Pre-school regulation in Ireland: learning from the past to improve young children's everyday lives in early childhood care and education services     

Margaret Kernan  Mary O'Kane 《Irish Educational Studies》2013,32(2):171-185

The development of a system of regulation in early childhood care and education (ECCE) in Ireland was a slow process. Some decades passed between initial calls for regulation and the actual implementation of standards in 1997, reflecting the delay and inaction that has characterised ECCE policy implementation in general in Ireland. The present system has been criticised by some as not being far-reaching enough and a review, originally promised in 2001, is still overdue at time of writing. The question arises as to whether a regulatory system can fulfil the dual functions of, first, ensuring that services are meeting acceptable minimal standards and, second, supporting services to improve quality of provision beyond minimum standards and which promote children's development and learning. This question is explored in the light of discussions with the various stakeholders, recent policy developments in ECCE in Ireland, and the international debate on the relationship between regulations and quality.  相似文献   

How the Elderly Can Use Scientific Knowledge to Solve Problems While Designing Toys: A Retrospective Analysis of the Design of a Working UFO     

Mei-Yung Chen  Ming-Yueh Hwang  Wan-Tzu Wong 《Educational gerontology》2013,39(6):386-397

The venerable aphorism “an old dog cannot learn new tricks” implies that the elderly rarely learn anything new—in particular, scientific knowledge. On the basis of “learning by doing,” the present study emphasized knowledge application (KA) as elderly subjects collaborated on the design of a toy flying saucer (UFO). Three types of KA were identified by questioning the work: Type 1—knowing neither how nor why; Type 2—knowing how, but not why; and, Type 3—knowing how and why. The results indicated that female elderly subjects more often exhibited Type 1 of KA compared with male elderly. The evidence supported a KA of Type 3 for those who had a science background, as they performed better than those without a science background. However, even those without a science background were able to produce science toys if they worked cooperatively, particularly when they could learn from others who had a science background.  相似文献   

The Physical Educator as Graduate Adviser     

Margaret A. Mordy 《Quest (Human Kinetics)》2013,65(1):34-37

With increasing longevity and numbers of older adults, the need, both economic and humanistic, is present for physical educators to take the leadership in translating research in exercise physiology, motor learning, sociology, and psychology into beneficial physical education programs. Research is still needed in how the elderly learn and maintain motor skills and the effect of participation on motor performance. However, from the research in existence some implications can be drawn for guidance in establishing the instructional delivery system for the movement program. These guidelines include ways to accommodate reduced perceptual abilities, motivation, and physiological functioning to maximize success in physical activity programs.  相似文献   

IV. POVERTY AND ASSOCIATED SOCIAL RISKS: TOWARD A CUMULATIVE RISK FRAMEWORK     

Margaret Burchinal  Michael Willoughby 《Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development》2013,78(5):53-65

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Review two books on affect     

Margaret M. Clifford 《教育心理学家》2013,48(1):93-95

Ringness, T. A. The Affective Domain in Education. Boston: Little, Brown, 1975. 208 pages. $4.95.  相似文献   

General auditory processing,speech perception and phonological awareness skills in Chinese–English biliteracy     

Kevin K. H. Chung  Catherine McBride‐Chang  Him Cheung  Simpson W. L. Wong 《Journal of Research in Reading》2013,36(2):202-222

This study focused on the associations of general auditory processing, speech perception, phonological awareness and word reading in Cantonese‐speaking children from Hong Kong learning to read both Chinese (first language [L1]) and English (second language [L2]). Children in Grades 2–4 (N=133) participated and were administered measures of IQ, word reading, phonological awareness, speech perception and auditory processing in both L1 and L2. Auditory processing uniquely explained both L1 and L2 word reading. While L1 speech perception accounted for unique variance in L1 word reading, L2 phonological awareness explained unique variance in L2 word reading. In cross‐language comparisons, L1 phonological awareness and speech perception were uniquely associated with L2 word reading, suggesting cross‐language transfer from L1 to L2 only. Results underscore the importance of auditory processing for reading across variable learning contexts.  相似文献   

The impact of relational consequences and intimacy on the selection of interpersonal persuasion tactics: A reanalysis     

Michael J. Cody  Margaret L. McLaughlin  Michael J. Schneider 《Communication quarterly》2013,61(2):91-106

This study investigated the effects of situational variables on the likelihood of use of four types of compliance‐gaining strategies: justification, exchange, manipulation and personal rejection. Subjects rated the strategies on the probability that they would actually use them to gain compliance in each of four situations that varied systematically in intimacy and relational consequences. Both situational variables were found to he significant predictors of strategy preference. Message strategy selection was concluded to be based upon an assessment of the relative risk associated with the implementation of a given strategy and on the basis of the relative importance of three communicative goals: (1) whether strategy implementation would lead to successful compliance; (2) whether strategy implementation would result in relational harm; and, (3) whether strategy implementation would result in poor management of the agent's image. Recommendations for future research were noted.  相似文献   

A brief intervention affects parents’ attitudes toward using less physical punishment     

Antwon Chavis  Julia Hudnut-Beumler  Margaret W. Webb  Jill A. Neely  Len Bickman  Mary S. Dietrich  Seth J. Scholer 《Child abuse & neglect》2013

Consecutive English and Spanish speaking caregivers of 6–24 month old children were randomly assigned to either a control or intervention group. Parents in the intervention group were instructed to view at least 4 options to discipline a child in an interactive multimedia program. The control group participants received routine primary care with their resident physician. After the clinic visit, all parents were invited to participate in a research study; the participation rate was 98% (258/263). The key measure was the Attitudes Toward Spanking (ATS) scale. The ATS is correlated with parents’ actual use of physical punishment. Parents with higher scores are more likely to use physical punishment to discipline their children. Parents in the intervention group had an ATS score that was significantly lower than the ATS score of parents in the control group (median = 24.0, vs. median = 30; p = 0.043). Parents in the control group were 2 times more likely to report that they would spank a child who was misbehaving compared with parents in the intervention group (16.9% vs. 7.0%, p = 0.015). In the short-term, a brief intervention, integrated into the primary care visit, can affect parents’ attitudes toward using less physical punishment. It may be feasible to teach parents to not use physical punishment using a population-based approach. The findings have implications for how to improve primary care services and the prevention of violence.  相似文献   

A Comparison of Phonological Awareness,Lexical Compounding,and Homophone Training for Chinese Word Reading in Hong Kong Kindergartners     

Yan-Ling Zhou  Cathy Y.-C. Fong  Terry T.-Y. Wong  Sum Kwing Cheung 《Early education and development》2013,24(4):475-492

Research Findings: In this study, 88 kindergartners received special training in lexical compounding, homophone awareness, or phonological awareness or were assigned to a control condition over a period of approximately 2 months, with 20-min lessons administered twice per week. Chinese word reading improved significantly more in the lexical compounding group as compared to the other groups. Vocabulary knowledge also showed a trend toward improvement in this group (p < .08) and improved significantly in the homophone group. Although phonological awareness improved most in the phonological awareness training group, this group showed no reading or vocabulary improvements relative to the other groups. Practice or Policy: The results underscore the importance of morphological awareness training for both word reading and vocabulary knowledge in young Chinese children.  相似文献   

Strengthening the Early Childhood Workforce: How Wage Incentives May Boost Training and Job Stability     

Margaret Bridges  Bruce Fuller  Danny S. Huang  Bridget K. Hamre 《Early education and development》2013,24(6):1009-1029

Research Findings: Aiming to raise the quality of early childhood teachers and caregivers and to reduce turnover, government and professional associations are pursuing 2 intervention strategies. The 1st mandates higher credential levels, as seen with Head Start and state preschool reforms. Here we examine the efficacy of the 2nd strategy: offering wage incentives to encourage in-service training and to reduce job turnover. We followed 2,783 preschool center directors, teachers, and classroom aides who participated in California's Child-care Retention Incentive (CRI) program during a 3-year period. County-designed programs offered differing combinations of wage supplements and professional development to participants who pursued college-level training. We found a priori low levels of staff turnover among those who selected into the CRI program. This conditioned the modest program effects that we observed and revealed the segmented character of the early childhood labor force, which appears to shape selection patterns. Demographic attributes of staff and the auspice in which staff worked were significantly related to the number of college units acquired and to job stability. Specific features of local CRI programs were less influential. Staff completed more college courses when participating in programs that provided stronger career advising and professional activities in addition to their college coursework. Practice or Policy: Implications for incentive programs nationwide are discussed.  相似文献