EARLY CHILDHOOD TEACHERS’ PLAYFULNESS AND AMBIGUITY TOLERANCE: ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF ENCOURAGING CREATIVE POTENTIAL OF CHILDREN     

Deborah W. Tegano  Melissa M. Groves  Carol E. Catron 《Journal of Early Childhood Teacher Education》2013,34(3):291-300

This article examines the concept of an early childhood teacher learning, in stages, a new method for integrating the arts into the early childhood curriculum. An early childhood graduate course, Aesthetics as Learning, is the learning ground. In this course, the graduate students discover the “Adult Within,” the “Child Within,” the “Teacher Within” and the “Artist Within.” The innovative component is the fourth dimension, which is defined as learning to “feel like an Artist Within.” This is accomplished through 1-hour arts experiences in every 3-hour class, where the graduate student experiences the arts followed by discussion and reflection on the readings with a facilitative teacher in a supportive environment.  相似文献   

The best for our youngest: A separate,vital, stand‐alone early childhood certification,birth ‐ age 8     

Carol Sue Marshall 《Journal of Early Childhood Teacher Education》2013,34(3):201-206

Abstract

The call for educational reform is loud. Concern about the quality of students being graduated from public high schools, large numbers of students dropping out before graduation, and poor results on achievement tests in the lower grades continues to grow. As the public seeks an end to such problems, policy makers react by raising standards and making exams tougher. Such solutions may have positive impact; however, early childhood professionals are anxious about such a response. Research tells us experiences in the earliest years create a pathway for all later learning. Further, we know that adults who help provide those early experiences must be prepared to focus on the specific developmental and academic needs of young learners. Research confirms the cost effectiveness of quality early programs, and students affirm the need for teacher preparation to be focused specifically on their needs. Offering stand‐alone teacher certification for birth ‐ age 8 will insure that teachers exist who can effectively build a solid foundation for young students. © 2001 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.  相似文献   

Teachers' Knowledge of Literacy Concepts,Classroom Practices,and Student Reading Growth     

Shayne B. Piasta  Carol McDonald Connor  Barry J. Fishman  Frederick J. Morrison 《Scientific Studies of Reading》2013,17(3):224-248

We examined the relations of teacher knowledge (n = 42 first-grade teachers), explicit decoding instruction provided, and students' (n = 437) word-reading gains. Results revealed an interaction between teacher knowledge and observed decoding instruction: For students of more knowledgeable teachers, more time in explicit instruction predicted stronger word-reading gains. For students of less knowledgeable teachers, more time in explicit instruction was associated with weaker skill gains. Findings highlight the importance of teachers' specialized body of knowledge about reading as it informs effective instruction.  相似文献   

Professional development for leaders of a large teaching team: A dual role     

Carol Davis 《International Journal for Academic Development》2013,18(1):12-17

Abstract

Academics who lead large teaching teams of often inexperienced sessional staff have a dual role in professional development. They are both provider and participant. Academic leaders need to develop skills to fulfill their role effectively as the primary professional development provider for their team through opportunities to enhance skills in a range of areas; these areas include team leadership, team management and teaching for learning. In this scenario, there is a multilayered structure of provision of development opportunities. One level is that provided by the team leader and directly related to the needs of the team members and the requirements of the subject. The second level caters for the needs of the team leader in developing skills to effectively perform all the responsibilities of their role. Provision of professional development opportunities that cater for these may be the responsibility of the School, Faculty, Department or Staff Development Unit, depending upon the Institutional context. This paper will present a case study of the professional development programme offered to a large teaching team by an academic team leader. Some implications and issues arising from the case study that need to be addressed by professional developers and academic team leaders to enable and support the improvement of student, staff and organizational learning through professional development programmes will be discussed.  相似文献   

Editor’s overview: assessing mentoring effectiveness and building support systems     

Carol A. Mullen PhD  M&T Editor 《Mentoring & Tutoring: Partnership in Learning》2013,21(4):359-362

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Impact of a school consulting programme aimed at helping teachers integrate students with behavioural difficulties into secondary school: actors’ points of view     

Line Massé  Caroline Couture  Vanessa Levesque  Jean-Yves Bégin 《Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties》2013,18(3):327-343

A collaborative school consulting programme model, using functional assessment and applied behavioural techniques, was offered to secondary school teachers in two modalities: individual consultation and small-group consultation. The objective was to facilitate the integration of students with behavioural difficulties into mainstream secondary school classes. Both consulting programme modalities shared the same postulates. This article presents the stakeholders’ perceptions of the consulting model and its impacts on teachers and students. Presented here are the results of semi-structured interviews conducted with teachers (N = 42), resource persons accompanying individuals or groups (N = 11) and school managers (N = 8) in the programme’s first year of implementation. According to qualitative analysis of the interviews, these two models seem to have had positive impacts on teachers, especially in relation to their perceptions of students with behavioural difficulties and their understanding of behavioural problems. However, the group model is the one that elicited the most adhesion in all groups of actors.  相似文献   

Early years practitioners’ views on early personal,social and emotional development     

Carol Aubrey  Karen Ward 《Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties》2013,18(4):435-447

Current policy guidance stresses the need for early identification of obstacles to learning and appropriate intervention. New standards for learning (Early Years Foundation Stage) place personal, social and emotional development (PSED) as central to learning and development. This paper reports a survey and follow-up interviews with early years practitioners on early identification and intervention of young children with difficulties in PSED. As previous research with primary and secondary colleagues has shown, practitioners find low-level disturbance occurring most frequently. Although aggressive behaviour (hurting others, kicking, hitting and biting) is a concern, not attending or listening and immature social skills (lack of sharing and turn-taking, and inability to relate to other children) is a bigger challenge. Practitioners report a range of strategies for formally teaching relevant skills but point to the greater challenge of supporting recent immigrants where different cultural and social norms need to be understood.  相似文献   

‘Touched by the Earth’: a place-based outdoor learning programme incorporating the Arts     

Tonia Gray  Carol Birrell 《Journal of Adventure Education & Outdoor Learning》2013,13(4):330-349

With growing disconnection from the natural world, educators who work in the outdoors need to philosophically rethink their modus operandi. Past efforts by adventure and outdoor educators to promote connection with nature have often centred upon risk-centric approaches incorporating adventure-fuelled and high-adrenalin activities. This paper explores how the Arts may be incorporated into ecopedagogies, and what creative work can reveal about the nature of communication with the environment. ‘Touched by the Earth’ is a year-long place-based enrichment programme using multi-modal creative methods with young adolescent participants. Our research addressed the following questions: what does it mean to be ‘Touched by the Earth’; and how can the Arts amplify a personal relationship with the environment? Data were collected through interviews as well as student-generated material such as artefacts, video and photographs and field observation. Our findings indicate the crucial role the Arts can play in embodied and multi-sensory learning for participants, which in turn nurtures greater nature awareness and attachment. This transformation may, in fact, be termed ‘love’. We conclude that place-based, interdisciplinary and immersive modalities galvanise a deeper appreciation of the natural environment.  相似文献   

The Internet and Online Political Communities in Singapore     

Carol Soon  Randolph Kluver 《亚洲交流杂志》2013,23(3):246-265

The emergence and the widespread adoption of the Internet have brought about many dramatic changes on different levels. Due to its inherent characteristics, the Internet has become an engine of political mobilization and participation, and has led to the proliferation of online communities. Few studies examine how political groups use the Internet to build communities and forge alliances in cyberspace, and this study attempts to bridge this gap. Registered political parties and political expression groups in Singapore were selected for this study. Through hyperlink analysis, the study shows that reciprocity and similarity, two main characteristics observed in online communities, were found in the groupings formed by these political groups. Interestingly, most of the online affiliations that exist among these groups reflect those offline.  相似文献   

The Importance of “Focusness”: Focus Groups as a Means of Collection Management Assessment     

Fran Mentch MSW  MLIS  Barbara Strauss MLS  Carol Zsulya MSLS 《资料收集管理》2013,38(1-2):115-128

ABSTRACT

In order to assess the Library's collection, the Collection Development Assessment Team at Cleveland State University used focus groups to complement the information gathered in LibQUAL+?. Groups of undergraduates, graduates, and faculty participated in four separate focus groups. All groups reported they were essentially satisfied with the collection but also wanted better local collections and used OhioLINK to supplement their research; fewer users also utilized the rich resources of the public library systems. In keeping with previous surveys, all groups wanted more full-text available electronically, faster access to materials, and a more navigable website. It appeared that the more sophisticated the user, the more satisfied they were with the collection. The Special Collections focus group would like to have more materials digitized, improved accessibility to the collection and website, and increased interaction with the community to heighten awareness of the collection and in order to gather more primary materials for the collection.  相似文献