Playgrounds going wrong: study of the adult style and children's rights during recess in an early childhood and primary education center

Recent perspectives on Pedagogy for Early Childhood Education emphasize children's participation in line with the Children's Rights Convention. The study aimed to analyse how children's rights are dealt with during recess in a school (Early Childhood and Primary Education) in Portugal. The aims were: to characterize the style of the adult (teaching assistants) and the interactions that are established with the children at the playground/recess, and analyse them in terms of children's rights. The qualitative approach was based on the observation during the recess for three weeks. The Adult Style Observation Schedule for Early Childhood Education (ASOS-ECE) was used to register and code the dynamics of six teaching assistants (3 ECE and 3 PE). Critical incidents were also registered. Statistical analysis of the ASOS-ECE levels were complemented with the content analysis of the notes. The playground space was quite limited and affected children's play and well-being. The outdoor playground was never used for the Early Childhood classes, only for Primary Education students but with little supervision. Children were often deprived of playground time by decision of the teaching assistants, as punishment. The results obtained through the Adult Style Observation Schedule for Early Childhood Education (ASOS-ECE) are not satisfactory and are below what would meet the minimum quality value (3,5). For Early Childhood Education, sensibility is the most valued dimension but with very low levels (<2,5). For Primary Education it was autonomy that scored highest (<2,5). The analysis of the notes/critical incidents highlighted articles 12 (expression of own views), 13 (freedom of expression), 19 (protection against violence), 29 (development of personality) and 31 (rest and leisure, play and recreational activities) as being put into question by actions of the adults responsible for the children. Children's rights and well-being need to be put forward in the knowledge base for all adults working with children so that Pedagogy can fulfil its purpose fully.

Práticas de ensino e investigativas em educação pré-escolar e 1º CEB : estilos do adulto e direitos das crianças no recreio / Francisca Raquel Moita Santos

O relatório final de estágio inclui uma apreciação das aprendizagens realizadas nas práticas de ensino supervisionadas do mestrado em Educação Pré-Escolar e Ensino do 1.º CEB e o estudo desenvolvido no contexto de estágio que procurou fazer face a dois objetivos centrais: caraterizar o estilo do adulto e as interações que são estabelecidas com as crianças, no período do recreio, e analisá-las em termos de adequação aos Direitos das Crianças. Para dar resposta a estes objetivos aliámo-nos aos autores de referência, à legislação em vigor e a uma investigação realizada em contexto escolar. Em termos empíricos, o estudo teve um caráter qualitativo, com recurso à observação durante o recreio utilizando a Escala de Empenhamento do Adulto. Recorreu-se, também, a uma observação com registo de incidentes críticos. Os resultados obtidos através da Escala de Empenhamento do Adulto encontram-se abaixo do que seria adequado, ou seja, não se atinge o valor mínimo de qualidade (3,5). Os direitos mais vezes postos em causa foram: “A criança tem o direito de exprimir livremente a sua opinião sobre questões que lhe digam respeito e de ver essa opinião tomada em consideração” (Artigo 12.º) e “A criança tem direito ao repouso, a tempos livres e a participar em atividades culturais e artísticas” (Artigo 31.º). Com base nos baixos níveis nas dimensões sensibilidade, estimulação e autonomia e na análise de situações registadas que representam violações dos Direitos das Crianças, concluiu-se existir urgência na formação das equipas educativas no âmbito dos Direitos das Crianças e da importância do recreio para as crianças. A própria organização do espaço e dos materiais, assim como da dinâmica do recreio, são discutidos em termos de promoção de aprendizagens e de concretização dos direitos.

Adult Attachment Style on the MMPI-2: Does an Elevated Scale 4 Predict Dismissing Attachment?

This study examines some aspects of Caldwell's (200 I) hypotheses about the adaptations associated with elevations on the clinical scales of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Assessment-2 (MMPI-2). The argument is made that the adaptation to early rejection and neglect, which he attributes to Scale 4, parallels the adaptation represented by a dismissing attachment. Archival data of 72 individuals who completed assessment batteries that included both the MMPI-2 and that Adult Attachment Projective (AAP) were analyzed to determine if there was a relationship between elevations on Scale 4 and classification as dismissing attachment. No significant relationship was found for the primary hypothesis; however, some small effects were noted in related exploratory analyses. Possible reasons for the lack of a significant result are discussed a well as directions for future research.

Adult attachment style and cortisol responses in women in late pregnancy

Suporte financeiro e não financeiro da Maternidade Alfredo da Costa, Lisboa, Portugal

Replication of the association of common rs9939609 variant of FTO with increased BMI in an Australian adult twin population but no evidence for gene by environment (G x E) interaction

OBJECTIVE: To further investigate a common variant (rs9939609) in the fat mass- and obesity-associated gene (FTO), which recent genome-wide association studies have shown to be associated with body mass index (BMI) and obesity. DESIGN: We examined the effect of this FTO variant on BMI in 3353 Australian adult male and female twins. RESULTS: The minor A allele of rs9939609 was associated with an increased BMI (P=0.0007). Each additional copy of the A allele was associated with a mean BMI increase of approximately 1.04 kg/m(2) (approximately 3.71 kg). Using variance components decomposition, we estimate that this single-nucleotide polymorphism accounts for approximately 3% of the genetic variance in BMI in our sample (approximately 2% of the total variance). By comparing intrapair variances of monozygotic twins of different genotypes we were able to perform a direct test of gene by environment (G x E) interaction in both sexes and gene by parity (G x P) interaction in women, but no evidence was found for either. CONCLUSIONS: In addition to supporting earlier findings that the rs9939609 variant in the FTO gene is associated with an increased BMI, our results indicate that the associated genetic effect does not interact with environment or parity.

Memory and learning for a novel written style.

Subjects read and recalled a series of five short stories in one of four plot and style combinations. The stories were written in one of two styles that consisted of opposing clause orders (i.e., independent-dependent vs. dependent-independent), tense forms (i.e., past vs. present), and descriptor forms (modifier modifier vs. modifier as a noun). The subjects incorporated both plot and style characteristics into their recalls. Other subjects, who, after five recalls, either generated a new story or listed the rules that had been followed by the stories read, included the marked forms of the characteristics they learned more often, except for tense. The subjects read and recalled four stories of the same plot and style and then read and recalled a fifth story of the same plot and style or of one of the other three plot/style combinations. Ability to switch style depended on both the characteristic and the markedness.

Attachment Style in Adults who Failed to Thrive as Children: Outcomes of a 20 Year Follow-up Study of Factors Influencing Maintenance or Change in Attachment Style

A group of children identified as non-organic failure-to-thrive between 1977 and 1980 were investigated, assessed and provided with social work intervention and treatment. Those children and their families have been followed up for the last 20 years. The current paper examines the stability of an internal working model in a sample of individuals who had failed to thrive as children, by comparing each individual's adult attachment style with their childhood attachment to their mother. In this sample, several cases showed changes from insecure to secure attachment styles. Possible reasons are discussed for positive and negative changes, as well as cases when there was no change in attachment style. These include the effectiveness of intervention in addition to changes in life circumstances. The findings suggest that when appropriate support and intervention is provided, or when different circumstances or relationships are experienced, internal working models can change.

Executive functioning deficits in young adult survivors of bronchopulmonary dysplasia

style="font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px;">Purpose: To assess long-term impairments of executive functioning in adult survivors of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD). style="font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px;">
style="font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px;">Method: Participants were assessed on measures of executive functioning, health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and social functioning. Survivors of BPD (style="font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px;">n = 63; 34 males; mean age 24.2 years) were compared with groups comprising preterm (without BPD) (<1500 g; style="font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px;">n = 45) and full-term controls (style="font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px;">n = 63). Analysis of variance was used to explore differences among groups for outcome measures. Multiple regression analyzes were performed to identify factors predictive of long-term outcomes. style="font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px;">
style="font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px;">Results: Significantly more BPD adults, compared with preterm and term controls, showed deficits in executive functioning relating to problem solving (OR: 5.1, CI: 1.4–19.3), awareness of behavior (OR: 12.7, CI: 1.5–106.4) and organization of their environment (OR: 13.0, CI: 1.6–107.1). Birth weight, HRQoL and social functioning were predictive of deficits in executive functioning. style="font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px;">
style="font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px;">Conclusions: This study represents the largest sample of survivors into adulthood of BPD and is the first to show that deficits in executive functioning persist. Children with BPD should be assessed to identify cognitive impairments and allow early intervention aimed at ameliorating their effects.

Developmental Antecedents of Proactive and Reactive Rebelliousness: The Role of Parenting Style, Childhood Adversity, and Attachment

Adolescence is a time of developmental transition that for one in five young people is characterised by feelings of oppositionality, rebellion, and negativism. Despite the prevalent experience of teen turbulence and despite its significance within the phenomenological framework provided by reversal theory (RT), the childhood antecedents of rebelliousness in adolescence and adulthood have not been given extensive empirical attention within RT, although such work has been carried out using other constructs and theories. We examined recalled parenting style, childhood adversity, and attachment style in adulthood as correlates of proactive and reactive rebelliousness in a sample of 80 participants, aged 18 to 50 years. Each participant responded to a questionnaire package containing the revised Adult Attachment Scale, the Parental Bonding Instrument, the Childhood Experience of Care and Abuse Questionnaire, and the Negativism Dominance Scale. We found that paternal abusive parenting, followed by paternal parenting style, paternal neglect, and paternal antipathy were independently predictive of scores on proactive rebelliousness, the sensation-seeking form. Maternal and paternal indifferent parenting styles each were found to equivalently and independently predict scores on reactive rebelliousness, the interpersonal disaffection form. The results of this study suggest these two forms of rebelliousness may have distinctly different antecedents. A longitudinal study is needed to examine the potentially causal pathways that are suggested by the results of this cross-sectional research. We consider reversal theory explanations of these results and contrast them with complementary theoretical frameworks.

Patterns of cortisol and DHEA secretion and relationships with attachment style and psychosocial variables in female adolescents: a developmental psychopathology approach

This programme of research used a developmental psychopathology approach to investigate females across the adolescent period. A two-sided story is presented; first, a study of neuroendocrine and psychosocial parameters in a group of healthy female adolescents (N = 63), followed by a parallel study of female adolescents with anorexia nervosa (AN) (N = 8). A biopsychosocial, multi-method measurement approach was taken, which utilised self-report, interview and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) axis measures. Saliva samples for the measurement of cortisol and DHEA were collected using the best-recommended methodology: multiple samples over the day, strict reference to time of awakening, and two consecutive sampling weekdays. The research was adolescent-orientated: specifically, by using creative and ageappropriate strategies to ensure participant adherence to protocol, as well as more generally by adopting various procedures to facilitate engagement with the research process. In the healthy females mean (± SD) age 13.9 (± 2.7) years, cortisol and DHEA secretion exhibited typical adult-like diurnal patterns. Developmental markers of chronological age, menarche status and body mass index (BMI) had differential associations with cortisol and DHEA secretory activity. The pattern of the cortisol awakening response (CAR) was sensitive to whether participants had experienced first menses, but not to chronological age or BMI. Those who were post-menarche generally reached their peak point of cortisol secretion at 45 minutes post-awakening, in contrast to the pre-menarche group who were more evenly spread. Subsequent daytime cortisol levels were also higher in post-menarche females, and this effect was also noted for increasing age and BMI. Both morning and evening DHEA were positively associated with developmental markers. None of the situational or self-report psychosocial variables that were measured modulated any of the key findings regarding cortisol and DHEA secretion. The healthy group of girls were within age-appropriate norms for all the self-report measures used, however just under half of this group were insecurely attached (as assessed by interview). Only attachment style was associated with neuroendocrine parameters. In particular, those with an anxious insecure style exhibited a higher awakening sample (levels were 7.16 nmol/l, 10.40 nmol/l and 7.93 nmol/l for secure, anxious and avoidant groups, respectively) and a flatter CAR (mean increases over the awakening period were 6.38 nmol/l, 2.32 nmol/l and 8.61 nmol/l for secure, anxious and avoidant groups, respectively). The afore-mentioned pattern is similar to that consistently associated with psychological disorder in adults, and so this may be a pre-clinical vulnerability factor for subsequent mental health problems. A group of females with AN, mean (± SD) age 15.1 (± 1.6) years, were recruited from a specialist residential clinic and compared to the above group of healthy control (HC) female adolescents. A general picture of cortisol and DHEA hypersecretion was revealed in those with AN. The mean (± SD) change exhibited in cortisol levels over the 30 minute post-awakening period was 7.05 nmol/l (± 5.99) and 8.33 nmol/l (± 6.41) for HC and AN groups, respectively. The mean (± SD) evening cortisol level for the HC girls was 1.95 nmol/l (± 2.11), in comparison to 6.42 nmol/l (± 11.10) for the AN group. Mean (± SD) morning DHEA concentrations were 1.47 nmol/l (± 0.85) and 2.25 nmol/l (± 0.88) for HC and AN groups, respectively. The HC group’s mean (± SD) concentration of 12 hour DHEA was 0.55 nmol/l (± 0.46) and the AN group’s mean level was 0.89 nmol/l (± 0.90). This adrenal steroid hypersecretion evidenced by the AN group was not associated with BMI or eating disorder symptomatology. Insecure attachment characterised by fearfulness and anger was most apparent; a style which was unparalleled in the healthy group of female adolescents. The causal directions of the AN group findings remain unclear. Examining some of the participants with AN as case studies one year post-discharge from the clinic illustrated that for one participant who was recovered, in terms of returning to ordinary school life and no longer exhibiting clinical levels of eating disorder symptomatology, her CARs were no longer inconsistent over sampling days and her DHEA levels were also now generally comparable to the healthy control group. For another participant who had not recovered from her AN one year later, the profile of her CAR continued to be inconsistent over sampling days and her DHEA concentrations over the diurnal period were significantly higher in comparison to the healthy control group. In its entirety, this work’s unique contribution lies in its consideration of methodological and developmental issues specifically pertaining to adolescents. Findings also contribute to knowledge of AN and understanding of vulnerability factors, and how these may be used to develop interventions dedicated to improving adolescent health.

Daily physical activities and sports in adult survivors of childhood cancer and healthy controls: a population-based questionnaire survey.

BACKGROUND: Healthy lifestyle including sufficient physical activity may mitigate or prevent adverse long-term effects of childhood cancer. We described daily physical activities and sports in childhood cancer survivors and controls, and assessed determinants of both activity patterns. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: The Swiss Childhood Cancer Survivor Study is a questionnaire survey including all children diagnosed with cancer 1976-2003 at age 0-15 years, registered in the Swiss Childhood Cancer Registry, who survived ≥5 years and reached adulthood (≥20 years). Controls came from the population-based Swiss Health Survey. We compared the two populations and determined risk factors for both outcomes in separate multivariable logistic regression models. The sample included 1058 survivors and 5593 controls (response rates 78% and 66%). Sufficient daily physical activities were reported by 52% (n = 521) of survivors and 37% (n = 2069) of controls (p<0.001). In contrast, 62% (n = 640) of survivors and 65% (n = 3635) of controls reported engaging in sports (p = 0.067). Risk factors for insufficient daily activities in both populations were: older age (OR for ≥35 years: 1.5, 95CI 1.2-2.0), female gender (OR 1.6, 95CI 1.3-1.9), French/Italian Speaking (OR 1.4, 95CI 1.1-1.7), and higher education (OR for university education: 2.0, 95CI 1.5-2.6). Risk factors for no sports were: being a survivor (OR 1.3, 95CI 1.1-1.6), older age (OR for ≥35 years: 1.4, 95CI 1.1-1.8), migration background (OR 1.5, 95CI 1.3-1.8), French/Italian speaking (OR 1.4, 95CI 1.2-1.7), lower education (OR for compulsory schooling only: 1.6, 95CI 1.2-2.2), being married (OR 1.7, 95CI 1.5-2.0), having children (OR 1.3, 95CI 1.4-1.9), obesity (OR 2.4, 95CI 1.7-3.3), and smoking (OR 1.7, 95CI 1.5-2.1). Type of diagnosis was only associated with sports. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Physical activity levels in survivors were lower than recommended, but comparable to controls and mainly determined by socio-demographic and cultural factors. Strategies to improve physical activity levels could be similar as for the general population.

Adult Learning in the Transformational Environments of the Digital Revolution: Connecting Theory and Practice

The purpose of this study was to investigate the learning preferences and the post-secondary educational experiences of a group of Net-Gen adult learners, aged between 18 and 35, currently working in the knowledge economy workplace, and their assessment of how adequately they were prepared to meet the requirements of the knowledge economy workplace. This study utilized an explanatory mixed-method research design. Participants completed a questionnaire providing information on their self-reported learning style preferences, their use of digital tools for formal and informal learning, their use of digital technologies in postsecondary educational experiences, and their use of digital technologies in their workplace. Four volunteers from the questionnaire respondents were selected to participate in interviews based on the diversity of their experiences in higher education, including digital environments, and the diversity of their knowledge economy workplaces. Data collected from the questionnaire were analyzed for descriptive and demographic statistics, and categorized so that common patterns could be identified from information gathered from the online questionnaire and interviews. Findings based on this study indicated that these Net-Gen adult learners were fluent with all types of digital technologies in collaborative environments, expecting their educational experiences to provide a similar experience. Participants clearly expressed an understanding that digital/collaborative aptitudes are essential to successful employment in the knowledge economy workplace. The findings of this study indicated that the majority of participants felt that their post-secondary educational experiences did not adequately prepare them to meet the expectations of this type of working environment.

The adult learner : the definitive classic in adult education and human resource development.

Es una lectura esencial para los profesionales del aprendizaje de adultos, estudiantes y profesionales de los recursos humanos, pues proporciona un marco teórico para la comprensión de los problemas del aprendizaje de adultos, tanto en los entornos docentes como en los lugares de trabajo. Se divide en tres partes: la primera parte estudia 'Las raíces de la andragogía', se traza el desarrollo de esta teoría y las características de los estudiantes adultos; en la segunda parte 'Los avances en el aprendizaje de adultos', se explican sus perspectivas de futuro en la investigación y la práctica y, en la última parte, 'Practica en el aprendizaje de adultos', se presentan lecturas seleccionadas que desarrollan los aspectos específicos de la andragogía en la práctica y que incluye estrategias para implementar los supuestos básicos, para adaptar el aprendizaje a las diferencias individuales, y para implementar la educación de adultos en las organizaciones. De especial interés son dos instrumentos de autoevaluación, 'the Core Competency Diagnostic and Planning Guide' y 'the Personal Adult Learning Style Inventory' que permiten al lector ponerse en camino del desarrollo personal en el aprendizaje de adultos.