Education reform has created an environment in the Early Years sector in which Early Years Practitioners (EYPs) are increasingly directed to look for outcomes, rather than developing an understanding about the process of learning. The issue of EYP competence and knowledge is often overestimated by an education system which assumes that confidence and high levels of understanding are standard. Therefore, reconciling the difference between what policies expect, and what EYPs can do, is of great interest. Working from a Vygotskyian perspective on group collaboration and peer learning, this study examines the effect of an intervention with a team of EYPs, who took part in group supervision sessions to explore their Observation, Assessment and Planning practice. The aim is to help to develop a model which can support and enhance professional practice. The study began with four participants who attended ten facilitated group discussions over ten months, in which they addressed specific observational issues to gain insight into how their key child was learning. These sessions provided an opportunity for the participants to engage in professional dialogue and robustly analyse their observations. Data was interpreted using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), to explore how a group approach might support the participants’ professional development and their understanding of children’s learning. The EYPs reported links between their own learning within the group and changes in their practice and understanding about children's learning. Evidence from the study suggests that the Group Intervention had a positive impact on the participants’ practice and that they developed skills in making professional judgements about how best to support and extend the child’s learning. The findings also suggest that collaborative endeavours are a key factor in helping EYPs to succeed at their OAP tasks and enable the development of professional learning.

ABSTRACT In the early years of education, the Performing Arts assume a particular significance as learning is both in and through the Arts. When appropriately managed, they are enjoyed in their own right, but also permeate other areas of the curriculum enabling greater relevance and meaning. The Performing Arts are an excellent means through which children, in their early years of schooling explore and express their feelings. Dance, drama and music are Arts disciplines through which children investigate ideas and exhibit opinions about their known and unknown world. The Performing Arts make an effective contribution to the personal and social development of children. The Performing Arts provide an interesting way for teaching young children the values which many adults believe are vital in today's society. Through the Arts children are able to develop social competencies. Participation in the Arts motivates and enhances young children's desire to learn. The Arts have an important role in inspiring and improving the w hole school environment. This research investigated the teaching of the Performing Arts in primary schools in Catholic Education in the Northern Zone of the Diocese of Ballarat. Literature on curriculum development, education in early schooling, and delivery of the arts and education is examined, as well as the impact of the implementation of the Performing Arts stream of the Victorian Essential Learning Standards. Education of pre-service teachers and the continued professional development of experienced teachers is discussed as is the role of education systems in providing this teacher education. Generalist (non-specialist) teachers from primary schools in the Northern Zone were surveyed and interviewed to establish the current situation regarding the Performing Arts in schools. Based on the literature and the data collected and analysed from the survey and interviews, a number of teaching for learning models were proposed. These models placed the child at the centre of the educational experience, linking the school to the community. The models were informed by current Government and Catholic Education policy. The various components included the current curriculum the Victorian Essential Learning Standards, the important roles played by the school, the teacher and parents. The importance of teacher education and further professional development to ensure the teacher has the knowledge, skills and attitudes needed to implement a quality program was also an important aspect of the models. Findings from the research established that many teachers had basic skills in teaching the different areas of Performing Arts, but lacked confidence in their ability to do so. Therefore, in a number of schools, programs in Performing Arts were either based around the annual school concert or were non-existent. Many teachers used simple Performing Arts activities as a means to teaching knowledge and skills in other curriculum areas. As a result of the research findings and the model development, a resource to enable and assist in the teaching of the Performing Arts was developed for the teachers to implement an appropriate Performing Arts program in the early years of education.

Fifty-eight children of varying math abilities, ranging in age from 7 to 8 years, were tested to investigate the influence of certain low-level cognitive abilities on their use of spatial representations of number magnitude (i.e., the so-called mental number line). A number-line estimation task and a number comparison task were administered to measure their use of the mental number line. A combined spatial-cueing and flanker task was used to assess three attention networks: executive functioning, alerting, and visual attention orienting. Visuospatial working memory was assessed with a mental rotation task, and intelligence was measured with a short-form IQ test. Regression results showed that visuospatial working memory ability was related to performance on the mental number line tasks. Hence, children with stronger visuospatial working memory ability are able to more efficiently manipulate the mental number line, and thus perform better on tasks involving understanding of number magnitude. / October 2015

It is argued in Chapters 1 to 4 that in cognitive psychology in general, and in the disciplines of language acquisition and cognitive development in particular, there is substantial benefit to be derived from distinguishing between two representational systems, one system being deployed in long-established or highly-practiced functions, and the second deployed in novel tasks, or where difficulties interrupt the first system. It is also argued that the proper subject of cognitive development is the second of these systems. Chapters 5 and 6 are concerned in different ways with the origins of language in the individual, in particular with the question of what innate knowledge of language might be justified. It is concluded that many questions regarding innate knowledge remain open, and that a source in human evolution for knowledge of language is no more likely than sources in individual or social development. In Chapter 7 it is argued that representational drawing emerges late in the 4th year of life, and some new techniques are described for studying early representational drawing. Following these treatments of external systems of representation, Chapter 8 offers a general developmental theory of forms of representation, extending Piaget's insight that mental representation is co-extensive with thought, and that the main axis of cognitive development is the content of thought and representation. Chapters 9 to 12 apply this theory to the representation of belief and desire, and of extrinsic and intrinsic qualities of objects, by 11/2 to 4 year-old children. Chapter 13 introduces a new method for analyzing the free classification task, a task sometimes used to assess children's ability to think about intrinsic qualities, and applies this method to various data sets. Chapter 14 applies these insights and results to the problem of characterizing concepts and concept development and favourably discusses the idea that more precise knowledge of this aspect of development may help to explain certain features of early language acquisition.

Developing critical thinking in early childhood is vital especially in Western culture since it improves an individual’s skills in creative thinking and enhances a person’s sense of responsibility. This is the fundamental contention of this thesis. These skills assist in developing and implementing a state of mind of not accepting negative situations and instead directs the individual towards trying to resolve and improve it. These issues have not yet been fully explored in Arab-Palestinian society in Israel. The development and application of notions of personal responsibility, critical thinking, and kindergarten-age children’s involvement in learning has yet to emerge as a reality in this community. This is needed because existing theory and practice involving these aspects of learning within the Palestinian system is problematic. Moreover, the development of a new approach to teaching and parenting of kindergarten-age children that fosters critical thinking and personal responsibility may not be a reality that is immediately achievable, but it is a possibility. This study aims to investigate how educational leaders can help kindergarten children aged 3-5 years to develop critical thinking and personal responsibility skills. The research focuses on Arab (Palestinian) children in Israel as these skills are not traditionally taught in the home or in educational settings in this culture. The literature shows that there is a marked disparity between the educational achievements of Arab and Jewish children in Israel, making the implications of this study salient not only to practitioners, but also to policymakers and educational institutions. In order to examine these goals, a case study involving qualitative research approaches of a kindergarten classroom has been conducted. The context of this study is an important and complex set of factors determining and shaping the content and form of the thesis and of the research that is embodied in the text. This study has been conducted in a kindergarten belonging to an Arab Municipality located in Northern Israel that was established in 2010 and is situated in a rural area in the north of the country. Lesson plans following the National Curriculum for Kindergarten Education were infused with teaching activities designed to facilitate the acquisition of critical thinking skills. The findings of the project showed that the presence of a strong educational leader had a positive impact on facilitating kindergarten children’s development of personal responsibility and critical thinking skills. This was especially the case if the leader played an active role in facilitating a learning environment at home and in school in which children were acknowledged and given greater autonomy and access to opportunities in which they could engage openly with parents and peers. This study calls attention to the need to further explore educational leadership in the context of early childhood education, as its implications for childhood development, particularly regarding critical thinking and personal responsibility, have not been sufficiently examined. This study claims to open possibilities for doing this in at least the Palestinian Kindergarten communities in Israel and perhaps beyond.

Background: The first five years of life, called the early years is a period of rapid and vital physical, behavioural, emotional and social development. Physical activity (PA) is one of the behaviours which develop during the early years, and high levels of PA during the early years have been shown to be related to multiple health outcomes. The importance of PA of young children (children during the early years) has been highlighted by a number of national governments. In order to better inform future interventions and public health policies, a greater understanding of the correlates and determinants of young children s PA is vital. Previous research has been limited through measurement inconsistencies, and few studies have been conducted within multi-ethnic communities, where many young children in the United Kingdom are born. Thesis Aims: 1) to systematically review published research in order to establish currently known correlates and determinants of PA in the early years and identify gaps within the literature. 2) Calculate an accelerometer wear-time criteria to reliably measure young children s habitual PA. 3) Investigate the validity and test re-test reliability of a new parental proxy reported PA questionnaire. 4) Investigate the levels and correlates of moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) in toddlers (1-3 year olds) from a predominately bi-ethnic and bi-linguistic population. Methods: Aim 1) nine electronic databases were searched to identify previous research which investigated associations between an exposure/variable, and a quantitative measure of PA. Correlates/determinants of total PA (TPA), MVPA and light-intensity PA (LPA) were reported using an ecologic model. Aim 2) to calculate a wear-time criteria for young children a simple stepped process was used whereby statistical tests were run to determine the minimum length of wear for one day, if there were any differences between weekdays and weekend days, and the presence of reactivity. Intra-class correlation models and the Spearman-Brown prophecy formula were used to calculate wear-time reliability. Aim 3) this study was undertaken by 196 parents completing a proxy report questionnaire on their child s PA and sedentary behaviour after seven days of their young child (mean age 3.2 ,SD: 0.8 years) wearing an accelerometer. A total of 156 (79.6%) questionnaires were completed in English and 40 (20.4%) were completed in transliterated Urdu. Of the 196 parents, 109 parents completed the EY-PAQ a second time seven days apart from the first EY-PAQ completion; this was to assess test re-test reliability of MVPA and sedentary time. Validity analysis used all data and data falling with specific proportion boundaries for MVPA (2%-41%) and sedentary time (30%-94%). Reliability was assessed using intra-class correlations (ICC) and validity by Bland Altman plots and rank correlation coefficients. Aim 4) this study was undertaken by conducting a cross-sectional analysis using 24 month olds and their mothers data collected as part of the Born in Bradford (BiB) birth cohort sub-sample study called BiB1000. The outcome variable was daily minutes of MVPA measured by the EY-PAQ. Numerous independent variables covering the layers of an ecological model were selected. Univariate linear regression models accounting for sex, age, language and season were conducted to examine the differences between White British and South Asian children s daily minutes of MVPA and each of the EY-PAQ s domains, and the proportion of time spent in MVPA within each of the EY-PAQ s domains. A series of univariate linear regression analyses were performed to examine and identify correlates of MVPA (for the whole sample, and separately for White British and South Asian children). Significant variables found in univariate analyses were then included in hierarchical multivariable regression models (based upon the ecological model), in order to examine the percentage of variance accounted for in daily minutes of MVPA. Results: Aim 1) The systematic review identified a large volume of published research. All studies took place in high income countries and few studies (6%) were of high quality. A small number of correlates and determinants of TPA were identified. The only correlate of MVPA was sex and no determinants of MVPA or LPA were found. PA correlates/ determinants were relatively consistent between objective and subjective PA measures and few studies investigated correlates of toddlers or between children with White and South Asian ethnicity. Aim 2) No differences in accelerometer-determined time in TPA, MVPA or sedentary time were observed between weekdays and weekend days within this sample of young children. Similarly, there was no evidence of reactivity to accelerometer use. For young children living in Bradford, an accelerometer wear-time of a minimum of six hours on any three days was shown to provide reliable estimates of accelerometer-determined time in TPA, MVPA, and sedentary time. Aim 3) The test re-test reliability of the EY-PAQ was moderate for sedentary time and fair for MVPA. The EY-PAQ had poor agreement with accelerometry with both sedentary time and MVPA before the application of boundaries. Post application of boundaries the EY-PAQ still had poor agreement with accelerometer-determined sedentary time but good agreement for MVPA. Limits of agreement were wide for all variables and language and ethnicity did not confound results. Aim 4) Bradford toddlers were found to be very active and no difference was observed between proxy-reported time spent in MVPA between White British and South Asian children. However, White British toddlers were found to have spent significantly more time in reported MVPA while walking for transport compared to South Asian toddlers; while South Asian toddlers reportedly spent significantly more time of MVPA in the home compared to White British toddlers. Correlate models were only statistically significant when multi-layers of the ecological model were included; and correlates differed for South Asian and White British children. Conclusions: There is a need for more high-quality studies exploring correlates/determinants across all layers of the ecologic model, and research investigating MVPA correlates/determinants of toddlers and between ethnicities is sparse. The work reported within this thesis has produced a reliable wear-time criterion for use to estimate accelerometer-determined PA and sedentary time in young children living in a bi-ethnic community. This criterion can now be used in future accelerometer studies (validation, observational and intervention) and the stepped-process offers researchers a method to derive sample-specific wear time criteria. The EY-PAQ is a promising habitual population-level measure of young children s MVPA from a bi-ethnic community. In situations when objective methods are not possible for measurement of young children s MVPA, the EY-PAQ may be a suitable alternative. Levels of toddlers MVPA did not differ by ethnicity but the contexts and correlates did. Therefore, future interventions should seek to maintain and maximise high levels of toddlers MVPA and tailor interventions by ethnicity. The research conducted within this thesis will inform the development of surveillance systems, interventions and public health polices to improve young children s PA levels, particularly children living in a bi-ethnic community.

Submitted by Fabio Sobreira Campos da Costa (fabio.sobreira@ufpe.br) on 2016-08-26T14:14:56Z No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) DISSERTAÇÃO Rita Batista Versão Atual.pdf: 1891188 bytes, checksum: b8349b594b942be02ab5b5e77125284e (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-08-26T14:14:56Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) DISSERTAÇÃO Rita Batista Versão Atual.pdf: 1891188 bytes, checksum: b8349b594b942be02ab5b5e77125284e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-03-03 / A partir da apreciação do relatório Children’s understanding of probability, produzido por Bryant e Nunes (2012), surgiu o desenho inicial do presente estudo. Para os referidos autores, a probabilidade é um conceito complexo que envolve o desenvolvimento de quatro exigências cognitivas: compreender a natureza e as consequências da aleatoriedade; formar e categorizar o espaço amostral; comparar e quantificar probabilidades; e entender correlações. No estudo, optou-se por investigar as três primeiras exigências apontadas por Bryant e Nunes (2012), objetivando analisar, em situações de jogos, conhecimentos de estudantes acerca da probabilidade, em particular no que se refere à aleatoriedade, ao espaço amostral e à comparação de probabilidades. Para o estudo, foram selecionados dois jogos: Travessia do Rio (BRASIL, 2014) e uma adaptação do jogo Passeios Aleatórios da Mônica (CAZORLA; KATAOKA; NAGAMIME, 2011), aqui denominado Passeios Aleatórios da Rute. No aporte teórico considerou-se o letramento probabilístico de Gal (2004, 2012) e os significados da probabilidade propostos por Batanero e Diaz (2007), entre outros. Em relação a jogos, considerou-se, principalmente, os autores Kishimoto (1994), Grando (2000) e Muniz (2010). Foram realizadas entrevistas do tipo clínica com 36 crianças do 1º, 3º e 5º anos do Ensino Fundamental. Os resultados apontaram que o significado intuitivo da probabilidade foi evidenciado pelas crianças, que trouxeram à tona uma linguagem natural, baseada em crenças e opiniões. Relacionaram a aleatoriedade à sorte ou ao azar, justificando as respostas a partir de parâmetros particulares e demonstraram melhor compreensão em eventos pouco prováveis e impossíveis. As crianças mais velhas tiveram um desempenho melhor que as mais novas, apesar de também evidenciarem dificuldades. Foram observadas fragilidades na compreensão de eventos independentes, em que as crianças cometeram o erro de recência positiva ou de recência negativa. Em relação ao espaço amostral, a maior dificuldade observada foi a falta de percepção de que eventos, tais como 3 + 5 e 5 + 3, são possibilidades distintas. Poucas crianças refletiram, conscientemente, sobre o espaço amostral para estabelecer a comparação de probabilidades. As justificativas se apoiaram, especialmente, na recente experiência do jogo. Percebeu-se que o uso de jogos possibilitou que as noções intuitivas emergissem com naturalidade, mas que se faz necessário haver instrução, a qual pode também incluir esse recurso, para construção de conhecimentos probabilísticos mais coerentes. / From the appreciation of the research report Children's understanding of probability, produced by Bryant and Nunes (2012), the initial design of the present study arose. For these authors, probability is a complex concept that involves the development of four cognitive demands: understanding the nature and consequences of randomness; forming and categorizing sample space; comparing and quantifying probabilities; and understanding correlations. In the study, choice was made to investigate the first three requirements identified by Bryant and Nunes (2012), aiming to analyze, in game situations, students’ knowledge about probability, in particular with respect to randomness, sample space, and comparison of probabilities. For the study, two games were selected: Crossing the River (BRASIL, 2014) and an adaptation of the game Mônica’s Random Walks (CAZORLA; KATAOKA; NAGAMIME, 2011), which here is called Ruth’s Random Walks. The theoretical framework considered Gal’s probabilistic literacy (2004, 2012) and the meanings of probability proposed by Batanero and Diaz (2007), among others. Regarding games, were considered the authors Kishimoto (1994), Grando (2000) and Muniz (2010). Clinical interviews were performed with 36 children from 1st, 3rd, and 5th grade of Elementary School. The results showed that the intuitive meaning of probability was evidenced by the children, who brought natural language based on beliefs and opinions. Randomness was related to good luck or to bad luck, justifying the answers from particular parameters and demonstrating better understanding in unlikely and impossible events Older children also performed better than younger, although also evidencing difficulties. Weakness in the understanding of independent events was noticed, where children made the mistake of positive recency or negative recency. Regarding sample space, the major difficulty was the lack of conscience that events, such as 3 + 5 and 5 + 3, are distinct possibilities. Few children consciously reflected on the sample space to establish a comparison of probabilities. The justifications relied especially on recent experience of the game. The use of games, enabled intuitive notions to emerge naturally, but it is necessary to provide instruction, including the use of this resource, to construct more consistent probabilistic knowledge.

The aim of this study was to ensure that the Sefton Educational Psychology and Portage Service (SEPPS) maintained a high quality service to very young children, their families and settings while responding to the national changes in Children’s Services prompted by Every Child Matters (ECM) (DfES, 2003) and changes in team structure and personnel at a local level. The methodology used was based on the appreciative inquiry (AI) 4-D cycle described by Coghlan, Preskill and Catsambas, (2003) and consisted of four phases which were implemented over a period of eighteen months: Discovery, Dream, Design and Destiny. During the Discovery phase of the project, three educational psychologists (EPs) provided rich narratives illustrating what drives them to work with very young children, families and settings and the contribution that they think EPs make to this area of work. Individual EP’s views of their own skills were corroborated by interviews with parents and analysis of all seven parental stories confirmed that the service that they received met the EPs’ expectations of best practice. In Phase Two, (Discovery/Dream) a workshop was held with representatives of the EP team’s other early years stakeholders to introduce them to AI and to elicit their perceptions of best practice in partnership working. The findings from the inquiry were then used to inform the work of the team during the period from April 2009 to February 2010 (Design/Destiny). Progress was tracked both formally and informally. At the end of the Destiny phase, the stakeholders involved in Phase Two of the project were interviewed to gather evidence on whether they had been able to apply AI in their own work and whether they had noticed any differences in the early years’ work of EPs since attending the initial workshop. The data collected by the author and other members of the EP team (who acted as co-researchers) included interview transcripts, worksheets, flipcharts, reflection/evaluation sheets and minutes of meetings. Each of these elements was analysed individually and collectively by the author according to the principles of thematic analysis, as described by Attride-Stirling (2001), Carter (2004) and Braun and Clarke (2006).At the end of the project, some of the stakeholders interviewed reported that the AI workshop had transformed their way of working from a deficit model to a strengths based model. There was also evidence that attendance at the workshop had changed participants’ perceptions of the role of the EP, facilitating improved channels of communication and the development of a shared vision. Each member of the early years EP team was mentioned in at least one positive story, indicating that high standards of service delivery were maintained during a period of considerable change. The extent to which AI contributed to this process and the challenges presented by this methodology are also discussed.

The Scottish Curriculum for Excellence is framed, without visible theory, in language embedding the value of children’s experiences. In association with a policy encouraging practitioners to develop healthy home/school links, early childhood practitioners develop pedagogical practices in support of this curricular language of experience. One aspect coming into focus is children’s experiences in general rather than only those which take place within institutional walls. One way children introduce their out-of-school experiences into classrooms is by voluntarily bringing treasured objects from home to early childhood setting doors. By jointly engaging with John Dewey’s view that worthwhile educational experiences are developed through interactions and continuities, the pedagogic practices of twelve early childhood practitioners and the view that each child-initiated object episode could be viewed as part of a child’s experience this research aims to better understand practitioners’ development of educational experiences through their responses to the objects forty children voluntarily brought to school. In support of this aim three research questions focused on 1) what objects children brought? 2) what practitioners said and did with the objects? and 3) what practice similarities and differences were visible across two consecutive age groups: 3-5 year olds in a nursery (preschool) and 5-7 year olds in a composite Primary 1/2 class (formal schooling)? During an eight month period in 2009 data were collected by classroom observations, collection of photographic images and practitioner interviews in a government-funded, denominational, early childhood setting in a Scottish village school. Data were analysed for the physical and social properties of children’s objects, practitioner’s pedagogic practices when engaging with the brought-in objects and similarities and differences in object-related classroom behaviours as epitomised in the relationships in each classroom. The findings were that practitioners made use of three main pedagogical practices when engaging with children’s brought-in objects: transforming objects into educational resources, shaping in-school object experiences and building a range of relationships around these objects. While the broad patterns of practice used in both classrooms were similar the details of practice showed underlying framings of children and their futures were different in each classroom. It is argued that what Dewey’s views offer, in the context of these findings, is a theoretical framing of experience that opens new possibilities for practitioner’s individual and group reflections on their current practices and collaborative practice development. His is one of the languages of experience available as practitioners and policy makers around the world grapple with educational questions.

This thesis aims to further our understanding of the emergent phenomenon of Theatre for Early Years (TEY) in Scotland. It interrogates a series of artistic practices – traditional, postdramatic, participatory – with the aim of proposing a possible dramaturgy of arts for the very young. Practice typically precedes theory in new fields of performance. TEY currently lacks a coherent theoretical framework or dramaturgy, instead drawing on interdisciplinary strands of psychology, pedagogy and existing dramaturgical practices from older forms of theatre for children. This study explores artists' embodied knowledge as a repository of skill, while also recognising external factors that impact on creative production, from belief systems to training, the search for funding and the struggle for recognition. Using Grounded Theory as a method to analyse interviews with 26 leading Scottish practitioners, this project undertakes a qualitative investigation of current practice in the devising and production of performing arts for very young audiences. The thesis also considers debates around legitimation and human rights for the very young, as well as cognitive models of infant development from psychology. The process points towards a Grounded Theory which proposes that Scottish Early Years artists undergo an attitudinal shift towards a belief that children should access high-quality cultural experiences on the same basis as adults. Secondly, it suggests that these artists believe they possess a unique skill-set worthy of recognition. The theory points towards an associated dramaturgy centring on equality, and the generalisability of both is then assessed via an innovatory Practice-as-Research case study converting a TEY production into a digital app. While the project is geographically limited to Scotland, its findings may have international applicability. This study could contribute to a wider praxis of arts for the very young beyond theatre, giving practitioners across the cultural sphere the opportunity to engage with the proposed dramaturgy.