scholarly journals The Historical and Psychological Significance of the Unorganized Games of New Zealand Primary School Children

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Brian Sutton-Smith

<p>In the Spring of 1948 while teaching at a primary school, I observed a small group of girls playing a game called "Tip the Finger". During the game one of the players chanted the following rhyme: "Draw a snake upon your back And this is the way it went North, South, East, West, Who tipped your finger?" I recognized immediately and with some surprise that this rhyme contained elements which were not invented by the children and were probably of some antiquity. I knew, for example, though only in a vague and unlearned manner, that the four pattern of the North, South, East and West and the Snake symbolism were recurrent motifs in mythology and folklore. I was aware also that there did not exits any specialized attempt to explain the part that games of this nature played in the lives of the players.</p>

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Brian Sutton-Smith

<p>In the Spring of 1948 while teaching at a primary school, I observed a small group of girls playing a game called "Tip the Finger". During the game one of the players chanted the following rhyme: "Draw a snake upon your back And this is the way it went North, South, East, West, Who tipped your finger?" I recognized immediately and with some surprise that this rhyme contained elements which were not invented by the children and were probably of some antiquity. I knew, for example, though only in a vague and unlearned manner, that the four pattern of the North, South, East and West and the Snake symbolism were recurrent motifs in mythology and folklore. I was aware also that there did not exits any specialized attempt to explain the part that games of this nature played in the lives of the players.</p>


2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 163
Author(s):  
Mohd. Zailani Mohd. Yusuff ◽  
Mohamad Khairi Haji Othman ◽  
Asmawati Suhid ◽  
Rozalina Khalid

Social problems among students have become very serious in recent years. Therefore, the issues that need to be addressed are the practices that exist among them. This study will share a research finding that identifies the level of practice of applying noble values among primary school children. This study used qualitative research designs through interviews and observations and quantitative survey studies where data were collected through questionnaires involving 321 primary school children from four primary schools in the North Zone of Peninsular Malaysia. Overall, the findings show that the practice of noble values is admirable. This study found that there was a significant difference in values of noble practices in terms of school types. In addition, the findings also found that values of respect are the most dominant values practiced by primary school students followed by other values.


2002 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 169-193 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laurie Bauer ◽  
Winifred Bauer

The regional homogeneity of New Zealand English is frequently commented on. Similar observations on varieties such as Australian English were simply precursors to the discovery of regional dialects. In this paper a report is given of a survey of New Zealand primary school children, which showed that in the vocabulary they use in the playground there is considerable regional variation. This might be taken as evidence of the inception of regional variation in New Zealand. However, it is argued that the birth of regional dialects cannot be perceived by the analyst; rather the analyst can observe a stronger or weaker regional distribution of variants. It is also pointed out that the spread of innovations does not always happen in the same way in modern societies as has been reported in traditional dialectological studies.


English Today ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 55-59 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laurie Bauer

How rapidly our vocabulary can change, and how yesterday's expressions can vanish without trace. Even words which were used by people the age of the author's children just a few years ago have vanished without trace: untold had a brief flourishing in Wellington as a term of approval, but has vanished completely; grouse, a rather older term, still survives but again not among the young. If old words go, new words come. In a recent survey of the language of primary school children in New Zealand, a word was discovered that all the children knew and virtually none of the teachers knew. To understand the expression, one has to understand something about the games played by children in English-speaking countries.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Elna de Waal ◽  
Anita Elizabeth Pienaar

Abstract Background Overweight can be a precursor of poor motor execution, negatively impacting the overall development of school-aged children on various levels. This study determined the long-term influences of overweight on perceptual-motor proficiency (PMP) of primary school children in the North-West Province of South Africa. Methods The study, which included 381 participants, formed part of the NW-CHILD longitudinal study from Grade 1 (6.86 years, ± 0.39) in 2010 to Grade 7 (12.9 years, ± 0.38) in 2016. Socioeconomic categories, called quintiles, were used to compare high and low socioeconomic status groups. Overweight was identified when BMI values fell above the 85th percentile, using age- and gender-specific cut-off points. The group was categorised into 4 BMI groups (never overweight, persistent overweight, overweight-to-normal and normal-to-overweight). The Bruininks Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency-2 (BOT-2) Short Form and selected composites measuring strength, balance, and running speed and agility were used to assess PMP. Results A repeated measures ANOVA analysis indicated specific PMP differences between different BMI groups, but not total motor proficiency (BOT-2 Short Form total) differences. Practical significant group differences (Cohen’s d-values) were found in running speed and agility, strength, balance and the BOT-2 total, over seven primary school years. The persistent overweight group showed the poorest performance over time, but also showed deteriorating skills and a gradual widening in perceptual-motor skills performance, compared to the other groups. BMI-related differences in perceptual-motor coordination were also more pronounced in older age groups. Conclusions Persistent overweight negatively impacts specific motor-proficiency components, while improving weight status can counter these effects, which highlights the importance of timeous intervention to combat obesity at a young age.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Eric Norman Le Petit

Following on a visit paid by the Director of Education for New Zealand to some of the Australian states where Correspondence Classes had already been in operation for some years, it was decided to introduce on a much smaller scale a similar method of instruction to serve the educational needs of the very isolated families in New Zealand. A sole teacher was appointed to initiate the scheme but it is evident that, from the beginning, the Department had no reliable estimate of the subsequent growth of the institution nor of the work which it was later to accomplish.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Eric Norman Le Petit

Following on a visit paid by the Director of Education for New Zealand to some of the Australian states where Correspondence Classes had already been in operation for some years, it was decided to introduce on a much smaller scale a similar method of instruction to serve the educational needs of the very isolated families in New Zealand. A sole teacher was appointed to initiate the scheme but it is evident that, from the beginning, the Department had no reliable estimate of the subsequent growth of the institution nor of the work which it was later to accomplish.


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