Everyday interactions between staff and children aged 1-5 in Norwegian ECEC

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Norwegian ECEC staff’s thinking on quality of interaction

Author's accepted version (post-print).This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor and Francis in Early Child Development and Care on 12/12/2018, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/03004430.2018.1553874.Available from 13/06/2020.This study presents Norwegian ECEC staff members’ thinking on quality of interaction. Open-ended interviews were analyzed using qualitative thematic analysis based on the Caregiver Interaction Profile scales. Findings are that ECEC staff members include both basic care aspects of interaction and educational aspects of interaction in their thinking, but weigh them differently. Immediate responses focussed mainly on seeing, meeting, supporting and communicating with children, characterized as sensitive responsiveness, and an aspect of basic care interaction. After prompts, the focus was still on the above-mentioned aspects, but thoughts characterized as educational aspects of interaction also featured. They focused on verbal communication, mainly as a social tool, linked to sensitive responsiveness and rarely expressed thoughts about child development theories or objectives in the Norwegian framework plan. Their own role beyond basic care aspects was seldom mentioned, and they seemed to hold a ‘taken for granted attitude’ to children’s learning and development.acceptedVersio

Structural analysis of the Leirdjupet Fault Complex in the southwestern Barents Sea

The Leirdjupet Fault Complex is located in the southwestern Barents Sea and trends N-S from the Loppa High towards the Stappen High between 73°-73°55'N at 21°E. The fault complex divides the Bjørnøya Basin into a deep western part and a shallow eastern part, the latter formally known as the Fingerdjupet Subbasin. A set of 2D seismic lines have been interpreted in order to constrain timing of faulting and study the subsequent structuring the area has been subjected to. The fault complex has been divided up into three segments, each representing different structural settings. The study addresses the possibility of fault segmentation and linkage by examining variations in the fault throw along the Leirdjupet Fault Complex. The Leirdjupet Fault Complex has been affected by at least three tectonic extensional events and subordinate phases of contraction. The extension which occurred during Late Paleozoic may have comprised two discrete phases of tectonic movement, implying that the initial phase of fault movement rapidly was succeeded by renewed activity. The Leirdjupet Fault Complex is a deep seated structure and is assumed to represent a class 1 fault, separating areas of different tectonic outline. The fault complexes, including the Leirdjupet Fault Complex, present in the southwestern Barents Sea are likely to have developed due to deep-seated zones of weakness inherited from earlier periods of tectonic activity. Observations relating the study area to the regional development of the southwestern Barents Sea indicate that the Leirdjupet Fault Complex might bound a northern continuation of the relict structural high, the Selis Ridge, situated below the present day Loppa High

Construct validity of the Moral Development Scale for Professionals (MDSP)

The aim of this study was to investigate the construct validity of the Moral Development Scale for Professionals (MDSP) using structural equation modeling. The instrument is a 12-item self-report instrument, developed in the Scandinavian cultural context and based on Kohlberg’s theory. A hypothesized simplex structure model underlying the MDSP was tested through structural equation modeling. Validity was also tested as the proportion of respondents older than 20 years that reached the highest moral level, which according to the theory should be small. A convenience sample of 339 nursing students with a mean age of 25.3 years participated. Results confirmed the simplex model structure, indicating that MDSP reflects a moral construct empirically organized from low to high. A minority of respondents >20 years of age (13.5%) scored more than 80% on the highest moral level. The findings support the construct validity of the MDSP and the stages and levels in Kohlberg’s theory

Rethinking Social Interaction: Empirical Model Development

Background: Social media is an integral part of human social life. More than 90% of young people use social media daily. Current theories, models, and measures are primarily based on face-to-face conceptions, leaving research out of sync with current social trends. This may lead to imprecise diagnoses and predictions. Objective: To develop a theoretically based empirical model of current social interfaces to inform relevant measures. Methods: A three-stage, qualitative, data-collection approach included anonymous individual Post-it notes, three full-class discussions, and 10 focus groups to explore 82 adolescents’ relational practices. Data analysis followed a meaning-condensation procedure and a field-correspondence technique. Results: We developed an empirical model that categorizes adolescents’ social interactions into five experiential positions. Four positions result from trajectories relating to social media and face-to-face social interaction. Positions are described by match or mismatch dynamics between preferred and actual social platforms used. In matched positions, individuals prefer and use both face-to-face and social media platforms (position 1), prefer and use face-to-face platforms (position 2), or prefer and use social media platforms (position 3). In mismatched positions, individuals prefer face-to-face interactions but use social media platforms (position 4) or prefer social media but use face-to-face platforms (position 5). We propose that matched positions indicate good social functioning while mismatched positions indicate serious social challenges. Conclusions: We propose a model that will expand previous unidimensional social interaction constructs, and we hypothesize that the described match and mismatch analyses provide conceptual clarity for research and practical application. We discuss prediction value, implications, and model validation procedures.publishedVersio