Education Commons^™

Personal Values, Subjective Wellbeing, And The Effects Of Perceived Social Support In Childhood: A Pre-Registered Study, Patricia R. Collins, Joanne Sneddon, Julie A. Lee

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Personal values are broad motivational goals that have been found to have systematic relations with subjective wellbeing in adults. Values that promote higher subjective wellbeing are considered healthy while those that hamper it are considered unhealthy (Schwartz & Sortheix, 2018). However, little is known about these relations in children. This pre-registered study examined (1) whether the values of children (6 to 12 years of age) relate to their subjective wellbeing and (2) whether these relations are moderated or mediated by perceived social support from parents, teachers, classmates, and close friends. These research questions were examined with a sample of 738 …

A Model For Children’S Digital Citizenship In India, Korea, And Australia: Stakeholder Engagement Principles, Emma Jayakumar, Kylie Stevenson, Harrison See, Yeonghwi Ryu

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

This white paper communicates research activities and findings investigating digital safety and digital citizenship through multistakeholder collaborations in three countries—India, South Korea, and Australia. Performed by an Edith Cowan University-based research team from the ARC Centre of Excellence for the Digital Child, supported by the LEGO Group, this research additionally responds to many recent policy and practice reviews arguing for institutional and policy engagement in the Asia Pacific (APAC) that build children’s digital safety, literacy and citizenship. These include the UNESCO data-driven report, Digital Kids Asia Pacific (DKAP): Insights into children’s digital citizenship (UNESCO, 2019), an earlier UNESCO review of …

Transforming Transitions To School: Using Funds Of Knowledge And Identity, Lennie Barblett, Fiona Boylan, Amelia Ruscoe

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

This resource describes a project where ten Western Australian Independent Schools embraced a way of viewing children and their family’s transition to school.

Participating teachers came together as a community of practice and engaged in different ways of thinking and investigating accepted practice.Transition practices were affirmed or challenged as teachers were mentored through design-based thinking. Transition ideas were explored focussing on children’s funds of knowledge and identity. This resource outlines why transitions are important, considers transitions through a funds of knowledge and identity lens, and describes each school’s journey as they re-imagined transitions in this project. Finally, the ideas and …

The International Framework For School Health Promotion: Supporting Young People Through And After The Covid-19 Pandemic, Joseph J. Scott, Lynette Vernon, Alexandra P. Metse

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

BACKGROUND: The worldwide COVID-19 government restrictions imposed on young people to limit virus spread have precipitated a growing and long-term educational and health crisis. CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE THEORY: This novel study used Sen's Capabilities Approach as a theoretical framework to examine the current health and educational impacts of COVID-19 on youth, referencing emerging literature. The objective was to inform the design of an internationally relevant framework for school health promotion to support young people through and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Mapping of existing health resources, internal/external conversion factors and capabilities were used to identify classroom, school and system level strategies …

Digital Literacy: A Review Of Literature, Lennie Barblett, Raisa Akifeva, Leanne Lavina, Fiona Boylan

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

This report describes the main themes of collected literature to examine and explain the information in relation to making best practice recommendations for using digital technologies with children, and their families using Better Beginnings programs. These themes include:

• definitions of literacy,
• digital literacy in the context of childhood and children’s rights,
• dimensions of children’s digital literacy,
• digital technology, children and families,
• digital divide and diversity,
• eSafety, privacy, protection,
• children’s digital literacy learning, and
• librarian staff as digital literacy mentors and advocates.

The early childhood phase of childhood (particularly birth to age five) is one of the most under - researched …

Child Studies Multiple – Collaborative Play For Thinking Through Theories And Methods, Anna Sparrman, Yelyzaveta Hrechaniuk, Olga A. Smith, Klara Andersson, Deniz Arzuk, Johanna Annerbäck, Linnea Bodén, Mindy Blaise, Claudia Castañeda, Rebecca Coleman, Florian Eßer, Matt Finn, Daniel Gustafsson, Peter Holmqvist, Jonathan Josefsson, Peter Kraftl, Nick Lee, Karín Lesnik-Oberstein, Sarah Mitchell, Karin Murris, Alex Orrmalm, David Oswell, Alan Prout, Rachel Rosen, Katherine Runswick-Cole, Johanna Sjöberg, Karen Smith, Spyros Spyrou, Kathryn B. Stockton, Affrica Taylor, Ohad Zehavi, Emilia Zotevska, Sonja Arndt, David Cardell

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

This text is an exploration of collaborative thinking and writing through theories, methods, and experiences on the topic of the child, children, and childhood. It is a collaborative written text (with 32 authors) that sprang out of the experimental workshop Child Studies Multiple. The workshop and this text are about daring to stay with mess, “un-closure” , and uncertainty in order to investigate the (e)motions and complexities of being either a child or a researcher. The theoretical and methodological processes presented here offer an opportunity to shake the ground on which individual researchers stand by raising questions about scientific inspiration, …

Conceptualising The Education And Care Workforce From The Perspective Of Children And Young People, Jennifer Cartmel, Susan Irvine, Linda Harrison, Lennie Barblett, Francis Bobongie-Harris, Leanne Lavina, Fay Hadley

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Children are significant stakeholders within education and care settings. Their views can be invaluable in thinking about what matters to conceptualising, assessing and improving quality in Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) and Outside School Hours Care (OSHC) settings. As stakeholders, children’s views are rarely listened to by Australian policy makers to assess what constitutes quality and how the quality can be improved. In the process of updating two nationally approved Australian Learning Frameworks (ALFs): Belonging, Being and Becoming: The Early Years Learning Framework for Australia 2.0 and My Time Our Place: Framework for School Age Care in Australia 2.0, …

Parents' Experiences Of Children With A Rare Disease Attending A Mainstream School: Australia, Mandie Foster, Esther Adama, Diana Arabiat, Kevin Runions, Rena Vithiatharan, Maggie Zgambo, Ashleigh Lin

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Purpose:

To explore the perceptions of parents who had a child or adolescent (6-18 years) diagnosed with a rare disease who attended a mainstream school in Western Australia.

Design and methods:

A cross-sectional online survey was conducted with 41 parents of children with a rare disease. Here we report the findings of 14 open-ended questions on their experience of illness-related factors and impact on school-related social activities, such as sports, school camps and leadership roles whilst their child with a rare disease attended a mainstream school in Australia. Responses were analysed using an inductive thematic content approach.

Results:

We identified …

Celebrating The Work Of Pre-Service Teachers, Keyan Robertson

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

'Books can be both mirrors and windows', by investigating this statement, acknowledgment can be given to the vital importance of engaging students in a diverse range of children's literature within the classroom. The purpose is to develop children into accepting, empathetic, compassionate and prosocial members of the community, who strive to achieve self-actualisation (Maslow, 1943; McMillan and Chavis, 1986). Literature is constructed on the foundations of historical, social and cultural contexts, traditionally, biased and persuaded by the political and social views of its time (McDonald, 2018).

Children’S Digital Citizenship Project: Your Perspectives: A Report For Children, Harrison See, Kylie Stevenson, Emma Jayakumar, Phoebe Zeng

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

This report talks about a teamwork project between the LEGO Group, the Australian Research Council (ARC) Centre of Excellence for the Digital Child (Digital Child) and Edith Cowan University (ECU).

In 2022, the LEGO Group, ECU and Digital Child researchers teamed up to ask children and adults in India, Korea and Australia about digital citizenship. We collected all this information together and compared our results, and then made some suggestions about how we can all do things better to help kids be safer, smarter, and happier online.

Children’S Perspectives Of Digital Citizenship In India, Korea And Australia: Report Of Findings From Children’S Digital Citizenship And Safety Roundtables, Kylie Stevenson, Emma Jayakumar, Harrison See, Yeonghwi Ryu, Shruti Das

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

This report presents data and findings from Phase Two of the research project Digital Safety and Citizenship Roundtables. In this phase, which focuses on children’s perspectives of digital safety and digital citizenship, three child-focused, play-based roundtables were held in Seoul (Korea), Delhi (India) and Perth (Australia) respectively in the months of June and July 2022, with 48 children in total contributing their perspectives. Qualitative data was collected from these child participants through 90-minute play-based roundtables featuring three sections: a short introductory drawing activity using prompt cards; a discussion regarding the children’s understanding of digital citizenship; and a LEGO play activity …

The Role Of Background Knowledge In Reading Comprehension: A Critical Review, Reid Smith, Pamela Snow, Tanya Serry, Lorraine Hammond

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

© 2021 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. A critical review was conducted to determine the influence background knowledge has on the reading comprehension of primary school-aged children. We identified twenty-three studies that met our criteria and focused on the links between background knowledge and reading comprehension of children in the mid to late primary years. Review findings highlight that higher levels of background knowledge have a range of effects that are influenced by the nature of the text, the quality of the situation model required, and the presence of reader misconceptions about the text. Our findings also indicate that background …

Weather Wanderings, Mindy Blaise, Tonya Rooney, Jo Pollitt

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

We propose weather wanderings as a critical and postdevelopmental intervention (Blaise, 2010) into a developmentally appropriate or child-centred approach to walking. A developmentally appropriate approach emphasises an autonomous, white, able-bodied, middle-class, and developing boy child that discovers and explores the natural world as an external thing to ‘know’ and control. A developmental approach is concerned with discovery and conquest; legacies of settler colonialism. All too often, in early childhood education, when (and if) children and teachers leave the preschool to go on walks, these quickly turn into destination- and education-focused events that are full of regulation and control (Springgay & …

Participation Of Children With Disabilities In School: A Realist Systematic Review Of Psychosocial And Environmental Factors, Donald Maciver, Marion Rutherford, Stella Arakelyan, Jessica M. Kramer, Janet Richmond, Liliya Todorova, Dulce Romero-Ayuso, Hiromi Nakamura-Thomas, Marjon Ten Velden, Ian Finlayson, Anne O’Hare, Kirsty Forsyth

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Background In order to make informed decisions about how best to support children and young people with disabilities, effective strategies that facilitate active and meaningful participation in school are required. Clinical factors, diagnosis or impairments somewhat helpful in determining what should be provided in interventions. However, clinical factors alone will not offer a clear view of how to support participation. It is helpful then to look at wider psychosocial and environmental factors. The aim of this review was to synthesise evidence of psychosocial and environmental factors associated with school participation of 4–12 year old children with disabilities to inform the …

Reflective Practice With Teachers Of Early Writers 2014: A Professional Learning Research Project For Early Childhood Teachers, Caroline Barratt-Pugh, Janet Fellowes, Amelia Ruscoe

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Reflective Practice with Teachers of Early Writers was a professional learning project that sought to develop teacher understanding and practice in relation to how young children learn to communicate through writing. The project, which was funded by the association of Independent Schools of Western Australia (AISWA), was a collaborative venture between AISWA and Edith Cowan University (ECU). It built on the success of the 2013 project, Creating Texts with 21st Century Early Learners in which teachers undertook an action research project to explore effective ways of facilitating early writing...

Developing Bilateral And Spatial Concepts In Primary School-Aged Children: An Empirical Evaluation Of The Anker Bilateral Spatial System, Janet Richmond Dr, M Taylor Dr, S Evans

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Background: Visual-spatial and visual-motor perceptual difficulties contribute to school-aged learning problems. Hence, a need exists to address children’s visual-spatial and visual-motor perceptual difficulties as early as possible in the child’s school career. Thus, this study reports on the evaluation of the Anker Bilateral Spatial System’s (ABSS) effectiveness in remediating primary school children’s perceptual difficulties.

Method: Thirty-one children (17 boys and 14 girls) aged 6 to 12 years who had been identified by their classroom teacher as having observable visual-spatial and visual-motor perceptual difficulties participated in a 10-week pre/posttest intervention study. The study’s pre/posttest assessments included the Developmental Test of Visual-Motor …

Teachers’ Knowledge Of Anxiety And Identification Of Excessive Anxiety In Children, Clea Headley, Marilyn A. Campbell

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This study examined primary school teachers’ knowledge of anxiety and excessive anxiety symptoms in children. Three hundred and fifteen primary school teachers completed a questionnaire exploring their definitions of anxiety and the indications they associated with excessive anxiety in primary school children. Results showed that teachers had an understanding of what anxiety was in general but did not consistently distinguish normal anxiety from excessive anxiety, often defining all anxiety as a negative experience. Teachers were able to identify symptoms of excessive anxiety in children by recognizing anxiety-specific and general problem indications. The results provided preliminary evidence that teachers’ knowledge of …

Moving Physical Activity Beyond The School Classroom: A Social-Ecological Insight For Teachers Of The Facilitators And Barriers To Students' Non-Curricular Physical Activity, Brendon Hyndman, Amanda Telford, Caroline F. Finch, Amanda C. Benson

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Non-curricular avenues such as active play during school breaks have been established as a major source for children’s physical and cognitive development, yet there is little information for teachers on the influences affecting primary and secondary school students’ non-curricular physical activity. During this study focus groups and drawing were used to explore the broader influences on primary (n=47) and secondary (n=29) school students’ physical activity behaviour beyond the classroom. Barriers and facilitators to children’s physical activity were categorised using a multi-level social-ecological framework incorporating intrapersonal, interpersonal, physical environment and policy factors. Based on the drawings, comparisons between students’ existing play …

Correlating The Developmental Test Of Visual Perception -2 (Dtvp And The Test Of Visual Perceptual Skills - Revised (Tvps-R) As Assesssment Tools For Learners With Learning Difficulties, Janet Richmond, K Holland

Research outputs 2011

Learners are often referred to occupational therapists to assess their visual perceptual functioning. It is, therefore, imperative that the occupational therapists use the best assessment tools to obtain accurate and reliable results that lead to effective intervention which will be noticeable in the classroom functioning of these learners. A study was therefore conducted which correlated the results of the Developmental Test of Visual Perception (second edition) (DTVP-2) and the Test of Visual Perceptual Skills Revised (TVPS-R) in a cohort of 173 learners from Grade 1 to Grade 4 (children aged 6 years to 11 years). The learners attend a remedial …

School-Based Strategies To Address Cyber Bullying, Donna Cross, Helen Monks, Marilyn Campbell, Barbara Spears, Phillips Slee

Research outputs 2011

Bullying and victimisation among school-age children are recognised as a major public health problem. In its 2009 report on the Australian Covert Bullying Prevalence Study (ACBPS), the Child Health Promotion Research Centre of Edith Cowan University reported that just over one quarter (27 per cent) of school students aged 8 to 14 years were bullied and 9 per cent bullied others on a frequent basis – every few weeks or more often (Cross et al, 2009).

Waiting In Line: African Refugee Students In Western Australian Schools, Yvonne Haig, Rhonda Oliver

Research outputs pre 2011

This study has been commissioned by the Westralian Association of Teachers English to Speakers of Other Languages (WATESOL) to determine the perceptions and expectations of those stakeholders involved in the education of African refugee children.

To do this study first a literature review was undertaken in order for the researchers to determine how much information was available and to improve their understanding of the subject matter. It appears that there is a growing body of research in Australia investigating the social, psychological and educational needs of African refugees, particularly those who have faced trauma (Earnest, IIousen, & Gillieatt, 2007; 2004). …

Pastoral Care In Education, Lydia Hearn, Renee Campbell-Pope, Joanne House, Donna Cross

Research outputs pre 2011

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

1. During the past decade, there has been growing recognition the school environment plays a major role in the social and emotional competence and wellbeing of children. As a consequence, increasing national and international commitment has been directed towards the development of Health Promoting Schools2, with efforts being made to assess how curriculum and pastoral practice can best contribute to students’ social, emotional, physical and moral wellbeing. Within Australia, the National Safe Schools Framework3 has set as a key priority the importance of achieving a shared vision of physical and emotional safety and wellbeing for all students …

Walk With Your Kids: Early Childhood Pedestrian Injury Prevention Project: Classroom Activies: Pre-Primary, Marnie House, Maree James

Research outputs pre 2011

This resource contains learning activities designed to provide a review for children of the five road crossing steps, to introduce chiidren to sequencing these steps and then road crossing scenarios to build children's problem solving skills. The learning activities are designed to be developmentally and cognitively appropriate for pre-primary children, with a focus on learning through play.

Better Beginnings: A Western Australian State Library Initiated Family Literacy Project, Caroline Barratt-Pugh, Mary Rohl, Grace Oakley, Jessica Elderfield

Research outputs pre 2011

Better Beginnings is an early intervention family literacy program that has been developed by the Public Library Services Directorate, at the State Library of Western Australia. Its stated purpose is to provide positive language and literacy influences for children in their first three years of life. The program is thought to be the first of its kind in Australia and has recently been taken up by another Australian Territory State. A fully evaluated pilot of Better Beginnings commenced in January 2004 in Gosnells, Mandurah, Midland, Carnarvon, Halls Creek and Kalgoorlie and in September was extended to include Armadale, Rockingham, Bayswater, …

Children And Healthy Eating: A Global, Policy And School Curriculum Perspective, Erica Logan

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Healthy eating is a topic most people would consider they have an understanding of, yet it is an area which is not often addressed from a critical perspective. Healthy eating is freely discussed in society. It is a dominant discourse used commercially and frequently appears in educational 'texts', however the discourses surrounding healthy eating for children are not well analysed and are most often controlled by the media and often not challenged. A critical perspective to children's eating is adopted for this portfolio and multiple perspectives bought to bare regarding the globalisation of food cultures, and governance and policy influences …

Familiarity With Task And Its Effect On The Way Children Negotiate For Meaning, And Provide And Use Implicit Negative Feedback, Alec P. Kanganas

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This research involves an examination of the effects that familiarity with a task may have on the way young ESL children negotiate for meaning, and provide and use implicit negative feedback to each other. The focus of this research is the interactions that occur between pairs of young primary school children between the ages of 7.0 to 8.6 years. Two studies were carried out. The first study investigated the effect of familiarity with a type of task, whilst the second examined the effects of familiarity with the content (or subject domain). A stratified random sampling procedure was used to select …

Yoghurts For Fruit-Time : A Narrative Study Of Language Learning In The Kindergarten, Denise Lindsay

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This study focuses on how a group of seven Kindergarten teachers perceive their practices to support the language learning of young children. From a socio-cultural perspective, developing language competency at Kindergarten is a priority because of its pivotal role across all learning areas and the opportunity it creates for all children to add to their linguistic capital in an informal setting prior to formal schooling. This study is based on a collaborative, participatory model built on a mutually beneficial relationship between researcher and participants. It uses a narrative methodology to foreground the teacher's voice. Teacher participants in the study contribute …

Conceptual-Associative System In Aboriginal English : A Study Of Aboriginal Children Attending Primary Schools In Metropolitan Perth, Farzad Sharifian

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

National measures of achievement among Australian school children suggest that Aboriginal students, considered as a group, are those most likely to end their schooling without achieving minimal acceptable levels of literacy and numeracy. In view of the fact that many Aboriginal students dwell in metropolitan areas and speak English as a first language, many educators have been unconvinced that linguistic and cultural difference have been significant factors in this underachievement. This study explores the possibility that, despite intensive exposure to non-Aboriginal society, Aboriginal students in metropolitan Perth may maintain, through a distinctive variety of English, distinctive conceptualisation which may help …

Supporting Students With Learning Difficulties In A School Of The Air, Judith Rivalland, Mary Rohl, Pru Smith, Centre For Inclusive Schooling Learning Difficulties Team, Department Of Education

Research outputs pre 2011

This project was funded by Edith Cowan University and the Centre for Inclusive Schooling (Department of Education, formerly Education Department of Western Australia) as an Institute for the Service Professions Collaborative Grant. It was carried out in order to examine the following questions:

• What are the ways in which identification, assessment and teaching processes make provision for students with learning difficulties who are enrolled in a School of the Air?

• In what ways do Support Officers Learning Difficulties support these children, their home tutors and their teachers?

The Role Of Children's Talk In Writing Development, Belinda Nelson

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This study is a 'snap shot' into the interactions and utterances of developing writers. It provides insight into the usefulness of talk, the need to model and encourage talk in the composing processes of children and also into the factors that impact on such talk making it more or less effective for young writers. The study observed six middle primary school students during the writing of two texts and recorded the accompanying talk. Classroom observations provided insight into the pedagogical and cultural influences within the writing contexts. Writing samples enabled each student's writing development to be analysed and became a …