This qualitative ethnographic study explores how a group of Kindergarten students from different social, cultural, ethnic, and language backgrounds construct social relations, social identities and social meanings through discourse during their playing time at a dramatic play center. This study also analyzes, if and how issues of power at the situational level are related to broader societal discourses. The theoretical framework for this study views language as a social practice (Fairclough, 1998 and Lemke, 1995). Data collection included 130 days of observation that lasted 30 minutes per day, 4 hours of videotape and formal and informal interviews with the children and with eight of the parents of ESL children. Fifteen parents had also filled out questionnaires. This study combines a microanalysis of children's discourse (Bloom and Egan-Robertson, 1993 and Forbes, 1999) with a macro analysis (Fairclough, 1998). Findings indicate that: (1) Children organized their play according to the central themes of the play scenario, yet children used common rules and strategies across different scenarios. (2) Children constructed distinct social relations and identities by bringing different discourses into their play. The roles these players built were largely determined by their social status in society. (3) These Kindergarten players constructed meanings that were valid in this community. (4) A macro analysis indicated that the social context of the lives of these children influence the way they constructed social relations, identities and meanings.

The effects of parent-delivered instruction on children's phonemic awareness were investigated. Participants were thirty-eight parents and their pre-school children. The purpose of this study was to: (1) investigate whether parents could successfully teach phoneme identification skills to preschool children; (2) assess whether the effects of parent-delivered instruction on phonemic awareness and the alphabetic principle could be independent of pretest letter knowledge, child vocabulary and cognitive ability, and SES; (3) determine whether training would generalize to recognition of untrained phonemes; and (4) assess parent satisfaction with the training and instructional program. Children were matched based on vocabulary scores. This measure was also a proxy for SES (Hart & Risley, 1995). Children were then randomly assigned to either treatment or control groups. In addition, pretest letter knowledge was assessed using experimental measures designed by Byrne and Fielding-Barnsley (1991). Parents taught their child to identify initial and ending phonemes and letter-sounds based on the early literacy program Sound Foundations (Byrne & Fielding-Barnsley, 1991), with lesson scripts based on explicit, direct instruction techniques (Kameenui & Carnine,1998; Swanson, Hoskyn & Lee, 1999). The duration of the program was 7 weeks. Children were required to find poster pictures that began or ended with the target sound and to color pictures with the target sound. Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) (Good & Kaminski, 2002) were used to measure Initial Sound Fluency and Letter Naming Fluency. Experimental measures of ending sound fluency, initial phoneme transfer and ending phoneme transfer were also used to measure outcomes. A survey was used to obtain social validity data regarding parent satisfaction with the program. Results indicated that: (a) there was a large, albeit insignificant effect for parent training on children's initial sound fluency (d = 1.1, p < .006); (b) parent training was not predictive of letter naming fluency (p =.07); (c) there were no significant differences on measures of phoneme transfer; and (d) pretest letter knowledge was predictive of outcomes on letter naming fluency (p < .01). Parents reported a high degree of satisfaction with training. The discussion focuses on future research on early literacy instruction and parent-delivered instruction.

This study is part of an action research project designed to model a district-wide early identification and intervention program for Kindergartners at risk for reading failure. The project was designed to model quality professional development in the area of early literacy for Kindergarten teachers, the use of a multi-gating procedure for identifying those children most likely to benefit from extra support, training for paraprofessionals to provide support to identified low performing students, and the use of a “response to intervention” approach for determining level of intensity of intervention. This study evaluates the relative effectiveness of the two research-validated curricula chosen as strategic interventions for improving outcomes on early literacy indicators of at-risk Kindergarten students. Both curricula were delivered in small groups by classroom aides who received brief training. A second part of the study evaluates the effectiveness of individually designed, intensified interventions for those children whose achievement did not improve sufficiently under conditions of small group instruction. A third section examined factors affecting teacher motivation to participate in the project and to embrace new teaching and assessment methods.

This research looks at the effects of learning environments on the creative process of learning. The literature search addresses fundamentals of, and relationships between learning, creative process and art-making through neurophysiological, aesthetic, and psychobiological theory. These three things are further tied together through a movement analysis tool—the Kestenberg Movement Profile (KMP)—which underscores the common tie between the three: bodily movement in the forces of space, weight, and time of the three-dimensional world in which we live. The Kestenberg Movement Profile was used to analyze the movement of preschool children in three activity categories of movement: formal activities, improvisational dance, and art-making. A gestalt notation of group movement was done; the notation was scored and plotted separately for each activity category. An interpretation of each activity profile was done for KMP factors related to the creative process of learning. These factors were: developmental age being expressed in each activity, as well as affect, self-esteem, learning styles and structures, creative and social intelligence, and agreement between internal states and the effective communication of those states. Results showed formal activities as hindering the creative process of learning. Formal activities required highly controlled bodily movement of the children. This research study indicates, as the literature suggests, that children of this age group—ages three-and-a-half to five years—develop a healthy self-identify and intelligence through bodily movement and creative spontaneity.

Research indicates that mothers structure or scaffold children's early play. However, it is unclear whether these findings can be generalized to mothers and children of different cultures. Culture-specific and ecological factors may affect a mother's inclination and motivation to play with her child, her scaffolding behaviors, her involvement in play, and the type and kind of play she engages in. This study explores and provides preliminary descriptions of how play is defined, perceived, and valued by a sample of fifteen rural Nepali mothers. The study also describes the kind of play interactions Nepali mothers have with their young children who range in age from twelve to thirty-six months. The qualitative method of research was used to address the research questions. Data were collected through participant observation, videotapes of mother-child play in the course of everyday activity in the home, and interviews and discussion with the mothers based on the videotaped activities between them and their children. The results of the study reveal that play appears to be an integral aspect of mother-child interaction in daily care routines and is seen as a valuable means for keeping the child engaged, for managing child behavior, and for encouraging children's co-operation. The mothers in this study have a positive attitude towards play and are aware of the developmental impact it has on children, even though they underestimate their own roles in play interaction with their children. Findings contribute to the field of child development and education by building on existing cross-cultural literature on play. Early childhood educators and practitioners will be able to utilize the results of this study to inform their work in designing and implementing culturally relevant child development and education programs that are meaningful for the target population.

The present research attempted to address how metacommunication of young children relates to the products in a collaborative problem solving, along with the three main purposes: first, to investigate the relationship between metacommunicative talk in a dyad and the proper movement of the robot; second, to compare metacommunicative output by the two roles in the robot game, which are Operator and Witness; and last, to examine the increase of metacommunicative talk over the course of the games. To answer the question above, using a small battery-operated robot, 10 kindergartners and 12 first–second graders were asked to play games, which were a collaborative task that requires two children; Operator and Witness. Each dyad participated in three sessions, playing both roles during one session. After quantitative analysis of the data administered to address the three purposes, qualitative analysis was done to detect the in-depth processes between metacommunication and the collaborative problem solving. The relationships between metacommunicative talk in a dyad and the proper movement of the robot were complicated, indicating the relationships are more task-specific. It was found that there is a fair amount of role-dependent variability. Frequencies of metacommunicative output vary from the subcategories of metacommunication. Usage of the subcategories is related to the role that a child plays in the robot games. Adversely to prediction about the last purpose, the metacommunicative usage decreased as the sessions continue. The plausible accounts were addressed about the findings. Qualitative analysis revealed that the children utilized metacommunication for various reasons. They are to clarify statements, to retell previous statements, to prompt the games, to expatiate insufficient instructions voluntarily or with input from the outside, to be aware of linguistic references, to repeat other's statement, to regulate other person's statement in order to stop partner's talk or to start own talking, and finally to integrate a previous statement to the present communication. In coda, the benefits of using metacommunication were acquisition of a correct concept on the instruction given and advancement of communication skills as the game proceeded.

This dissertation explored the perspectives of mentor teachers, program supervisors and interns in a preservice licensure program in a research-based flagship university in northeast on the roles, influences and preparation of mentor teachers, program supervisors, and peer coaching. Surveys were designed and administered to all 15 program supervisors, 69 mentor teachers and 69 interns in the program (with effective responsive samples of 12, 50 and 52 and responsive rates of 80%, 72% and 75% respectively) to capture a quick snapshot of the samples' descriptive characteristics, such as attitudes, opinions, and preferences towards the three components and to provide additional prompts of inquiry. An interviewing approach was utilized. Totally 24 participants were selected—program coordinator, 8 program supervisors, 7 mentor teachers, and 8 interns. Each participant received two semi-structured in-depth interviews, each of which lasted about 90 minutes. Program documents were collected to reveal the requirements and expectations of the program. Results demonstrated that mentor teachers were the most vital to interns learning to teach; that program supervisors helped interns the most in learning about clinical supervision; and that peer coaching was the most helpful to interns in emotional support. Each role was compared to a unique set of analogies, the utilization of which concretized the descriptions of each role's responsibilities and influences. Each member of the triad was not programmatically prepared for his/her specific role. Based on the issues and concerns emerged from the practice of each component, a rationale and an implication plan of action for the preparation of each role were developed.

These collective case studies highlight the experiences of the preservice teachers, mentor teachers, university facilitators and other participants in three teacher training programs. The meaning that the participants make of their professional development in teaching, alongside the ways in which they describe their experiences as developing professionals, provides the framework for an exploration of what contributions professional development makes to the capacity of teachers and schools to reform. In essence this dissertation is a window into how all the participants who are currently working in a reform active environment are affected, in their practice, in their professional growth, and in their commitment to the profession. Key themes that were extracted from the data include the impact of working in a culture of collegiality; the importance of connectedness between schools and universities, practice and theory; the validity and value of practioners' voices and views on educational renewal and change; and the importance of building understandings of teaching as a learning profession. Prompted by the current standards based reforms and high stakes assessments being implemented in schools and teacher training programs across the country, this dissertation seeks to highlight the importance of teacher agency and ownership across the professional lifespan. It asserts that teachers who assume an inquiry stance (Cochran-Smith & Lytle, 1993, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001) will be best able to meet the current demands of students in classrooms, schools as learning communities and teacher training as preparation for lifelong learning. The data suggests that if the rhetoric of reform that pushes for changes in standards and assessments, new modes of school organization and decision making, and revised curriculum are to become a reality, teachers' professional development across the lifespan from preservice training to lifelong learning needs to become a central focus in the process and implementation of educational change.

The purpose of this study is to describe and interpret young children's shared narrative construction and story acting practices within an early childhood visual arts program. Narrative and story acting offer children unique opportunities to explore ideas, thoughts, and questions. Listening to children and trying to understand their perspectives, thought processes, and experiences is a necessary and vital way of illuminating our understanding of curriculum practice. Based on the researcher's kindergarten art workshop program, this inquiry specifically addresses: (a) What is the context (the structure and organization) of the shared narrative process to be studied? (b) What are the major themes that emerge in the children's small group narrative? (c) What does this collection of narratives tell about what these particular kindergarten students feel and think about their world? This study provided an ethnographic-type account of the young children's co-constructed narratives in response to works of art. The study included 18 children from a private Montessori school in the northeast. The kindergartners worked in three separate small groups of six. Each group took part in 9 sessions. The children ranged in age from 4.9 to 5.9 years old. The primary methodology is that of participant observation. The design of this project is exploratory, descriptive, and interpretive in nature. The data in this study was gathered via audiotape and observational field notes. Data analysis primarily consisted of reviewing field notes to identify themes, patterns, events, and actions in the children's narrative activities as well as to generate working hypotheses. The application of the coding system by Wolf (2002) aided classifying co-constructed conversational sequences in order to allow the frequencies of each category to be calculated and compared. Analysis consists of the three aspects of data transformation advanced by Wolcott (1994). This ethnographic research emphasized the importance of listening to children's voices.

This study was a test of the relative importance of theory versus facts among six and nine year old children in explaining how something works. In learning science for young children, there is a misconception in understanding of theory and facts. Children learn by reconstructing their misconceptions of theory based on their everyday experience. Their ability was measured by examining the drawing of a pencil sharpener in the act of sharpening a pencil. The research design has four treatments: Treatment 1 (Think), Treatment 2 (See), Treatment 3 (Do) and Treatment 4 (Speak and Do). One hundred and sixty preschoolers and one hundred and sixty third graders were randomly assigned to perform four groups of treatments. The participants in each group of treatments had to explain how the pencil sharpener works by using drawing and words spoken (orally) describing what they see and think. The results of this study were not confirmed, but the ad hoc findings demonstrated that when showing the representation of functional relations of a system, children expressed their understanding better in words than in drawing. However, children are better able to represent the details of objects and the relationship between two objects of a working system by using the medium of drawing rather than the medium of words. These findings also suggest that third graders can make more improvements in representing the details of a working system than preschoolers can.