This study was designed to examine how four-year-old children might be able to respond and interpret works of art. Informed by Jean Piaget's and Lev Vygotsky's theories of cognitive development, and building on Micheal Parsons' and Abigail Housen's theories of aesthetic development, the study investigated whether or not four-year-olds are able to expand their initial responses to achieve deeper levels of understanding about works of art.

The intent of this study was to determine what understanding and knowledge parents had of developmentally appropriate practice (DAP). The study examined whether the beliefs of parents who enrolled their children in a National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) accredited program had any impact on their expectations for a philosophy and curriculum that is centered around DAP. In addition, the study examined whether parents' understanding of DAP changed when their children transitioned from infant and toddler programs, to preschool. The study group consisted of parents with children in two privately owned NAEYC accredited centers in 1998 (N=131). Results from parent reports indicated a high level of parent knowledge regarding DAP.

No Brasil a formação dos profissionais de educação infantil tem crescido como área temática para investigação cientifica. O objeto de nosso estudo é verificar se o investimento na formação colaborativa de pessoas/profissionais resulta na melhoria da qualidade da educação para as crianças. A pesquisa incide na identificação dos resultados alcançados por dois grupos de estudo, um português e outro brasileiro na transformação das práticas cotidianas das instituições de educação infantil, utilizando processos de formação, pesquisa e intervenção na modalidade de Formação em Contexto (OLIVEIRA-FORMOSINHO E FORMOSINHO, 2001; OLIVEIRA-FORMOSINHO e KISHIMOTO, 2002) fundamentados teoricamente nas Pedagogias da Infância, do Jogo, na ecologia do desenvolvimento (BRONFENBRENNER, 1996; SACRISTÀN 1992), na prática-reflexiva (DEWEY, 1959; ZEICHNER, 2005, SCHÖN, 1983, 1987, 1992; STENHOUSE, 1991; NÓVOA, 1995, ALARCÃO, 1998) e na investigação-ação (DEWEY, 1959; STENHOUSE, 1998) e na transformação da cultura organizacional, (FULLAN e HARGREAVES, 1990; FORMOSINHO 1998; MACHADO, 2002). Nossa pesquisa de cunho qualitativo caracteriza-se, segundo STAKE (1994), como um estudo de caso do tipo múltiplo e intensivo, visando a interpretação dos significados na construção do conceito abstrato de formação profissional. Conclui-se, que das significativas contribuições dessa parceria construída cooperativamente entre a Associação Criança e o Grupo FEUSP, a adoção da Formação em Contextos valoriza o protagonismo da criança e do adulto. Ambos acreditam que a investigação contribui para a formação dos profissionais e que as intervenções que realizam com fundamento na práticareflexiva, resultam na qualidade do cotidiano da instituição, e por conseqüência, melhoram a educação infantil para a criança. / In Brazil the formation of the preschool professionals has been growing as a theme area for scientific investigation. The object of our study is to verify if the investment on the collaborative formation from people/professionals results in a better education for children. The research falls upon the identification of the obtained results by two study groups, one Portuguese and the other Brazilian on the transformation of the day-by-day activities at the preschools, using formation processes, research and the intervention of the Context Formation Modality (OLIVEIRA-FORMOSINHO E FORMOSINHO, 2001; OLIVEIRA-FORMOSINHO e KISHIMOTO, 2002) based theoretically on the Infant Pedagogical, from games, development ecology (BRONFENBRENNER, 1996; SACRISTÀN 1992), on the reflexive practice (DEWEY, 1959; ZEICHNER, 2005, SCHÖN, 1983, 1987, 1992; STENHOUSE, 1991; NÓVOA, 1995, ALARCÃO, 1998) and on the action-investigation (DEWEY, 1959; STENHOUSE, 1998) and on the organizational culture transformation, (FULLAN e HARGREAVES, 1990; FORMOSINHO 1998; MACHADO, 2002). Our qualitative research is according to STAKE (1994), as a multiple and intensive case study, aiming the meanings interpretation on the abstract concept of professional formation. At the end of the day the significant contributions from the partnership built between Associação Criança and the Grupo FEUSP, the Context Formation values the protagonist from the child and the adult. Both believe that the investigation contributes to the professional formation and that the interventions based on the reflexive-practice, result on the institution day-by-day quality, and consequently, improves the education in preschool for the child.

No Brasil a formação dos profissionais de educação infantil tem crescido como área temática para investigação cientifica. O objeto de nosso estudo é verificar se o investimento na formação colaborativa de pessoas/profissionais resulta na melhoria da qualidade da educação para as crianças. A pesquisa incide na identificação dos resultados alcançados por dois grupos de estudo, um português e outro brasileiro na transformação das práticas cotidianas das instituições de educação infantil, utilizando processos de formação, pesquisa e intervenção na modalidade de Formação em Contexto (OLIVEIRA-FORMOSINHO E FORMOSINHO, 2001; OLIVEIRA-FORMOSINHO e KISHIMOTO, 2002) fundamentados teoricamente nas Pedagogias da Infância, do Jogo, na ecologia do desenvolvimento (BRONFENBRENNER, 1996; SACRISTÀN 1992), na prática-reflexiva (DEWEY, 1959; ZEICHNER, 2005, SCHÖN, 1983, 1987, 1992; STENHOUSE, 1991; NÓVOA, 1995, ALARCÃO, 1998) e na investigação-ação (DEWEY, 1959; STENHOUSE, 1998) e na transformação da cultura organizacional, (FULLAN e HARGREAVES, 1990; FORMOSINHO 1998; MACHADO, 2002). Nossa pesquisa de cunho qualitativo caracteriza-se, segundo STAKE (1994), como um estudo de caso do tipo múltiplo e intensivo, visando a interpretação dos significados na construção do conceito abstrato de formação profissional. Conclui-se, que das significativas contribuições dessa parceria construída cooperativamente entre a Associação Criança e o Grupo FEUSP, a adoção da Formação em Contextos valoriza o protagonismo da criança e do adulto. Ambos acreditam que a investigação contribui para a formação dos profissionais e que as intervenções que realizam com fundamento na práticareflexiva, resultam na qualidade do cotidiano da instituição, e por conseqüência, melhoram a educação infantil para a criança. / In Brazil the formation of the preschool professionals has been growing as a theme area for scientific investigation. The object of our study is to verify if the investment on the collaborative formation from people/professionals results in a better education for children. The research falls upon the identification of the obtained results by two study groups, one Portuguese and the other Brazilian on the transformation of the day-by-day activities at the preschools, using formation processes, research and the intervention of the Context Formation Modality (OLIVEIRA-FORMOSINHO E FORMOSINHO, 2001; OLIVEIRA-FORMOSINHO e KISHIMOTO, 2002) based theoretically on the Infant Pedagogical, from games, development ecology (BRONFENBRENNER, 1996; SACRISTÀN 1992), on the reflexive practice (DEWEY, 1959; ZEICHNER, 2005, SCHÖN, 1983, 1987, 1992; STENHOUSE, 1991; NÓVOA, 1995, ALARCÃO, 1998) and on the action-investigation (DEWEY, 1959; STENHOUSE, 1998) and on the organizational culture transformation, (FULLAN e HARGREAVES, 1990; FORMOSINHO 1998; MACHADO, 2002). Our qualitative research is according to STAKE (1994), as a multiple and intensive case study, aiming the meanings interpretation on the abstract concept of professional formation. At the end of the day the significant contributions from the partnership built between Associação Criança and the Grupo FEUSP, the Context Formation values the protagonist from the child and the adult. Both believe that the investigation contributes to the professional formation and that the interventions based on the reflexive-practice, result on the institution day-by-day quality, and consequently, improves the education in preschool for the child.

No description available.

No description available.

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Thesis (M.A. (Clinical Psychology)) --University of Limpopo, 2007 / The study explored transitional object attachment at Eisleben Village, Limpopo –South Africa. The participants of the study were mothers of children who were between six months and two years of age. The instrument t used to explore transitional object attachment was obtained from a related study, while the instrument used to study the participants personality were the Adult Attachment Questionnaire and the Relationship Questionnaire. There was low prevalence of transitional object attachment at Eisleben Village. Several factors had an impact on whether or not the child becomes attached to an object, i.e. the socio economic status of the participants as well as the child rearing practices.

Adequate pain assessment is a pre-requisite for appropriate pain management. If pain remains untreated in critically ill young children, it can have dramatic short- and long-term consequences on their health and development. Apart from humanitarian reasons, the assessment of pain has been recognised in some parts of the world as the fifth vital sign and thus should be part of standard practice of pain management. The evaluation of pain in preverbal children is, nevertheless, challenging for health professionals, as they cannot rely on self-report when making their assessment. Observational pain instruments have been developed to facilitate this task, but none of these existing instruments are appropriate for the postoperative critically ill young child. The aim of this research was to provide a clinically valid pain instrument for health professionals to use in practice for the evaluation of the pain and the effectiveness of pain treatment in critically ill young children. This thesis presents research that was conducted in three phases to (a) describe pain, (b) develop, and (c) test the pain instrument. Conceptualisation of pain and psychometric theory informed the conceptual framework for this study. An observational design was used in Phase One of the study to define pain behaviour in critically ill infants. Correlational design was used in Phase Two and Three to determine the association between the newly developed pain scale and other pain assessment instruments. Phase One of the study was conducted in the paediatric intensive care units of two tertiary referral hospitals. Eight hundred and three recorded segments were generated from recordings of five critically ill infants, aged between 0 and 9 months, who had undergone major surgery. / Results indicated significant physiological and behavioural changes in response to postoperative pain and when postoperative pain was exacerbated by painful procedures. Using the pain indicators observed in Phase One, in Phase Two the Multidimensional Assessment Pain Scale (MAPS) was developed and tested for reliability and validity in 43 postoperative preverbal children from the same settings. Internal consistency and interrater reliability were moderate and good, respectively. Concurrent and convergent validity was good. In Phase Three, the MAPS' response to analgesics and clinical utility was demonstrated in a convenience sample of 19 postoperative critically ill children aged between 0 and 3 1 months of age at a tertiary referral hospital in Western Australia. Development of a pain instrument is a complex and lengthy process. This study presents the preliminary psychometric properties that support the validity and clinical utility of the Multidimensional Assessment Pain Scale. The MAPS is a promising tool for assessing postoperative pain in critically ill young children, and its clinical validity will be strengthened with further testing and evaluation.