No description available.

Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Education in the Department of Educational Planning and Administration, University of Zululand, 1989. / The inadequacy of pre-schools in the Umlazi area poses a big problem for teachers and parents in the community. The writer being involved with a large number of schools, felt that the work of the teacher, especially in Sub-A, would be much easier if most of the children attended pre-schools before entering formal classes. A pre-scholar gets to primary school wide awake with a lot of experiences which contribute a great deal to primary school education. Since the researcher is convinced about the need of more pre-schools at Umlazi, an investigation on the study was done. Firstly, it was to find out about the performance of pre-scholars from the teachers concerned, in the lower primary schools. Secondly, the study had to involve parents in finding out whether they were in favour of pre-schools and what the reasons were. Thirdly, an observation was made of the existing few pre-schools, and the personnel were interviewed and response recorded in this study. One hundred and fifty (150) teachers were used as a sample. These were Sub-A, S.S.B., Standard 1 and Standard 2 teachers. Another population of 100 parents comprising various careers or professions was used. Two types of questionnaires were administered, one to the teachers and the other to the parents to determine the need and effects of pre-school education on children. Five pre-schools were personally observed. Principals and teachers were verbally interviewed. Data was collected and analysed manually by the researcher. The analysis of the results reflected that, over 50% of teachers stated that a pre-scholar was easily taught in class, and would prefer admitting more of such children. Most parents were eager to send their children who were under 5 years to pre-school, but these institutions were very few. They recommended that, the number of these be increased and be spread out in the Umlazi area for every child to be admitted in a nearby pre-school. The principals of the existing pre-schools stated that they were working under difficult conditions. There was overcrowding of children, the problem of unqualified teachers, and very low salary scales. The present situation could only improve if the government or the Department of Education and Culture (Kwa-Zulu) would register and subsidise the institutions. Finally, this investigation proved that there is a need for pre-schools in the Umlazi area. A number of suggestions are given with the hope that, if implemented, the Umlazi community will benefit thereby.

Submitted to the Faculty of Education in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Education, in the Department of Educational Psychology and Special Education at the University of Zululand, 1998. / This study investigates junior primary school teachers' perceptions of pre¬school education. The aim was to find out if these teachers perceive a positive relationship between pre-school education and learners' performance at junior primary school level. The second aim was to establish the relationship, if any, between junior primary school teachers' age and perception of influence of pre-school education. The third aim was to establish the relationship between junior primary school teachers' experience and perception of influence of pre-school education. The fourth aim was to establish the relationship between junior primary school teachers' qualifications and perception of influence of pre-school education. To this end, a questionnaire was administered to a representative sample of junior primary school teachers at Eshowe District of education. The present study revealed that junior primary school teachers agree that pre-school education has positive influence on learners' performance at junior primary school. Children who have attended pre-school before admission to junior primary school often do better. There is a relationship between teachers' age and perception of influence of pre-school education. There is relationship between teachers' experience and perception of influence of pre-school education. Findings revealed that teachers who are better qualified, younger and less experienced show support for pre-school education. Less qualified, older and more experienced teachers do not favour pre-school education.

Forecast of the pre-school education needs in Astana until 2030 Abstract This thesis aims to analyze future preschool education needs in Astana city. The low coverage of children by preschool education (a small number of preschool education institutions) initially lays the foundation of inequality elements and contradicts with the basic principles of the State education policy aimed at accessibility of education for the citizens of the country. As a consequence of insufficient governmental financing, the cost of children maintenance increased and it became the reason of unavailability of kindergarten service for separate groups of people. Consequently, the future preschool needs in Astana until 2030 is of particular interest. The thesis addresses issue of future population development dynamics in new capital city. This aim achieved with the help of forecasting techniques applied for Astana population until 2030. The thesis aimed to present the picture of how the trends (mortality, fertility and migration) are developing and how they will affect on the preschool needs in the future. Keywords: Astana, Kazakhstan, preschool needs, probability of dying, contributions to changes in life expectancy at birth, age specific fertility rate, gross reproduction rate, net reproduction rate, forecasting, cohort-component...

Each parent, while sending their child to nursery school, seeks for coordination of the family and nursery interests, justification of his/her expectations, i.e. for the training to go entirely by the family culture, for the child to be properly trained for school. Exclusively establishing of general values, considering of the family culture and that of training authority, collegial decision taking may secure the harmony, continuity and quality of the child training. The master’s work deals with the analysis of the management model principles and actions of the coordination for the training of the expectations the preschool training authorities and parental community. Theoretical fundamentals of educational services management of different Lithuanian and foreign authors have been analyzed and systemized. Essential, general preschool training authority and parental community expectations for the training have been established. The analysis of management measures that affect the assurance of the training quality and justification of the parental expectations, has been performed. A comparable analysis of the questionnaire survey results among the preschool training schools of Molėtai region, has been performed. A hypothesis has been confirmed that a proper selection of the management model helps realize the parental and employee expectations at the institution.

As preocupações com o corpo e movimento não são recentes na Educação Infantil. Recomendações sobre a educação corporal são reconhecidas desde as primeiras sistematizações pedagógicas, especialmente a partir da Idade Moderna. No Brasil, tais preocupações aparecem especialmente a partir do século XIX. Nos últimos quinze anos, pesquisas sobre Educação Infantil no Brasil apresentaram avanços em relação à temática. Entretanto, no cotidiano das instituições é perceptível que professores possuem dificuldades consideráveis em pensar o movimento em sua totalidade. Nessa perspectiva, o objetivo dessa pesquisa foi investigar qual a concepção de corpo e movimento que norteia as práticas pedagógicas dos professores de Educação Infantil, bem como a relação estabelecida entre tais práticas e suas vivências/experiências corporais anteriores. A metodologia, de abordagem qualitativa, privilegiou o trabalho campo por meio de entrevistas semi-estruturadas, realizadas com professores de Educação Infantil nas cidades de São Paulo/SP e Jundiaí/SP. A análise dos dados, referenciado na perspectiva teórico-metodológica da Rede de Significações, foi realizada a partir das categorias: concepção de corpo e movimento dos professores, concepção de práticas cotidianas de movimento na Educação Infantil, os espaços físicos e seus usos. Os dados analisados indicam que, os professores atuantes nas instituições de Educação Infantil investigadas, em sua maioria, reconhecem a importância do movimento e em certa medida, procuram desenvolver práticas pedagógicas que o contemplem, apesar de certas dificuldades, como: falta de um entendimento mais amplo sobre o movimento e a reprodução de práticas corporais relacionadas aos saberes oriundos da dimensão pessoal, a partir de suas próprias experiências corporais na infância. Essa constatação aponta para a necessidade de uma formação profissional que garanta subsídios para que os professores possam de fato refletir e construir suas práticas cotidianas fundamentadas em um olhar crítico sobre a criança e sua corporeidade, na perspectiva da totalidade. / Concerns about body awareness and movement are not new to Pre-school Education. Recommendations about body awareness education have been acknowledged since the first pedagogical systems were put into place, predominantly from the start of the Modern Age. In Brazil, such concerns started to become apparent particularly from the start of the XIX century, and in the past fifteen years research on Pre-school Education has presented advances in this area. However, in day-to-day school life, the considerable difficulties that teachers have in thinking about movement in its entirety can be recognized. From this perspective, the objective of this research was to investigate which idea of body awareness and movement guides the pedagogical practices of Pre-school Education teachers, as well as the relationship established between these practices and the previous body awareness experiences of such professors. The methodology, from a qualitative approach, used field work that was carried out through semi-structured interviews by Pre-school teachers in the cities of São Paulo/SP and Jundaí/SP. The data analysis, from a theoretical-methodological perspective, on the Net of Meanings, was carried out taking into consideration the following categories: teacher´s perceptions of body awareness, perceptions of everyday movement activities in Pre-school Education, physical spaces and their uses. The data analyzed indicates that the majority of teachers currently teaching pre-school education - that were investigated - recognize the importance of movement, and to a certain degree, attempt to consider this concept in the development of pedagogical practices despite coming up against certain difficulties, such as: the lack of a broader understanding of the movement and reproduction of body actions from a personal viewpoint related to their own childhood experiences of such actions. This discovery underlines the necessity of professional education that guarantees support for teachers, enabling them to reflect on and construct their daily activities based on one critical look at the child and his/her body as a whole.

Thesis (M.Ed.) -- University of the North, 1978 / Refer to the document

In this article research work educational institutions and primary teachers`s view on children`s pre-school education is analyzed. This issue is topical as continuity of pre-school and primary school education influences the quality of education in primary classes a lot. The issue is even more topical because of the newness of a pre-school education branch in Lithuanian educational system, this fact causes a lot of problems. The object of the research - primary education. The aim of the research – to find out how administration of educational institutions and primary teachers evaluate the role of pre-school education in children`s preparation for school and which model of pre-school education they give top priority to. Tasks: To examine the problems of pre-school education in scientific literature; to find out points of view of administrators of different educational institutions on children`s preparation for school; to examine primary teachers` point of view on children`s preparation for school; to accomplish a comparative analysis of the data and give recommendations for improvement of the work. The methods of the research: Theoretical: Analysis of scientific management, psychological, pedagogic, sociological literature and the newest educational documents. Empirical: Primary teachers and school administration, pre-school administration questioning; Statistic: A quantitative analysis was accomplished, the methods of statistical and comparative analysis were described. The... [to full text]

Recent research evidence, primarily from the Western hemisphere, supports the belief that high quality preschool experience has long-lasting effects on the development of children's later lives (Ball, RSA Start Right Report, 1994; Bruner, 1980; Schweinhart, Barnes & Weikart, 1993; Sylva, 1993). The important questions posed for this investigation in Bahrain were: 1. Is attendance at preschool centres (educationally and care orientated) associated with higher scores on measures of child development when compared to a control group of children who remained at home? 2. Is attendance at educationally-orientated preschool associated with higher scores on developmental measures than attendance at care-orientated preschool? 3. Are educationally-orientated pre-schools providing 'a more favourable' environment when compared with care-orientated p re-schools? The method was a quasi-experimental design utilising pre and post measures over one academic school year period, 1992-1993 (approximately nine months). A total of eight preschool institutions were randomly (stratified sample) selected (four educationally-orientated centres and four care-orientated centres) from four catchment areas covering the entire island of Bahrain. Each area was represented by a sample of 35 children (matched on several background variables) from the two types of preschool orientations and the home group (N=140; 48 in educational group; 48 in care group; 44 in home group). A Family Background Questionnaire (FBQ) was applied on the total sample to measure differences between groups on several family characteristics, such as, parent's education, occupations, household structure, number of children in household, provisions for play and learning at home, parent childrearing attitudes and mother's expectations regarding the child's competence and behaviour. 111 Assessments were made of children's cognitive, social and emotional development: the Stanford-Binet: LIM Form (Terman & Merrill, 1960); the Arithmetic and Block Design Subtests from Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence: (Wechsler, 1963); the Draw-A-Person: (Harris, 1963); The Pictorial Scale of Perceived Competence and Social Acceptance for Young Children: (Harter, 1983) and The Preschool Behaviour Checklist: (Richman & McGuire, 1982). All instruments were translated into Arabic, back-translated (Brislin, Lonner, Thomdike, 1973) and pilot tested for cultural acceptability. For the main study (N=140), the 96 preschool attenders were tested soon after school entry (October, 1992) and then again at school year end in June, 1993, while the 44 children serving as the control group were tested in their homes. All testing was carried out in the children's home language. Additionally, two assessments procedures were used for studying the preschool environments: the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale (Harms & Clifford, 1980); and the Target Child Observation Instrument (Sylva, Roy & Painter, 1980). The results indicated that attendance at preschool centres (care and educationally-orientated) was associated with higher performance on most aspects of development when compared with children who stayed at home. There were significant gains on measures of cognitive development (Stanford- Binet; WPPSI; Draw-A-Person); social competence measures, Perceived Competence; and behavioural/emotional stability for preschool attenders when compared to home children. Multiple regression analyses showed that children in centre-based programmes made significant improvement over the year interval between pre-and post testing: A further within-groups regression analysis revealed that no particular preschool within either group was accounting for the higher/lower scores. Children attending educationally-orientated pre-schools significantly outperformed children at care-orientated pre-schools and at home on all the measures of development and they made significant improvement over the tested time period (Stanford-Binet: p<.001; WPPSI Subtests, Arithmetic and Block Design: p<.001; Draw-A-Person: p<.001; Preschool Behaviour Checklist: p<.001; Harters Perceived Competence (Cognitive and Physical Competence) and Acceptance Scale (Peer and Maternal Acceptance): p<.00l. When comparing preschool environments (care and educational) it was found that the educationally-orientated settings offered a greater degree of attention to iv personal care, language/reasoning experiences and the opportunity for creative and social development when compared with the care orientated pre-schools (ECERS, p<.O1). Teachers at the educational centres were more inclined to support, question and have dialogue with the children when compared to teachers at the care centres. Children at care centres engaged more in adultdirected activities, spent less time in challenging tasks for shorter periods of time (concentration bouts) and had more dialogue with other children when compared with children at educationally-orientated preschools (Target Child Time Sampling). Implications of this research for preschool educators in Bahrain are discussed as well as varying definitions of 'quality.'

As preocupações com o corpo e movimento não são recentes na Educação Infantil. Recomendações sobre a educação corporal são reconhecidas desde as primeiras sistematizações pedagógicas, especialmente a partir da Idade Moderna. No Brasil, tais preocupações aparecem especialmente a partir do século XIX. Nos últimos quinze anos, pesquisas sobre Educação Infantil no Brasil apresentaram avanços em relação à temática. Entretanto, no cotidiano das instituições é perceptível que professores possuem dificuldades consideráveis em pensar o movimento em sua totalidade. Nessa perspectiva, o objetivo dessa pesquisa foi investigar qual a concepção de corpo e movimento que norteia as práticas pedagógicas dos professores de Educação Infantil, bem como a relação estabelecida entre tais práticas e suas vivências/experiências corporais anteriores. A metodologia, de abordagem qualitativa, privilegiou o trabalho campo por meio de entrevistas semi-estruturadas, realizadas com professores de Educação Infantil nas cidades de São Paulo/SP e Jundiaí/SP. A análise dos dados, referenciado na perspectiva teórico-metodológica da Rede de Significações, foi realizada a partir das categorias: concepção de corpo e movimento dos professores, concepção de práticas cotidianas de movimento na Educação Infantil, os espaços físicos e seus usos. Os dados analisados indicam que, os professores atuantes nas instituições de Educação Infantil investigadas, em sua maioria, reconhecem a importância do movimento e em certa medida, procuram desenvolver práticas pedagógicas que o contemplem, apesar de certas dificuldades, como: falta de um entendimento mais amplo sobre o movimento e a reprodução de práticas corporais relacionadas aos saberes oriundos da dimensão pessoal, a partir de suas próprias experiências corporais na infância. Essa constatação aponta para a necessidade de uma formação profissional que garanta subsídios para que os professores possam de fato refletir e construir suas práticas cotidianas fundamentadas em um olhar crítico sobre a criança e sua corporeidade, na perspectiva da totalidade. / Concerns about body awareness and movement are not new to Pre-school Education. Recommendations about body awareness education have been acknowledged since the first pedagogical systems were put into place, predominantly from the start of the Modern Age. In Brazil, such concerns started to become apparent particularly from the start of the XIX century, and in the past fifteen years research on Pre-school Education has presented advances in this area. However, in day-to-day school life, the considerable difficulties that teachers have in thinking about movement in its entirety can be recognized. From this perspective, the objective of this research was to investigate which idea of body awareness and movement guides the pedagogical practices of Pre-school Education teachers, as well as the relationship established between these practices and the previous body awareness experiences of such professors. The methodology, from a qualitative approach, used field work that was carried out through semi-structured interviews by Pre-school teachers in the cities of São Paulo/SP and Jundaí/SP. The data analysis, from a theoretical-methodological perspective, on the Net of Meanings, was carried out taking into consideration the following categories: teacher´s perceptions of body awareness, perceptions of everyday movement activities in Pre-school Education, physical spaces and their uses. The data analyzed indicates that the majority of teachers currently teaching pre-school education - that were investigated - recognize the importance of movement, and to a certain degree, attempt to consider this concept in the development of pedagogical practices despite coming up against certain difficulties, such as: the lack of a broader understanding of the movement and reproduction of body actions from a personal viewpoint related to their own childhood experiences of such actions. This discovery underlines the necessity of professional education that guarantees support for teachers, enabling them to reflect on and construct their daily activities based on one critical look at the child and his/her body as a whole.