Associations between emotional scaffolding, classroom quality and dialectical thinking support in kindergarten

Emotional scaffolding by the teachers of kindergarten children facilitates children's emotional well-being and contributes to their achievements in school. Our aim was to analyze the association between emotional scaffolding, dialectical thinking support and classroom quality. We used the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale (ECERS-R), Dialectical Thinking Support (DTS) scale and Emotion Socialization Observation Scale (ESOS). The study involved 22 kindergarten groups attended by 6-7-year-old children and their educators who have worked with these children for several years. The actions of teachers aimed at emotional expressiveness modeling and teaching about emotions are positively associated with high-classroom and dialectical thinking support. We revealed for the first time associations between dialectical thinking support and emotional scaffolding in children. This suggests that the discussion of opposites and contradictions in objects and situations in the classroom environment and the study of them in the process of change is positively associated with emotion socialization. Keywords: dialectical thinking; teaching about emotions; emotional scaffolding; preschoolers; quality of educational environment

VERIFICATION OF ASSESSMENT SCALES OF THE SENSORY ENRICHED ENVIRONMENT ECERS-R AND SSTEW OR IMPLEMENTATION IN UKRAINE

The quality of education in general and preschool education in particular remains relevant both in the light of current reforms in the educational sphere of Ukraine and in the international context. Scientists pay attention to solving the problem of organizing comfortable environment, in particular the lack of internal space for each child. So far, the problems of teaching educators of preschooleducation establishments for the assessment of a high-quality sensory enriched environment have not been fully resolved. The purpose of the article is to determinate the effective quality scales of preschool education, to verify the most acceptable scales for assessment of the sensory enriched environment, to compare analysis of the obtained experimental data. During the research we used the following methods: observation, analysis, interviews, mathematical statistics, scales ECERS-R (Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale-Revised) and SSTEW (Sustained Shared Thinking and Emotional Well-being).The assessment of the condition of the sensory enriched environment was conducted by the 3rd year undergraduate students studying at the educational program «Preschool Education» at Vinnytsia Mykhailo Kotsiubynskyi State Pedagogical University, Mukachevo State University, Khmelnytskyi Humanitarian-Pedagogical Academy. At the stage of experimental activity, 21 experts, 30 educators were involved, 15 environments in preschool establishments were evaluated.The analysis of the main features of the external and internal sensory enriched environment, which was carried out on the basis of the proposed parameters of the ECERS and SSTEW scales, allows us to determine the features that set out the possibility of further enrichment of this environment. The authors propose to focus on the enrichment of the environment as a special means of integrating the accumulated pedagogical experience into a holistic pedagogical system, as well as the complexity of the child’s development situation, which is taken into account by adults.

Emotional Maturity in the Ability to Socialize Early Childhood Educators

PAUD teacher must have emotional maturity. The things that are directly related to the emotional maturity level of the teacher are environment, be it at home, the community or the educator's environment in the institution. Therefore, if a PAUD teacher can be well received by his fellow students, he tends to have emotional stability. With the acceptance of teachers in the early childhood environment, it can help students in early childhood development. It is assumed that emotional maturity has a significant relationship with the teacher's ability to socialize. The results showed that most of the PAUD teachers were quite good at emotional maturity, namely 74% of all respondents, then 21% of teachers were in the good category. However, there are still 5% of teachers whose emotional maturity is not good. The level of socialization of early childhood teachers in institutions and the environment is in the quite good category, namely as much as 79%, in the good category, which is 15% and there are still 6% of teachers who have poor social skills. The table shows that there is a relationship between emotional maturity and teacher PAUD socialization in Bunga sub-district, Sragen regency.

Likvärdighet och kvalitet

Swedish preschool teacher profession has changed. In the preschool teacher education, students must develop professional identities and know how to independently take responsibility for pedagogical activities, teaching and providing for children’s right to care, play, development and learning. The aim of this study is twofold: to investigate how students articulate their conditions for learning and professional development in their teaching practice, and to study how their education may be affected by being carried out in preschools of varying quality. The study is based on quality evaluations with the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale (ECERS) at 153 Swedish preschools. The quality evaluations were related to a survey that 125 students answered in a preschool teacher education focusing on equivalence, the relationship between theory and practice and the quality in their teaching practice. The research questions we posed were: What characterizes the quality of preschools? Which aspects contribute to equality in teaching practice? How do the students describe the quality of the preschool? Bronfenbrenner’s ecological system theory frames the study. The analysis was informed by an interaction between empirical data and theory and thus was an abductive analytical process. The results show that the quality of preschools varies, creating unequal conditions for student learning. The students report inconsistent conditions for their learning in preschool. The political investment has enhanced the collaboration between preschool teacher education and preschool and visualized critical aspects, forming a point of intersection for the preschool teacher profession's quality.

Associations for preschool environmental quality with outdoor time and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity in Norwegian preschools

Various aspects of the preschool environment may either promote or restrict children’s moderate- to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA), for example through opportunities for outdoor play. The aim of the present study was to determine associations for preschool environmental quality with outdoor time and MVPA in preschoolers. In total, 358 Norwegian 2–6-year-old children had 1–3 valid 14-day periods of accelerometer-determined MVPA (ActiGraph GT3X+) and corresponding logs of preschool outdoor time collected during 2015–2016. The children were enrolled in 30 different preschool departments for which we assessed environmental quality using the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale-Revised (ECERS-R). Associations for preschool quality with outdoor time and MVPA were determined using multivariate pattern analysis. We found strong inverse associations between preschool quality and outdoor time (51.4 % explained variance), and weak inverse associations between preschool quality and MVPA (5.4 % explained variance). Associations were strongest for the “Space and Furnishings”, “Personal Care Routines”, “Language-Reasoning”, and “Interaction” subscales of ECERS-R, in particular for aspects of safety practices. Children enrolled in departments rated as high quality spent less time outdoors and less time in MVPA. Thus, recognized quality aspects of preschool environments, in particular safety practices, might restrict children’s movement opportunities.

Comparing regulatory and non-regulatory indices of Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) quality in the Australian early childhood sector

<p>Este estudo analisa as associações entre as pontuações provenientes de processos regulatórios de avaliação da qualidade da educação infantil australiana (Early Childhood Education and Care – ECEC) do National Quality Standard (NQS)2 e das duas escalas de avaliação de qualidade (SSTEW – Sustained Shared Thinking and Well Being; e ECERS-E – Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale-Extension). A amostra consiste em 257 unidades de ECEC em três estados australianos. Os resultados indicaram: associações positivas modestas entre as pontuações do NQS e das escalas; alguma especificidade entre as áreas de qualidade do NQS (aspectos do projeto e práticas pedagógicas para as crianças; relações com crianças) e de uma escala de avaliação – a SSTEW; variabilidade das pontuações das escalas de qualidade dentro de cada classificação do NQS; e atenuação dessas associações quando o tempo entre as avaliações ultrapassa 24 meses. As conclusões sugerem que o NQS e as escalas de avaliação indicam um núcleo comum de qualidade, mas capturam aspectos diferentes da qualidade, sugerindo que ambos poderiam ser usados para melhorar os padrões de qualidade nas pré-escolas australianas, onde as escalas de avaliação potencializam a qualidade ainda mais do que o NQS.</p><p><strong>Palavras-chave:</strong> National Quality Standard, ECERS-E, SSTEW, Qualidade, Pré-Escola, Regulamentação</p><p> </p><p><strong>Comparando índices regulatorios y no regulatorios de calidad de la educación infantil en Australia</strong></p><p>Este estudio analiza las asociaciones entre los puntajes provenientes de procesos regulatorios de evaluación de la calidad de la educación infantil australiana (Early Childhood Education and Care – ECEC) del National Quality Standard (NQS) y de las dos escalas de evaluación de calidad (SSTEW – Sustained Shared Thinking and Well Being; y ECERS-E – Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale-Extended). La muestra consiste en 257 unidades de ECEC en tres estados de Australia. Los resultados indicaron: asociaciones positivas modestas entre los puntajes del NQS y de las escalas; alguna especificidad entre las áreas de calidad del NQS (aspectos del proyecto y prácticas pedagógicas para los niños; relaciones con niños) y una escala de evaluación – la SSTEW; variabilidad de los puntajes de las escalas de calidad dentro de cada clasificación del NQS; y atenuación de dichas asociaciones siempre que el tiempo entre las evaluaciones supera los 24 meses. Las conclusiones sugieren que el NQS y las escalas de evaluación indican un núcleo común de calidad, pero capturan aspectos distintos de la calidad, lo que sugiere que ambos se podrían utilizar para mejorar los estándares de calidad en el sistema preescolar australiano, en el que las escalas de evaluación potencian todavía más la calidad que el NQS.</p><p><strong>Palabras clave:</strong> National Quality Standard, ECERS-E, SSTEW, Calidad, Sistema Preescolar, Reglamentación</p><p> </p><p><strong>Comparing regulatory and non-regulatory indices of Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) quality in the Australian early childhood sector</strong></p><p>This study examines associations between Australia’s regulatory ratings of quality in Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) – the National Quality Standard (NQS) – and two research-based quality rating scales. The analytic sample consisted of 257 ECEC services across three Australian states. Results indicated (1) modest positive associations between NQS ratings and scale scores; (2) some specificity between NQS quality areas (educational programs and practice; relationships with children) and one research scale – the Sustained Shared Thinking and Emotional Wellbeing (SSTEW) scale; (3) variability in quality scales scores within each NQS designation; and (4) mitigation of these associations when the time-gap between ratings exceeded 24 months. Findings suggest NQS and research scales tap some common core of quality, yet capture different aspects of quality, suggesting both could be used to raise standards of quality in Australian preschools, where the research scales potentiate raising quality to even higher levels than NQS.</p><p><strong>Keywords</strong>: National Quality Standard, ECERS-E, SSTEW, Quality, Preschool, Regulation</p>

Childcare Center Characteristics Moderate the Effects of a Physical Activity Intervention

Center-based early childhood education and care (ECEC) programs are well-positioned to create positive impacts on the health and development of large numbers of young children by promoting physical activity using evidence-based programs. Studies testing physical activity programs for young children should examine the circumstances under which programs are most effective by assessing the role of contextual factors on program outcomes. The purpose of this study was to examine the moderating effects of baseline ECEC center characteristics on the relationship between the Study of Health and Activity in Preschool Environments (SHAPES) intervention and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA). MVPA was assessed via accelerometry; center characteristics, practices, and social and physical environments were assessed by director interview and observation; and center quality was assessed using the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale-Revised Edition. Mixed-model analyses of covariance (ANCOVAs) examined intervention effects on MVPA during the school day; interactions between baseline center variables and group assignment (intervention vs. control) tested for moderation. Two center instructional practices, two social environment characteristics, and one physical environment characteristic at baseline moderated the effects of SHAPES on MVPA outcomes. Assessing baseline practices and center characteristics may aid efforts to match centers with interventions likely to increase physical activity as well as suggest additional intervention strategies to test.

Trait Social Anxiety as a Conditional Adaptation: A Developmental and Evolutionary Framework

Individuals with trait social anxiety are disposed to be wary of others. Although feeling social anxiety is unpleasant, evolutionary psychologists consider it to be an adaptation. In current models, social anxiety is described as functioning to have helped our prehistoric ancestors avoid social threat by warning individuals when their interactions with other group members were likely to be negative and motivating them to act in ways to prevent conflict or limit its damage. Thus, trait social anxiety is thought to have evolved in our species because it allowed our ancestors to preserve their relationships and maintain their positions in social hierarchies. While we agree with this conclusion drawn by existing evolutionary models, we believe that there is an important element missing in these explanations: the role that individual development has played in the evolution of trait social anxiety. We propose a new model, which argues for trait social anxiety to be considered a conditional adaptation; that is, the trait should develop as a response to cues in the early childhood environment in order to prepare individuals to face social threat in adulthood. Our evolutionary model can provide new insights into how trait social anxiety has persisted in our species and how it functions in the modern world.

A comparative analysis of the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale–Revised and Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale, Third Edition

The Early Childhood Environment Rating Scales, including the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale–Revised (Harms et al., 2005) and the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale, Third Edition (Harms et al., 2015) are the most widely used observational assessments in early childhood learning environments. The most recent version of the scale addresses some of the criticisms in the research literature, particularly related to the organization of the Scale and the standard scoring procedures. In the current study, we explore the relationship between the two scales. Specifically, we evaluated the correlations between the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale–Revised and the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale, Third Edition, as well as the differences between the overall scores, individual items, and subscales. Implications for practice and future research are also provided.