Testing the Vision: Preschool Settings as Places for Meeting,Bonding and Bridging

The OECD (2006 Starting Strong II: Early Childhood Education and Care. OECD Publishing: Paris) envisions early childhood education and care settings as meeting places for diverse social groups; places that build social capital. This vision was assessed in a comparison of three preschools types: full‐fee paying, subsidised‐fee and publicly funded. The social composition within each was examined and the connectedness of the children (n = 472) who attended compared. Publicly funded preschools had more socially diverse populations. The quantity of social connectedness did not differ but children in publicly funded preschools described higher quality social relationships. Not all preschool settings are socially diverse but, where they are, the quality of relationships is highest.     

Children’s narrative story stem responses: Contributions of executive functioning and language proficiency to relationship representations

Story stem narrative tasks provide insight into young children's inner experiences. Little research has investigated how developmental capacities impact narrative content and process. This study evaluates the influence of executive functioning (EF) and language ability on children's narratives. Data were gathered from 210 low‐income children. EF and language ability were assessed at age 4 and EF was assessed at age 6 via direct examination, cognitive‐motor tasks, and examiner ratings. Children's responses to eight story stems were gathered at age 6; three latent narrative variables were constructed (Prosocial, Aggressive/Conflict, and Avoidance/Danger), and Narrative Coherence was rated. Results of longitudinal path analyses in structural equation modeling demonstrated age 4 EF significantly predicted all narrative outcomes. Language ability independently predicted Prosocial and Narrative Coherence, and had an influence on Aggression/Conflict when modeled with EF. Age 6 EF mediated the relationship between age 4 EF and narrative outcomes. Findings provide insight into developmental abilities that influence on children's narrative responses to challenging interpersonal scenarios. Future research should study parent–child relations, EF, and language abilities simultaneously.     

Constructing ‘disability’ in Myanmar: teachers,community stakeholders,and the complexity of disability models

This article explores Myanmar teachers’ and community stakeholders’ constructions of disability. We examine how various religious perspectives – particularly Buddhism – inform and shape understandings of impairment and how these beliefs intersect with a strongly medicalised construction of disability. However, in our discussion and exploration of the responses, we also found that the notion of two primary disability ‘models’ – namely the medical model and the social model – lack nuance, complexity, and socio-cultural consideration. Through examining teachers’ and community members’ perspectives of disability in Myanmar, we highlight the importance of socio-cultural variance in understanding local constructions of disability.     

Participant roles in preschool bullying: The impact of emotion regulation,social preference,and quality of the teacher–child relationship

The present work investigated whether emotion regulation and social preference were associated with participant roles in bullying as a function of the quality of the relationship with teachers. Participants were 332 children (172 boys), in the age of 42–76 months (M = 58.74; SD = 7.84). Peer nominations were employed to assess social preference and participant roles (bullying, victimization, defending the victim, and outsider behavior). Teachers completed the Emotion Regulation Checklist, which yields the dimensions of emotion regulation and lability/negativity, and the Student – Teacher Relationships Scale, to evaluate conflict and closeness with the teacher. Multilevel models highlighted that emotional lability was positively associated with bullying and outsider behavior, emotion regulation was positively related to bullying and defending behavior, and social preference was negatively associated with bullying and victimization and positively with defending behavior. Interactions indicated that lability and low social preference were associated with bullying, and emotion regulation with outsider behavior, in children with a conflictual relationship with the teacher whereas social preference was related to defending behavior in children with a close relationship with the teacher. Results are discussed highlighting the importance of the quality of teacher–child relationship and the relevance of intervention programs aimed at promoting social wellbeing in preschool.     

户外健康教学活动中乡村幼儿园教师运用专业知识现状的调查

保护幼儿的生命和健康是幼儿园教育工作的首位。对甘肃六个经济落后县域的乡村幼儿园教师进行问卷调查和访谈，了解到乡村幼儿园教师对待户外健康教学活动的态度是积极的、户外健康教学活动实施的胜任水平有待提高、教学理论支持户外健康教学活动的实施不尽如人意、对幼儿运动负荷量的把握情况不容乐观、对户外健康教学活动与游戏活动的关系理解不清晰。提出调动乡村幼儿园男教师设计与实施健康教学活动的热情、开展丰富乡村幼儿园教师教学理论知识的专项培训、通过专题研讨帮助乡村幼儿园教师理解幼儿运动负荷量的重要性、分析优秀案例帮助乡村幼儿园教师厘清教学和游戏的关系等建议。     

澳大利亚生态环境保护的举措及经验借鉴

澳大利亚在发展经济的同时,较早地对生态环境进行有效保护,使经济发展与生态环境相互协调,同步推进;澳大利亚把生态环境保护纳入国家战略、建立全民参与的环境保护机制、坚持依法依规治理环境、实现城市建设和管理的生态化、强调尊重自然规律等,都是值得学习和借鉴的一些成功做法;当然,澳大利亚在生态环境保护方面也存在一些利己主义行为,对全球环境保护不利。     

学前儿童阅读指导初探

针对当前少儿馆不重视学前儿童阅读的现状,从学前儿童身心特点、国际经验、教育部规定和少儿馆性质等方面阐述了开展学前儿童阅读指导的意义;并以钱伯斯“阅读循环”理论为切入口,结合实际,对少儿馆做好学前儿童的阅读指导工作进行了探讨。     

幼儿园教师观察能力提升策略——基于课程游戏化背景

江苏省推行课程游戏化项目已四年有余，“观察”在其中扮演重要的推动角色。随着项目的全面开展实施，幼儿园教师的观察能力有了明显变化，但其中仍然存在一些“不够科学”的现象。基于此，教师应养成制定观察计划的习惯，提高获取有用信息的能力以及增强观察记录的实效性，从而深化推进课程游戏化建设。     

杜威教师观的实质及其启示

杜威以类比的方式描述教师角色，表达了他希望通过教育实现社会民主的愿望，带有明显的宗教痕迹与理想主义色彩。杜威围绕其教师观的精髓——“教师是学生思维发展的领导者”——对教师这一支撑性角色做了不同表述，丰富了教师角色的多样性。但杜威将教育者与教师等同的理解方式，在某种程度上导致教师概念过度泛化，模糊了家庭、学校、社会不同场域的育人特征与方式。新时代下，要客观地把握杜威教师观的现实意义，秉持取其精华、去其糟粕的科学理性观点。     

3-6岁学前儿童情绪与行为问题的调查与分析——以惠州市为例

摘 要：应用儿童长处与困难（SDQ）问卷（父母版），采用分层随机抽样方法，对惠州市1528名3-6岁儿童的情绪与行为问题进行调查。研究发现：惠州市3-6岁儿童情绪与行为问题异常情况比较严峻，儿童心理健康状况值得重视；不同地域、年龄学前儿童存在不同的情绪与行为问题，需要分类干预。其中农村儿童的情绪与行为问题异常情况尤为严重，需要得到广泛的关注和解决。