Access to abstract permanently restricted to Ball State community only / Access to thesis permanently restricted to Ball State community only / Department of Educational Psychology

Significant evidence from the legislation, medical/clinical, or professional practice perspective all points to the advantages and necessity of conducting comprehensive assessment of cognitive abilities, especially in young children, to identify cognitive deficits, arrive at an accurate diagnosis, and establish bases for developing interventions and recommending services. Cross-battery assessment approach provides school psychologists a useful tool to strengthen their preferred cognitive battery by adopting and comparing subtests from other batteries to build up a comprehensive and theoretically sound evaluation of an individual’s cognitive profile to increase the validity of test interpretation. Using joint confirmatory factor analysis, this study explored the combined underlying construct validity of the Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Cognitive Abilities, Third Edition (WJ-III COG) and the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scales, Fifth Edition (SB5) with an independent sample of preschool children. Seven models were examined and the results showed that relatively, the underlying construct of the two tests was best represented by a threestratum alternative CHC model in which the Gf factor and subtests had been removed. This indicates that not all the CHC constructs shared by both tests can be reliably identified among young children. Constructs of the CHC theory may be represented differently on preschool cognitive batteries due to developmental influences. Although WJ-III COG and SB5 tests as a whole did not demonstrate good results for purposes of cross-battery assessment, certain subtests (e.g., subtests representing crystallized intelligence) from each battery offer interpretative value for individual broad ability factors, providing school psychologists an in-depth understanding of a preschooler’s crystallized knowledge. Exploratory factor analyses were conducted with subtests from WJ-III COG and SB5 representing the four shared broad factors (Gc, Gf, Gv, and Gsm). Results revealed that a 4-factor solution is a better model fit to the data. Future research includes recruiting young children with disabilities or special needs to explore best representative underlying construct of combined WJ-III COG and SB5, allowing for cross-battery assessment. / Access to thesis permanently restricted to Ball State community only / Department of Educational Psychology

The aim of this study is to examine how preschools contribute to the forming of identity in children, with a specific focus on the quiet and socially withdrawn child. How do the teachers describe the quiet child and the socially withdrawn child? Are there any opportunities for children to be quiet/withdrawn in preschools? These questions have also been analysed from a gender perspective. The method chosen is qualitative method. Nine preschool teachers from two Swedish preschools have been interviewed. Two theories are presented, social constructionism and a theory of personality traits in order to compare different views on identity and personality. The analysis was conducted by using the concepts of positioning and "the constructions of situations" have been analysed. The preschool teachers place quiet children in passive positions like calm, listener etc. Social interactions are very important in a preschool context and children are expected to play and interact with others. If they don’t participate, they are invited to join other children’s play. If a child wants to be left alone, without being invited to play, they have to choose a specific place or activity, like a sofa, a window or reading a book. By choosing those places and activities the child signals their desire to be alone. The teachers' descriptions of the quiet child as passive and the outgoing child as active, is similar to the traditional belief of girls being passive and boys being active. They are not, however, saying that it is only negative to be quiet or socially withdrawn, but there seem to be difficulties not being outgoing and active in the preschool.

Abstract Many opinions are divided on what religious freedom should protect and the area is unexploredin preschool. Is it the parents, the child or preschool teacher right? The aim of the studywas to investigate Maria klasson Sundin´s concept and theoretical models of religious freedomfor children through three Swedish preschool settings and also how three teachers interpretsand expresses children's freedom of religion. Through a qualitative interview study theaim was to investigate how the concepts of religion, autonomy and freedom is interpreted andexpressed by the teachers so a picture through this three concepts can categorise the teachersin a model; freedom of thought, tradition and life interpretation model so a broader picturecan be made to understand how the children's freedom of religion is expressed in the preschoolsetting and how the teachers work. The Result showed through the analysis that themodels fail to categorise the teachers in any theoretical model but on the other hand the understandingof preschool teacher’s expression and interpretation of the concept of religion,autonomy and freedom showed both diversity and lack of knowledge on the subject mattersreligious freedom which fall within the child rights issues. Furthermore the analysis showsthat children in preschool lack religious freedom, it can be interpreted rather in terms of afreedom of parents and preschool teachers. Further research is needed in the area of children'srights and religious freedom for preschool children and their teachers in (e.g.) investigate differenceof public municipal and private preschools, religious, and non-religious.

Darbo tikslas: atlikti pritaikyto maitinimo paslaugos prieinamumo Šiaulių miesto ikimokyklinio ugdymo įstaigose įvertinimą. Uždaviniai: įvertinti tėvų požiūrį į maitinimo organizavimą Šiaulių miesto ikimokyklinio ugdymo įstaigose; išanalizuoti pritaikyto maitinimo poreikį ir dažniausias jo priežastis ikimokyklinio ugdymo įstaigose; įvertinti įstaigų vadovų bei slaugytojų pasirengimą užtikrinant pritaikytą maitinimą ikimokyklinio ugdymo įstaigose; įvertinti pritaikyto maitinimo organizavimą specializuotoje vaikų ikimokyklinio ugdymo įstaigoje „Pušelė“. Tyrimo metodika: kiekybinis momentinis tyrimas; tyrimo dalyvių tikimybinė atranka: ikimokyklinio ugdymo įstaiga – grupė. Analizuojamosios imties dydis = 865 ikimokyklinio amžiaus vaikų tėvai. Atsako dažnis 73,7 proc. Papildoma imtis – 56 respondentai (28 ikimokyklinių ugdymo įstaigų vadovai bei 28 slaugytojos). Atsako dažnis 100 proc. Gautiems duomenims apdoroti naudotos SPSS 17.0, Microsoft Excel of Windows programos. Rezultatai: aukštąjį universitetinį išsilavinimą buvo įgiję daugiau nei 1/3 vaikų mamų ir 1/4 tėčių. Didžiąją dalį vaikų valgiaraščio sudaro grūdiniai/ankštiniai, pieno bei mėsos produktai. Ikimokyklinio ugdymo įstaigos teikiamą maitinimo paslaugų kokybę 59,9 proc. tėvų vertina gerai arba vidutiniškai. Tėvai, kurie blogai vertina ugdymo įstaigos teikiamą maitinimo paslaugų kokybę nuolat domisi vaiko dienos meniu (p<0,05).Vaikų, kurių sveikata yra puiki/labai gera ir gera/vidutiniška, tėvai nepasigenda jokių... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The aim of the work: to evaluate the accessability of the applied nutrition service in preschool institutions of Šiauliai city. Objectives: to evaluate parents’ attitude towards the organization of nutrition in the preschool institutions of Šiauliai city; to analyze the demand for the applied nutrition and its most frequent reasons in preschool institutions; to evaluate the preparation of the institution heads and nurses ensuring the applied nutrition in the preschool institutions; to evaluate the organization of the applied nutrition in the specialized preschool institution “Pušelė”.

The purpose of this study is to explore preschool children&rsquo / s attitudes towards environmental issues in terms of consumption patterns, environmental protection, recycling-reusing, and living habits and to investigate gender as a factor affecting environmental attitudes. The sample of the study is comprised of 40 preschool age children living in Ankara, Turkey. The research has been realized by qualitative design and the data were collected through interviews. The interview questionnaire was adapted from

Graduation date: 2004

Throughout childhood, children experience the social semiotic of music in a variety of ways. As they sing, dance, move, and play, they enjoy making and listening to music. Childhood is also a time of immense change. During their early years, children grow and develop at a faster rate than at any other time in their lives, displaying an intense proliferation of ways of knowing about the world. As part of the industrious activity that accompanies this explosion of knowledge, children sing many songs. It is through sensitive investigation of these songs that we can begin to understand what children know about music, and the place that it is afforded in the social milieux within which they participate. Children???s songs have been the focus of investigation for a number of years, with a range of studies reporting on the manner in which they reflect musical development. Several researchers have reported on children???s songs from a developmental perspective, while others have focussed on the social and functional contexts of the songs. These various approaches have established some basic principles concerning the development of children???s musical skills and knowledge. It is accepted that as children mature, they are likely to exhibit changes in their musical understanding and abilities. However, the diverse range of inquiries that have been undertaken, although rigorous, have resulted in fragmented and irresolute information about the manner in which these changes take place. Research into all areas of children???s development has recently undergone a paradigm shift, with current views focussing on the agency of children and their development within a social context. Such perspectives view the acquisition of knowledge as a dynamic process that occurs as children interact with others, and therefore place great importance on a range of environments in which this knowledge gain takes place. This thesis reports on a 3-year longitudinal study of eight preschool-aged children who were attending a long day care centre in Sydney. Regular video-recordings were made of the children???s spontaneous singing during free play, with each child recorded approximately once per month. Camera tapes were examined and all examples of the participants??? singing were transferred to VHS tapes for transcription and analysis. The resulting 443 songs were transcribed using Western notation, and each play episode and associated song then coded for musical aspects such as song type, melodic range and level of temporal organisation, as well as social aspects such as song function and social roles taken on by the children. The notion of social role was informed by Vygotsky???s Zone of Proximal Development. In addition to base data such as the child???s name and the date of the observation, the resultant dataset was transferred to a qualitative software package (NUD???IST) for subsequent analysis and interpretation. Results of the study indicate that the children used songs for specific purposes, and that patterns of musical development were distinctly different for each child. While interacting with their playmates, the children used both explicit and implicit tools to acquire and transmit musical signs. During this process, the status of knowledgeable other was often conferred on a playmate by a less knowledgeable member of the group, and was not solely dependent on chronological age. The results exhibit some congruence with prior studies, especially those for which the social context of music-making was an important consideration. The findings expand previous developmentally-based investigations by showing that conceptions based on a unidirectional model of musical development, closely linked to chronological age, need to be refined to consider the diversity of social contexts and generative processes within which children???s musical cultures can be defined. The current study supports a modular conception of musical development allied with recent social reconstructions of childhood. Some substantiation of previously reported Western musical universals was found in the children???s production of a specific form of chant, and their ability to operate within meaningful musical units such as phrases. The thesis includes a discussion of practical and theoretical implications that arise from the findings. Several implications for the classroom are offered. Among the most important are that children???s musical constructions should be utilised as important components of planned teaching and learning experiences, because they are capable of producing sophisticated music if afforded the opportunity to do so. Careful observation of existing musical knowledge and its incorporation in teachers??? programming will facilitate an efficient and appropriate mode of teaching and learning, based on the needs and interests of the children. As the children were able to scaffold each other in the process of transmitting and acquiring musical knowledge, it appears advantageous to group them in mixed ages for at least some part of the week. However, without some intervention on the part of the teacher, it seems that they would likely rely on a fairly restricted collection of scaffolding behaviours. Additional research is recommended to determine the value of a number of strategies that can be used to meet the musical needs of preschool-aged children beyond the current research site. Indeed, the outcomes of the study question the importance of striving for a unidirectional model of musical development, immersed in the veil of teleology, and suggest that further research be undertaken in the area of children???s songs, which acknowledges the social agency of children, and their roles in their own musical cultures.

[Truncated abstract] The overall aim of this study was to examine Bruneian preschool teachers’ conceptions about creativity (including factors related to creativity), their beliefs on how to promote children’s creativity in the classroom, how their beliefs may influence their actual practice and whether their practices are consistent with the requirements of the Brunei National Curriculum. It will also try to identify any factors that constrain or influence teachers’ practice. The research employed a grounded theory approach involving semi-structured interviews and classroom observations of preschool teachers. The findings of this study indicate that the teachers primarily conceptualise creativity as something mainly but not exclusively to do with art work . . . Teachers’ actual practice mainly consists of teacher control, enforcement of obedience, rote learning, teacher directed and teacher chosen activities and heavy emphasis on whole-class teaching. Other mediating constraints on their promotion of creativity included: pressure from Primary 1 teachers, parents and the officials in Ministry of Educations to complete and adhere to the National Curriculum; teachers’ own pedagogical limitations; large class size; lack of adult help and the presence of special children in the classroom; lack of resources and pressure from other non-teaching commitments. The implication of the findings are that further research needs to be conducted into Brunei’s preschool teacher training programmes, to identify contradictory messages about the value of creativity and to find a more culturally appropriate way of promoting children’s creativity through the curriculum.

Thesis (M.Ed.)--York University, 2005. Graduate Programme in Education. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 76-85). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&res_dat=xri:pqdiss&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation&rft_dat=xri:pqdiss:MR11769