Education Commons^™

A Little Change Can Make A Big Difference, Kelley E. Buchheister

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

The opportunity to teach mathematics through service learning projects provides a relevant and connected experience that encourages concept development and problem solving proficiency while also developing students’ feelings of generosity and altruism. In this article I describe a prior project that helped my students, many of whom struggled with mathematics, become engaged in mathematical thinking and reasoning. Additional specific connections are made toward extended projects surrounding current events, as well as state and national standards.

瑞吉欧·艾米利亚的教师研究： 一个充满活力并不断演变的角色的精髓 / Teacher Research In Reggio Emilia: Essence Of A Dynamic, Evolving Role (Chinese Translated Version)., Carolyn P. Edwards, Lella Gandini

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

The Reggio Emilia approach to early childhood education has been studied for more than 50 years. Today, following the influx of new families, tighter financial situation in local government and a generational turnover of educators, there are changes seen in the role and practice of teachers, but also continuities with the past. Teachers are seen as researchers, where research is not only an attitude and approach in everyday living in and outside early childhood programs, but also a questioning attitude and inquiry process. Besides, as colleagues within a network and organization, teachers, with mutual collaboration, and observing and documenting child’s …

Contemporary Chinese Parents’ Socialization Priorities For Preschoolers: A Mixed Methods Study, Lixin Ren, Carolyn P. Edwards

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

This mixed methods study focused on the socialization goals for preschool-aged children among parents from three small-sized cities located in northeastern China. A total of 154 parents with preschool-aged children completed questionnaires measuring parental socialization goals for children’s social-emotional competence and academic achievement. Quantitative results showed that parents generally placed more importance on children’s social-emotional skills than academic skills. Ten mothers were selected from the sample and participated in a semi-structured qualitative interview to help understand reasons for parents’ prioritization of social-emotional wellbeing over academic performance. Four themes emerged, including parents’ concerns about children’s psychological wellbeing under excessive academic pressure, …

Retrospective Review And Contemporary Development Of The Reggio Emilia Early Childhood Educational System: An Interview With Carolyn Pope Edwards, Carolyn P. Edwards, Lixin Ren

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

Dr. Carolyn Pope Edwards, a professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and co author of the book One Hundred Languages of Children , has long been an expert in the Reggio Emilia early childhood educational approach. We conducted an interview with Dr. Edwards and, from the perspective of historical retrospective and contemporary development, reviewed the accomplishments that the Reggio Emilia early childhood educational system has achieved. The interview includes discussions on the core educational value, the theories and practices of curriculum and teaching, the role of teachers and professional development, atelier and atelierista, documentation and educational assessment and even the …

Reggio Emilia Inspiration For Early Education In China: The Case Of Zhejiang Province., Gaoyan Su, Carolyn P. Edwards

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

The progressive spirit of the Reggio Emilia experience belongs not to Italy alone, but to the whole world. In this paper we would like to discuss how it is being received in the Zhejiang Province in China, as an example of its promise and potential to influence early childhood reform. In this way, we hope to contribute to international dialogue about Reggio-inspired education and to increase understanding about how its principles and practices are spreading to China, a vast and complex society with non-Western cultural-political traditions and institutions.

Learning The Language Of Nature: Young Children As Mathematical Thinkers, Carolyn P. Edwards, Courtney Boise

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

Math Early On, funded by the Buffett Early Childhood Fund, involves a partnership between the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) and the Educares of Nebraska, part of a national network of highquality child care centers for low-income children from birth to age 5. Th e goal of the Math Early On project is to off er professional development opportunities that build on the past successful professional development efforts of UNL’s NebraskaMATH and its Primarily Math initiative. The Primarily Math curriculum for primary teachers was adapted and redesigned to create new experiences for the purpose of enriching preschool teachers’ mathematical knowledge for …

Parent-Child Book-Reading Styles, Emotional Quality, And Changes In Early Head Start Children's Cognitive Scores., Keely Cline, Carolyn P. Edwards

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

The objective of this study was to understand how book-reading style and emotional quality of reading interact and relate to cognitive skills in a sample of at-risk infants and toddlers. Participants included 81 parents and their children participating in Early Head Start programs in the rural Midwest. Correlation and multiple regression analyses were used to test the hypothesis that parental book-reading style and emotional quality interact and relate to changes in children's cognitive scores for culturally and linguistically families. Results included that there were variations in how book-reading qualities interacted and related to changes in child cognitive scores for families …

The Relation Between Chinese Preschoolers’ Social-Emotional Competence And Preacademic Skills, Lixin Ren, Lisa Knoche, Carolyn P. Edwards

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

The current study examines the relations between Chinese preschoolers’ social-emotional competence and their preacademic skills, as well as the role of child gender and parental education in such relations. A total of 154 children from the northeastern region of China were involved in the study. Both parents and head teachers of the target children completed measures of children’s social-emotional competence and preacademic skills.Multiple aspects of social-emotional competence were investigated. The results showed that children’s withdrawn behaviors and attention problems were negatively related to their preacademic skills. Both parent- and teacher-reported positive social behaviors were positively related to children’s preacademic skills. …

The Correlates Of Turkish Preschool Preservice Teachers’ Social Competence, Empathy And Communication Skills, Emine Ahmetoglu, Ibrahim H. Acar

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

The purpose of the current study was to examine the associations between Turkish preschool pre-service teacher’s personal and educational characteristics, and their social competence, empathy, and communication skills. A total of 385 state university Turkish pre-service teachers (age range 18 to 32 years) from the early childhood education field completed a Demographic Information Form on personal and educational characteristics, the Social Skills Inventory (SSI) Scale measuring their social competence, The Scales of Empathic Tendency for measuring empathy skills, and a Communication Skills Evaluation Scale measuring communication skills. Bivariate Pearson-correlations, independent t tests, and one-way ANOVAs were used to test study …

Nutrition Education Resources In North Carolina–Based Head Start Preschool Programs: Administrator And Teacher Perceptions Of Availability And Use, Sarah Lisson, L. Suzanne Goodell, Dipti A. Dev, Kristi Wilkerson,, Archana V. Hegde, Virginia C. Stage

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

Objective: The purpose of this study was to provide new insight into common barriers to the availability and use of nutrition education (NE) resources in Head Start preschool programs based on administrator and teacher perceptions.

Methods: In-depth, semistructured phone interviews (n = 63) were conducted with administrators (n = 31) and teachers (n = 32) from North Carolina–based Head Start programs. Interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Data were analyzed qualitatively using content analysis to identify common themes.

Results: Five emergent themes were identified within the areas of NE resource availability and use and barriers to NE resource availability and …