Moving the Needle: Impacting Teachers\u27 Practices That Support Students\u27 SEL Development

Research has shown how students’ social-emotional development impacts their lives beyond school and the benefits social-emotional development has had on academic growth, as social-emotional development and academics, worked in unison (Locklear, 2020). Therefore, students should receive support in developing their social-emotional learning skills while they are receiving academic instruction (Yoder, 2014b). One suggested way to accomplish this goal is to provide teachers with the knowledge about social-emotional learning, followed by supporting them through their social-emotional learning implementations (Ferguson-Patrick, 2010). This Improvement Science Dissertation in Practice utilized a convergent mixed methods intervention design to interact with the six research partners, who taught Kindergarten through Grade 5 in a rural district in the southern region of the United States. Through the behavior theory framework, specifically, the social environment and social cognitive theoretical frameworks, the researcher provided personalized professional learning and reflective coaching practice sessions to support the research partners implementation of cooperative learning strategies, which was the selected instructional practice that supports social-emotional learning. During the research study, the research partners participated in semi-structured interviews, classroom observations, reflective coaching practice sessions, pre- and post- AIR Self-Assessments of SEL Survey (Yoder, 2014a) and a personalized professional development session. As a result of the ongoing support during the implementation phase of the intervention, iv the research partners and their students exhibited growth in both their social-emotional development and their academics. The quantitative data results for research question one reflected a significant difference from the beginning to the end with a moderate effect size for the group. However, the effect size for the individual research partners were large. Per the qualitative data, in response to research question two, one research partner stated, “I can see where its leading and this is why I want to continue doing it this way. My students are getting more and more engaged.” Therefore, the research findings demonstrated how the research partners were moving the needle towards improving their students’ social-emotional development. Furthermore, the study enumerated four recommendations to continue the positive social-emotional development and academic growth the research partners began

Starting School with Special Needs: Issues for Families with Complex SupportNeeds as Their Children Start School

The transition to school is a time of change and expectation for children, fami-lies, and communities. It is also a time when a range of factors—both within and outside the family—influence educational experiences and outcomes. This paper reports the experiences and expectations of 24 Australian families as their children with special needs started school. Life for these families was complicated by their experiences of other factors described as complex sup-port needs. Drawing on interview and case study data, we report issues and concerns, and examine the supports available for these families and their chil-dren across the transition to school. In analysing the data, we consider the ways in which children’s special needs interact with the complex support needs of families, and consider implications of this interaction as families navigate access to support. We conclude that this interplay positions many families in ways that reinforce, rather than reduce, the difficulties encountered

Looking North Through Southern Eyes

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Deepening the transition between childhood education and primary education: the perspective of families and teachers

Resumen: El trabajo pretende conocer la perspectiva mantenida por familias y profesorado en relación con diferentes elementos del proceso de transición entre Educación Infantil y Educación Primaria: su importancia o trascendencia, los cambios que se producen y los desafíos a los que se enfrentan los pequeños, así como los mecanismos y actuaciones implementados por los centros para favorecerlo. 460 familias y profesores participaron en el estudio cumplimentando un cuestionario. Los resultados ponen de manifiesto la existencia de una brecha importante de pensamiento entre familias y profesorado en torno a la importancia y la trascendencia concedida a las transiciones que se viven en la primera infancia, a pesar de encontrar también otros aspectos convergentes. Teniendo en cuenta dichos hallazgos se anima a la generación de programas de transición educativa adaptados a las necesidades y demandas de cada centro escolar, que favorezcan la participación de todas las personas implicadas en este importante proceso.Abtract: The work aims to know the perspective maintained by families and teachers in relation to different elements of the transition process between Childhood Education and Primary Education: its importance or transcendence, the changes that occur and the challenges faced by the children, as well as the mechanisms and actions implemented by the centers to encourage it. 460 families and professors participated in the study completing a questionnaire. The results show the existence of a significant gap in thinking about the importance and transcendence given to the transitions that are experienced in early childhood between families and teachers despite also finding other aspects converging. Considering these findings, the generation of educational transition programs adapted to the needs and demands of each school which encourage the participation of all the people involved in this important process

Look Who’s Talking: Eliciting the Voices of Children from Birth to Seven

First paragraph: Look who’s talking: Eliciting the voices of children from birth to seven was an international seminar series funded by the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, Scotland, that brought together researchers and practitioners who work with young children (birth to seven) to give and support ‘voice’ in respect to different aspects of their lived experience; in other words, to elicit voice. The intention was to create a space for individuals working in this relatively underdeveloped field to work in a collaborative process, engaging with associated theory and practice. The aims of the seminars were: to move debate forwards; to develop guidelines and provocations for practice; and to advance understandings of the affordances and constraints on the implementation of Article 12 of the UNCRC with young children. The series comprises two seminars, one in January and one in June 2017, each of three and a half days duration. The first focused predominantly on mapping the field, sharing and discussing experiences and practices and exploring the affordances and constraints of eliciting the voices of those aged seven and under. It is this seminar on which this submission focuses. The second, held in June 2017, aimed to synthesise participants’ thinking and identify the needs and opportunities for development within the field

Children\u27s experiences of companion animal maltreatment in households characterized by intimate partner violence

Cruelty toward companion animals is a well-documented, coercive tactic used by abusive partners to intimidate and control their intimate partners. Experiences of co-occurring violence are common for children living in families with intimate partner violence (IPV) and surveys show that more than half are also exposed to abuse of their pets. Given children\u27s relationships with their pets, witnessing such abuse may be traumatic for them. Yet little is known about the prevalence and significance of this issue for children. The present study examines the experiences of children in families with co-occurring pet abuse and IPV. Using qualitative methods, 58 children ages 7–12 who were exposed to IPV were asked to describe their experiences of threats to and harm of their companion animals. Following the interviews, template analysis was employed to systematically develop codes and themes. Coding reliability was assessed using Randolph\u27s free-marginal multirater kappa (kfree = .90). Five themes emerged from the qualitative data, the most common being children\u27s exposure to pet abuse as a power and control tactic against their mother in the context of IPV. Other themes were animal maltreatment to discipline or punish the pet, animal cruelty by a sibling, children intervening to prevent pet abuse, and children intervening to protect the pet during a violent episode. Results indicate that children\u27s experiences of pet abuse are multifaceted, potentially traumatic, and may involve multiple family members with diverse motives

Reconstructing readiness: Young children’s priorities for their early school adjustment

Young children in communities facing socioeconomic disadvantage are increasingly targeted by school readiness interventions. Interventions are stronger if they address stakeholders’ priorities, yet children’s priorities for early school adjustment are rarely accounted for in intervention design including selection of outcome measures. The Children’s Thoughts about School Study (CTSS) examined young children’s accounts of their early school experiences, and their descriptions of what a new school starter would need to know. Mixed-method interviews were conducted with 42 kindergarten children in a socioeconomically deprived suburb of Dublin, Ireland. First, inductive thematic analysis identified 25 priorities across four domains: feeling able and enthusiastic for school; navigating friendships and victimisation; supportive environments with opportunities to play; bridging school and family life. Second, deductive analysis compared children’s priorities at item level against a school readiness outcome battery. Children’s priorities were assigned to three groups: (1) assessed by outcome measures (core academic competencies, aspects of self regulation); (2) partially assessed (self-efficacy, social skills for friendship formation and avoiding victimisation, creative thinking, play); and (3) not assessed by outcome measures (school liking, school environment, family school involvement). This analysis derived from children’s own perspectives suggests that readiness interventions aiming to support early school adjustment would benefit from considering factors children consider salient. It offers recommendations for advancing conceptual frameworks, improving assessment, and identifying new targets for supporting children and schools. In doing so we provide a platform for children’s priorities to be integrated into the policies and practices that shape their early lives

Reflexive research with mothers and children victims of domestic violence

Aim This methodological paper outlines a participatory and reflexive research approach in the context of in‐depth, small‐scale and preliminary qualitative research conversations with a vulnerable population. Developing a participatory and reflexive methodology The project involved developing in‐depth research conversations with three mothers and their children who had experienced domestic violence. Underpinned by poststructural feminism and relational ethics, a participatory approach to facilitate informal, nondefensive, participant‐centred conversational spaces for the women and children was developed. Creating both the relational medium and the dialogical processes through which to engage with the women and children prompted multiple and complex challenges for the research team. Some members of the research team had prior experience of domestic violence, generating implications for ethical and reflexive research practice. Implications for research practice The study highlights the complexities and challenges of developing a participatory approach with vulnerable populations including the quandaries faced, the importance of critical reflexivity during in‐depth qualitative inquiry and the value of utilising a project steering group to support research governance. All members of the research team were emotionally impacted by the research work and the relational engagement with participants. A collaborative, peer‐supervisory approach to support the researchers, the research processes – and, ultimately, the participants – was essential. Two case vignettes are included to exemplify researcher experiences

Understanding and supporting block play: video observation research on preschoolers’ block play to identify features associated with the development of abstract thinking

This article reports on a study conducted to investigate the development of abstract thinking in preschool children (ages from 3 years to 4 years old) in a nursery school in England. Adopting a social influence approach, the researcher engaged in 'close listening' to document children's ideas expressed in various representations through video observation. The aim was to identify behaviours connected with features of the functional dependency relationship – a cognitive function that connects symbolic representations with abstract thinking. The article presents three episodes to demonstrate three dominating features, which are i) child/child sharing of thinking and adult and child sharing of thinking; ii) pause for reflection; and iii) satisfaction as a result of self-directed play. These features were identified as signs of learning, and were highlighted as phenomena that can help practitioners to understand the value of quality play and so provide adequate time and space for young children and plan for a meaningful learning environment. The study has also revealed the importance of block play in promoting abstract thinking. Keywords: abstract thinking; functional dependency relationship; social influence approach; block play; preschool; video observation; qualitative researc

Oppilaitten eettinen toimijuus videotutkimuksessa

The rapid development of various recording technologies in recent years has created appealing opportunities for researchers to document and study science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) learning in ways which previously were either impossible, high-priced, or impractical. The potential access that low-cost and ever-smaller recorders provide us has been wisely tempered with cautions that researchers critically reflect on whether the benefits of the research outweigh the invasion of participants’ privacy, especially in research with children. These cautions rightfully place the burden of ethical deliberation on the researcher. However, by so doing they also direct attention away from the ethical work done by study participants and overshadow their agency in relation to the research. In effect, the cautions join and reinforce dominant narratives of participant, especially children’s, vulnerability in research and the researcher as the main ethical actor during the research process. This study seeks to balance such narratives by drawing attention to how children demonstrate their awareness of the audience of nearby recorders to each other and, through such actions, also create spaces for private, out-of-view interaction they do not wish to be recorded. With demonstrative vignettes from a yearlong ethnographic study of children’s learning in an alternative STEM learning infrastructure, the study argues that such moments highlight children’s ethical agency in research.The rapid development of various recording technologies in recent years has created appealing opportunities for researchers to document and study science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) learning in ways which previously were either impossible, high-priced, or impractical. The potential access that low-cost and ever-smaller recorders provide us has been wisely tempered with cautions that researchers critically reflect on whether the benefits of the research outweigh the invasion of participants’ privacy, especially in research with children. These cautions rightfully place the burden of ethical deliberation on the researcher. However, by so doing they also direct attention away from the ethical work done by study participants and overshadow their agency in relation to the research. In effect, the cautions join and reinforce dominant narratives of participants’, especially children’s, vulnerability in research and the researcher as the main ethical actor during the research process. This study seeks to balance such narratives by drawing attention to how children demonstrate their awareness of the audience of nearby recorders to each other and, through such actions, also create spaces for private, out-of-view interaction they do not wish to be recorded. With demonstrative vignettes from a yearlong ethnographic study of children’s learning in an alternative STEM learning infrastructure, the study argues that such moments highlight children’s ethical agency in research.Peer reviewe