Classrooms For Young Children Research Articles

Eavesdropping Books as Testimony: Witnessing Secondhand Crimes Against Humanity with Young Children

AbstractHow do educators talk about trauma with young children? Specifically, how do they address children's secondhand experiences of crimes against humanity? In this article, Cara E. Furman argues that classrooms for young children must witness these experiences. A genre of picture books that Furman terms “eavesdropping texts” offer testimony that both witnesses and invites children's secondhand experiences of crimes against humanity. Here, Furman couples a close reading of the books with literary criticism and trauma theory in order to showcase the nuances of the genre and the pedagogical potential of eavesdropping books for young readers.

The Playful Writing Project: exploring the synergy between young children's play and writing with Reception class teachers

AbstractThis study highlights the potential of play to support young children's mark‐making and writing and, in turn, shows how writing can become a driver of play. By detailing elements of this symbiotic relationship, the intention was for teachers as practitioner–researchers to deepen their professional knowledge of how best to support young children in meaningful writing activity, thereby countering policy‐led reductive understandings of both play and literacy. During a year‐long research project, six English reception class teachers gathered photographs, video and multimodal observations of children and used these to analyse how multimodal mark‐making and writing occurred as part of play in their classrooms. From this analysis, the concept of ‘playful writing’ was developed. This identified three interconnecting characteristics that mark‐making and writing has as part of play activity: social function, multimodal movement and material possibilities. The findings of the study indicate that young children's classroom play stimulates the multimodal, social and material dimensions needed for the creation of meaningful and transformative writing. The study highlights the importance of harnessing teachers' expertise in paying close attention to children's playful literacy, in order to create a strong knowledge base from which to make the best decisions about literacy practices with young children.

Preschool Inhibitory Control Predicts ADHD Group Status and Inhibitory Weakness in School.

Discriminative utility of performance measures of inhibitory control was examined in preschool children with and without ADHD to determine whether performance measures added to diagnostic prediction and to prediction of informant-rated day-to-day executive function. Children ages 4-5 years (N = 105, 61% boys; 54 ADHD, medication-naïve) were assessed using performance measures (Auditory Continuous Performance Test for Preschoolers-Commission errors, Conflicting Motor Response Test, NEPSY Statue) and caregiver (parent, teacher) ratings of inhibition (Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function-Preschool version). Performance measures and parent and teacher reports of inhibitory control significantly and uniquely predicted ADHD group status; however, performance measures did not add to prediction of group status beyond parent reports. Performance measures did significantly predict classroom inhibitory control (teacher ratings), over and above parent reports of inhibitory control. Performance measures of inhibitory control may be adequate predictors of ADHD status and good predictors of young children's classroom inhibitory control, demonstrating utility as components of clinical assessments.

Exploring Creativity in Social Studies Education for Elementary Grades: Teachers’ Opinions and Interpretations

Creativity is the critical point to developing innovative and effective citizens and children in learning social studies. The purpose of this study is to explore how creativity is promoted in social studies classrooms for young children and to research teachers’ opinions and interpretations of creativity in Turkish elementary schools. The study was conducted with in-depth interviews, teacher observation, and teacher drawings. The participants included 33 Grade -1 to Grade 4 (K1-K4) teachers, all of whom taught “life science” which is a key and preliminary subject for social studies from Grade 1 to Grade 3, and social studies for Grade 4 in central Turkey. The case study was used as a qualitative methodology. The data was analyzed using MAXQDA-11. The findings revealed that teachers were highly motivated and eager to nurture creativity in their students’ social studies learning in their implication for practice. They also indicated some obstacles regarding low-quality curriculum and instruction, teachers’ negative perceptions in promoting creativity, and finally a lack of teacher flexibility, freedom, and well-qualified professional development.

Playing at School: An Inquiry Approach to Using an Experiential Play Lab in an Early Childhood Teacher Education Course

Play is considered an important activity of the early childhood years. Research supports the contribution of play to children’s development, learning, and well-being. In spite of this, time for play is being pushed out in many early childhood programs by greater time allotted to formal instruction in narrow academic skills to be tested eventually by standardized tests. As a result, current preservice teachers are likely to see fewer examples of appropriate time and support for play in their field placements in early childhood settings. The purpose of this study was to document and analyze what happens when an experiential play lab is implemented in an early childhood teacher education program. This qualitative study includes multiple forms of data collection, including two forms of reflective writings and group discussions. After the workshop, preservice teachers made a greater number of references to play in their defense of developmentally appropriate practice, and the nature of their references to play increased in their focus on play process and on teacher roles in children’s play, as compared to prior to the lab. The results of this study of an experiential play intervention support its potential as a means of probing, documenting, and enriching students’ understanding of the importance of providing for and supporting play in classrooms for young children.

Introduction to Asian language researches

This article provides an introduction to aspects of emergent literacy and bilingualism that will orient readers to the importance of innovative and varied classroom activities with young children, so that teachers can promote competence and enjoyment of language learning, particularly for those young children learning English as a second language. This article also introduces a set of researches in this Special Issue on how teachers and principals respond to legislative requirements in some Asian countries, that is, laws that impact on how and when teachers can introduce bilingual and even trilingual efforts in Asian classrooms. Some of the research papers reveal how urgent the need for teacher training is when adults (responsible for the care of very young children) have not been required or helped to understand the importance of providing early positive responses and effective interactions to promote rich language development from infancy onward. Other researches in this Special Issue provide specific details of creative teacher efforts to encourage emergent literacy, storytelling, and bilingual proficiency in classrooms for young children in four Asian countries.

Photo-Booklets for English Language Learning: Incorporating Visual Communication into Early Childhood Teacher Preparation

Teachers can integrate discussion and writing about photographs into the early childhood curriculum to build speaking, reading, and writing skills in any language. Although little available research focuses on photography and early childhood education as related specifically to English Language Learners, several current teacher resources do focus on uses of photography in classrooms for young children. What is lacking, however, is substantial reference to the planned use of language along with image creation through photography for the language development of English Language Learners (ELLs) in the early childhood classroom. Teacher training, too, devotes insufficient attention to either visual literacy or visual communication. This article provides a discussion of the role of the visual in English language development as a basis for a sample photography project that can be incorporated into a course for pre-service teachers in methods of teaching ELLs. Pre-service teachers thus experience the project first-hand in terms of image creation and the planning of appropriate content, language, and visual literacy objectives. The resulting visual products then function as teaching resources themselves; however, effective visual learning for ELLs requires that teachers possess such an informed understanding of the techniques that structure and assist language development.

External and Internal Noise in School Classrooms in Tropical Climates

The paper presents the evaluation of classrooms for young children in India, to assess their acoustical environments. The schools under consideration are located in an educationally advanced locality in India – a district in the southern part of India, namely Kanyakumari. Situated in a tropical climate, the classrooms have open windows and doors with the possibility of noise intrusion from outside. Schools are located in different regions to suit the conditions of education administrators and other factors, and not necessarily the best location for a learning environment. In this study, depending on the location of the schools and their external surroundings, the schools are classified into three categories: a) schools located near roads with heavy traffic (Noisy-sites), b) schools located within Housing sites, c) schools located in zones far from public roads and away from residences (Quiet sites). External and internal noise surveys have been conducted to evaluate the background noise within the classrooms. About 120 classrooms in 25 schools were selected for the study of the acoustic quality within the classrooms, based on measurements. The external noise has a very great influence on the background noise in empty classrooms with open windows. It may not be practicable for schools in tropical climates, where rooms with open windows and doors are realities, to conform to the guidelines of standards such as ANSI S12.60 or BB 93.

Benefits of a Male's Presence in the Classroom

An administrator for Family Services, Inc., an organization that serves Forsyth, Stokes, and Davie Counties in North Carolina, asks about the benefits of males in classrooms for young children. This dialogue addresses this question by explaining the general effects that males have on early childhood and by exploring the literature on fathers and their unique contributions to children. Next, the article examines specifically how a teacher's gender may affect children's learning experience by exploring the theoretical literature on gender matching supported by some school systems. The article concludes that having a man's presence in an educational setting would be beneficial, particularly for children who may have little male interaction elsewhere.

The Individualized Classroom Assessment Scoring System (inCLASS): Preliminary Reliability and Validity of a System for Observing Preschoolers' Competence in Classroom Interactions.

This paper introduces the Individualized Classroom Assessment Scoring System (inCLASS), an observation tool that targets children's interactions in preschool classrooms with teachers, peers, and tasks. In particular, initial evidence is reported of the extent to which the inCLASS meets the following psychometric criteria: inter-rater reliability, normal distributions and adequate range, construct validity, and criterion-related validity. These initial findings suggest that the inCLASS has the potential to provide an authentic, contextualized assessment of young children's classroom behaviors. Future directions for research with the inCLASS are discussed.

Effects of room acoustics on the intelligibility of speech in classrooms for young children

This paper reports new measurements of the intelligibility of speech in conditions representative of elementary school classrooms. The speech test material was binaurally recorded in simulated classroom conditions and played back to subjects over headphones. Subjects included grade 1, 3, and 6 students (6, 8, and 11 year olds) as well as adults. Recognizing that reverberation time is not a complete descriptor of room acoustics conditions, simulated conditions included realistic early-to-late arriving sound ratios as well as varied reverberation time. For conditions of constant signal-to-noise ratio, intelligibility scores increased with decreasing reverberation time. However, for conditions including realistic increases in speech level with varied reverberation time for constant noise level, intelligibility scores were near maximum for a range of reverberation times. Young children's intelligibility scores benefited from added early reflections of speech sounds similar to adult listeners. The effect of varied reverberation time on the intelligibility of speech for young children was much less than the effect of varied signal-to-noise ratio. The results can be used to help to determine ideal conditions for speech communication in classrooms for younger listeners.

Kindergarten predictors of mathematical growth in the primary grades: An investigation using the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study--Kindergarten cohort.

This study examined longitudinal predictive relationships between young children's classroom behaviors and their growth in mathematics skills during the primary grades. Using the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study--Kindergarten cohort, the authors tested a longitudinal model featuring positive (interpersonal skills and approaches to learning) and negative (internalizing and externalizing) behaviors at kindergarten entry as predictors of growth in mathematics achievement through 3rd grade. Results indicated that negative behaviors demonstrate negligible relationships with early development of mathematics skills. Interpersonal skills demonstrated a small negative relationship with mathematics growth when other positive behaviors were included as predictors in the model. In contrast, approaches to learning (goal-directed behavior, persistence, organization) demonstrated small positive relationships with growth in mathematical skills and may represent a skill domain for educators to consider in designing their instructional practices.

Creating Respectful Classroom Environments

Creating respectful classroom environments Respect is a critical variable in education. It is critical to each individual child in the classroom environment as well as to the teaching and learning that takes place in the classroom. Children learn by example. Where do they get their examples? This article explores the parameters of teaching and encouraging respect in classrooms for young children. Emphasis is placed on the creation of respectful classroom environments taught by teachers who have themselves been prepared to nurture this kind of environment.

Increasing Toy Play Among Toddlers With and Without Disabilities By Modifying the Structural Quality of the Classroom Environment

The effects of modifying the structural quality components of inclusive classrooms on material engagement among toddlers (18-36 months) with and without disabilities were evaluated. Initially, three classrooms were evaluated using items that addressed structural quality from the Infant/Toddler Environment Rating Scale, the National Association for the Education of Young Children Classroom Observation Form, and the Assessment Profile for Early Childhood Programs. Each classroom environment was then modified based on the results of the evaluation by adding toys, furniture, and supplies. Results demonstrate that modification of structural quality elements increased overall engagement with materials for eight of nine children. Areas for future research noted include modification of the structural quality components of child care classrooms to increase mastery toy play.

Developing Quality Sociodramatic Play in the Classroom for Young Children with Language Delays

Research suggests that play is not simply a luxury, but a critical component of programs for all young children. One of the primary reasons for this strong support of play is research that has indicated its potent impact upon social, emotional, physical, and cognitive development. Sociodramatic play, in particular, has been shown to correlate with these areas of development, especially language development. This article discusses guidelines for promoting sociodramatic play in classrooms for young children with language delays.

Using technology to help preservice teachers construct knowledge about young children's classroom environments

In an effort to help teacher candidates understand early childhood classroom environments, a website was constructed for use in a foundation in early childhood education course. This website, based on constructivist teaching practices uses technology in a unique way to assist students as they come to know, understand, and use the principles associated with room arrangement and management of early childhood classrooms.

The social conflict inventory (SCI): A measure of beliefs about classroom peer conflicts

This study describes the development of the Social Conflict Inventory (SCI), a self‐report teacher belief scale for assessing beliefs about young children's classroom peer conflicts. Three phases were involved in the construction of the SCI: item development, initial testing with one sample (n = 218), and follow‐up field test with a second sample (n = 395) that also addressed the convergent and concurrent validity of the instrument. Reliability and factor analyses conducted during the initial field test resulted in a reduction to 20 items (Cronbach’ s α = .87) with three subscales: General Orientation to Peer Conflict (α = .81), Cessation (α = .84), and Facilitation (α = .65). Similar patterns of factor loadings and reliabilities resulted from analyses of the follow‐up field test data. Overall, the SCI proved to be a reliable instrument for assessing the beliefs concerning the role of classroom conflicts in children's development and for differentiating among groups of teachers. Further use of the SCI in conjunction with other measures of teacher beliefs will contribute to a better understanding of its concurrent validity. Finally, the potential for its use in future studies to clarify the relationship between beliefs and actual classroom practices and as an instrument for assessing the effectiveness of specific classroom management training programs is discussed.

Preschool Language Facilitation Methods and Child Characteristics

This paper reports the results of 2 studies in which the relative effectiveness of classroom based language intervention models were examined. In the 1st study, a developmentally based language facilitation program was compared to a direct language facilitation program in integrated preschool classrooms for young children with developmental delays. In the 2nd study, the developmentally based model was compared to a program using both the developmental and direct methods during discrete time periods throughout the day. Results of both studies indicated that no program was better overall. Disordinal Aptitude x Treatment Interactions indicated that children benefited differentially from the interventions. The differential effects of intervention could be predicted by the child's language ability before intervention.

Promoting development through constructing appropriate environments: Preschools in Reggio Emilia, Italy

Over twenty years ago, Thelma Harms, an authority on developing scales to ascertain the environmental appropriateness of classrooms for young children, wrote about evaluating early childhood environments from a child's viewpoint. Harms's focus was: To a child, everything in a setting is a potential stimulus. In other words, the relationship between adults and the child, the interactions, space, and materials all affect the overall environment. The efficacy of this focus is that it takes into account the environmental factors that contribute to the child's behavior in those settings.

Narrative discourse and classroom learning: An essay response to Egan's “narrative and learning: A voyage of implications”

Kieron Egan (1993), in his article “Narrative and Learning: A Voyage of Implications” (this issue), stresses the importance of story for children's learning and hence for teacher's construction of developmentally appropriate curricula. Egan suggested that the binary structure of story narratives mokes this discourse genre an ideal symbolic means for the transmission of knowledge in primary school classrooms. In my essay response to Egan, I support his thesis that narrative can, and does, play an extremely important part in young children's classroom learning. At the same time, I suggest that narrative discourse be viewed more broadly as a family of discourses rather than as one particular genre. Extending my arguments, I suggest that narrative discourses be viewed as intimately connected to the social activity structures in which they arise. I then propose a series of three research questions that might be appropriate ways of exploring narrative discourses as symbolic resources in the classroom. Finally, I suggest that narrative discourses have a dual function in educational research. They are both a symbolic means through which children construct knowledge and a research tool for investigating children's construction of knowledge.