Young Children's Awareness Research Articles

프로젝트 접근법 기반 유아 생태전환교육 프로그램 개발 및 적용

The purpose of this study is to develop and implement a young children's eco-logical transition education program based on the project approach, with the aim of exam-ining changes in young children's awareness of sustainable development, ecological liter-acy, and problem-solving abilities. The program was applied to 28 five-year-old children in E preschool located in S City focusing on the selected themes of ‘Marine Life’ and ‘Companion Animals and Animal Welfare’ during morning activities over an 8-week period. The collected data, including research journals, play observation logs, interviews, photo-graphs, etc., were qualitatively analyzed during the process of implementing the program To examine changes based on the timing of program implementation, quantitative data collected through observation checklists were subjected to repeated measures analysis of variance. The results of qualitative and quantitative analyses revealed positive changes in young children's awareness of sustainable development, ecological literacy, and prob-lem-solving skills as they engaged in play related to interesting topics they chose during the project-based activities. The significance of this research lies in presenting an eco-logical transition education program applied through children's expressive play with self-selected themes. The findings suggest that this approach could be utilized as a case for implementing play-centered and child-centered educational programs in early childhood education and care settings to promote ecological transition education for a sustainable society.

Cognitive Flexibility Moderates the Predictive Effect of Phonological Awareness on Focus Structures in Chinese Preschool Children.

Focus structures, a complex aspect of information structure in language, have garnered significant attention in psycholinguistics. The question of whether Chinese preschoolers aged 4-6 years possess the ability to process focus structures in oral communication, and how cognitive factors influence this ability, remains a research focal point. To address this, we recruited 100 Chinese preschoolers aged 4-6 years as participants in our study. This study manipulated the positions of focus particles in sentences to investigate the impact of phonological awareness on young children's comprehension of focus structures. Additionally, we examined the mediating roles of cognitive flexibility and inhibitory control. Our findings indicate the following: (1) phonological awareness positively predicted the accuracy of focus structural processing; (2) inhibitory control did not significantly predict the accuracy of focus structural processing; and (3) cognitive flexibility partially mediated the relationship between phonological awareness and focus structural comprehension. These results confirmed the predictive effect of cognitive flexibility on children's comprehension of focus structures. Moreover, they demonstrate that young children's phonological awareness can predict their focus structure comprehension ability through the mediating role of cognitive flexibility. This suggests that children's cognitive flexibility can aid in understanding sentences with focus structures.

Development and Validation of An Instrument for Assessing Physical Education Awareness in Young Children

Background: The importance of physical education in the development of young children has long been recognized. Despite this, there is a lack of a standardized instrument to accurately measure awareness of physical education among this demographic. The absence of such a tool hampers our understanding of children's perceptions and the impact of physical education on their overall well-being. Purpose: The primary objective of this study is to develop and validate the Physical Education Awareness Instrument (PEA-I) to assess young children's awareness of physical education. Through rigorous statistical techniques, including factor analysis and reliability assessment, the study seeks to establish the validity and reliability of the newly developed instrument. Materials and Methodology: The study involved 817 participants, randomly divided into two groups. The researchers utilized the expectation-maximization (EM) algorithm to handle potential missing values, although none were found in the collected responses. The first half of the sample (N = 317) underwent exploratory factor analysis (EFA) using IBM SPSS 26 for Windows. Latent root criteria and the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) index determined the optimal number of factors, indicating significant adequacy for principal component analysis (PCA). The EFA revealed a one-factor scale, with nine items demonstrating strong internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha ranged from 0.740 to 0.796). Statistical Procedure: Following the EFA, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted on the second half of the sample using AMOS 23. All items in the CFA met the standard criterion, confirming the instrument's acceptable factor validity. The (PEA-I) exhibited good reliability and validity, establishing it as a robust tool to assess young children's awareness of physical education. Results: The results solidify the PEA-I as a valid and reliable measure of physical education awareness among young children. Its factor loadings, internal consistency, and factor validity indicate its effectiveness in assessing individuals' perceived awareness of physical education accurately. Conclusion and practical implication: The (PEA-I) has practical implications, serving as a valuable tool for identifying individuals' awareness of physical education and evaluating the effectiveness of physical education programs. Its potential to aid policymakers, physical educators, and health professionals is significant, as it emphasizes the importance of physical education in overall well-being and advocates for its inclusion as a compulsory subject in schools. This study contributes substantially to the field, underscoring the significance of physical education in fostering healthier lifestyles and well-rounded individuals. The findings highlight the need for increased awareness and the positive impact of physical education on youth development, shaping the discourse on its promotion among policymakers, educators, and health professionals.

Exploring social justice awareness in young children's shopping pretend play at ECEC settings and museums

ABSTRACT This article aims to provide insights of social justice awareness in young children’s pretend play (2–6 years old) involving shopping activities in the nursery and the children’s museum. Previous literature acknowledges the importance of grocery exhibits and relevant learning centres in the cognitive and socio-cultural development of children, but rarely addresses broader social justice issues. Educators’ narratives were analyzed using the Capability Approach to examine how children’s play experiences relate to Nussbaum’s central human functional capabilities. Thematic analysis indicated that interactions associated with payment transactions and budgeting concepts, healthy eating and consumerism, as well as cooperation in running the shop were instrumental in facilitating social justice awareness and developing a great variety of the central human capabilities. The nursery environment seemed to enable a more agentic stance and a stronger understanding of social justice-related issues, while practitioners’ prompts and an implicit pedagogical agenda towards active citizenship enriched play-based pedagogy with social justice objectives.

Influence of Korean-Chinese mothers’ awareness of young children’s rights on their implementation of child rights

연구목적: 본 연구의 목적은 유아기 자녀를 둔 국내 거주 조선족 어머니의 유아권리에 대한 인식 및 가정에서의 자녀권리존중 실행 수준을 알아보고, 어머니의 유아권리 인식이 자녀권리존중 실행에 미치는 영향을 살펴보는 것이다. 또한, 어머니의 배경 특성에 따라 인식 및 실행 수준에 차이가 있는지 살펴보았다. 방법: 경기도 지역의 유아교육기관에 재원하는 만 3~5세 유아의 학부모 중 조선족 어머니 152명을 대상으로 유아권리에 대한 인식, 자녀권리존중 실행에 관한 설문조사를 실시하였다. 수집된 자료에 대해 기술통계분석, 독립표본 t검증 및 일원배치 분산분석(one-way ANOVA), 상관분석, 위계적 회귀분석을 실시하였다. 결과: 국내에 거주하는 조선족 어머니의 유아권리에 대한 인식 및 실행은 전반적으로 높은 수준을 보였으나, 유아의 능동적 권리를 강조하는 발달권, 참여권에 대한 인식과, 배려, 참여, 의사존중 영역에서의 실행 수준은 상대적으로 낮았다. 어머니의 인식 및 실행 수준은 어머니 연령과 한국 거주기간에 따라 차이가 있었으며, 부모교육에 참여한 경험이 있는 어머니의 자녀권리존중 실행 수준이 더 높게 나타났다. 어머니의 유아권리에 대한 인식과 실행 수준은 높은 정적상관을 보였으며, 어머니의 권리 인식은 자녀권리존중 실행에 유의한 영향을 주었다. 결론: 유조선족 어머니들이 유아기 자녀를 건강하고 안전하게 보호할 뿐만 아니라, 유아의 능동적인 권리를 이해하고 존중할 수 있도록 지원하는 것이 중요하다. 조선족 어머니의 자녀권리존중 실행 수준을 높이기 위해서는 유아권리에 대한 인식을 함양해야 하며, 교육 프로그램 개발 시 어머니의 한국 거주기간을 비롯한 문화적 배경을 고려할 필요가 있다.Objectives: This study examines the general tendency of awareness and implementation of young children’s rights among Korean-Chinese mothers living in South Korea. We examine whether the mothers’ awareness of child rights influences their implementation of child rights in a family context. We also test whether there is any difference in these tendencies of awareness and implementation of child rights depending on mothers’ characteristics. Methods: Data were collected from 152 Korean-Chinese mothers of young children attending daycare centers or kindergartens located in Gyeonggi Province. Respondents were asked about their awareness and implementation of young children’s rights. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, independent t-test, one-way ANOVA, correlation analysis, and hierarchical regression analysis. Results: The Korean-Chinese mothers exhibited high levels of awareness and implementation of young children’s rights. However, the level of awareness was relatively low in the areas that emphasize children’s active roles including the child’s rights to development and participation. The level of implementation was relatively low in the areas of care, participation, and respect for the views of the child. The mothers’ awareness and implementation of child rights differed depending on their age and length of stay in South Korea. The implementation level of child rights was higher when the mothers participated in parental education. There was a high positive correlation between the awareness and implementation of child rights, and the awareness level significantly predicted the implementation of child rights. Conclusions: The Korean-Chinese mothers should be supported so that they not only protect their young children to be safe and healthy but also understand and respect the children’s participatory rights. In order to improve the mothers’ implementation level of child rights, it is important to promote the mothers’ awareness of child rights and to consider their cultural background such as the length of stay in South Korea.

Harnessing the potential of transmedia narratives for critical multimodal literacy

ABSTRACT Literary narratives are well recognised for their power to foster engagement with complex social themes. Transmedia narratives, which present the same story in different media, can help advance both critical multimodal discourse studies and multiliteracies pedagogies. To harness this potential, we need to develop methods for systematically relating media affordances to discourse-semantic patterns and the broad social themes these patterns construct in narratives, and ensure these methods build on the knowledge learners bring to the classroom. This article introduces a social semiotic method for analysing transmedia narratives and illustrates its ability to reflect the persuasive power of narrative and build on young children's critical multimodal awareness. This is achieved through a case study comprising data from three adaptations of the same award-winning narrative - animated film (Joyce, W. (Producer), Joyce, W., & Oldenburg, B. (Directors) (2011). The fantastic flying books of Mr Morris Lessmore [Motion Picture]. Moonbot Studios), interactive app (Moonbot Studios. (2011). The fantastic flying books of Mr Morris Lessmore (Version 1.4). [Mobile Application Software]), and traditional-format picture book (Joyce, W. (2012). The fantastic flying books of Mr Morris Lessmore. Illustrations by William Joyce and Joe Bluhm. Moonbot Books) - and mother-child interactions with the book and the app.

다문화그림책을 활용한 미술활동이 유아의 다문화인식과 창의성에 미치는 영향

본 연구의 목적은 다문화그림책을 활용한 미술활동이 유아의 다문화인식과 창의성에 미치는 영향을 살펴보는 것에 있다. 전라북도 J시에 소재한 어린이집 두 곳에 재원하고 있는 만 4세 유아 50명을 연구대상으로 하여, 실험집단 유아에게 다문화그림책을 활용한 미술활동을 16회 실행한 후 유아의 다문화인식과 창의성에 미치는 영향을 검증하기 위하여 공변량분석을 실시하였다. 연구결과, 첫째 다문화그림책을 활용한 미술활동은 유아의 다문화인식 하위 영역 중 다문화에 대한 배려, 수용, 존중, 개방에 유의한 차이를 보이는 것으로 나타났다. 둘째, 다문화그림책을 활용한 미술활동은 유아의 창의성 하위요인인 유창성, 융통성, 독창성, 제목의 추상성에서 유의한 차이가 있는 것으로 나타났다. 이러한 결과는 다문화그림책을 활용한 미술활동은 유아의 다문화인식과 창의성을 향상시킬 수 있는 효과적인 방법이 될 수 있음을 시사하고 있다.

Parents' awareness of young children's obsession with multimedia game

Parents' awareness of young children's obsession with multimedia game

Brief Report: Odour Awareness in Young Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders.

The elucidation of odour awareness in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) is important. We compared the odour awareness of young children with ASD with those of typical development (TD) children using the Children's Olfactory Behavior in Everyday Life (COBEL) questionnaire, which is a self-report measure that mainly assesses odour awareness. Forty-five young boys (aged 5-6years), including 20 children with ASD and 25 TD children, participated in this study. The total COBEL score of the young children with ASD was lower than that of the TD children (p < 0.01). Moreover, the total COBEL score was significantly correlated with the total VABS II score (p < 0.05). Our results improve understanding of the odour awareness in children with ASD.

The effect of young children's emotion awareness through facial expression on empathy

The effect of young children's emotion awareness through facial expression on empathy

Internet Usage in Primary and Secondary School Children: A Multi-Center, School-Based, Cross-Sectional Study in Greece

Background: Little is known regarding the Internet activities of children, although Internet habits and pathological usage have been previously described in adolescents. Objectives: This study aimed in describing Internet use in both primary and secondary school children in order to early detect habits with high risks of developing pathological Internet use. Patients and Methods: 2,473 children from 26 primary (aged from 6 to 12) and 16 secondary schools (12 - 15 years old) from seven different regions in Greece participated. Participants answered questions regarding their Internet activities and demographics. Results: 367 (40.9 %) children from primary and 707 (44.9 %) from secondary schools played online games daily, while 115 (12.8 %) and 965 (61.2 %) respectively had a Facebook profile. The boys played games and used Facebook more than girls [primary: OR = 1.2, 95% CI (1.0, 1.9), secondary school: OR = 2.3, 95% CI (1.9, 2.9), and [OR = 2.1, 95% CI (1.3, 3.2), OR = 1.3, 95% (1.1, 1.6), accordingly]. Students with home Internet access were more likely to use online games and go on Facebook. Conclusions: The male gender and home Internet access are both associated with the higher usage of online games and Facebook, while profiles in Facebook are illegally created at the first years of primary school. Since both Internet activities have been repetitively associated with pathological Internet usage, educators and social services should work on increasing awareness in young children and their parents.

Understanding the Mapping Principle of One Syllable One Character as a Predictor of Word Reading Development in Chinese

Speech-print mapping awareness is defined as the awareness of the principles underpinning how speech sound is matched to print symbols. Chinese is unique in that it follows the one syllable one character mapping principle. The present study examined the predictive power of speech-print mapping awareness in young children's word reading. Seventy-four Hong Kong children from the first and second kindergarten years were tested with phonological awareness, visual skills, syllable-level mapping awareness, and Chinese reading ability at Time 1. Chinese reading abilities were tested again 1 year later. It was found that syllable-level mapping awareness predicted Chinese word reading abilities 12 months later. Further, it seemed that the link of syllable mapping to Chinese reading is particularly significant for beginning readers. The findings suggest that understanding the language-specific speech-print mapping principle is critical for reading acquisition at the early stage of reading development.

The development of brand awareness in young children: how do young children recognize brands?

AbstractThe purpose of the research is to investigate when young children develop brand awareness by means of using some clues. A total of 66 children, aged 3–5, attending a preschool participated in the research. Individual interviews were performed to investigate children's brand awareness. In line with this purpose, the brand logo, brand character and 41 flashcards containing some photos belonging to the product packaging of the brand were presented to the children. The children were instructed to say the name of the brand and the product it belonged to after looking at the photos on the cards. The results of this research showed brand awareness in children as early as 3 years old. Even 3‐year‐old children remembered both the brand and the product after seeing the brand's logo, packaging and character. The young children, however, had more difficulties in remembering the brand's name, and most of the time, they remembered the product but not the brand's name correctly. While the age of the children was an important predictor of brand awareness, the effect of gender was not significant. There were differences in the variety of brands that were remembered by the female and male children. Brand awareness showed an increase in direct proportion to age.

Racial-ethnic Identity in Context: Examining Mediation of Neighborhood Factors on Children's Academic Adjustment.

Research consistently shows that neighborhood socio-demographic characteristics and residents' neighborhood perceptions matter for youth well-being, including a positive sense of racial-ethnic identity. Although elementary-school children are likely in the earlier phases of identity formation, the authors examined whether objective and subjective neighborhood characteristics are related to their racial-ethnic identity and, in turn, their academic adjustment. A diverse sample (30.4% African American, 35.2% White, 12.3% Latino, & 22.0% Other) of 227 children in Grades 2 through 5 were surveyed in afterschool programs. Bivariate correlations showed that youth living in disadvantaged neighborhoods reported more barriers due to their race-ethnicity, but these barriers were not related to their sense of academic efficacy. Residing in a disadvantaged neighborhood was unrelated to youth's academic self-efficacy. However, path analyses showed that positive neighborhood perceptions were associated with a stronger sense of race-ethnicity (i.e., affirmation and belonging), which was in turn related to greater academic efficacy. These results suggest that neighborhood connection provides a source of affirmation and value for young children, helping them to understand who they are as part of a racial-ethnic group and helping to foster a sense of future achievement opportunities. This study provides additional evidence that along with other important proximal contexts (e.g., family, school), young children's neighborhood context is important for development. Results are discussed to highlight environmental influences on young children's awareness of race-ethnicity and the implications of the combined impact of neighborhood and racial-ethnic identity on psychosocial adjustment.

Children and Terrorism and commentaries

Children and Terrorism and commentaries

유아의 자아존중감과 행복감이 회복탄력성에 미치는 영향

본 연구는 유아의 자아존중감과 행복감, 회복탄력성의 관계를 분석하는 데 목적이 있다. 연구대상은 유아교육기관에 재원하고 있는 만 5세 유아 200명이었다. 자료수집은 자아존중감, 행복감, 회복탄력성 검사도구를 이용하였으며 수집된 자료는 연구문제에 따라 Pearson의 적률상관계수와 중다회귀분석을 통하여 자료를 분석하였다. 분석 결과에 따르면 유아의 자아존중감은 보통보다 낮은 수준이었으며 행복감과 회복탄력성은 보통보다 높은 수준의 인식정도를 보였다. 유아의 자아존중감과 행복감, 행복감과 회복탄력성, 자아존중감과 회복탄력성 간에는 정적 상관이 있는 것으로 나타났다. 또한 유아의 자아존중감과 행복감이 회복탄력성에 미치는 영향을 살펴본 결과에 따르면 행복감과 자아존중감 순으로 높은 영향을 미치는 것으로 나타났다. 이는 유아교육기관에서 유아의 회복탄력성을 높이기 위하여 행복감과 자아존중감 하위요소의 영향력을 고려해야 함을 시사하고 있다. The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of the variables of young children related to self-esteem and happiness on their resilience from multidimensional perspectives. The subjects in this study were 200 young children who spend daily life in early childhood education institutions located in Busan. The findings of the study were as follows: First, the level of young children's awareness about their self-esteem was below average, but the level of their awareness about their happiness and resilience was above average. Second, there were significant positive correlations among their total self-esteem scores, total happiness scores and total resilience scores. Third, the self-esteem and happiness of the young children exerted a significant influence on their resilience. Among the subfactors of happiness and self-esteem had the largest impact on resilience.

Decisions, Decisions

This article examines critical issues related to teacher decision-making in early childhood music classrooms. Through the story of one teacher’s experience, we take a closer look at specific criteria to guide decision-making, and strategies to deepen awareness of young children’s needs in the music classroom and guide instructional choices.

Same Theory, Different Day: Inquiry into Preschool Children's Multiple Intelligence and Aesthetics Ability-

There has been a growing awareness of the children's aesthetics cultivation proposed by Education Bureau in its preschool curriculum guideline program and its twelve-year public education program. With the prevalence on preschool Multiple Intelligence Instruction and with children's developmentally appropriate practice, preschool children's capability in solving problems, aesthetic awareness, exploration, expression, sensibility, creation, appreciation, and responding are highly valued as they are served as the appropriate ways of guiding children asking, knowing and doing. However, with the little research looked into the young children's capacity of aesthetic ability within the Multiple Intelligence Instruction, this study fills the gap to investigate the young children's aesthetics ability cultivation, including exploration and awareness, show and creation, responding and appreciation, from Howard Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligences. With on-site questionnaire distribution and collection, the early childhood educators in the Preschool in Kaohsiung City are selected as the research purposive sampling subjects. Total 206 valid copies, out of 250, are retrieved. With SPSS, Factor Analysis, Regression Analysis, and Hierarchical Regression Analysis are utilized for data analyses. The outcomes are concluded that 1. the positive effects of Multiple Intelligence Instruction on children's Aesthetic Ability Cultivation are partially agreed, 2. the remarkably positive effects of Aesthetic Ability Cultivation on Learning Efficiency are agreed, 3. the positive effects of Multiple Intelligence Instruction on Learning Efficiency are partially agreed, and 4. Children's Aesthetic Ability Cultivation appears moderating effects on the relations between Multiple Intelligence Instruction and Learning Efficiency. Furthermore, preschool educators’ leading children's hands-on experience transition into concrete aesthetic sensibility is extremely valued in preschool. At the end, this study tends to provide some suggestions and reference for preschools in implementing Multiple Intelligence Instruction into preschool's young children's aesthetics capability cultivation program.

Aberrant N400 responses to phonological overlap during rhyme judgements in children at risk for dyslexia

It is widely accepted that dyslexia is associated with difficulties in phonological awareness and that rhyme awareness in young children can predict later reading success. However, little is known regarding the underlying phonological mechanisms of rhyme awareness in dyslexia, as rhyme awareness is typically assessed using explicit behavioural measures that represent only the endpoint of processing and often lack phonological distracters. We examined event-related potentials (ERPs) in response to auditory word pairs that differed in phonological overlap during a rhyme judgement task given to 6-year-old beginning readers who were at risk for dyslexia (n=30) and typical-reading age-matched controls (n=29). ERPs were recorded in response to word pairs with various types of phonological overlap, including rhyming (e.g., wall-ball), non-rhyming overlapping (e.g., bell-ball) and non-rhyming unrelated (e.g., sock-ball) word pairs. Both groups of participants exhibited N400 responses for basic rhyme judgements vs. unrelated targets. In the typical-reading controls, the neural responses also differed between the rhyming targets and the non-rhyming overlapping targets, whereas neural responses to these targets were similar in the group of children at risk for dyslexia, indicating difficulties in their ability to process similar-sounding, non-rhyming targets. These findings suggest that typical-reading children solve the rhyme judgement task using a more analytical approach, whereas children who are at risk for dyslexia base their judgments on a comparison of overall sound similarity.

‘Where do babies come from?’ Barriers to early sexuality communication between parents and young children

‘Where do babies come from?’ ‘Why do boys have willies?’ ‘What does gay mean?’ Probably all parents have faced such ‘innocent’ questions from young children, and many have found them challenging to answer. Access to sexuality education at an early age is frequently considered controversial; however, there are strong indications that early and open communication can impact positively in terms of sexual safety and outcomes. Using focus group discussions with parents of 3–7 year olds in the UK, this study explores some of the challenges parents report in dealing with early sexual socialisation as well as the reasons they cite for restricting young children's sexual awareness and access to knowledge. Thematic analysis reveals a number of barriers to communication: the need to protect childhood ‘innocence’, suitable timing and age appropriateness of explanations, personal discomfort, and fear of criticism and judgement.