Ready or not : Kindergarten classroom engagement as an indicator of child school readiness
- Authors: Fitzpatrick, Caroline
- Date: 2012
- Subjects: School readiness , Cognitive control , Classroom engagement , Learning-related behaviour
- Type: Article
- Identifier: uj:6000 , ISSN 2223-7674 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/8820
- Description: Children’s preparedness for school is an important predictor of their eventual academic attainment, health, and personal success well into adulthood. Although kindergarten knowledge of numbers and vocabulary represent robust indicators of children’s readiness to learn at school entry, theory and research suggest that self-directed learning skills are also important in meeting the challenges of the elementary school classroom. This review examines evidence related to the potential benefits (e.g. improving children’s academic outcomes) of targeting classroom engagement skills, a person-environment fit characteristic reflecting task-orientation and industriousness. Reviewed studies suggest that classroom engagement skills are malleable and robust predictors of later elementary school achievement. Research also suggests that cognitive control skills in the form of executive functions are likely to underlie individual differences in classroom engagement. This paper provides evidence that developing pre-school and kindergarten curriculum that target cognitive control can be a useful strategy for enhancing student engagement behaviour. Developing early interventions that bolster school readiness can then help circumvent risks for later academic and social impairments in childhood and adolescence.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Fitzpatrick, Caroline
- Date: 2012
- Subjects: School readiness , Cognitive control , Classroom engagement , Learning-related behaviour
- Type: Article
- Identifier: uj:6000 , ISSN 2223-7674 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/8820
- Description: Children’s preparedness for school is an important predictor of their eventual academic attainment, health, and personal success well into adulthood. Although kindergarten knowledge of numbers and vocabulary represent robust indicators of children’s readiness to learn at school entry, theory and research suggest that self-directed learning skills are also important in meeting the challenges of the elementary school classroom. This review examines evidence related to the potential benefits (e.g. improving children’s academic outcomes) of targeting classroom engagement skills, a person-environment fit characteristic reflecting task-orientation and industriousness. Reviewed studies suggest that classroom engagement skills are malleable and robust predictors of later elementary school achievement. Research also suggests that cognitive control skills in the form of executive functions are likely to underlie individual differences in classroom engagement. This paper provides evidence that developing pre-school and kindergarten curriculum that target cognitive control can be a useful strategy for enhancing student engagement behaviour. Developing early interventions that bolster school readiness can then help circumvent risks for later academic and social impairments in childhood and adolescence.
- Full Text:
Playing into gender stereotyping in a preschool theatre production
- Authors: Fritz, Elzette
- Date: 2011
- Subjects: Child abuse , Sexual abuse of children
- Type: Article
- Identifier: http://ujcontent.uj.ac.za8080/10210/373619 , uj:5769 , ISSN 2223-7682 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/7776
- Description: Imagine that you are seated in a school hall in a middle to lower socio-economic residential area. The lights are slowly dimmed and the music starts. You are the parent to a five year old, soon to perform in his first nursery school play. The curtain rises and the group of five-year-old boys sway to the music of a popular Afrikaans song, “Leeuloop,” (translated as “lion walk”) that celebrates rugby, a nationally popular sport, but also other male dominated ball sports.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Fritz, Elzette
- Date: 2011
- Subjects: Child abuse , Sexual abuse of children
- Type: Article
- Identifier: http://ujcontent.uj.ac.za8080/10210/373619 , uj:5769 , ISSN 2223-7682 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/7776
- Description: Imagine that you are seated in a school hall in a middle to lower socio-economic residential area. The lights are slowly dimmed and the music starts. You are the parent to a five year old, soon to perform in his first nursery school play. The curtain rises and the group of five-year-old boys sway to the music of a popular Afrikaans song, “Leeuloop,” (translated as “lion walk”) that celebrates rugby, a nationally popular sport, but also other male dominated ball sports.
- Full Text:
Ethical considerations in educational research involving children : implications for educational researchers in South Africa
- Authors: Pillay, Jace
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Social justice , Children's rights , Education - Research , United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child
- Type: Article
- Identifier: uj:5495 , ISSN 2223-7674 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/13617
- Description: Adopting a social justice theoretical framework, the author proposes that the involvement of children in educational research is paramount. However, such involvement often exposes children to exploitation and a violation of their rights. As such, it is essential that all research involving children should be ethically sound. Hence, the purpose of this study was to explore ethical considerations in educational research involving children, especially in South Africa, which was historically known for the marginalization of and discrimination against children. This generic qualitative study included a sample of eight experts with extensive knowledge of the ethical concerns surrounding children’s participation in research activities. Data was collected through individual interviews, a questionnaire, and the analysis of documents and instruments pertaining to the ethical-legal protection of children’s involvement in research activities in South Africa. The findings identify several ethical principles that should be considered within a South African perspective and which have specific implications for educational researchers.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Pillay, Jace
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Social justice , Children's rights , Education - Research , United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child
- Type: Article
- Identifier: uj:5495 , ISSN 2223-7674 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/13617
- Description: Adopting a social justice theoretical framework, the author proposes that the involvement of children in educational research is paramount. However, such involvement often exposes children to exploitation and a violation of their rights. As such, it is essential that all research involving children should be ethically sound. Hence, the purpose of this study was to explore ethical considerations in educational research involving children, especially in South Africa, which was historically known for the marginalization of and discrimination against children. This generic qualitative study included a sample of eight experts with extensive knowledge of the ethical concerns surrounding children’s participation in research activities. Data was collected through individual interviews, a questionnaire, and the analysis of documents and instruments pertaining to the ethical-legal protection of children’s involvement in research activities in South Africa. The findings identify several ethical principles that should be considered within a South African perspective and which have specific implications for educational researchers.
- Full Text:
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