Dynamic Assessment of Narrative Competence

In Developmental Education, language plays an essential role as a tool for communication (and thinking). Learning to produce coherent messages (“narratives”) with both cultural and personal value in the context of meaningful socio-cultural practices is considered as an important goal of Developmental Education. Narratives are essential for human action as they function as a tool for giving meaning to reality. Therefore, close observation and assessment of children’s narratives is essential in the context of Developmental Education. Over the past years we have developed a Dynamic Assessment (DA) instrument for assessing children’s narrative competence. This instrument combines two common approaches to DA, namely standardised interventionist DA and interactionist DA. With the help of this instrument, teachers are able to gain insight into children’s actual narrative competence as well as their developmental potential and their receptivity to certain forms of assistance to reach this potential. Our experience up to now shows that it is possible to assess children’s narrative competence in a valid and reliable manner

The emergence of mathematical thinking in the context of play

In the attempt to improve mathematical thinking for safeguarding our future societal needs, there is a worldwide tendency in schools to start training mathematical and arithmetical operations at an earlier age in children's development. Recent theoretical developments and empirical research have pointed to alternative ways of approaching early mathematical thinking. In these latter approaches, mathematical development in the early developmental stages is seen as an emerging process in the context of children's own activities that contributes to meaningful learning and stimulation of children's cultural identity (Bildung approach). The discussion between the training approach versus the 'Bildung' approach is still intemperately going on. In this article, some outcomes of a research programme (based at the Free University Amsterdam) are discussed that present empirical studies and their theoretical background (cultural-historical theory, elaborated in an educational concept called 'Developmental Education') that demonstrates the promising potentials of promoting mathematical thinking through supporting young children's appropriation of schematic representations and notations in the context of play. © 2009 The Author(s)