Preschool Environment Research Articles

PRESCHOOL AS THE SPACE OF INFORMAL PEER EDUCATION

Preschool is the first institution in the Polish system of education that exhibits educational character. Apart from activities teachers engage them in, following the curriculum, children learn from one another through peer interaction. The aim of the following article is to present characteristic features of the preschool environment as the context for informal peer learning of children. From the group of factors that condition learning we discuss: material surrounding of the preschool, daily schedule, parental expectations as well as selected official documents and internal (unofficial) regulations for such institutions, among other things. Critical analysis of the aforementioned elements shows the pre-school surrounding, both in social and physical sense, as the untapped potential in the learning process of kindergarten pupils.

Portfolios within the preschool environment

Abstract The academic community has been discussing the options for using portfolios within the education process for a number of years. Studies looking at this phenomenon often focus on a constructivist concept of portfolios where the child is the main agent in creating the document (Sitz & Bartholomew, 2008; Smith et al., 2003). The alternative to this is the positivist concept of the portfolio. The submitted research study is focused on the use of portfolios specifically within the preschool environment. The research’s main objective was to understand how children’s portfolios are used within the education process in preschools and present the children’s perspective on their own portfolios. Adopting a qualitatively-focused research design, the research methods used were content analysis of portfolios, and interviews with children on their document. The research findings show that within the preschool environment, portfolios are used in a number of ways. These ways are directly linked to the teacher’s belief on the importance of portfolios for preschool-age children. A child’s portfolio can be a concept, a tool, a method or also a means. The results also present the children’s original perspective on their own portfolios. This study is based on a part of my completed rigorosum thesis (Trávníčková, 2019).

Disentangling different sources of stability and change in students’ academic self-concepts: An integrative data analysis using the STARTS model.

Academic self-concept (ASC) is characterized by the dual nature of stability and change. That is, students strive for consistency in their self-concept but also receive achievement feedback that leads to changes in ASC. Only a few previous studies have scrutinized the stability of ASC. The STARTS model (Stable, AutoRegressive Trait, and State) disentangles three sources of variation that underlie individual differences in a construct across time: (a) a time-invariant stable component, (b) a time-varying, partly stable component, and (c) an occasion-specific state component. This study is the first to analyze the stability of ASC with the STARTS model. Rather than selecting a single data set, we followed the idea of using an integrative data analysis (IDA) and applied the STARTS model to 11 longitudinal studies that included more than 20,000 students. Our results show that there is a substantial proportion of stable trait variance in both mathematical (26%) and verbal self-concept (24%)—that is, some sources of individual differences in ASC are completely stable (e.g., genes, preschool environment). The largest part of the variation in ASC across time could be attributed to factors that systematically changed in an autoregressive way (e.g., achievement feedback). Mathematical self-concept showed higher stability than verbal self-concept as a result of a smaller proportion of occasion-specific state variance. The IDA also revealed substantial heterogeneity across studies. We argue that disentangling stable and temporally changing aspects of ASC is important not only for informing theory but also for assessing the potential of psychological interventions. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved)

Engineering PlayWorld—a Model of Practice to Support Children to Collectively Design, Imagine and Think Using Engineering Concepts

Preschool environments offer an abundance of opportunities for exploring the physical world where children can learn engineering concepts and principles (theories or laws). Yet how teachers design motivating conditions for engineering thinking has not been fully investigated. The study reported in this paper examined how teachers and young children engaged in engineering principles over 12 months. Digital video observations (123 h) captured the daily interactions of two teachers and 13 children across two classrooms during their engineering sessions. The participants were 8 preschool children aged 4.7–5.5 years and 5 school children aged 5.5–6.4 years. Different to previous studies that focus on engineering affordances during free play, the results identify new play pedagogies that support personally meaningful engineering learning of children in preschools. The new practices, named as an Engineering PlayWorld, build imaginary situations, where children in teams act ‘as if’ they are engineers, meeting engineering problems and generating engineering solutions.

Parent perspectives on preschoolers' movement and dietary behaviours: a qualitative study in Soweto, South Africa.

Childhood obesity is of increasing concern in South Africa, and interventions to promote healthy behaviours related to obesity in children are needed. Young children in urban low-income settings are particularly at risk of excess adiposity. The current study aimed to describe how parents of preschool children in an urban South African township view children's movement and dietary behaviours, and associated barriers and facilitators. A contextualist qualitative design was utilised with in-depth interviews conducted in the home setting and analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. Field notes were used to contextualise findings. Four neighbourhoods in a predominantly low-income urban township. Sixteen parents (fourteen mothers, two fathers) of preschool-age children were recruited via preschools. Four themes were developed: children's autonomy and the limits of parental control; balancing trust and fears; the appeal of screens; and aspirations and pressures of parenthood. Barriers to healthy behaviours included children's food preferences, aspirations and pressures to consume unhealthy foods, other adults giving children snacks, lack of safe places to play, unhealthy food environments and underlying structural factors. Facilitators included set routines, the preschool environment, safe places to play and availability of healthy foods. Low-income families in Soweto face many structural challenges that cannot easily be addressed through public health interventions, but there may be opportunities for behavioural interventions targeting interpersonal and organisational aspects, such as bedtime routines and preschool snacks, to achieve positive changes. More research on preschoolers' movement and dietary behaviours, and related interventions, is needed in South Africa.

Montessori as an alternative early childhood education

ABSTRACT Montessori education was developed over 100 years ago, and persists as a marginal ‘niche reform’ of the standard model. Here I discuss two unresolved dichotomies in early childhood education – the tension between work and play, and between structure and freedom. I explain how Montessori collapses and thereby resolves the dichotomies, and does so in a contemporary theoretical frame – one that is dynamical rather than linear. I next describe the origins and functioning of Montessori preschool environments, outcomes from the most methodologically sound studies to date, and impediments to Montessori’s more widespread adoption. I also show how Montessori is a culturally responsive pedagogy, and conclude by return to the dichotomies and how Montessori makes sense for the modern era.

Preschool environment and preschool teacher's physical activity and their association with children's activity levels at preschool.

The aim of this study was to investigate the association between preschool playground size, formalized physical activity (PA) policies, time spent outdoors and preschool teacher's levels of PA and children's objectively assessed levels of PA and sedentary time (ST) during preschool hours. In total, 369 children and 84 preschool teachers from 27 preschools in Södermalm municipally, Stockholm Sweden wore an Actigraph GT3X+ accelerometer during 7 consecutive days. Preschool environmental and structural characteristics were measured via the Environment and Policy Evaluation Self-Report (EPAO-SR) instrument and time in- and outdoors was recorded by preschool teachers during the PA measurements. Weight and height of children were measured via validated scales and parents filled out a questionnaire on demographical and descriptive variables. Linear mixed models, nested on preschool level, were used to assess the association between predictors and outcomes. The mean child age was 4.7 years (SD 0.8) and 45% were girls. We found that children were more active in preschools with a formalized PA policy, compared to preschools without such a policy, but not less sedentary. The association between policy and activity seemed to be more pronounced when accounting for other environmental factors. Similar associations were found in children spent most time outdoors (uppermost quartile) compared with children spent least time outdoors (Lowermost quartile). Preschool teachers' light PA (LPA) (ß = 0.25, P = 0.004) and steps (ß = 0.52, P<0.001) were associated with children's LPA and steps while the preschool playground size showed no association with PA in children, when accounting for other environmental factors. The current study showed that preschool structural characteristics such as formalized PA policies and more time spent outdoors were positively associated with children's PA. These findings suggest that formalized PA policies and time outdoors may be of importance for promoting children's PA during preschool hours.

A swing and a child: how scientific phenomena can come to matter for preschool children\u2019s emergent science identities

The focus of this study is the co-actings of a 5-year-old girl, a swing, and physical phenomena. The study explores how the swing and physical phenomena worked as co-creators of the girl’s scientific explorations as well as her bodily capacities and identity construction. Empirically, the study makes use of a video sequence generated during a field study in a Swedish preschool with 5-year-old children. The field study focused on the children’s play and explorations together with the preschool environment, during activities not specifically guided by teachers. To conceptualize children’s emergent scientific learning as mutual with their identity construction and as being co-created together with nonhuman agents, the study combines perspectives from new materialism, emergent science, physics, and gender theory. As a theoretical and methodological foundation, a new materialist perspective drawing on Karen Barad’s (Meeting the universe halfway. Quantum physics of the entanglement of matter and meaning, Duke University Press, London, 2007) theory of agential realism and diffractive methodology were used, as well as Elizabeth de Freitas and Anna Palmer’s (Cult Stud Sci Educ 11(4):1201–1222, 2016. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11422-014-9652-6) notion concerning how scientific concepts can work as creative playmates in children’s explorations. The findings show how the girl, together with the swing, could experience and explore various physical phenomena as well as, extend her bodily capacities and become brave and strong. As such, new materialism shows how scientific phenomena can create affordances for an individual’s becomings as scientific as well as how “becoming scientific” can be understood. At the same time, the findings also indicate the importance of teachers not assuming that scientific phenomena are automatically part of children’s play or can be experienced by all children all the time. The explored situation was rare. On most occasions, the girl did not get the same kind of experiences with the swing because of gender norms. I argue that norms and discourses connected to science and gender are not things that “come with” older children or are only introduced by adults. These are instead already in the making and re-making within children’s co-actings with the material-discursive environment in preschool. It is therefore important that teachers engage in children’s embodied play with scientific phenomena, with the aim to empower the children, their bodies, capacities and (science) identities.

Quality of Pre-school Learning Environment in Palestine

The current study aimed at assessing the quality of pre-school learning environment in Palestine. Learning quality is considered as a significant indicator of human sustainability. Pre-school learning is part of a basic education strategy to enrich and support children's development during the critical, formative years from birth to five years. The sample of this study was stratified random with (180) preschool teachers from the district of Nablus. The researchers adopted the quantitative methodology by using the ECERS-R questionnaire to assess the quality of pre-school learning environment. Statistical analysis detected that the quality of pre-schools learning environment according to the ECERS-R scale had high levels on the domains of language, activities, interaction, program structure and parents and staff. Furnishing and personal care routine had moderate levels of quality. It can be inferred relative weaknesses in the learning environment in Palestinian pre-schools with certain items yielding weakly level. Thus, it can be concluded that all the items can still be improved. The last result showing that there was a significant difference in the quality of preschool learning environment according to teachers' educational qualification, generally, the current study recommended the significance of continuing to supply effective quality learning environments in pre-schools in Palestine.

Optimization of children’s transition from preschool and family environment to the first grade of primary school in Slovakia by implementation of an adaptation programme

• Elaboration and implementation of an adaptation program to eliminate adaptation difficulties of children in the transition from kindergarten and family environment to the first year of primary school. • The implementation of selected program has significantly accelerated the process of adapting children to initial education. • The adaptation program has strengthened the social and emotional competencies of pupils and improved their school motivation. The presented contribution is devoted to the issue of children‘s transition from kindergarten and family environment to the first grade of primary school. This period is accompanied by several changes which bring about various adaptive difficulties for some children. An adaptation programme has been developed to mitigate or eliminate the difficulties, aimed at optimising the conditions in the transition period. In order to verify the effectiveness of the programme, a pedagogical experiment was carried out in selected primary schools in Slovakia. The results of the experiment were analysed using selected statistical methods. Experiments confirmed that the proposed adaptation programme had a statistically significant effect on the quality of the adaptation process. A significant improvement in pupils' adaptation occurred not only shortly after the application of the program, but the improvement also had a long-term effect.

Play within outdoor preschool learning environments of Greece: a comparative study on current and prospective Kindergarten Educators

ABSTRACT Outdoor play comprises a highly significant play category through which children learn, develop, express themselves, socially and physically interact with their surroundings. Research, however demonstrates outdoor play is not substantially utilized within Greek preschool environments. This study was conducted during the 2019 academic year, aiming at examining, via questionnaire, the views of current (N:100) and prospective (N:100) Kindergarten Educators regarding outdoor play’s importance and utilization as a learning and development asset within Greek preschool environments. Findings establish that current and future educators acknowledge outdoor play’s contribution into children’s learning and development and promote natural materials playing into Kindergarten. Nevertheless, they fail to exploit exterior settings for organized play activities; prospective educators but occasionally evaluate toy-objects or the play equipment of the school yard. This study, finally, highlights the need for retraining Greek educators towards a better utilization of outdoor play and its incorporation into Kindergarten’s educational process.

Odgoj za okoliš, odgoj u okolišu ili prirodni odgoj?

Odgoj za okoliš i održivi razvoj potreba je današnjega društva, a zbog svih utjecaja koje takav odgoj ima na cjelokupni razvoj djeteta potrebno ga je etablirati i implementirati u odgojno-obrazovni proces. Odgoj u okolišu i za okoliš razmatra se kroz prizmu prirodnih prava i raspravlja se može li se izostankom odgoja u prirodi govoriti o kršenju elementarnih dječjih prava. Ističe se važnost igre na otvorenome i interakcije s prirodom i u prirodi. U radu se analizira odgoj za okoliš u predškolskim ustanovama. Promišlja se o premisi kako dijete odgajati za okoliš i održivi razvoj. Razmatraju se ideje iz prošlosti, poput Rousseauova prirodnog odgoja i šumskih škola te ih se nastoji povezati s postulatima na kojima počiva odgoj za okoliš i održivi razvoj kao i načinima poimanja važnosti i blagodati prirode i odgoja u prirodi. Pregledom se istraživanja utjecaja prirode na odgoj i interakcije djeteta i prirode želi utvrditi veza i važnost odgoja za okoliš i u okolišu. Na temelju analize rezultata nekoliko istraživanja opisuju se elementi koji definiraju pozitivne utjecaje odgoja u okolišu. Kritičkim osvrtom i usporedbom s Rousseauovim idejama tumači se koncept odgoja za okoliš i održivi razvoj te se izdvajaju varijable koje mogu biti predmetom daljnjega istraživanja s ciljem razumijevanja pojava i veza unutar opisanoga koncepta.

Scientific Preschool Environmental Education And Training Research Methodology

The article innovatively describes the methodological basis of scientific research on the example of preschool environmental education and upbringing.

"I Wasn't Sure What It Meant to be Honest"-Formative Research towards a Physical Literacy Intervention for Preschoolers.

Physical literacy (PL) as a concept is important in developing lifelong physical activity; however, there is little research exploring how PL can be developed during the preschool years. This two-phase qualitative study sought the insights of academics/expert practitioners and preschool staff towards PL in order to inform the design of future preschool PL interventions. Phase One comprised of nine semi-structured interviews with experts in the field of children’s physical activity and/or PL. Interview topics included perspectives on the concept of PL and recommendations for interventions targeted at improving preschool PL. Phase Two consisted of focus groups with practitioners from four local children’s centres. Focus groups explored perspectives on the feasibility and acceptability of proposed PL interventions. Interviews and focus groups were analysed by thematic analysis and means of representation, respectively. Findings revealed that whilst there was limited understanding about the concept of PL among preschool educators, knowledge of child development was evident and that all participants agreed that there was a need for further training for practitioners. Perceived barriers to promoting PL noted by practitioners included funding, policy, curricular priorities, parental opinions, and the preschool environment. It was recommended that interventions should be: (i) designed using a participatory approach including all key stakeholders, (ii) conducted over the long term, and (iii) incorporate opportunities for children to engage in free and outdoor play. Furthermore, any intervention should be flexible to allow for variation between children’s centres, aligned to current policy/children’s centre targets and provide training and resources in order to overcome perceived barriers.

Using Number Games to Support Mathematical Learning in Preschool and Home Environments

ABSTRACT Research Findings: This study evaluated the effects of an early mathematics intervention designed to engage preschool children, their teachers, and their families in an interactive mathematics game. Previous research shows that playing this specific type of linear board game results in increased numerical skills and understanding in young children under controlled conditions. The current study explores the game’s effectiveness under more natural conditions – a classroom-based intervention with teachers and a related family engagement component. A pilot study informed a larger-scale experiment, comparing outcomes in multiple skill domains (verbal counting, counting on, number line estimation, numeral magnitude, and numeral recognition) with those of control group children who played memory matching games. The analysis sample included 256 children in classrooms that were randomly selected from volunteer teachers and randomly assigned within 10 centers to either the treatment group (mathematics games, 23 teachers) or the comparison condition (matching games, 22 teachers). The intervention resulted in positive impacts for numeral identification, but not the other domains. The number of math games played was positively associated with verbal counting. No impact of family game play was found; however, implementation challenges could have influenced this finding. Practice or Policy: Including simple, research-informed mathematics board games in the preschool classroom can support mathematical learning. Future work must include families and educators in the design of these supports.

Otizm Spektrum Bozukluğu Olan Okul Öncesi Çocuklarının Kaynaştırma/Bütünleştirme Ortamlarına Uygulamalı Davranış Analizinden Yansımalar

The most promising and positive results for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are qualified special education services that start as one-to-one from early ages and continue in inclusion environments. The use of evidence-based interventions based on Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA), which is recommended to be used in the education of individuals with ASD, is important for successful special education. In this context, this review study provides information about differential reinforcement, natural environmental education, activity schedules, story-based interventions, which are main interventions based on ABA in preschool environments. This review will be expected provide guidance toall practitioners, families and researchers, especially preschool teachers with children with ASD in their classroom, and suggestions for practice and further research.

Parents Perception About Adjusment Disorder At First Day School In Permata Iman 3 Kindergarten

Kindergarten is one form of early childhood education services for children aged 3-6 years which serves to lay the foundations towards the development of attitudes, knowledge, and skills. Therefore, self-adjustment is one of the important things in determining the success of a child in meeting the demands of the surrounding environment. This study aims to Identify Parents Perceptions of Adjusment Disorder At First Day School in PermataIman 3 Kindergarten Malang. The design in this study is descriptive. The population and sample in this study were all children aged 3-6 years who had just entered school as many as 84. The sampling technique used is total sampling. The instrument used in this study was the Child Behavior Checklist for Ages 1.5-5. This research was conducted at PermataIman 3 kindergarten in July 2019. Data obtained will be analyzed univariate and presented in percentage form. The results showed that adjustments to disorder at first day school in children in the mild category amounted to 66 (78.6%) and a small portion in the moderate category amounted to 18 (21.4%). This is probably due to factors of age, physiological conditions, order of children, and parenting. Based on the results of the study parents should be able to choose the right time to include children in the pre-school environment, namely at the age of &gt; 4-5 years. And it is very important for the school to pay attention to the school environment, especially in the readiness of facilities, facilities and the environment.

Guiding children towards individual and collective growth. Educative participatory experiences in a preschool setting

ABSTRACTThis article is based on a fieldwork study that explored a 1-year-long process of integrating children's human rights-respecting practice in a preschool through a project with a popular culture theme. Drawing on John Dewey's educational theory, educative participatory experience is suggested as a useful concept to further understand and develop different forms of participation practices. The twofold aim of the article is to demonstrate the children's educative participatory experiences and relate these to the teacher's acknowledgement of both children's collective agency and their individual capacity to participate. The methods used are semi-structured interviews and video-documented and participatory observations. The data mainly consists of field notes, video recordings, photographs and transcripts. The results show that the teachers are viewing the children, and providing possibilities for them to act, as knowledgeable experts, competent conflict-solvers and reflective and caring practitioners. Furthermore, they consider both the children's individual and collective rights and responsibilities when creating a rights-respecting preschool environment.

KESAHAN DAN KEBOLEHPERCAYAAN SOAL SELIDIK KEKANGAN MELAKSANAKAN AKTIVITI FIZIKAL DI PRASEKOLAH

Malaysia is the second-largest country for childhood obesity problems in Asian countries. This polemic indirectly caused children less active in physical activity. The purpose of this study was to identify the validity and reliability of factors affecting the constraints of physical activity in preschool. Factors that interfere with physical activity in preschool are due to teacher’s factor, preschool environment factor and physical activity equipment factor. A total of 75 preschool teachers were involved in this study. Therefore, to ensure that this questionnaire is reliable and valid, two phases of validity have been implemented. The first phase of the validation phase was carried out by providing a questionnaire to two experts, a language specialist, and an early childhood education expert. After obtaining expert reviews, all of the reviews were improved to further the second phase of the study. The second phase is the instrument reliability phase. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) 23.0 application was used to obtain Cronbach’s Alpha scores. Findings show that all items have high reliability because the value of Cronbach Alpha’s questionnaire obtained α = 0.854.

Student Disaffection: The Contribution of Greek In-service Kindergarten Teachers in Engaging Each Preschooler in Learning.

Engaging each student in learning comprises a continuous challenge and concern for the contemporary teacher. Educational research confirms the alarming increase of the disengaged students, relating student disaffection to adverse effects on students’ academic development. In the present research through one-on-one, semi-structured interviews, we investigate 80 Greek in-service kindergarten teachers’ opinions with regards to the significance of engaging the disengaged students in learning activities in preschool environments. The interviews based on Creswell’s (2009) interview model, incorporate open-ended and close-ended questions that offer a well-rounded view of the subject. Qualitative and quantitative data analysis of teachers’ opinions show that engaging each disengaged preschooler has multiple benefits on students’ academic development, class climate, and cohesion, and teacher’s self-efficacy, as well. Specifically, teachers’ engaging actions offer students the opportunity to develop their abilities, self-efficacy, and sense of belonging. The interviewees also recognise that increased student engagement levels decisively affect teachers—students’ interactions, offering at the same time clear feedback to the teacher.