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ERIC ED408057: Australian Research in Early Childhood Education. Volume 1. PDF

146 Pages·1997·2.1 MB·English
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DOCUMENT RESUME PS 025 459 ED 408 057 Fleer, Marilyn, Ed. AUTHOR Australian Research in Early Childhood Education. Volume 1. TITLE Australian Early Childhood Association, Inc., Watson. INSTITUTION ISSN-1320-6648 REPORT NO PUB DATE 97 145p.; Selected refereed papers presented at the Annual NOTE Conference of the Australian Research in Early Childhood Education (4th, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia, January 1996). For individual papers, see ED 390 576 and PS 025 460-471. Collected Works Collected Works Proceedings (021) PUB TYPE Serials (022) Journal for Australian Research in Early Childhood JOURNAL CIT Education; vl 1997 MF01/PC06 Plus Postage. EDRS PRICE Administrators; Art Activities; Child Caregivers; Child DESCRIPTORS Development; Childhood Attitudes; Codes of Ethics; Creativity; Day Care; *Early Childhood Education; Early Intervention; *Educational Research; Employer Employee Relationship; Ethics; Family (Sociological Unit); Foreign Countries; Low Income Groups; Outdoor Activities; Parent Attitudes; Play; Popularity; Program Descriptions; Reading Instruction; Teacher Attitudes; Teacher Role; *Young Children Audiographics; *Austizaia; Intertextuality; Staff Attitudes IDENTIFIERS ABSTRACT This volume consists of selected refereed papers from the fourth annual conference on Australian Research in Early Childhood Education. The papers represent a cross-section of research interests in the field of early childhood education, care, and development. Differing methodologies are "Ethics in Early Childhood also featured in this issue. The papers are: (1) "The Teacher's Role in Outdoor Field Experiences" (Coombe and Newman); (2) Play: Preschool Teachers' Beliefs and Practices" (Davies); "Some (3) Implications of Popularity at Age Four" (Dockett and Degotardi); (4) "Intertextuality and Beginning Reading Instruction in the Initial School "Love, Care and Politics in Low Income Early Years (Harris and Trezise); (5) Childhood Settings: The Process of Constructing a Professional Identity" "Directors of Early Childhood Services: Experience, (Hill and Veale); (6) "Teachers Coping with Changes: The Preparedness and Selection" (Hayden); (7) "A Teaching Stories of Two Preschool Teachers" (Kelly and Berthelsen); (8) and Learning Initiative Using Audiographics Conferencing: Some Emerging "An Enforceable Code of Ethics: What Do Issues" (Perry and others); (9) "Creativity: What Does It Mean in the Practitioners Think?" (Pollnitz); (10) (11) "How Family-Centred are Early Family Context?" (Tennent and Berthelsen); Intervention Services Staff and Parent Perceptions?" (Dempsey and "An Examination of a Young Child's Response to Performance Carruthers); (12) "Teaching Implications for Arts Curricula" (Suthers and Larkin); and (13) Dilemmas and Employment Relationships in Child Care Centres" (Burton). Each article contains references. (EV) U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION 1 Office of Educational Research and Improvement EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) This document has been reproduced as received from the person or organization originating it . AUSTRALIAN 0 Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction quality. Points of view or opinions stated in this docu- ment do not necessarily represent official -R=S =ARCH OE RI position or policy. DN FAIRLY C-- HLDHOOD =-DUCATKDN PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE AND DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) VOLUME 1 1997 JOURNAL OF AUSTRALIAN RESEARCH IN EARLy CHILEIHOOCI ECIUCATION 1 320 - 6648 ISSN BEST COPY AVAILABLE ISSN 1320-6648 AUSTRALIAN Volume 1 RESEARCH IN 1997 EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION Journal for Australian Research in Early Childhood Education 3 AUSTRALIAN Volume 1 RESEARCH IN 1997 EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION Journal for Australian Research in Early Childhood Education Volume 1 1997 Selected refereed papers from the fourth Annual Conference of the Australian Research in Early Childhood Education, Faculty of Education, University of Canberra ACT, January 1996. Editor Dr Marilyn Fleer Faculty of Education University of Canberra PO Box I BELCONNEN ACT 2616 Journal Secretary Jeanne Morrison Faculty of Education University of Canberra PO Box 1 BELCONNEN ACT 2616 Conference Secretary Gemma Friedlieb Faculty of Education University of Canberra PO Box I BELCONNEN ACT 2616 Copyright 1996 Australian Early Childhood Research Association ISSN 1320-6648 4 iii CONTENTS Page iv Editorial vi Review Panel vii Guidelines for authors Kennece Coombe and Ethics in early childhood field experiences Linda Newman 1 The Teacher's role in outdoor play: 10 Margaret Davies Preschool teachers' beliefs and practices Sue Dockets and Some implications of popularity at age four Sheila Degotardi 21 Pauline Harris and Intertextuality and beginning reading instruction 32 Jillian Trezise in the initial school years Love, care and politics in low income early Susan Hill and childhood settings: the process of 40 Ann Vea le constructing a professional identity Directors of Early Childhood Services: 49 Jacqueline Hayden Experience, preparedness and selection Alison Kelly Teachers coping with changes: The stories 62 Donna Berthelsen of two preschool teachers Rosemary Perry, A teaching and learning initiative using Gail Halliwell and audiographics conferencing: Some emerging Ian MacPherson 71 issues An enforceable code of ethics: What do Lois Pollnitz 81 practitioners think? Lee Tennent and Creativity: What does it mean in the family Donna Berthelsen 91 context? Ian Dempsey and How family-centred are early intervention services Anne Carruthers 105 staff and parent perceptions Louie Suthers and An examination of a young child's response to Veronicah Larkin 115 performance: Implications for arts curricula Teaching dilemmas and employment relationships Judith Burton 123 in child care centres 5 iv EDITORIAL COMMENTS Editorial This volume of the journal represents the fourth edition since the conference for the Australian Research in Early Childhood Education began in 1993. Although this volume does not contain any overseas papers, the quality of the articles presented in this edition are of a very high standard. A range of papers are featured, representing a cross-section of research interests in the field of early childhood education, care and development. Similarly, different methodologies are also featured in this issue. The journal commences with the first of two papers which feature research into the Code of Ethics produced by the Australian Early Childhood Association. Kennece Coombe and Linda Newman investigated pre-service students' experiences and perceptions of ethical dilemmas whilst on practicum. Through the use of questionnaires, their study sought to establish student awareness of the collect examples of dilemmas the students had Code of Ethics, encountered in their practicum, and document how students responded to these situations. The results indicate that students appear to need direction in determining what constitutes an ethical decision-making situation and as well as needing guidance on how to deal with these A range of alarming ethical dilemmas encountered by the students are also situations. described in their paper. This study is followed by an excellent paper by Margaret Davies on the teacher's role in outdoor play. Davies' study which collected observational and interview data from eight preschools demonstrates that minimal outdoor teacher intervention in children's play takes place, despite the research evidence in the literature to support such involvement. She concludes that teachers appear to hold relatively limited conceptions of their role in relation to promoting children's development in the outdoor setting. Sue Dockett and Shelia Degotardi's study of 24 five-year-old children's views of the popularity of their peers provides facinating reading. Using sociometric interviews children were asked to rate their peers according to whether they 'liked to play with them a lot', `liked to play with them sometimes', or 'didn't like to play with them'. The results were compared with the teachers' perceptions of each child's popularity. The ratings were compared with measures of performance on a series of false belief, appearance-reality and representational change tasks (theory of mind tasks). Dockett and Degotardi found that there is a significant positive correlation between children's performance on theory of mind tasks and their reported peer popularity. Children who were perceived as unpopular by teachers were rated as popular by the children. Similarly, children who were considered as popular by the teachers were not necessarily those deemed popular by the children. Pauline Harris and Jil lian Trezise present research into the intertextuality in reading instruction in the initial school years. Their research, conducted over three years, in which 15 children were tracked through their first three years of school, demonstrates that early childhood educators need to understand the intertextual and discursive histories children bring to the classroom and how these shape their interpretations of lessons and written texts. Without shared understanding about the text under consideration and the range of possible experiences children have, issues of equity, access and success at school and in the broader socio-cultural context of society come into question. The issue of equity is considered further in an outstanding paper by Susan Hill and Ann Veale. Their longitudinal research documents undergraduate early childhood students' constructs about becoming a teacher in three settings: childcare, preschool, and the first years of school. Twenty students were asked to respond to Kelly's Repertory Grid during the first week and final week of practicum. Students were asked to expand on the information 6 V Hill and Veale contained in the grid and reflect on the progress of their own experiences. outline that although students encountered children from low socio-economic groups whilst particular areas upon on practicum (and indeed are likely to teach children in these graduation), they were highly critical of parents who placed children in child care centres. Hill and Veale argued that implicit within their responses was a view that parents have enough money to spend time at home with children to develop children's character, values and They ask whether the traditional focus on child study draws students' attention attitudes. away from the broader socio-political issues to do with poverty, families and young children. Overall, they found that students' constructs did shift between the beginning and conclusion of the practicum. Jacqueline Hayden presents the findings of a survey and follow-up interviews of practicing Directors of childcare and preschool centres in New South Wales focusing on their background, experiences, means of recruitments, levels of satisfaction, training needs and Hayden found that most Directors of childcare centres (as apposed to other concerns. preschool centres) had on average of only two years' experience, with many acquiring their position internally and most choosing progression not for monetary gain but for professional Interestingly, she found that Directors of preschools had considerably more reasons. experience. In a study by Alison Kelly and Donna Berthelsen which sought to document the impact of First, Departmental changes on two preschool teachers they found three areas of concern. teachers' experience at the classroom level such as time pressures, daily programming, and planning of curriculum activities whilst ensuring quality interactions with children and parents The second area reported related to teachers' experience at the school level were evident. where there was an expectation to attend an ever-increasing number of school meetings. Finally, teachers discussed the societal and political pressures evident such as the under valuing of child care and preschool and the continued need to highlight their importance within the community. Rosemary Perry, Gail Halliwell and Ian MacPherson present an interesting evaluation study of simultaneous telephone and computer (audiographics) conferencing to teacher Master of Data were collected from Education unit at the Queensland University of Technology. students, lecturers and observers in the form of student or lecturer reflections and as observations made of sessions by five observers. Issues that emerged in their study related to clarifying the pedagogy as it related to the changed teaching context and the use of the Benefits were reported for both technology as a tool for the delivery of tutorial sessions. Concerns were students and lecturers, including focusing more directly on the content. directed towards the technical problems associated with using the technology for the teaching and for lack of non-verbal clues usually evident in face-to-face sessions. Lois Pollnitz provides a second study focusing on the Code of Ethics published through the Australian Early Childhood Association by, explored early childhood practitioners' thinking about the monitoring and enforcement of a code of ethics for their profession. Through the survey of 200 practitioners in childcare and preschool, Pollnitz found that the majority of practitioners perceive ethical issues as worth struggling with intellectually, and are committed to adherence to a uniform code of ethics for early childhood personnel. However, variability in responses were reported for voluntary or compulsory monitoring and the issue of the enforcing agent. Lee Tennent and Donna Berthelsen examined aspects of family environments which were influential in the development of children's creativity. Tennent and Berthelsen surveyed 123 mothers of children aged four to six years and found that they most valued the personality characteristics associated with creativity, and provided environments which would nurture creativity. In a study conducted by Ian Dempsey and Anne Carruthers into the perceived support provided or received in early intervention programs, parents were either satisfied or very satisfied with the support they were receiving. Staff rated the level of support to families at a 7 vi higher level than parents. Overall, parents and staff wanted a family-centred approach, with parents indicating the need for a variety of choices in decisions affecting them. In a case study of one child attending an children's opera for the first time, Louie Suthers and Veronicah Larkin found that for children benefits there are operatic attending in performances designed for children. Through pre- and post-performance interviews and observational notes taken during the child's attendance at the opera, Suthers and Larkin identified a range of activities performed by the child which indicated that the child had understood and gained from attending the opera. The final paper presented in this volume is by Judith Burton. She investigated teachers' practical knowledge about connections between their efforts to create curriculum and the employment relations at their workplace. The fourteen papers in this volume reflect the diversity of research interests and activity found in the early childhood research community within Australia. Marilyn Fleer Editor University of Canberra November 1996 vi' REVIEW PANEL Dr Marilyn Fleer, University of Canberra Editor: Dr Jan Van Den Brink, Utrecht University Liza Carroll, Canberra Institute of Technology Associate Professor Margaret Clyde, formerly from the University of Melbourne Kennece Coombe, Charles Sturt University Ian Copland, ACT Department of Education Dr Judith Cowley, University of Newcastle Professor Toni Cross, University of Newcastle Dr Sue Dockett, University of Western Sydney, Macarthur Dr Gail Halliwell, Queensland University of Technology Dr Jacqueline Hayden, University of Western Sydney, Nepean Beverley Lambert, Charles Sturt University, Riverina Dr Glenda Mac Naughton, University of Melbourne Dr Laurie Makin, Macquarie University Catherine Patterson, Macquarie University Anoma Seneviratne, Ethnic Child Care Development Unit, Sydney Pamela Sharpe, Preschool Development Unit, Singapore Jennifer Sumsion, Macquarie University Associate Professor Bob Wright, Southern Cross University Associate Professor Susan Wright, Queensland University of Technology Professor Erna Yackel, Purdue University Calumet RESEARCH IN AUSTRALIAN EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION GUIDELINES FOR AUTHORS FOR THE PREPARATION OF PAPERS AND DISKS SUBMISSION TO EDITOR FOR PUBLICATION IN ARECE Papers submitted to the editor for publication in ARECE should be on disk, with three hard copies. See Word Out Processing and Setting below. If it is impossible for you to provide a disk copy in the format requested, please advise the Editor. WORD PROCESSING Software Macintosh 3.5" disks are preferred. ASCII The preferred software is MS Word (for the Macintosh). files are also acceptable (please be sure to mark any formatting requirements, such as italics and bolding of text on your hard copy, as these commands are lost when a document is saved in ASCII). Format Please set your page to A4 with page margins (left and right ) at 2.54cm, your top margin at 2.54cm and your bottom margin at 2.00cm. Use single spacing, with a page number centred at the top (followed by two blank lines). We use Times Roman 12 pt (when the Journal is finally printed this is reduced to 10 pt by the Printery). Text should be left/right justified. Proofing It is the primary responsibility of authors to ensure that their copy has been thoroughly proof read. Please ensure that typographical errors have been corrected, and that there is agreement between the references in the text and the final reference list. SETTING OUT Length Each paper is to have a maximum length of 10 pages in ARECE format. This length includes text, reference list and pages containing diagrams, figures and tables. All pages are to be numbered consecutively. Title Article title is in bold capitals. Author(s) in lower case, affiliated institution in lower case, all centred (not bolded). e.g., A LEARNING MODEL FOR EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION Mary Smith University of Central Australia and John A Smith Alice Springs, College L0

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