The central problem investigated in this field study was whether the working conditions of rural preschool teachers were different from those encountered by urban preschool teachers. And, if so, whether the problems encountered by rural preschool teachers were similar to those experienced by rural primary and secondary teachers. For the purposes of this study, small rural towns were those towns with populations of less than eight thousand and were geographically remote from large rural and urban centres of populations of more than twenty thousand. The data were collected by means of a mail questionnaire. The questions were devised around the issues raised in the literature about rural primary and secondary teachers. The material reviewed was converted into question format and placed in the context of preschool education. Eighteen teachers from rural schools and seventeen teachers from city schools participated in the survey. The statistical package for the Social Sciences was used to analyse the survey data. In all, nineteen hypotheses were tested. Further data, more directly pertinent to preschool education, were derived from four open ended questions. The results of the tested hypotheses revealed the following outcomes which were similar to those reported in the research on rural primary and secondary education: Rural Teachers were younger and less experienced than city teachers lacked resources and back up staff lacked adequate inservice opportunities were isolated from colleagues and advisers had some difficulty coping with the values portrayed by some members of the aboriginal community. Unlike rural primary and secondary teachers, the rural preschool teachers did not appear to have the same problems of adjusting to the rural community and did not lack parental support. The open ended questions suggested that rural and city preschool teachers did not differ greatly in their perceptions of school readiness, the role of parents, and the functions of preschool. However, rural preschool teachers did nominate isolation and lack of resources as their greatest problem. Both groups identified the complex and time consuming administrative tasks as a major problem. Since this is only a pilot study, this particular piece of research should be developed much further. This study has implications for further research in that it has identified a large number of areas to be explored, especially in regard to the working environments of rural preschool teachers, their relationship with their communities and the problems they face.

Cooperation with guardians in multicultural preschools - A qualitative study of four educators’ ideas about cultural diversity and its impact on cooperation Author: Mathilda Eddestål Mentor: Åsa Arketeg Term: Fall 2016 Abstract: The purpose of this study is to research educator’s communication strategies in multicultural schools, based on whether the educator’s weights in the multicultural background of the child’s guardian(s) in the cooperation process. My research questions are: - What communication strategies have educators to achieve cooperation with the guardians? - In what way is the cultural background of the guardian being considered by the guardians in cooperation? To answer these questions, I have made a qualitative study with semi-structural interviews as a method, which are completed with educators working in multicultural pre-schools. A conclusive finding of this study shows that there is no clear assertive view about whether the educator should or should not take heed of a guardian’s multicultural background. Taking the full span of this study into consideration, I would argue that educators puts great effort to emphasize the structural boundaries of their institution and trying to communicate this to the child’s guardians. However, time and resource constraints limits this effort to a formal directive, rather than a pragmatic execution. The end results gathered from this study is that this specific area should get a lot more attention from managers to give educators the chance to reach the goal marker considering their mission to cooperate with the child’s guardians in an intercultural way.

This study aims to describe and analyze changes over time in the degree of relative crowding in preschools within the urban area of a medium-sized city in the northern part of Sweden – and does so by examining the size of the available open space per child. Further, this work explores the spatial variation of open space dimensioning in relation to the urban center in order to decide whether shrinking of children’s open space should be considered to be limited to the major metropolitan areas of Sweden. With the basis in an assumption of increasing competition over land as a consequence of neoliberal governance and densification as strategies to promote urban growth, it’s hypothesized from recent literature that these ambitions increasingly risk confining children’s right to adequate areas of open space for outdoor play. Using a combination of quantitative approaches of analysis, with the use of regression analysis the study concluded that the coefficient of the independent variable Building age is positive, and therefore matches the expected direction. However, no statistically significant linear relationship was observed even with the use of relevant variables – highlighting a complex relationship surrounding the understanding and prediction of land use in general and urban open space in particular. A comparison of mean values using grouping based on both the aspect of time and centrality found that preschools built after 1998 generally contains 0,85 m2 larger open space per child than those built before 1987, whereas preschools within the urban center had 6,18 m2 larger open space per child than those located in more peripheral locations. When controlling for the share of preschools that undercuts and exceeds the recommendations related to dimensioning of open space communicated by the Swedish National Board of Housing, Building and Planning, units within the city center was found to meet these recommendations to a greater extent. Preschools built after 1998 seem to be more prevalent among units that undercuts the said recommendations. The results call for further research within this field of study in order to determine whether or not children’s shrinking open space can be limited to be a phenomenon encompassing solely major metropolitan areas.

[Abstract]In recent years there has been a great deal of attention paid in early childhood settings to pedagogical documentation, a practice that has developed in thepreschools of Reggio Emilia, Italy. Following upon the devastation of World War II, educators, parents and children began working in this small city to reconstructtheir society and to build an exemplary system of education for young children. This system has become known as the Reggio Emilia approach. A hallmark of theReggio Emilia approach, pedagogical documentation, is a way of making visible the learning processes by which children and teachers work in early childhood centres.It may include anecdotal observations, children’s work, photographs, audio and video tape recordings, and children’s voiced ideas. An integral part of thedocumentation is the teacher’s reflective commentary. Pedagogical documentation can also be a focus for linking theory and practice.This qualitative instrumental case study involved looking at the personal qualities that have enabled three particular teachers located at an early childhoodcentre in Seattle, U.S.A., to embrace with enthusiasm the practice of pedagogical documentation. What are the lived experiences of these teachers? Do these teachers demonstrate particular attributes that foster “disposition to document”?Three teachers, along with two of the school’s parents, participated in a series of interviews which were analysed for significant themes. Subsequent conversations with the participants confirmed the initial themes I had drawn fromthe interview data.A relationship of reciprocity emerged - working with pedagogical documentation fostered dispositions that each teacher already had, while at the same time, these teachers were drawn to the Reggio Emilia approach because it resonated with them in an intuitive way. Pedagogical documentation demands a high level of intellectual commitment and a passionate engagement with one’steaching. Parallels were also found between pedagogical documentation and phenomenological research.

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The purpose of this study was to compare the responses of interior designers, architects, and child development professionals to statements regarding preschool spaces and, from those responses, determine spatial characteristics to be included in a guideline to aid in the design of childcare facilities. The sample for this study consisted of design and child development professionals working in their respective fields in Virginia, North Carolina, and the Washington Metropolitan area. Responses were gathered using a mail survey which included a variety of questions about preschool spaces. Analyses of the forty-eight Likert scale questions from the questionnaire using a one-way ANOVA revealed statistically significant differences in the responses of the groups in twenty-five instances. These differences concerned private spaces for children, adequacy of information available about children's needs, food preparation facilities, and spaces for support activities. In many other instances, only the level of disagreement with particular statements was significantly different. Frequency analyses of four questions concerning identification of the five most important spatial characteristics from given lists again indicated general agreement among design and child development professionals. The characteristics identified as most important for inclusion in preschool spaces were: safety, flexibility, creative opportunities, density, varied play opportunities, anthropometrics, visual access to outdoors, acoustics, varied lighting, security, temperature controls in each room, signage, furniture safety, comfort, durability, maintenance, varied surface levels, design supporting children's competency, varied play spaces, spaces offering physical and mental challenges, and child-sized toilets. cCharacteristics viewed differently by design and child development professionals tended to be issues that were specific to the discipline such as anthropometries (design) or provision of cooking facilities for children (child development). A recommendation for a preliminary design guideline was made that included all characteristics viewed as important to either design or child development professionals. Implications of this research and recommendations concerning future investigations are included. / Master of Science

Thesis (Ph.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. / This study examines the socialization of sharing behaviors in a transnational population of Korean children in greater Boston, Massachusetts and South Korea. Data for this study include the author's experiences living in South Korea from 1995 to 1996, ethnographic fieldwork in the Korean community of greater Boston from 1999 to 2002, five weeks of classroom observation and home visits in South Korea in the summer of 2001, and weekly microethnographic observations of seventeen children from January 2001 to June 2002. Korean culture is broadly construed as "sociocentric" in contrast to "individualistic" American culture. Descriptions ofhome and school life demonstrate this contrast in strategies for sharing limited resources. Korean strategies for sharing emphasize a generalized joint use of resources katchi (together) while American strategies emphasize litigation of individual rights through tum-taking procedures. This study describes the socialization of transnational Korean children who encounter these contrasting cultural strategies for sharing. Through a microethnographic examination of the experiences of individual children over time, the study offers several contributions to culture and socialization theory. First, a description of the Korean community of greater Boston challenges assumptions in education research that define public schools as a place of "mainstream American" culture in contrast to the culture of minority children's homes and ethnic communities. The Korean community of greater Boston described in this study is a heterogeneous continuum of immigrant and sojourner families living in patterns of dense settlement and school enrollment. A child may interact almost exclusively with ethnic Korean peers at school and yet practice American behaviors in these interactions. The second major contribution of this work is to outline a microethnographic approach to studying children's development over time. In comparisons of the behaviors of five individual children, this study highlights a common developmental trajectory towards greater self-assertiveness in sharing behaviors and also exposes individual variations in experience and behavior. By focusing on the socialization of specific behaviors in a small number of individuals, this study provides evidence for a model of cultural socialization as the unique individual accumulation of knowledge, motivation, and practice. / 2031-01-01

Since its inception the A.C.T. Schools Authority has implemented a number of changes in attempts to meet its aim to provide high quality programmes for children. In the case of enrolment policy the decision to change to continuous enrolment was made in many schools less on educational grounds than as a result of economic and political pressures. However, any policy which has an impact on children's learning in schools must be examined in the light of its educational implications. This study attempts to do this. It attempts to assess the policy on educational grounds with a particular focus on the programmes offered to individual children and the day to day problems encountered by teachers who attempt to implement the policy.

This study sought to investigate young children's understandings of the science concept forces. A government preschool in the A.C.T. was the setting for the study. The research methodology consisted of pre and post interviews conducted before and after a teaching sequence using an interactive approach to teaching science (Biddulph and Osbome 1984). Interviews were audio taped, work samples were kept and lessons and discussions were audio taped during the teaching sequence. This study examined three factors associated with young children's understandings of the science concept forces. First, it documented young children's understandings prior to any formal teaching in this area. It was found that most children did hold views about the areas of forces such as pushes and pulls, inertia, friction and gravity. Some of these views are generally recognised by the scientific community as being scientifically correct answers. Second, this study sought to reveal if these prior views were changed or reached a higher conceptual level after the experience of a three week interactive teaching sequence on forces. It was found that in all cases changes in language indicating higher level understandings, the use of scientific terms and more detailed responses indicated that it was possible and relevant at the early childhood level to teach the concepts of forces. A third aspect of this study sought to identify teaching strategies which would effectively teach forces to very young children. It became clear in this study that as young children already have views about the concepts of forces it is possible to build on these views with correct scientific knowledge and thus empower the young child in an area of science which research has indicated may cause problems for older learners. It is therefore proposed that early childhood is a crucial time for teaching correct science concepts in the area of forces. This thesis has shown that young children, particularly those 4-5 years old, have already formed views of forces, some scientifically correct and it is proposed that building on this existing knowledge will empower the child in later learning in the areas of physics and mechanics.

In recent years Australia has seen a national change in policy focus for the provision of early childhood services. The change has been from delivery of a discrete education model of sessional preschool to a diverse range of services to families. This policy focus is reflected in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). There has been a move from a discrete preschool provision by the Department of Education and Training to a more cohesive early childhood approach by Children's Services Branch within the expanded Department of Education and Training and Children's, Youth and Family Services Bureau. The purpose of the study is to investigate reasons for, and nature of, the shift in policy focus and the impact on preschool staff in the ACT. The review of literature reveals that implementation of a more cohesive provision of early childhood services in Australia has not been without difficulties. These difficulties are investigated. The research is undertaken at an ACT Government preschool site. At this site the sessional government preschool and a community long day care centre are located in a purpose built shared facility. The research traces the values and practices of preschool staff in the sessional government preschool as they work in the shared facility in the first year of operation. Action research is employed in the form of a single case study, and guided by principles of Problem Based Methodology to clarify the issues involved and develop strategies to address a positive way forward in the ACT. The reflective, qualitative research provides the government preschool staff and the researcher with opportunities to develop and implement strategies to address difficulties. These difficulties are discussed in the context of the review of literature. Drawing on conclusions and recommendations from the case study, the investigation provides management insight into a way forward for more cohesive provision of early childhood services in the ACT.