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Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

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Preschool

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Full-Text Articles in Education

What Is The Impact Of Professional Learning On Physical Activity Interventions Among Preschool Children? A Systematic Review, Michele Peden, Anthony D. Okely, Michelle J. Eady, Rachel A. Jones Jan 2018

What Is The Impact Of Professional Learning On Physical Activity Interventions Among Preschool Children? A Systematic Review, Michele Peden, Anthony D. Okely, Michelle J. Eady, Rachel A. Jones

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

The purpose of this systematic review was to investigate professional learning models (length, mode, content) offered as part of objectively measured physical childcare-based interventions. A systematic review of eight electronic databases was conducted to June 2017. Only English, peer-reviewed studies that evaluated childcare-based physical activity interventions, incorporated professional learning and reported objectively measured physical activity were included. Study designs included randomized controlled trails, cluster randomized trials, experimental or pilot studies. The search identified 11 studies. Ten studies objectively measured physical activity using accelerometers; five studies used both accelerometer and direct observation tools and one study measured physical activity using direct …


Inspiring Environmentally Responsible Preschool Children Through The Implementation Of The National Quality Framework: Uncovering What Lies Between Theory And Practice, Krista Pollock, Jane D. Warren, Peter J. Andersen Jan 2017

Inspiring Environmentally Responsible Preschool Children Through The Implementation Of The National Quality Framework: Uncovering What Lies Between Theory And Practice, Krista Pollock, Jane D. Warren, Peter J. Andersen

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION FOR environmental sustainability (ECEfES) has become significant in the early years, as highlighted by the inclusion of ECEfES in Australia's first and current National Quality Framework (NQF) for early childhood education and care (ECEC). This article reports on the major findings from a case study (Pollock, 2014), which aimed to uncover what lies between theory and practice, as ECEC educators attempt to support young children to become environmentally responsible, through the implementation of the NQF. This article discusses some of the findings from an analysis of the documents central to the NQF as well as semi-structured interviews …


Growing Up In New Zealand: A Longitudinal Study Of New Zealand Children And Their Families. Now We Are Four: Describing The Preschool Years, Susan Morton, Cameron Grant, Sarah D. Berry, C G. Walker, Maria Corkin, Kien Ly, Teresa G. De Castro, Polly E. Atatoa Carr, Dinusha K. Bandara, Jatender Mohal, Amy L. Bird, Lisa Underwood, Jacinta Fa'alili-Fidow Jan 2017

Growing Up In New Zealand: A Longitudinal Study Of New Zealand Children And Their Families. Now We Are Four: Describing The Preschool Years, Susan Morton, Cameron Grant, Sarah D. Berry, C G. Walker, Maria Corkin, Kien Ly, Teresa G. De Castro, Polly E. Atatoa Carr, Dinusha K. Bandara, Jatender Mohal, Amy L. Bird, Lisa Underwood, Jacinta Fa'alili-Fidow

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Now we are Four gives us a comprehensive look at how kiwi kids from the Growing Up in New Zealand study are faring. In particular, we can see how the situation of mothers changes when children pass from infancy to early childhood. The biggest shift for most children is that they now attend early childhood education, and most are reported to be generally happy and healthy and spending time getting to know their peers. This means that we also see greater employment of mothers, leading to improved economic circumstances for these households. Nearly half of this generation of mothers live …


Infusing Physical Activities Into The Classroom: Effects On Preschool Children's Geography Learning, Myrto F. Mavilidi, Anthony D. Okely, Paul A. Chandler, Fred Paas Jan 2016

Infusing Physical Activities Into The Classroom: Effects On Preschool Children's Geography Learning, Myrto F. Mavilidi, Anthony D. Okely, Paul A. Chandler, Fred Paas

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

In this intervention study, we investigated the effects of physical activities that were integrated into a geography task on preschool children's learning performance and enjoyment. Eight childcare centers with 87 four-to-five-year-old children were randomly assigned across an integrated physical activity condition, an unintegrated physical activity condition, and a control condition without physical activity. Children learned the names and a typical animal from each of the six continents using a floor-mounted world map with soft toy animals. Both learning conditions with physical activities showed higher performance than the learning condition without physical activities on an immediate retention test, and on a …


Digital Storytelling: Capturing Children's Participation In Preschool Activities, Lisa Kervin, Jessica Mantei Jan 2016

Digital Storytelling: Capturing Children's Participation In Preschool Activities, Lisa Kervin, Jessica Mantei

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Children should be active participants in the environments in which they engage. However in the prior to school setting, it is not necessarily clear to educators how children understand their role and place within that community. Lave and Wenger's (2005) situated learning theory provides a useful frame to consider this developing sense of membership and the connections children make between home and their prior to school centre. In the spirit of belonging, being and becoming (COAG, 2009), a cohort of 27 children (aged 4-5 years) transitioning to the first year of formal schooling were invited to create a digital story …


Effects Of Integrated Physical Exercises And Gestures On Preschool Children's Foreign Language Vocabulary Learning, Myrto F. Mavilidi, Anthony D. Okely, Paul A. Chandler, Dylan P. Cliff, Fred Paas Jan 2015

Effects Of Integrated Physical Exercises And Gestures On Preschool Children's Foreign Language Vocabulary Learning, Myrto F. Mavilidi, Anthony D. Okely, Paul A. Chandler, Dylan P. Cliff, Fred Paas

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Research suggests that integrating human movement into a cognitive learning task can be effective for learning due to its cognitive and physiological effects. In this study, the learning effects of enacting words through whole-body movements (i.e., physical exercise) and part-body movements (i.e., gestures) were investigated in a foreign language vocabulary task. Participants were 111 preschool children of 15 childcare centers, who were randomly assigned to one of four conditions. Participants had to learn 14 Italian words in a 4-week teaching program. They were tested on their memory for the words during, directly after, and 6 weeks after the program. In …


Preschool Children's Foreign Language Vocabulary Learning By Embodying Words Through Physical Activity And Gesturing, Konstantina Toumpaniari, Sofie M. M Loyens, Myrto F. Mavilidi, Fred Paas Jan 2015

Preschool Children's Foreign Language Vocabulary Learning By Embodying Words Through Physical Activity And Gesturing, Konstantina Toumpaniari, Sofie M. M Loyens, Myrto F. Mavilidi, Fred Paas

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Research has demonstrated that physical activity involving gross motor activities can lead to better cognitive functioning and higher academic achievement scores. In addition, research within the theoretical framework of embodied cognition has shown that embodying knowledge through the use of more subtle motor activities, such as task-relevant gestures, has a positive effect on learning. In this study, we investigated whether combining both physical activities and gestures could improve learning even more in a 4-week intervention program on foreign language vocabulary learning in preschool children. The main hypothesis that learning by embodying words through task-relevant enactment gestures and physical activities would …


Preschool Programs For The General Population, Edward Melhuish, Jacqueline Barnes Jan 2012

Preschool Programs For The General Population, Edward Melhuish, Jacqueline Barnes

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

There are several small-scale randomized controlled trial (RCT) studies in the United States documenting the benefits of curriculum-led experimental preschool programs and "pre-kindergarten" education for long-term educational, occupational and social outcomes for disadvantaged children. In addition a larger-scale quasi-experimental study in Chicago found similar benefits up to age 28 of sustained, publicly-funded early education to subsequent education, socio-economic status, health and crime for a disadvantaged population. Such programs are cost-effective with disadvantaged groups, at risk for poor outcomes, in that the savings outweigh any costs. Besides benefits for disadvantaged groups, there is strong evidence that preschool education, whether or not …