Peacemaking: Conflict resolution using Cool Clues for elementary students

It is recommended that violence prevention interventions start early for students and include conflict resolution education and social-emotional skills training components. Although school-based programs have shown some promise, community-based or out-of-school time programs require more study. A social-emotional learning-focused conflict resolution intervention using role-play and puppetry was implemented in a small afterschool program as an exploratory study. Student participants’ conflict resolution knowledge and after-school teacher observation of their pro-social skill behaviors were assessed pre- and post- program. Although many participants scored high in conflict resolution knowledge pre-program, they appeared to gain some additional knowledge, specifically on disagreements between friends and empathy for other’s feelings. After-school teachers, however, observed no significant overall differences in their pro-social behaviors pre- and post- program. All in all, as an exploratory study, the slight positive changes in knowledge provide data to suggest continuing the curriculum with more emphasis on the weakest topics as well as more role-play or puppet play about friendship and sharing behaviors.

Impact of Out-of-School Time Technology Integration Modelling on Mathematics Performance: A Case of Primary Schools in Meru District, Tanzania

This study sought to establish the impact of modelling technology integration for of Out-of-School Time (OST) learning on the performance in Mathematics in primary schools. The study adopted a mixed approach where both quantitative and qualitative data were analysed. The study employed an experimental design involving the experimental and the control groups. Each of the two groups comprised three (3) schools, making a total of six out of 152 primary schools in Meru District. The findings reveal a statistically significant difference in mean scores between the control and the experimental group. The study concluded that modelling of technology integration for OST learning is attributed to significant improvements in performance of Mathematics in primary schools. Apart from building pupils’ interest, confidence and creativity in mathematics, technology integration modelling enticed teachers, parents and pupils to collaboratively dedicate more time and commitment in favour of the mathematics subject. The study recommends that school administrators and teachers need to cooperate with parents to encourage and support primary school children to embrace positive use of educational technology particularly in OST learning.

Use of Wearable Devices to Study Physical Activity in Early Childhood Education

Physical activity recommendations for early childhood are gradually being met to a lesser extent today. The objectives of the study were: (i) to assess the degree of compliance with physical activity (PA) recommendations by gender; and (ii) to analyze the level of PA and steps in different periods over a week. This study was an observational cross-sectional study. Sixty-three young children (33 boys and 30 girls) aged two years (2.15 ± 0.35) were recruited for this study. Participants wore a “Garmin vivofit® jr.” activity tracker for seven days, collecting minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and step volume (Out-of-School Time and School Time). The results show a 50% compliance of the 120 min/day MVPA and 13,000 steps per day. No gender differences were detected. The findings in the analysis indicated a trend towards higher PA and steps at the Weekend. Moreover, participants reached higher PA and steps values “Out-of-School Time” than “School Time” (MVPA) (min/day). This study can provide strategies and motivational PA guidelines at school to enhance well-being at an early age. These activity trackers could stimulate more sustainable forms of urban mobility, such as walking, as the environment would accompany the child to meet daily PA recommendations.

Book Review: Changemakers! Practitioners Advance Equity and Access in Out-of-School Time Programs

Changemakers! Practitioners Advance Equity and Access in Out-of-School Time Programs, edited by Sara Hill and Femi Vance (Information Age) provides a thorough (and long overdue) examination of youth development policy and practice in the context of White supremacy, systemic oppression, and other forms of inequity. It offers a valuable introduction for those new to the field and for veterans just now starting to consider more equitable approaches to their work.

Overview of Current After School - OST STEM Programs for Girls

Historically, there has been a gender gap within the STEM pipeline, resulting in the underrepresentation of women in STEM fields. Current efforts, both within and outside of educational institutions, have been developed to target girls’ specific needs with the aim of supporting girls' interest and engagement in STEM. The following paper examines the social and cultural factors that perpetuate the gender gap in STEM. It also provides a review and critique of six existing Canadian Out of School Time (OST) STEM programs and the principles used in their development and implementation. Conclusions from this review suggest that OST programs, when developed using best practices, may play a crucial role in encouraging girls to pursue a STEM career. Four primary best practices include: social and collaborative learning, topics related to girls' interests, development of STEM identity, and length of the program (for example, programs done over a longer period of time are generally more effective than programs completed over a shorter duration). Although the COVID-19 pandemic has caused some of these programs to migrate online, these four promising practices transcend face-to-face versus online boundaries. As a result, programs should continue to follow these pedagogical approaches to foster girls' interests in STEM. Keywords: gender inequality, out of school time programs, social learning, STEM education, STEM programming

Sustainability, Spread, and Shift: Developing a Professional Learning Program for Out-of-School Educators With Scale-Up in Mind

This case study describes the iterative process used to develop a virtual coaching program for out-of-school-time (OST) educators, particularly those who work in afterschool and library settings. The program, called ACRES (Afterschool Coaching for Reflective Educators in STEM), used a design-based implementation research (DBIR) approach to consider issues related to scale-up. Afterschool and library settings are complex systems that include supports and barriers that require adaptation for implementation. Throughout the design process, program developers worked to identify the essential elements of the program that should be maintained across contexts, while attending to the diverse needs of individual OST settings. Survey and interview data were collected from the full range of stakeholders throughout the implementation process to verify the importance of the essential elements to the professional learning model, and to gather early indicators of the program’s potential related to three key concepts for successful scale-up of programs: sustainability, spread, and shift. Conclusions are shared in relation to how these types of results support the scale-up of programs, and the strengths and gaps in the process used to apply the DBIR approach in our work.