Teacher knowledge and beliefs about grammar: a case study of an English primary school

This case study of developing teacher attitudes, beliefs and content knowledge at one primary school in the North‐West of England deals with the new spelling, punctuation and grammar (SPaG) elements of the National Curriculum, focusing on grammatical terms and concepts. It uses data collected over 10 months from June 2014 to March 2015, including surveys, interviews and comments made during post‐observation discussions and during SPaG CPD sessions. The findings suggest that, while much work remains to be done in developing teachers’ knowledge base, attitudes are largely supportive of teaching children grammar terms and concepts.     

Economic well-being and children's social adjustment: the role of family process in an ethnically diverse low-income sample

Using latent variable structural equation modeling, a family economic stress model that links economic well-being to child well-being in an ethnically diverse, low-income sample of 419 elementary school-age children was evaluated. The sample was 57% African American and 28% Hispanic, and most families were headed by single mothers. The results provided support for the position that family process is a critical mediator of the effects of economic hardship on children's social adjustment. Lower levels of economic well-being, and the corollary elevated perceptions of economic pressure indirectly affected parenting behavior through an adverse impact on parental psychological well-being. Distressed parents reported feeling less effective and capable in disciplinary interactions with their child and were observed to be less affectionate in parent-child interactions. In turn, less than optimal parenting predicted lower teacher ratings of children's positive social behavior and higher ratings of behavior problems. Multiple-group analyses revealed that the pathways by which economic hardship influences children's behavior appear to operate similarly for boys and girls, and for African American and Hispanic families.     

当前我国(大陆)小学社会科研究述评

1992年 ,我国大陆正式启动小学社会课程。随之展开的是各种各样的研究和探索。内容包括 :在小学开设社会科的意义和价值 ;小学社会科的目的、课程性质、课程内容、课程结构 ;小学社会科的教学目标、教学原则、教学模式、教学方法 ;小学社会科的教材研究 ;小学社会科的比较研究以及一些相关学科领域的具体研究等等。总的看来 ,我国大陆小学社会科的研究还相当薄弱 ,尤其是理论方面仍有很多有待深入探讨和澄清的问题 ,历史研究也是一个空白 ,从实际出发的原则还应进一步强化 ,实验探索和经验总结亟需提高质量和水平。     

Progression in primary school children's conceptions of burning: Toward an understanding of the concept of substance

Children's conceptions of burning were explored through observation and discussion or a number of challenging phenomena. Analysis of written responses showed that children's conceptions are both specific and contextually based, and that there is little coherence in the use of any one conception across phenomena. Progression across the primary school years can be described, however, in terms of children's growing confidence with the idea of transformation of substances and the analysis relates this to a model based on changing commitments to the notion of substance defined by properties, rather than history. The conceptual trajectories described in the study are broadly consistent with previous studies of secondary school children.     

Same topic,different genre: Elementary school children's mental representations of information embedded in narrative and expository texts

Using a sentence recognition task, we investigated whether elementary school children's (N = 92; M_age = 9.3 years, SD = 1.1 years) memory of the text surface, the textbase, and the situation model differed depending on whether the same information was embedded in an expository or a narrative text. Previous research with children that used narrative and expository texts dealing with different topics indicated beneficial effects narrative over expository texts regarding various indicators of processing on the levels of the textbase and the situation model. In contrast, our results did not indicate differences between narrative and expository texts for any of the levels of representation. Thus, the role of text topic in studies investigating the effect of genre on text comprehension should be investigated further.     

Language,culture and identity in the transition to primary school: Challenges to indigenous children's rights to education in Peru

This paper analyses a ‘critical moment’ in the educational trajectories of young indigenous children in Peru: the transition to primary school. It addresses the inequalities in educational services that affect indigenous children, before looking at the micro-level processes that take place in school settings, through a focus on two selected case studies from the Young Lives study of childhood poverty. Using longitudinal information collected in two consecutive years, the case studies show how the children's language and culture are excluded from school premises and their very identity as children and indigenous people is disregarded, negatively affecting their educational performance.     

The relation of social skills and school climate of diversity to children's life satisfaction: The mediating role of school connectedness

The present study examined the role of school connectedness in mediating the relations of social skills and school climate of diversity (SCD) to life satisfaction (LS) among school‐aged children. This study also investigated whether there is any gender difference in relationships. Participants included 873 elementary school students in Grades 4 through 6. The results of the structural equation modeling supported the partial mediating role of school connectedness, indicating that social skills and SCD lead to LS both directly and indirectly through enhanced school connectedness. Multigroup analysis demonstrated that the direct path from the SCD to LS was significant only for boys, while other paths are invariant across gender. Implications are addressed for school‐based interventions to promote school connectedness and LS.     

Preschool children's attention to environmental messages about groups: social categorization and the origins of intergroup bias

This study was designed to examine the effects of adults' labeling and use of social groups on preschool children's intergroup attitudes. Children (N=87, aged 3-5) attending day care were given measures of classification skill and self-esteem and assigned to membership in a novel ("red" or "blue") social group. In experimental classrooms, teachers used the color groups to label children and organize the classroom. In control classrooms, teachers ignored the color groups. After 3 weeks, children completed multiple measures of intergroup attitudes. Results indicated that children in both types of classrooms developed ingroup-biased attitudes. As expected, children in experimental classrooms showed greater ingroup bias on some measures than children in control classrooms.     

Format-free databases and the construction of knowledge in primary school science projects

Most current science education reform documents are placing much emphasis on having students become competent in identifying, accessing and operating upon relevant information sources and in using the information to construct new knowledge. One of the means they suggest for achieving these aims is science project work. However, a review of the research literature indicates that little knowledge construction occurs during science projects. This article reports on a study in which a teacher used the collaborative development of a format-free computer database to facilitate the construction of knowledge by a group of three Year 6 students during a science project.     

Thinking about the future because of the past: young children's knowledge about the causes of worry and preventative decisions

Two studies investigated 3- to 6-year-olds' and adults' (N= 128) knowledge about emotions and behaviors caused by thinking about the future because of the past. Participants listened to stories featuring characters that experienced negative events, and then, many days later, felt worried or changed their behaviors upon seeing an entity associated with the prior harm. Results revealed a significant increase between 3 and 5 years in the frequency that participants explained characters' reactions as caused by anticipating the reoccurrence of a negative past event. Across age, females more often marked future events as uncertain, as well as predicted that people in ambiguous risk situations would feel worried due to past-to-future connections.     

Towards an environmental education without scientific knowledge: an attempt to create an action model based on children's experiences,emotions and perceptions about their environment

The paper presents an alternative approach to environmental education which focuses on children's ideas and action rather than scientific knowledge. The approach is based on children's willingness and ability to act and participate in their community and environment. The paper contributes to the development of an alternative pedagogical proposition for environmental education that is inspired by critical education. The proposed action model has emerged from a one‐year qualitative, participatory research in a pilot primary school in Athens, with the active engagement of 60 children, aged 9–12. The action model describes a path from denial of action to willingness for action. It can be used to encourage children to become involved in their environment and community and to feel strong and confident to act.     

An evaluation of the impact of an inter‐agency intervention programme to promote social skills in primary school children

This paper describes a social skills programme run in one primary school designed to promote children's cooperative skills and anger management. The programme was staffed by Child and Adolescent Mental Health professionals with educational psychologist and school support. Eight children with severe emotional and behavioural problems participated and completed the 20‐week programme. Pre and post data were collected for the children, parents and teachers. Parents were supported by regular meetings and domiciliary visits from an assistant psychologist. Teaching staff met regularly with the team and had frequent supportive contact with the assistant psychologist. Two educational psychologists‐in‐training made an independent qualitative evaluation of the programme, interviewing the children, their parents and teachers, as well as members of the multi‐agency team. After attending the group, the children showed a significant reduction in their anxiety, parents reported a significant reduction in oppositional behaviour and teachers a significant reduction in attention‐deficit hyperactive difficulties type behaviour. All measures showed a significant or positive trend, although there was some disappointment in the level of parent participation in the school‐based parent meetings. Reasons for this are discussed and the case for multi‐agency social skills interventions is made, along with a broader discussion of the role of the educational psychologist.     

Middle leaders translating knowledge about improvement: Making change in the school and preschool organisation

Journal of Educational Change - This article deepens the knowledge of middle leaders’ impact on school improvement and organisation development. More precisely, it focuses on how middle...     

Reading social stories in the community: A promising intervention for promoting children's environmental knowledge and behavior in Jordan

Traditionally, education in various forms has been used as a tool to change values and behavior in children regarding the environment. This study reports findings from the We Love Reading Program that utilizes the reading of Social Stories in various communities in Jordan to address the environmental problems of Jordan. Results indicated the effectiveness of this informal educational intervention showing a significant increase in children's knowledge about environmental issues and a positive change in behavior related to electricity and water consumption and littering, as reported by parents. The authors provide several recommendations on how Social Stories and appropriate curriculum can be used in schools and community to create awareness in students regarding environmental issues.     

如何提高小学英语词汇教学的有效性

词汇教学既是小学英语教学的一个重点,难点。因此,在小学英语词汇教学中,如何加强词汇教学的直观性、增强词汇教学的趣味性、利用语境,突出词汇教学的整体性显得尤为重要。     

Teaching in linguistically diverse classrooms: difficulties in the implementation of the language-in-education policy in multilingual Kenyan primary school classrooms

Kenya’s language-in-education policy supports mother-tongue education as the ideal approach to developing language and literacy skills of young learners. The policy has been informed by findings of various past national education commissions as well as international declarations such as the UNESCO declaration on the use of Vernacular Languages in Education of 1953, the World Declaration on Education for All of 1990 and the Dakar framework of 2000. The country’s Constitution of 2010 re-affirms this policy. However, available reports indicate that little progress has been made in implementing the use of Kenyan mother tongues in education. This paper reports on impressions gained in the process of collecting and analysing data for a doctoral study still in progress. Preliminary findings indicate that in most urban and peri-urban schools, where the learner population is highly multilingual, the policy has been implemented in such a way that in effect either the notion of ‘mother tongue’ seems to have been redefined or the term is used in an unconventional way. Even in rural areas where, comparatively, there is minimal diversity, practical aspects of the use of mother tongue in education seem not to be in accordance with policy provisions. Learning materials and assessment systems are not suitably structured to enable mother-tongue education to take place. The paper (1) gives an impression of the status quo regarding use of language in multilingual primary school classrooms in Kenya, (2) considers the different interpretations given to the term ‘mother tongue’ in current classroom practices and (3) provides pointers to the gap between de jure and de facto policy, which may eventually be helpful in improving the implementation of the current language-in-education policy, in such a way that it will strengthen mother-tongue literacy and facilitate eventual transfer to English as medium of instruction.     

Settling into school: The importance of early friendships for the development of children's social understanding and communicative competence

This paper reports an exploratory study of 37 children (aged 4–5 years) throughout their first term of formal schooling. Children in two different schools were included in the study. Four pairs of friends and four isolated children were targeted for in‐depth observation every week throughout the term. The behaviour and speech of these 12 children were coded systematically in various activities and settings to assess their level of social involvement and their adjustment to school. Sociometric interviews were carried out with all 37 children. These were used to examine the pattern of social relationships in the two classes and to investigate Children's understanding of concepts such as ‘friendship’. The target children also took part in a communication game with other children from their classes, matched in age and verbal ability, but who were not friends. It was predicted that children who started school in the company of a friend or friends would have better developed social and communicative skills than children who began school without the support of existing friendships. As predicted, children who had well established friendships on entry to school gave more sophisticated reasons as to why children liked and disliked each other. These children were also more effective communicators than the isolated children. The results suggest that friendship not only plays an important part in developing young Children's social competencies, but also that it influences children'sperformance on a range of classroom‐based learning activities, particularly those which involve mutual collaboration and co‐operation.