One of the goals for Namibia’s Vision 2030, through ETSIP (2005‐2015), is to establish a preprimary year in primary schools for all children aged 5‐6 to be developed first in schools serving the poorest population and OVCs. ECD is widely recognised as having a significant impact on the subsequent learning of children. The high failure and dropout rate in grade 1 made this process an important one. In 2008 the integration of ECD became a reality in five schools in the Khomas region of Namibia. At present there are 29 pilot schools in the Khomas region 29 schools, and 504 in the whole of Namibia. According to the MoE all primary schools should have a preprimary class as ECD has been recognized as a key contributor to positive outcomes in schools. This study sought to investigate various stakeholders’ experiences and views of the integration of pre‐primary into mainstream pre‐primary schooling. The goal was to investigate the management and leadership implications of this integration. The study is an interpretive case study of three pilot primary schools. The research design made provision for data collection through semi‐structured interviews, focus groups and document analysis. The main finding was that, despite numerous challenges, principals are positive about the integration of pre‐primary. There is a sense of appreciation of the importance of pre‐primary. Principals adopt participative and collegial management approaches in leading their schools towards becoming learning organisations. The study also uncovered several significant challenges, such as the need for more training and the provision of infrastructure to make the process more effective.

Though a progressive day care philosophy has been developed and is practised in a few communities in the United States and Canada, the day care program generally has occupied a position of secondary importance in the network of community social, services, rather than being recognized as a service which requires professional leadership and substantial financial support. In Greater Vancouver, as in other communities, concern is expressed about the adequacy of present resources to meet the needs of children who require day care. The assumption of this study is that constructive planning must be based on objectives which (a) will assure enriching experiences to the children who require care, and (b) will give to families the opportunity to select the community resource which will support and strengthen the family life. These objectives are enunciated in the dynamic approach to day care services, and have been translated into a method of practice by the Child Welfare League of America in Standards for Day Care Services. The special needs of children which must be met in day care placement are first put in perspective through a review of current literature and discussion of present knowledge about the nature of human growth and development. These needs can be met when the day care program is viewed as a special field of Child Welfare, which requires a multi-disciplinary team approach to ensure that the total needs of the child and family are considered. The core of this study, based on a questionnaire survey, analyzes present practice in eleven day care facilities in the Greater Vancouver area, and compares it with the criteria established as acceptable by the Child Welfare League of America. This analysis is concerned particularly with the contribution of social work to the multi-disciplinary team. The findings indicate that present services do not make adequate provision for the child's welfare, and do not evidence appreciation of the day care program's responsibility to strengthen and enhance family life. The need, for professional leadership, financial support, and community planning to establish "good standards for day care" are supported with suggestions as to how the community might take action to develop a better and more creative day care service. / Arts, Faculty of / Social Work, School of / Graduate

"Many educators recognize the function of the school to be that of fostering within pupils a physical, social and mental well-being through the development of skills, understandings, and attitudes which will best enable them to participate in, contribute to, and draw from the society in the achievement of personal fulfillment. If this statement is accepted, modification of the school program must be in line with this philosophy. To the list of improvements needed should be added that of extending the program downward so as to help the pre-school child develop a broad foundation on which to build his educational program"--Introduction. / "August, 1958." / Typescript. / "Submitted to the Graduate Council of Florida State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science." / Advisor: Edna E. Parker, Professor Directing Paper. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 36-37).

This multiple-case study describes the literacy events that occurred during play in three holistic preschool classrooms over a four-month period. The data includes field notes from observations and from discourse with participants, audiotape transcriptions, interviews, and writing samples. Analytic induction was used for the analysis. Within play, literacy was used as: a support for play themes, a frame for play themes, and as an extraneous aspect of play. Literacy events involved transactions with print, as well as social transactions. Social transactions within literacy events were analyzed for whether they involved: self-construction of meaning, joint construction of meaning, direct instruction, or challenge. The data show that in print-rich environments, where reading and writing materials are accessible, and where literacy is an expected way of life, teachers can meaningfully facilitate literacy development. The teachers capitalized on the many teachable moments that arose during play by carefully observing children and making relevant literacy-related contributions. The children explored and developed their own understandings about literacy, and at the same time, nurtured literacy development in their peers; literacy development was both personal and social. By themselves, and with support from peers and teachers, the children explored the functions and features of written language, they tested their hypotheses about written language, and they developed strategies used by successful readers and writers. Play was found to be a meaningful and effective medium for facilitating literacy development.

This thesis investigates the place and meaning of ‘physical education’ to practitioners and children at three preschool settings in a city in Scotland. The thesis examines the discourses of physical education at the preschools, and interrogates the ways in which the participants engaged with these discourses in order to construct their subjectivities. Preschool physical education has been largely unexplored by researchers and this study thus gives insight into how practitioners and children engage with, take up and resist particular discourses. The study contributes to physical education and early childhood education research by connecting separate bodies of sociocultural, and more specifically poststructural, research related to both fields. A poststructural, Foucaultian theoretical framework underpins the thesis. It features discourse analysis and particularly draws on Foucault’s work around techniques of power and the ‘technologies of the self’. The first step in the discourse analysis involved examining potential sources of discourses the practitioners were likely to draw on. This entailed analysing the physical education sections of the curricular documentation used at the settings (Scotland’s Curriculum for Excellence), and analysing texts related to preschool physical education continued professional development (CPD) that some of the practitioners participated in. Analysis indicated that physical activity and health discourses are prevalent throughout the curricular documentation. Discourses related to motor skill development and play also prevail. Motor skill development and physical activity discourses are prevalent in the documentation related to CPD. The second step in the discourse analysis involved analysing language patterns in the participants’ talk. Fourteen practitioners and 70 children participated in the study. Research methods employed were observations, interviews with adults, a group drawing and discussion activity with children, and interviews with children. Discourses related to motor skill development, play, physical activity and health, along with a related pedagogical discourse concerning ‘structure and freedom’, appeared to underpin ‘physical education’ at the three contexts, in different ways. For instance, the settings differed in the extent to which motor skill development underpinned physical education, with pedagogies often being more adult-led where this discourse was stronger. This thesis highlights that preschool practitioners and children engage in multiple, complex ways with a range of physical education discourses that currently have currency in Scotland.

Typescript (photocopy). / Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries

Thesis (D.Ed.) in Educational Leadership--University of Maine, 2006. / Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 157-171).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Victoria University of Wellington, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--UCLA, 2009. / Vita. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 105-127).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Notre Dame, 2003. / Thesis directed by Jeanne D. Day for the Department of Psychology. "December 2003." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 98-106).