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Women and children\u27s well-being in Indian nuclear families during the COVID-19 pandemic
Get PDFThe culture of living in a nuclear family setting, a norm of modernisation, has been badly shaken by the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. This hit has created many pauses and changes in women\u27s lives who live in nuclear families with the responsibility of taking care of very young children. Despite the various discussions related to women during the pandemic, there seem to be negligible efforts to understand the lived reality of nuclear family women having the responsibility of child care. The idea of living in this type of family is based on the thinking that it provides ample opportunity to develop individual talents and lead an unrestricted life. However, it can have a very adverse effect on women and children during the pandemic due to the closure of essential support systems such as child care centres and schools. Thus, this situation has a negative effect on the lives of women, which in turn, affects their young children\u27s lives too. This study explored the lived experiences of a purposively selected sample of six women regarding challenges to deal with an office job, domestic work, and child care during the ongoing pandemic. Data were generated by conducting the telephonic semi-structured interview and thematic analysis was used to analyse the data. Results indicate the curtailment of freedom and choices, adverse impact on the mental and physical health of women and their children
Preschoolers’ use and exploration of concepts related to scientific phenomena in preschool
Get PDFThe study described in this paper concerns science education in preschool, more specifically how young children in preschool settings invent, develop and explore science and scientific concepts in problem-solving and communicative situations. The aim of the paper is to discuss young children´s concept creation and draw conclusions for early science education. The method used was a secondary analysis of empirical material drawn from three previous studies carried out by the authors. Examples of preschool children’s use of language were extracted and was, for the purpose of this study, analyzed with a new focus on children’s use of concepts. The re-analysis draws from Vygotsky’s theoretical framework on children’s conceptual development and appropriation of new concepts (Vygotsky, 1934/1999; Åkerblom 2011) and from the later Wittgenstein (1986) on the role of language meaning in understanding. The findings underline the importance of allowing preschool children to invent, develop and explore science and technology concepts, as well as implications for preschool teachers to create dialogic spaces for the children to do so. The limitations of the study are however that it is based on a limited number of examples and even though it can give implications and point out directions, is not conclusive and should be followed by further research
Young students’ views on problem solving versus problem posing
Get PDFFor decades, problem solving has been of interest to researchers, and several studies have tried to capture the influence of students’ beliefs, attitudes and emotions towards mathematics and problem solving. However, problem posing as part of problem solving has not been investigated to the same extent. This article focuses on six-year-olds’ views on solving and posing problems. How do the students themselves describe their views on solving and posing problem-solving tasks, and what similarities and differences can be found? An educational design research study was conducted in three classes where the students first solved and then posed problem-solving tasks. Afterwards, the students were interviewed. In these interviews the students expressed positive views towards both solving and posing problem-solving tasks. The students expressed autonomy and challenge as positive when both solving and posing tasks. However, a posed task needed to be solved before being finished. Further, not all students considered problem posing to be a mathematical activity, and a plausible explanation for this is the students’ limited experience of problem posing
Parents’ perspective on a children’s learning
Get PDFContemporary curricula of early childhood education were founded on perspective of playing learning child. Although that approach leads to children’s well-being, research by Yahya (2006) has shown that parents do not want their children to learn through play, rather to focus on early and preschool education and teaching academic skills. If parents expect professionals to deliver the knowledge necessary for the development of academic skills to their children, research has been conducted on parental experience of a child’s learning. The aim of the research was to find out how parents understand their children\u27s learning and approach to the contemporary concepts of child learning as well as children’s competence. The research was conducted in the period from November 2017 to May 2019. Parents involved in the study, documented how their children learn in a family environment, assessing their children’s competencies. Results show that parents see learning through everyday situations whereas learning was related to the academic mode (direct teaching of letters), has only appeared in one example. At the end of the research, parents participated in a group interview, discussing their expectations of the institution towards educating children. The results showed that parents expect the institution to encourage the development of a child\u27s social knowledge and skills, while academic knowledge and skills are ranked lower
Learning Chinese Mandarin characters in an English-speaking country: The development of a child’s symbolic mind
Get PDFThis qualitative research explores the development of the symbolic mind in children through learning Chinese Mandarin characters. Navigated through the lens of relational developmental system metatheory and guided by Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory, findings present the analysis of the developmental processes in children’s recognition of symbols and use of known symbols to make and share meaning. This study also offers an explanation of the effect of changes in the sociocultural environment on children\u27s symbolic development. Further, cultural differences toward symbolic representation are discussed with the recommendation of focusing on recognition followed by writing when learning Chinese Mandarin characters
Teaching and learning science during the early years
Get PDFOver the past two decades, science has increasingly become an integral part of early childhood curricula, and research on teaching and learning science in early years has emerged as an established field of study. Collectively, the findings of a growing body of literature suggest that introducing science in developmentally appropriate ways may support young children’s learning of science concepts and scientific thinking skills. The increasing number of edited volumes and special issues, including this one, devoted to the topic of early childhood science teaching and learning indicates that early science education, as a field of study, will continue to attract researchers from early childhood and science education as well as educational and cognitive psychology
Children’s problem solving skills: Does Drama Based Storytelling Method work?
Get PDFIn this research, it was aimed to investigate The Effect Of Problem Solving Training Provided By The Drama Based Storytelling Method on the problem solving skills of five-year-old children. The research is designed according to quasi-experimental model which is one of the quantitative research methods. In the research, semi-experimental design with pretest-posttest control group was used. A total of 40 children, including 20 children in the experimental group and 20 children in the control group, were included in the research. In addition to the Turkey Ministry of National Education Preschool Education Program, children who constitute the experimental group have been given problem solving training with The Drama Based Storytelling Method for a total of 7 weeks, 2 days a week and 1 hour. The children in the control group were not included in this education, but continued their daily education programs only using the Ministry of Education Preschool Education Program currently implemented. The problem solving skills of the children participating in the research were evaluated with The Scale of Problem Solving Skills. The test were applied to children before and after the intervention period; In addition, it was reapplied to the experimental group after 2 weeks. As a result of the research, it can be said that the problem-solving education provided with The Drama Based Storytelling Method, which is implemented in integration with the Ministry of National Education Preschool Education Program, has contributed positively to the problem-solving skills of five-year-old children
Are grandparents raising grandchildren receiving the services they need?
Get PDFGrandparents play an important role in the upbringing of grandchildren and face increased levels of stress. Using family stress theory, the present study examined the effectiveness of service programs for grandparents raising grandchildren. Data were collected through focus group interviews and audiotaped from a sample of four custodial grandparents living in Ohio U.S.A. To better understand grandparents that are raising their grandchildren, we asked the following questions: 1) What support is needed for grandparents raising grandchildren? 2) At what stage is the support needed: beginning, middle or late stages of caregiving? 3) What are grandparent caregivers’ perceptions of service programs? The audiotape was transcribed verbatim and analyzed for themes relevant to the research questions. The findings from these questions are examined and implications discussed
Follow the leader: Child-led inquiries to develop science learning of young children
Get PDFScience education in the early years has been found to be lacking when compared to other content areas, specifically numeracy and literacy. It has been suggested that this lack of opportunity for young children to learn science is due to educator’s lack of confidence to teach science, fuelled by concerns regarding a reduced understanding of science concepts. For young children, however, science is everywhere and is embedded in all aspects of their lives as they explore and interact to make sense of the world around them. Given this natural connection to science, it is important for educators to notice and respond to children’s interest to encourage science learning to occur. This paper reports on an exploratory research study in which children took the leading role in inquiry-based interactions during off-site school days that took place within a metropolitan city zoo. Through the collection of observations and interactions with the research, several inquiries were documented. The children challenged the educators within the program to follow up on questions posed by them and engage the children across a broad age range in an inquiry to answer these questions
Exploring relationships between playspaces, pedagogy, and preschoolers’ play-based science and engineering practices
Get PDFThis manuscript reports the results of a research study exploring the ways in which physical space and teacher pedagogy are related to preschoolers’ engagement with science and engineering practices while at play. Using the Science and Engineering Practices Observation Protocol (SciEPOP), researchers captured children’s engagement with the eight science and engineering practices identified in the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). This study explores relationships between specific playspaces, materials, and pedagogical strategies, and children’s patterns of engagement with particular science and engineering practices during free play. There are notable differences in the spaces, materials, and pedagogies children encounter across the four participating preschools, and these differences suggest significant gaps in children’s opportunities to engage in and deepen their enactment of science and engineering practices. The authors present evidence in support of adaptive, personalized strategies for deepening children’s engagement with science through play, and raise questions about equity in early science learning environments that have implications both nationally and internationally for science education research, practice, and policy