This study examined Early Childhood Development (ECD) teachers’ perceptions of ECD programs regarding benefits and opportunities for early intervention. Research indicates that young children with developmental delays and disabilities demonstrate better progress when intervention is offered early and in inclusive classrooms. A mixed method design was used to collect data from a purposeful sample of 81 ECD teachers in Chipinge district, in Zimbabwe. Both descriptive and regression analysis methods were used for data analysis. Findings indicated that there was a general lack of in-depth knowledge, and most teachers did not follow developmentally appropriate curriculum. Threats and challenges included: lack of knowledge and assessments to diagnose developmental delays, disabilities, as well as lack of developmentally and culturally relevant teaching materials. Regression analysis indicated that age, experience, location, and training are important variables explaining perceived benefits of ECD. This study offers research-based ways to address challenges and threats to effective ECD programs.

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / Early Childhood development is an important phase of development, wherein the trajectory of the child’s life can potentially be determined. However, not all children experience positive outcomes, and many present with psychopathology. In particular, psychopathology in children will manifest as either externalizing behaviours or internalising behaviours. The treatment of internalising disorders becomes increasingly complex, as there isn’t always outward behaviour to give evidence to the inward difficulties. Literature amplifies the importance of the role of the parent in ensuring the well-being of the child and in working towards healthy developmental outcomes.

Research shows that early childhood interventions with fidelity to Montessori model generate learner’s outcomes that outperform the traditional model. The evidence is confirmed in developed and in developing countries. This formative evaluation reports the results of a Montessori model in implementation in township of Mfuleni, located in Cape Town, South Africa. Providing insights into the functioning of the programme, the evaluation confirms that the roll out of the Montessori model is still underway which may explain the reason of the learners not outperforming the comparison group.

Child sexual abuse is rampant in Zimbabwe. This can be attributed to several Zimbabwean ecosystemic factors that contribute to the gravity of the problem. This study explored these ecosystemic factors that affect Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) in Zimbabwe to determine appropriate strategies to apply so that CSE could be successfully be provided to early grade children in Zimbabwe. This qualitative study used an interpretivist paradigm which was underpinned by the ontological assumption that reality is not objectively determined, but socially constructed. In this study, a case study design was utilised, embracing a semi-structured interview and document analysis as data-gathering instruments. This study was informed by Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theoretical framework. The main research question of the study was: What ecosystemic factors play a role in Comprehensive Sexuality Education in Zimbabwean schools? The secondary research questions were also as follows:  What are the teachers’ views and perceptions of teaching CSE in early grades?  How will parents perceive the introduction of CSE in the early grades?  In what way will the religious leaders perceive the introduction of CSE in the early grades as positive?  What are the cultural factors that impact on the teaching of CSE in early grades?  How do religious factors impact on the teaching of CSE in the early grades? The participants were ten early grade teachers, ten parents with children in early grades and five religious leaders. The study revealed that CSE was not taught to early grade children due to several ecosystemic factors. There is no CSE curriculum for early grade children in Zimbabwe. The teachers are uncomfortable to teach the subject because of the diverse cultural and religious beliefs of the Zimbabweans. Some churches believe CSE defiles innocent children. Their doctrines prevent other churches from teaching EMC to children before they reach the age of 14. The study recommended the development of CSE for early grades by teachers in conjunction with parents and religious leaders and the training of teachers to change their attitude towards the teaching of the subject as well as to provide them with appropriate content and teaching strategies. The provision of teaching and learning resources on CSE for teachers and early grade learners was also recommended. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2020. / Early Childhood Education / PhD / Unrestricted

Magister Artium - MA / Early Childhood Development (ECD) prioritizes the foundation for children aged 0-9 years old. This program focuses on the cognitive, physical, emotional, or holistic development of a child for the child to thrive and be a functioning member of society. Recently, this initiative has been prioritized by both the national government and UNICEF (Shapley, 2014; September 2014). In the Cape Town context one finds that large population of children are frequently exposed to extreme poverty and gang violence. They also lack the communication and literacy skills they require; this includes grasping basic ideas related to reading and writing and have little to no community support system.

Magister Artium (Psychology) - MA(Psych) / Several studies concur that children from a disadvantaged background are as prepared for formal schooling, compared to their advantaged peers who have access to attend good quality pre-schools. This is particularly true regarding the literature aimed at understanding the challenges that impede school readiness of Foundation Phase learners and the consequences of poor school readiness on learner’s school performance. The overall aim of the study was to explore Foundation Phase teachers’ experiences and perceptions of the challenges that impede school readiness.

Magister Artium (Child and Family Studies) - MA(CFS) / Children’s learning and development takes place in a range of contexts and this includes at Early Childhood Development centers and at home with family. Parent involvement in their children’s education has been viewed as an important variable that positively influence children’s education. Young children need quality childcare to develop their innate potential and prepare for formal education. Quality care provides nurturing relationships, a mentally stimulating environment, basic health and safety. The formal provisioning of Early Childhood Development falls under the mandate of the Department of Social Development for registered early childhood development centers and the Department of Education for Grade R, the preparatory grade for primary education. The study investigated the perceptions, experiences, and challenges of parents and early childhood development practitioners with regards to their access of early childhood services. The theory underpinning this study was Bronfenbrenner’s ecological system, which is based on the principle of interconnectedness within settings and the link between settings that affect individual development. The study utilised a qualitative approach and data were collected from parents and early childhood practitioners within the Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality in the Eastern Cape Province. The findings regarding the perceptions of practitioners, principals and parents included perception of Early Childhood Development services, affordability, and contentment with ECD education, proximity of the centers and the role of the practitioners. The experiences of the parents, principals and practitioners highlighted in the study includes involvement of parents, training of practitioners, limited support from stakeholders, and scarce resources. In addition, lack of sufficient infrastructure, lack of adequate learning materials, underqualified practitioners and shortage of funds were noted as the challenges affecting the practitioners and the parents. The study recommended training of practitioners, infrastructure development. / 2023

This study is a progressive series of string quartets for children ages six to eight. A picture and a story for the child accompany each of the twenty lessons. The stories are written about animals, birds, and incidents that exist in the child's world. They are designed to arouse associations between familiar subjects or incidents and unfamiliar problems at hand. The second section of this work is entitled "Instructions to the Teacher." A child's interest is sacrificed when he is burdened with too many technicalities. Thus the teacher is fully informed of the difficulties in each lesson, and suggestions are given for solving the problems that arise.

The purpose of this work is not to justify the teaching of music in the public schools; that has been done by the authorities to the extent that music in some form is in the curriculum of the majority of American public schools today. The purpose of this study is to determine the effect of certain music activities on the total adjustment of a group of third grade children and to show possible advantages of the teaching of music as a part of the regular teacher's load.

Thesis (Ed.D.)--Boston University / PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis or dissertation. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you. / PURPOSE OF THE STUDY.-- To test the hypothesis that poor language achievement in children of average to better intelligence and middle class background is attributable to basic anxiety. PROCESS EMPLOYED.-- To a group of fourth-grade children of such background and intelligence there were administered a language test (composed of the subtests Information and Vocabulary of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children) and three projective tests (the Gilmore Sentence Completion Test, the Bellak Children's Apperception Test, and the Machover Draw-A-Person Test) for the purpose of ascertaining the nature of the relationship, if any, between their language achievement and the degree of basic anxiety manifested in their responses to the projective tests. The number of Freudian defense mechanisms expressed in their responses to the projective tests was designated as the index of anxiety. The defense mechanisms used were selected, defined, and a glossary for their interpretations set up only after consultations with a group of child psychiatrists and child psychologists in practice in the Boston area. Their consensus of opinion was that these defense mechanisms were the ones most likely to be employed by children in this age group. They consist of the following: denial, introjection-incorporation, projection, regression, reaction-formation, displacement, and isolation. The scores resulting from the language test were divided into a High and a Low Language Group. They were then correlated with the defense mechanisms scores obtained from each of the three projective tests and with the total defense mechanisms scores resulting from all three projective tests. FINDINGS.-- The correlation of the High and Low Language Groups, taken as one, revealed no significant relationship between poor language achievement and high anxiety but did indicate a trend in the opposite direction from the one that had been hypothesized. Analysis of the verbal responses revealed that Verbal Output was the deciding factor with regard to the number of defense mechanisms expressed. However, this phenomenon was not considered as negating the original hypothesis but rather as pointing to the possibility that anxiety not only inhibited language achievement but inhibited the expression of verbal defense mechanisms as well. The separate correlation of High and Low Language Group scores with defense mechanisms scores did indicate a trend towards the hypothesized direction but not to a significant degree. The correlation of the defense mechanisms expressed in the drawings for the Draw-A-Person Test likewise failed to establish the predicted inverse relationship between anxiety and language achievement. Here again, production automatically controlled the expression of defense mechanisms, thus bringing about a situation in which those subjects who did not complete their drawings earned the lowest defense mechanisms scores. INDICATIONS OF THE STUDY.-- (1) That a more sensitive language test is needed for the purpose of establishing sharper differentiations between language achievers as a preliminary basis for similar studies. (2) That the study of the types of language employed by the subjects might be more revealing of anxiety than the utilizing of defense mechanisms as indicators of anxiety. (3) That the limiting agent in the non-verbal projective test employed (the Machover Draw-A-Person Test) may have been the anxious individual's self image. This would suggest the need for devising ways of uncovering the self image and using it as one index of anxiety. (4) That there may be a significant relationship among the self image, the type of verbal output, the quantity of verbal output, and basic anxiety. / 2031-01-01