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This exploratory research was designed to elucidate elementary school children's perceptions of the process of counseling with school counselors who utilize play therapy techniques. Seven elementary school children who were engaged in a counseling relationship with a school counselor who utilized play therapy techniques were interviewed three different times in person. All three rounds of interviews were audio taped and transcribed for the purpose of data analysis. Throughout each round of data collection, coding procedures, mainly open, axial, and selective, were utilized to extract and organize emergent themes. The data yielded three main categories: (a) therapeutic relationship, (b) emotional expressiveness, and (c) creative play, which included properties and sub-properties. To verify findings, expert consultation, member checks, and rival explanations were sought. Findings are discussed, followed by a conceptual framework of the counseling process. Methods to address potential limitations are presented, followed by a discussion of implications for counselor educators, play therapists, and school counselors. Last, suggestions for further research are offered.

In this thesis I examine the way in which the changing contexts of the Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1 affect children’s perceptions of school and of themselves when they make the transition from Reception to Year 1. Working with 11 children out of a class of 30 who made the transition from the Reception to Year 1 in a two form entry school situated in an outer borough of London, I employed a variation of the ‘Mosaic Approach’ (Clark and Moss 2001 ) to gather data with the children using photographs, tours, observations and conversations. In order to understand the changing context I gathered further information through interviews with the children’s teachers and parents and examined documentary evidence from government and school concerning the Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1. Focusing on the interplay between structure and agency, I undertook an iterative approach to analysis between the field data and literature, which indicated that even small adjustments in teaching styles effected changes in children’s ideas about learning through both play and work. The findings also point to links between children’s understandings of identity as being either fixed or flexible, their individual priorities and the way in which they experience the transition. The findings from this thesis support the view that it may be more important in Year 1 to focus on a pedagogy aimed at developing flexible mastery orientations to learning using children’s interests as a basis for planning than delivering pre-determined curriculum content.

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FITNESSGRAM is a battery of fitness tests that assess if a child's fitness level is, according to a health standard, enough to be considered healthy. These tests include the five components of health-related fitness: aerobic endurance, muscular strength and muscular endurance, flexibility, and body composition. Students are not compared to each other, but to health fitness standards specific to their age and gender that indicate good health. The purpose of this qualitative study was to identify children's perceptions of FITNESSGRAM and determine if self-administration of this fitness test provides a positive experience for the students. Specifically, this study evaluated (a) students' perceptions of FITNESSGRAM, administered in a self-testing format, (b) children's understanding of the purpose of fitness testing, and (c) what effect participation in FITNESSGRAM had on students' perceptions of their personal health. This study used questionnaires (n = 78), and follow-up individual interviews (n = 45) to identify students' perceptions of FITNESSGRAM. Results using the constant comparative method identified four main categories: (a) administration of fitness testing, (b) the purpose of fitness testing, (c) components of fitness testing, and (d) overall influence of fitness testing. Findings showed that children clearly understood the importance and role of fitness testing, felt successful and were pleased with their results, preferred doing the tests with a partner or by themselves, and thought the fitness test was fun.

There are two principal definitions of response-reinforcer contingency in the current literature which Scott and Piatt (1985) have labeled the phi coefficient and Rescorla index. For both definitions, contingencies are sensitive to two conditional probabilities of reinforcement, that given the occurrence and that given the non-occurrence of the criterion response. However, phi coefficient is sensitive also to the probability of the criterion response. In order to examine the relationship between children's perceived contingencies of teacher reinforcements, as defined by the phi coefficient and Rescorla index, and the children's perceptions of competence and measures of their academic performances, 119 5th grade children (54 boys and 65 girls) were studied. Two variables derived specifically from the phi coefficient, the probability of children's responses and the probability of teacher reinforcements, were also examined in their relationship to perceived contingencies and academic performance. In general, children's perceptions of teachers as both contingently rewarding and punishing, as defined by the phi coefficient and Rescorla index, were predictive of good academic performance by the children and teachers rating them as academically competent. Childrens' perceptions of their academic competence were also predictive of their academic performances and teacher ratings. The children's perceptions of academic competence were related to their reporting themselves as likely to produce positive achievement behavior but unlikely to produce negative achievement behavior. No significant relationship was found between the children's perceived contingencies of teacher reinforcements and their perceptions of their own academic competence. These results were discussed as supporting Bandura's self-efficacy theory. Thus, expectations of reinforcement contingency and expectations of personal competence jointly determine actual competence. The contingency findings support the utility of the Children's Perceived Contingencies of Reinforcements Questionnaire as a measure of contingency in the applied setting.

Student Number : 0204770E - MEd research report - School of Education - Faculty of Humanities / The present study investigates a bereavement training programme with a group of volunteer lay counsellors. In South Africa, the number of orphans resulting from an increase in parental deaths from natural causes, such as AIDS and nonnatural causes, for example violence, is increasing rapidly. The increasing number of bereaved children is creating a demand for professional support services that cannot be met by the present number of trained professionals. To address this imbalance, the training of lay counsellors is proposed. It is thus relevant to train those who are willing to help with the necessary knowledge and skills in a bereavement training programme. The present study involves ten volunteers from a Community Centre. Qualitative research methods are employed to analyse the data that is gained from the preand post-training responses to the interviews and Case Examples. Content analysis is used to elucidate the themes that emerge from the collected data. The results of the present study indicate that perceptual and developmental changes have occurred within the volunteers following the training programme, however, it is evident that further training is necessary because of the limited ability that the volunteers demonstrate in practically transferring the knowledge to new cases. In terms of this finding it is clear that factors such as language, age, educational level and personal experiences of death are important criteria to consider in the selection of volunteers for a bereavement training programme. Furthermore, traditional African perspectives of death, cultural differences and HIV/AIDS awareness need to be incorporated into future bereavement training programmes. In terms of the outcomes of the study, a positive outcome is the revision of the Bereavement Programme for children, taking cognisance of cultural sensitiveness, to make it more applicable within the local context. The results of the study also highlight the limitations and implications of the present research, which are discussed and recommendations for future research are made.

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