PLANNING AND EVALUATING THE EDUCATIONAL PROCESS OF PLAY WITHIN GREEK PRESCHOOL LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS - A COMPARATIVE STUDY ON PRESENT AND FUTURE EDUCATORS

Despite the importance of play as an instructional medium and its contribution on children's learning, development and creativity at all levels of education, research data extracted from Greek literature demonstrate that teaching does not depend on play at the extend that it should. The current study was conducted during the 2019 academic year and investigates on the views of current Kindergarten Educators (N:100) working on faculties of the Region of Epirus as well as Senior Students (N:100) at the Department of Early Education of the University of Ioannina, and it scrutinizes on the planning and evaluation of the educational process in terms of play within preschool cognitive environments and also on the role play holds in the Kindergarten’s educational procedure. The findings of this research pointed out the significance of play’s role towards learning and development of preschool aged children. Nonetheless, the current Educators do not acknowledge the importance of children’s participation in the actual planning of play scholar environments in opposition to the prospective Educators who deem such as vital. Both groups, Educators and Students show an encouraging attitude towards their pupils when it comes to them desiring to design play activities, however the Students show limited confidence on educational planning issues, due to their lacking teaching experience within actual Kindergarten faculties. Educators as well as Students who have undertaken training courses regarding the educational merit of play, evaluate children’s learning through play to a higher degree than their colleagues who have not attended such courses. Finally, the current research points out the pedagogical expertise of the Instructors needed towards a more comprehensive use of play in the educational praxis.  Article visualizations

PLAY WITHIN THE KINDERGARTEN CURRICULUM OF GREECE: A COMPARATIVE STUDY ON KINDERGARTEN EDUCATORS AND UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

Play is a dominant activity towards children’s development and learning and its significance as an educational means is widely acknowledged. However, regardless its importance, investigational data show that current Curricula do not rely on emphasizing in play at the degree they should. This study was conducted during the 2018 School Year investigating on views of Kindergarten Educators (N:100) of the Epirus Region and Senior Students at the Department Of Early School Education of the University of Ioannina (N:100) regarding play during the Kindergarten’s educational process according to the Greek Analytical pre-school education Curriculum. The importance of play within the Curriculum was clearly demonstrated. Educators, however, trivialize School-Family collaboration concerning play while Students deem it as substantial, comprehend the benefits free-style team play poses on learning, being thus amenable on implementing it within the school Curriculum. Students and Educators consider teachers and pupils should co-determine on scholastic play activities. Finally, the study accentuates the training of Greek Educators, to aim at better utilization of play during the educational process.  Article visualizations

STUDENT DISAFFECTION: TEACHERS’ PERSPECTIVES ON DISAFFECTION CHARACTERISTICS AND FREQUENCY IN PRESCHOOL SETTINGS

This paper explores student disaffection which is considered to be one of the biggest challenges facing the contemporary teacher. Despite the growing concern on the alarming increase of the disengaged students, the conceptualization of disaffection is insufficient, since the concept is closely correlated with the multidimensional construct of student engagement. Besides, while there is a research focus on qualitative and quantitative investigation on classroom engagement, there is a notable gap in students’ and teachers’ perspectives on student disaffection. Through one to one, semi-structured interviews, we investigate 80 Greek teachers’ perspectives on students’ disaffection manifestations and frequency in preschool settings. The interviews are developed based on Creswell’s (2008) interview model, with a mixture of open-ended and close-ended questions. Based on qualitative and quantitative data analysis, we present how Greek teachers define student disaffection indices in preschool environments, and the frequency at which their students are disengaged. We also demonstrate that the participants attribute behavioural, cognitive and emotional components to the construct of disaffection, confirming its conceptual complexity. Μια από τις μεγαλύτερες προκλήσεις που έχει ν’ αντιμετωπίσει ο σύγχρονος εκπαιδευτικός είναι η ενεργητική συμμετοχή «όλων» των μαθητών στην εκπαιδευτική διαδικασία. Παρά το γεγονός ότι στη διεθνή βιβλιογραφία τονίζεται η σπουδαιότητα της ενεργητικής συμμετοχής των μαθητών στη διαδικασία μάθησης, ολοένα και περισσότερο αυξάνονται οι μαθητές που απεμπλέκονται από τις δραστηριότητες της τάξης. Ωστόσο, η ερευνητική κοινότητα δεν έχει ακόμη καταλήξει σε έναν κοινώς αποδεκτό όρο για την αντίθετη έννοια της ενεργητικής συμμετοχής. Οι όροι που χρησιμοποιούνται για να αποδώσουν τις παραπάνω εκφάνσεις απουσίας ενεργητικής συμμετοχής είναι διαφορετικοί. Επιπρόσθετα, η δυσκολία στην εννοιολογική οριοθέτηση της απεμπλοκής και την υιοθέτηση ενός κοινώς αποδεκτού όρου, δημιουργεί στους ερευνητές δυσκολία και στον καθορισμό των προσδιοριστικών της χαρακτηριστικών (Skinner, 2016). Μάλιστα, όπως συμβαίνει με την έννοια της ενεργητικής συμμετοχής που δεν έχει προσδιορισθεί με ακρίβεια λόγω του εύρους των συμπεριφοριστικών, συναισθηματικών και γνωστικών εκφάνσεών της (Alrashidi, κ.σ., 2016 ∙ Findlay, 2013 ∙ Appleton κ.σ.., 2008 ∙ Fredricks κ.σ.., 2004), αντίστοιχη δυσκολία ανακύπτει και στον προσδιορισμό των χαρακτηριστικών της απεμπλοκής (Fredricks & McColskey, 2012 ∙ Appleton, Christenson, & Furlong, 2008). Μέσω ατομικών ημιδομημένων συνεντεύξεων, διερευνούμε τις απόψεις 80 Ελλήνων νηπιαγωγών σχετικά με τις εκφάνσεις που αποδίδουν στην έννοια της την απεμπλοκή και τη συχνότητα εκδήλωσής τους από τους μαθητές τους. Οι συνεντεύξεις αναπτύσσονται βάσει του μοντέλου συνεντεύξεων του Creswell (2008), με ένα συνδυασμό ανοιχτών και κλειστών ερωτήσεων. Με βάση την ποιοτική και ποσοτική ανάλυση των δεδομένων, παρουσιάζουμε τον τρόπο με τον οποίο οι Έλληνες εκπαιδευτικοί προσδιορίζουν τα χαρακτηριστικά που οι μαθητές της τάξης τους εκδηλώνουν όταν απεμπλέκονται καθώς και τη συχνότητα εκδήλωσής των χαρακτηριστικών αυτών. Τα ευρήματά μας δείχνουν ότι οι συμμετέχοντες στην έρευνα εκπαιδευτικοί αποδίδουν συμπεριφορικές, γνωστικές και συναισθηματικές εκφάνσεις στην έννοια της απεμπλοκής, επιβεβαιώνοντας την εννοιολογική πολυπλοκότητά της.  Article visualizations

FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH THE SUCCESSFUL TRANSITION TO PRIMARY SCHOOL

The transition of children from preschool to primary school is considered one of the most critical periods of childhood. For this reason, in recent years, great emphasis has been given on children’s successful entrance in primary education. The purpose of this paper is to record the opinions of Greek teachers on which children are more likely to experience difficulties in their transition to the next educational level. The survey was carried out on a sample of 1,602 teachers from the entire Greek educational territory. The tool that was used was a questionnaire of closed-ended questions. It was also analyzed how their responses varied according to their job position (preschool teachers, primary school teachers and school directors). Teachers believe that the most important factors that are related to the successful transition of children to primary school include the socio-emotional development and the interpersonal relationships of children in preschool, their good relations with teachers, their ability to follow the rules of school, but also parents' trust towards teachers.  Article visualizations

FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH THE SUCCESSFUL TRANSITION TO PRIMARY SCHOOL

The transition of children from preschool to primary school is considered one of the most critical periods of childhood. For this reason, in recent years, great emphasis has been given on children’s successful entrance in primary education. The purpose of this paper is to record the opinions of Greek teachers on which children are more likely to experience difficulties in their transition to the next educational level. The survey was carried out on a sample of 1,602 teachers from the entire Greek educational territory. The tool that was used was a questionnaire of closed-ended questions. It was also analyzed how their responses varied according to their job position (preschool teachers, primary school teachers and school directors). Teachers believe that the most important factors that are related to the successful transition of children to primary school include the socio-emotional development and the interpersonal relationships of children in preschool, their good relations with teachers, their ability to follow the rules of school, but also parents' trust towards teachers

ACQUISITION OF SKILLS WITHIN CLASSES OF INCLUSIVE EDUCATION PRIOR TO ENTERING THE ELEMENTARY GREEK SCHOOL

The current study investigates the co-education of typically and non-typically developed children within the Greek schools, while it presents the conclusions concerning our research which has been conducted with the implementation of an annual intervention educational curriculum about the co-inclusion of disordered children within the autism spectrum into the general class in two kindergartens and one preschool centre. It investigates effective ways of supporting the growth and learning of children with non-typical development through interventions, study courses, educational practices and multi-leveled support systems. Our specimen consisted oftwelve (12) pupils falling underthe autism spectrum who had been attending general classes, from whom seven (7) were the actual participants whereas five (5) pupils worked as the control group. The toddlers were 5 to 6 years of age and they were to be enrolled in the Elementary School the following year. The research showed that the interventions ameliorate the quality along with the quantity of basic skills and that all children can, in fact, participate on equal terms in the School Curriculum, however the readiness of the school units to accept them in an equal rank, providing them with suitable curricula, is essential.  Article visualizations

CO-EDUCATIONAL FACTORS OF TYPICALLY AND NON-TYPICALLY DEVELOPED CHILDREN WITHIN THE GREEK GENERAL KINDERGARTEN AND ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

Co- education involves a whole of strategies, practices, perspectives and options all of which allow the admission of typically and non- typically developed children in the General School. The issue, however, remains whether school can be restructured as a place where the equal participation of all children in the educational process and the acceptance of their diversities, are ascertained or not. In the context of the present research which was conducted during the 2014- 2015 school year, views of Greek Kindergarten Teachers (N: 217) and Elementary School teachers (N: 303) in the District of Epirus were assessed, regarding the factors which affect admission in the general school, of children with special educational needs. From the extracted data, the need for the general school to be aptly organized and the educators to work together in the context of a dynamic collaboration, not only with each other, but also with the special and parallel support educators, appeared on the purpose of determining the strategies, the practices, the suitable preconditions and the content of the educational process.  Article visualizations

A Disease Register for ME/CFS: Report of a Pilot Study.

BACKGROUND: The ME/CFS Disease Register is one of six subprojects within the National ME/CFS Observatory, a research programme funded by the Big Lottery Fund and sponsored by Action for ME. A pilot study in East Anglia, East Yorkshire, and London aimed to address the problem of identifying representative groups of subjects for research, in order to be able to draw conclusions applicable to the whole ME/CFS population.While not aiming for comprehensive population coverage, this pilot register sought to recruit participants with ME/CFS in an unbiased way from a large population base. Those recruited are constituting a cohort for long-term follow-up to shed light on prognosis, and a sampling frame for other studies. FINDINGS: Patients with unidentified chronic fatigue were identified in GP databases using a READ-code based algorithm, and conformity to certain case definitions for ME/CFS determined. 29 practices, covering a population aged 18 to 64 of 143,153, participated.510 patients with unexplained chronic fatigue were identified. 265 of these conformed to one or more case definitions. 216 were invited to join the register; 160 agreed. 96.9% of participants conformed to the CDC 1994 (Fukuda) definition; the Canadian definition defined more precisely a subset of these. The addition of an epidemiological case definition increased case ascertainment by approximately 4%. A small-scale study in a specialist referral service in East Anglia was also undertaken.There was little difference in pattern of conformity to case definitions, age or sex among disease register participants compared with subjects in a parallel epidemiological study who declined to participate.One-year follow-up of 50 subjects showed little change in pain or fatigue scores. There were some changes in conformity to case definitions. CONCLUSIONS: Objective evaluation indicated that the aim of recruiting participants with ME/CFS to a Disease Register had been fulfilled, and confirmed the feasibility of our approach to case identification, data processing, transmission, storage, and analysis. Future developments should include expansion of the ME/CFS Register and its linkage to a tissue sample bank and post mortem tissue archive, to facilitate support for further research studies