Dare Not to Compare

This chapter urges educators to think differently about identifying and serving young children in gifted education services. Embedded in the chapter are principles for creating equitable services for young children which include focusing on and respecting the strengths and talents that all young children bring to their early learning environments. Creating thinking environments maximizes opportunities to promote and strengthen intellectual engagement as well as social and emotional development. Described through the metaphor of a jazz musician, the author emphasizes the important roles that teachers play in implementing culturally responsive pedagogies that embrace teaching for social justice. The author concludes with a scenario that illustrates the principles for creating equitable services for all young students and reiterates the need to change conceptions of early childhood gifted education from comparative practices to strengths-based and appropriately challenging instruction for all.

Does the Intensity of Gadget Use Impact Social and Emotional Development of Children aged 48-72 Months?

Purpose –This study aims to analyze the correlation between the intensity of gadget use and the social-emotional development of children aged 48-72 months.Design/methods/approach – The Study uses quantitative research with a cross-sectional study. The sample includes 126 children using a simple random sampling technique at Al-Furqon Kindergarten and Bunda Ghifari Kindergarten Surabaya, Indonesia. The independent variable is the intensity of gadget use which is measured using a questionnaire. The dependent variable is the children’s social-emotional development as measured by the Questionnaire of Problems and Emotional Behavior.Findings – There is a significant correlation between the intensity of gadget usage and the social-emotional development of children aged 48-72 months (p-value < 0.05). High-intensity gadget use will increase their social-emotional development in the referral category, which means it requires treatment by the experts.Research implications/limitations - The result of this study supports the theory that high intensity of gadget usage on children will affect their social and emotional development. This study only focuses on children’s social and emotional development without examining another developmental variable that may affect the study results.Practical implications – Parents are expected to play a role in supervising and limiting the use of gadgets on children to avoid the negative impacts.Originality/value –This study contributes to the literature by showing the effect of gadget use on children’s social and emotional development. Paper type Research paper

The relationship between cognitive development, behavior indicators, and Personal, Social, and Emotional Development in Pre-school

The paper investigates the potential of a questionnaire answered by teachers about the behavior and socio-emotional skills of children enrolled in preschool – start of compulsory schooling in Brazil. Based on this instrument, it describes the development of indicators of inattention, hyperactivity-impulsivity and personal, social and emotional development. It uses multivariate linear regression models to identify factors associated with the cognitive development of children enrolled in preschool. The results suggest that more inattentive children tend to have lower cognitive attainment, especially in language. The estimated coefficients in the multivariate model suggest that the Personal, Social and Emotional Development has a moderate to high effect size for language and mathematics. Implications of the results for educational policies are presented.

Developmental Trajectories of Negative Peer Play in Preschool: Predictors and Outcomes1

This study aims to identify age-related trajectories of preschoolers’ negative peer play, their predictors, and school-related outcomes. The participants were 1,547 children in the Panel Study on Korean Children and their teachers and parents. Using latent class growth analysis, we identified negative peer play trajectories of children between 4 and 6 years old. Analyses of variances were conducted to investigate whether children’s school readiness at 6 years old differed between the trajectories. Finally, multinomial logistic regressions were conducted to explore how teacher-child interactions influenced membership in the trajectories. Three developmental trajectories of play disruption were found: “Low” (64.3%), “Constant-higher” (34.3%), and “U-curve” (1.4%). In the case of play disconnection, four trajectories were found: “Low-increase” (57.6%), “Moderate-decrease” (26.5%), “Sharp-increase” (10.1%), and “High-decrease” (5.8%). The trajectories of play disruption were related to social and emotional development and approach to learning. The trajectories of play disconnection were related to all aspects of school readiness including social and emotional development, approach to learning, communication, and cognitive development. Teacher-child interactions that encourage children’s prosocial behaviors and positive peer interactions predicted likely membership in “Low-increase” play disconnection development. Also, teachers’ affectionate and sensitive qualities during the interaction with children predicted a “Low” trajectory of play disruption. Together, the results emphasized the protective power of positive teacher-child interactions in the development of preschool negative peer play. Based on the findings, policy implications are discussed with regard to teacher education.