Exploring Daily Physical Activity and Nutrition Patterns in Early Learning Settings: Snapshots of Young Children in Head Start,Primary, and After-School Settings     

Dolores A. Stegelin  Denise Anderson  Karen Kemper  Jennifer Wagner  Katharine Evans 《Early Childhood Education Journal》2014,42(2):133-142

The purpose of this research project was to gain a greater understanding of daily routines of 4–7 year olds regarding physical activity and nutrition practices in typical early learning environments. The settings selected for this observational study included Head Start, primary, and after-school learning environments in a city in the southeast. Specifically, this exploratory study focused on the research question: What are typical daily physical activity and nutrition patterns in community-based early learning settings for young children 4–7 years of age in the United States? Two overarching themes were identified through data analysis: restriction of activity and restriction of physical movement. Results indicated that children in elementary school settings had fewer opportunities for indoor and outdoor physical activity than children in other settings and that children seek to be physically active and will do so when given the opportunity. Increasing time for both structured and unstructured physical activity and play for children ages 4–7 in early learning settings was recommended by the researchers.  相似文献   

Assessing Quality in Toddler Classrooms Using the CLASS-Toddler and the ITERS-R     

Karen M. La Paro  Amy C. Williamson  Bridget Hatfield 《Early education and development》2014,25(6):875-893

Many very young children attend early care and education programs, but current information about the quality of center-based care for toddlers is scarce. Using 2 observation instruments, the Infant/Toddler Environment Rating Scale–Revised (ITERS-R) and the Classroom Assessment Scoring System, Toddler Version (CLASS-Toddler), 93 child care classrooms for toddlers across the state of North Carolina, representing a range of quality, were assessed to determine overall quality, and associations between observed quality and teachers' ratings of child behavior problems and competence outcomes using the Brief Infant Toddler Social Emotional Assessment. Research Findings: Findings indicated that overall, toddler classrooms were rated as being of moderate quality. Associations between observed quality and teacher-reported child behavior problems and competence outcomes indicated that CLASS-Toddler ratings were positively associated with fewer behavior problems; specifically, children in classrooms with higher levels on the CLASS-Toddler domains of Emotional and Behavioral Support as well as Engaged Support for Learning were reported to have fewer behavior problems. Similarly, the ITERS-R subscales of Interaction and Listening and Talking were positively related to fewer reported behavior problems. Regression models showed that the CLASS-Toddler Emotional and Behavioral Support domain predicted differences in child behavior problems. Practice or Policy: Findings suggest the need for additional research related to very young children's experiences in center-based child care to examine associations between quality and child experiences and outcomes. Children's experiences over time need to be examined to understand how these early child care experiences are related to children's later school adjustment and performance. On a related note, professional development for teachers in toddler classrooms needs to be addressed in terms of preparing effective teachers for young children during the toddler developmental period.  相似文献   

Supporting resilience in early years classrooms: the role of the teacher     

Andrea Nolan  Ann Taket  Karen Stagnitti 《Teachers and Teaching》2014,20(5):595-608

It is an accepted fact that resilience is a multifaceted phenomenon which has been proven to affect the learning, growth and development of individuals. A child’s formative years are a time when resilience needs to be promoted so they can cope with the challenges of life. This paper reports some of the findings of an Australian Research Council-funded longitudinal study which investigated resilience in the context of significant transitions in the lives of children and young adults. This study explored the conditions and characteristics of resilience, looking at the educational, health, work-related or leisure interventions that support and foster resilience. Outlined in this paper are findings from the early years cohort of the study involving teachers’ pedagogy informing the practical approaches and strategies that promote and protect resilience in young children. It is argued that teachers working with young children need to be mindful of using enabling strategies in which their practice works purposively with the school environment and the building of relationships.  相似文献   

Interrogating conceptions of leadership: school principals,policy and paradox     

Karen E. Starr 《School Leadership & Management》2014,34(3):224-236

Currently educational research literature demonstrates wide discussion and endorsement of ‘distributed’ leadership while concurrently traditional, hegemonic forms prevail in practice. This article investigates understandings about educational leadership held by Australian school principals. The article describes the contradictory conceptions about educational leadership currently in circulation. It interrogates underlying assumptions and questions how both hegemonic and newer leadership conceptions and assumptions serve educational leaders. Data from principals around the country and across education systems reinforced the predominance of un-theorised or under-theorised notions about leadership, with similar assumptions found in important policy artefacts and practices. This article emerges from interviews with 100 principals focusing on their professional learning needs, which revealed interesting ideas, issues and dilemmas concerning ‘leadership’. It fills a gap in research on distributed leadership by exploring contradictions inherent in policy, practice and understandings in this area. The article is structured into four sections. First, extant literature on this topic and the research are explained. Second, the article focuses on principals' conceptions about leadership and those inherent within important policy and practical artefacts. A discussion of the findings focuses on the discrepancy between theory and policy endorsement and the views of practitioners. Finally, the article canvasses the implications of the research.  相似文献   

Editorial     

Karen Edge 《Educational Assessment, Evaluation and Accountability》2014,26(2):105-106

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Promoting Inquiry-Based Teaching in Laboratory Courses: Are We Meeting the Grade?     

Christopher Beck  Amy Butler  Karen Burke da Silva 《CBE life sciences education》2014,13(3):444-452

Over the past decade, repeated calls have been made to incorporate more active teaching and learning in undergraduate biology courses. The emphasis on inquiry-based teaching is especially important in laboratory courses, as these are the courses in which students are applying the process of science. To determine the current state of research on inquiry-based teaching in undergraduate biology laboratory courses, we reviewed the recent published literature on inquiry-based exercises. The majority of studies in our data set were in the subdisciplines of biochemistry, cell biology, developmental biology, genetics, and molecular biology. In addition, most exercises were guided inquiry, rather than open ended or research based. Almost 75% of the studies included assessment data, with two-thirds of these studies including multiple types of assessment data. However, few exercises were assessed in multiple courses or at multiple institutions. Furthermore, assessments were rarely based on published instruments. Although the results of the studies in our data set show a positive effect of inquiry-based teaching in biology laboratory courses on student learning gains, research that uses the same instrument across a range of courses and institutions is needed to determine whether these results can be generalized.  相似文献   

Social Networking: Boundaries and Limits Part 1: Ethics     

Antonette Aragon  Suzan AlDoubi  Karen Kaminski  Sharon K. Anderson  Nelda Isaacs 《TechTrends》2014,58(2):25-31

The number of educators, administrators, and institutions that utilize social networking has increased dramatically. Many have adopted social networking in order to be up-to-date and connected with their students’ learning beyond the boundaries of the classroom. However, this increase in the use of social networking in academia presents many potential issues. In this paper, we address the growing prevalence of social networking in education and some of the issues. Next, we use social role theory to explore some pitfalls for educators using social networking. Finally, we suggest that foundational ethical principles from the field of psychology can provide a basis for developing guiding principles for use of social networking in education.  相似文献   

Building Grounded Practical Theory in Applied Communication Research: Introduction to the Special Issue     

Robert T. Craig  Karen Tracy 《Journal of Applied Communication Research》2014,42(3):229-243

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Editorial Note     

Karen S. Fischer 《资料收集管理》2014,39(2-3):51-52

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Editorial     

Karen Evans  Anna Robinson‐Pant 《Compare》2006,36(1):1-3

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