoor environment in day-care centres. According to the National Curriculum Guidelines on ECEC, there are four ways of acting that are peculiar to children: playing, physical activities, exploration and artistic experiences and self-expression. The descriptions of physical environment in unit-spesific curriculums were observed through above mentioned four ways of acting. In addition to that, the descriptions of four ways of acting were compared to each other, in order to find out, which are the main differencies and similarities in relation to physical ECEC environment. Research material was build on unit-specific ECEC curriculums from 18 day-care centres of Helsinki. Target of the research were the descriptions of physical indoor environment in curriculums.The method used in the research was theory-guided content analysis. The analyses were mainly qualitative. The descriptions of psysical environment varied widely both quantitatively and by substance. All curriculums contained mentions of playing and artistic experiences and self-expression, but mentions of physical activities and exploration were noticiably fewer. All four ways of acting were mentioned in research material in relation to premises and instruments. Also, principles related to the use of premises and instruments and other more common priciples were mentioned in relation to all ways of acting. Instead of that, children were not mentioned even once as an upholders or innovators of physical activities environment and children were mentioned only once regarding to exploration environment. All ways of acting included scenarios of e.g. that environment must provide possibilities of particular way of acting, and both materials and instruments must be available for children. Anyhow, research material did not include any principle or scenario that relates to physical environment that would have occurred in every unit-specific curriculum.

Päiväkodin varhaiskasvatussuunnitelma ja johtajuus : Kolmen kunnan päiväkodinjohtajien käsityksiä päiväkodin varhaiskasvatussuunnitelmasta

The research goal is to describe curriculas and leadership in day-care centers. The day-care centers needed to write their own curriculas, when Centre for Research and Development of Welfare and Health published The National Curriculum Guidelines on Early Childhood Education and Care in Finland (ECEC) in 2003. The study tries to review day-care center managers views of day-care centers plans for early childhood education and care in three municipals. The research data was collected in the begining of 2008. In previous researches it was found out that co-operation and employees knowledge of education in day-care centers will define the reality (Nivala). Furthermore sosial reality will be based on discussions (Berger JA Luckmann). The subject was approached by one-way analysis of variance. Views of the day-care center managers was compared to the written plans for early childhood education, it s effect on day-care center s early childhood education and evaluation. Besides day-care center managers views were compared to early childhood education. Day care center manager s (N=40) answers were collected to a questionnaire, where there were mainly structured and some open end questions. Data was analysed with PASW Statistics 17 program. The research results showed that the day-care center managers views of the prosess of writing the plans for early childhood education in the day-care centers varied from each other. In addition there were differences in views how the plan of day-care center s early childhood education effected daily in their early childhood education. Furthermore the results showed that there were differenties in evaluating day-care center s education. Whereas the views of early childhood education were not different between the day-care managers in the three municipals.

Stability of the factorial structure of metabolic syndrome from childhood to adolescence : a 6-year follow-up study

Background: Metabolic syndrome (MS) is a clustering of cardiometabolic risk factors that is considered a predictor of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and mortality. There is no consistent evidence on whether the MS construct works in the same way in different populations and at different stages in life. Methods: We used confirmatory factor analysis to examine if a single-factor-model including waist circumference, triglycerides/HDL-c, insulin and mean arterial pressure underlies metabolic syndrome from the childhood to adolescence in a 6-years follow-up study in 174 Swedish and 460 Estonian children aged 9 years at baseline. Indeed, we analyze the tracking of a previously validated MS index over this 6-years period. Results: The estimates of goodness-of-fit for the single-factor-model underlying MS were acceptable both in children and adolescents. The construct stability of a new model including the differences from baseline to the end of the follow-up in the components of the proposed model displayed good fit indexes for the change, supporting the hypothesis of a single factor underlying MS component trends. Conclusions: A single-factor-model underlying MS is stable across the puberty in both Estonian and Swedish young people. The MS index tracks acceptably from childhood to adolescence.

Internationalisation, multilingualism and English-medium instruction: the teacher's perspective

[EN]In the newEuropean higher education space, Universities in Europe are exhorted to cultivate and develop multilingualism. The European Commission’s 2004–2006 action plan for promoting language learning and diversity speaks of the need to build an environment which is favourable to languages. Yet reality indicates that it is English which reigns supreme and has become the main foreign language used as means of instruction at European universities. Internationalisation has played a key role in this process, becoming one of the main drivers of the linguistic hegemony exerted by English. In this paper we examine the opinions of teaching staff involved in English-medium instruction, from pedagogical ecologyof-language and personal viewpoints. Data were gathered using group discussion. The study was conducted at a multilingual Spanish university where majority (Spanish), minority (Basque) and foreign (English) languages coexist, resulting in some unavoidable linguistic strains. The implications for English-medium instruction are discussed at the end of this paper.

Objectively Measured Physical Activity and Sedentary Time during Childhood, Adolescence and Young Adulthood: A Cohort Study

Background: To know how moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and sedentary time change across lifespan periods is needed for designing successful lifestyle interventions. We aimed to study changes in objectively measured (accelerometry) MVPA and sedentary time from childhood to adolescence and from adolescence to young adulthood. Methods: Estonian and Swedish participants from the European Youth Heart Study aged 9 and 15 years at baseline (N = 2312) were asked to participate in a second examination 6 (Sweden) to 9/10 (Estonia) years later. 1800 participants with valid accelerometer data were analyzed. Results: MVPA decreased from childhood to adolescence (21 to 22.5 min/d per year of follow-up, P = 0.01 and ,0.001, for girls and boys respectively) and also from adolescence to young adulthood (20.8 to 22.2 min/d per year, P = 0.02 and ,0.001 for girls and boys, respectively). Sedentary time increased from childhood to adolescence (+15 and +20 min/d per year, for girls and boys respectively, P,0.001), with no substantial change from adolescence to young adulthood. Changes in both MVPA and sedentary time were greater in Swedish than in Estonian participants and in boys than in girls. The magnitude of the change observed in sedentary time was 3–6 time larger than the change observed in MVPA. Conclusions: The decline in MVPA (overall change = 30 min/d) and increase sedentary time (overall change = 2:45 h/d)observed from childhood to adolescence are of concern and might increase the risk of developing obesity and other chronic diseases later in life. These findings substantially contribute to understand how key health-related behaviors (physical activity and sedentary) change across important periods of life.

Huntingdonshire Regional College - The Teacher/Learner Switch

It is said the best ideas are often the simplest ones. At Huntingdonshire Regional College, Ken McKerral, an Advanced Practitioner in E-Learning has developed a very simple idea to engage students and improve teaching and learning. Ken has named his method "The Teacher/Learner Switch". It is a process that uses a unique colour code system, to help differentiate learning outcomes and deliver ownership of time to the students to enrich learning experience.

Environmental judgment in early childhood and its relationship with the understanding of the concept of living beings

The evidence collected concerning the biocentric judgment that young children express when evaluating human actions on the environment leads some scholars to suggest that an essential understanding of the notion of living beings should appear earlier than previously believed. This research project aims to study that assumption. To this end, young children’s choice when they are put in situation of having to compare and choose the most negative option between environmentally harmful actions and the breaking of social conventions are examined. Afterwards, the results are categorized in relation to those obtained from the study of children’s grasp of the distinction between living beings and inanimate entities. The data is analysed according to the individuals’ age and overall, it suggests a lack of relationship between environmental judgment and the understanding of the concept of living beings. The final results are discussed in keeping with recent research in the field of moral development that underscores the role that unconscious emotional processing plays in the individual’s normative judgment.

Building digital capability: Example teacher profile

This is a version of the Jisc ‘Six Elements of Digital Capabilities’ model, specifically for teaching sta or for academic sta in their teaching role. It is an update on the earlier ‘7 elements of digital literacy’ model (2009) and has many continuities with this framework. This version was produced in response to feedback that the base model alone does not provide enough detail to support embedding into practice. However, it is an example of how the base model could be used to define the digital capabilities of teaching sta and is meant to be adapted to suit specific settings.

Interdisciplinary experience in the Teacher Training College of Vitoria-Gasteiz: teaching profession module

[EN] The higher education regulation process in Europe, known as the Bologna Process, has involved many changes, mainly in relation to methodology and assessment. The paper given below relates to implementing the new EU study plans into the Teacher Training College of Vitoria-Gasteiz; it is the first interdisciplinary paper written involving teaching staff and related to the Teaching Profession module, the first contained in the structure of the new plans. The coordination of teaching staff is one of the main lines of work in the Bologna Process, which is also essential to develop the right skills and maximise the role of students as an active learning component. The use of active, interdisciplinary methodologies has opened up a new dimension in universities, requiring the elimination of the once componential, individual structure, making us look for new areas of exchange that make it possible for students' training to be developed jointly.

Sormena bost urtko gelan. Musika, mugimendua eta jolasa.

Ez da arraroa, egungo eskolan, nolabaiteko aukera eza aurkitzea Haur Hezkuntzako haurraren sormena garatzeko. Aukera eza honi erantzuna emateko asmoz sortu da proiektu hau. Hiru bitarteko nagusi uztartzea proposatzen da: alde batetik, musika, sormenaren garapenerako aukera anitz eskaintzen dituelako; bestetik, mugimendua, haurraren garapenen fisiko eta kognitiboan berebiziko garrantzia duen funtzioa; eta, azkenik, jolasa elementu integratzaile bezala, gizakiok haurtzaroan dugun oinarrizko jarduera. Ondoren proposatzen diren jolasak zehazki sortuak, aukeratuak eta moldatuak izan dira sormena era ludikoan garatzeko. Barakaldoko Alkartu Ikastola Publikoan praktikan jarri eta gero, esan dezakegu haurrek ia mugarik gabeko sormena garatu dezaketela, irakasleak bitarteko egokiak eskura jartzen badizkie.

Atravessando a Linha Vermelha: Programa Nova Baixada de Educação Infantil discutindo a diversidade étnico-racial e cultural na formação docente

Esta dissertação tem como objeto a incorporação do tema Diversidade Étnico-Racial e Cultural na formação docente para a Educação Infantil na Periferia. A partir da problematização do cotidiano enfocou-se questões como Racismo e Preconceito e a forma como são abordadas junto à Infância Pequena. Nesta pesquisa buscou-se analisar o desenvolvimento do Programa Nova Baixada de Educação Infantil e refletir sobre o lugar que ocupa nas políticas educacionais, tendo como campo de investigação a Baixada Fluminense. Orienta pelo propósito de compreender de que forma as discussões étnico-raciais e a diversidade cultural estão ou não inseridas nos espaços de formação adotou-se, metodologicamente, uma abordagem qualitativa, de natureza descritiva. As técnicas privilegiadas foram: análise documental, entrevistas estruturadas e semi-estruturadas. Os sujeitos da investigação foram docentes e gestores de instituições nas quais se implementaram o PNB, a saber: Creche Margarida da Silva Duarte e Vereador Nilo Dias Teixeira, ambas no bairro da Chatuba, em Mesquita, município emancipado da cidade de Nova Iguaçu em 1999. Fez-se levantar e analisar as contribuições da formação docente no processo de pensar o fazer educativo. O referencial teórico se fundamenta nos estudos de Trindade, Silva, Kramer, Faria, Lino e Hasenbalg que abordam o tema relações étnico-racial na educação infantil. Através de nossa pesquisa observou-se que há escassez de trabalhos que discutem essa questão, como também, nas matrizes curriculares dos cursos de formação de professores, onde a Educação Infantil ocupa um espaço de penumbra como objeto de reflexão. Por fim, conclui-se que o meio acadêmico se volta, predominantemente, para os aspectos desenvolvimentistas da formação infantil, relegando ao segundo plano, a discussão sobre a diversidade cultural, étnica e racial. No tocante às políticas públicas indicamos a pertinência da revisão, pelo Poder Público, dos critérios que orientam a definição de prioridades e que na prática se traduzem de modo muito limitado frente às conquistas mais recentes dos direitos de todas as crianças de 0 a 6 anos, entre eles, os de freqüentar creches e pré-escolas, lugar seu conquistado.

Avaliação de um programa para o desenvolvimento da empatia em crianças no contexto escolar

A importância da empatia como um elemento indispensável para o desenvolvimento infantil saudável tem sido apontada em diversos estudos. Contudo, são muito poucos os registros de pesquisas nacionais sobre programas desenvolvidos com o objetivo de promovê-la, ou de potencializar o seu desenvolvimento. Embora parta de uma base biológica inata, a empatia depende da estimulação social, das práticas educativas e do contexto em que as crianças crescem, para desabrochar plenamente. Ao lado dos pais, a escola, onde as crianças passam grande parte do seu dia, ocupa um lugar de destaque na educação infantil. Considerando a importância da empatia para o desenvolvimento infantil saudável, e a influência que a educação escolar pode ter sobre ela, propôs-se a realização de um programa com o objetivo de potencializar o seu desenvolvimento, na escola. O objetivo geral deste estudo foi desenvolver o programa e testar a sua eficácia. Os objetivos específicos foram os seguintes: a) Elaborar e descrever os procedimentos utilizados na intervenção; b) Verificar se, após a conclusão do programa, os participantes apresentariam níveis significativamente mais elevados nas medidas de empatia, em comparação à linha de base; c) Verificar se, após a conclusão do programa, os participantes do grupo experimental apresentariam níveis significativamente mais elevados nas medidas de empatia em comparação às crianças do grupo controle; d) Adicionalmente, continuar a normatizar o Teste de Empatia em Ceninhas (TEC: Motta, 2005). Para a avaliação da empatia, usamos: uma medida de auto-relato a Escala de Empatia para Crianças e Adolescentes (EECA: Bryant, 1982); uma medida de empatia acurada o TEC (Motta, 2005); a avaliação do professor o Teachers Rating of Empathy (Barnett & cols., 1982); e a avaliação dos alunos o Empatia do Coleguinha, adaptado do Peers Rating of Empathy (Barnett & cols., 1982). Participaram do programa 43 alunos, da segunda e terceira série do ensino fundamental, de uma escola municipal do Rio de Janeiro. Cada turma foi dividida, aleatoriamente, em dois grupos, um deles experimental/placebo (EP experimental no primeiro segmento da pesquisa, placebo, no segundo) e o outro, placebo/experimental (PE placebo no primeiro segmento da pesquisa, experimental, no segundo). Seguimos o modelo longitudinal pré e pós-teste. Na primeira fase da pesquisa, os grupos EP participaram de 11 encontros de uma hora de duração, com atividades orientadas para o desenvolvimento da empatia, enquanto os grupos PE participaram de atividades de recreação infantil. Na segunda fase, os grupos PE receberam o mesmo tratamento oferecido aos grupos EP, na primeira fase, vice-versa. Os resultados indicaram que o treinamento beneficiou a empatia dos participantes da pesquisa. Sugere-se que a implementação de programas para o desenvolvimento da empatia pode contribuir para a promoção e o aperfeiçoamento desta habilidade nas escolas.

Creche Odetinha: um estudo de caso

Esta Pesquisa, de natureza qualitativa, teve por objetivo, descrever e analisar o processo de formação (2009) de um grupo de educadores os Agentes Auxiliares de Creche1 (AAC)-, recém concursados, através de um Estudo de Caso. Para tanto, fez parte das análises as recentes mudanças nas políticas de educação infantil do município do Rio de Janeiro (1997-2010) e o percurso de constituição da unidade de educação infantil -Creche Municipal Odetinha Vidal de Oliveira, através do relato de alguns de seus líderes comunitários. No município do Rio de Janeiro, as creches públicas resultaram da transferência das instituições que pertenciam à antiga Secretaria de Desenvolvimento Social (SMDS), atual Secretaria Municipal de Assistência Social (SMAS), para a Secretaria Municipal de Educação (SME). Atualmente, a rede municipal de ensino totaliza 255 creches municipais, com 33.348 alunos, em horário integral (7h -17h). No ano de 2005, o poder executivo do município do Rio de Janeiro, através da Lei 3985 de 08 de abril, criou a categoria funcional de Agente Auxiliar de Creche, que passou a integrar o Quadro de Pessoal de Apoio à Educação. O ingresso ao cargo deu-se através de concurso público, realizado em 2007, constituído de provas e provas de títulos, sendo exigida, a formação mínima em nível fundamental (o que fere a LDBEN 9394/96) e carga horária de 40 horas semanais. A seleção ocorreu regionalmente, isto é, por CRE. Em junho de 2008, o quadro de pessoal das creches públicas do município do Rio de Janeiro passou a contar em sua estrutura, com os novos profissionais egressos do concurso, marcando uma nova trajetória na história dessas instituições. A partir da análise do perfil destes educadores, meu objetivo foi refletir sobre a formação em serviço necessária para atender às especificidades de trabalho com criança de zero a três anos. Estaremos assim, co-participando na implementação de políticas públicas de Educação Infantil da prefeitura quanto à formação em serviço dos agentes auxiliares de creche. Para tanto, propomos três temas comuns e complementares de pesquisa: Inserção das crianças e famílias à creche; Brincar/Brincadeira; Arranjo espacial. Os instrumentos utilizados na pesquisa foram: observação participativa, questionários, e entrevistas. Foram também desenvolvidas, com os educadores, atividades de formação e sessões reflexivas que proporcionem o pleno desenvolvimento profissional desses sujeitos.