Wong Shu Sing Paul, The Hong Kong Institute of Education

Connelly & Clandinin (1988) define narrative as “ the making meaning from personal experience via a process of reflection in which storytelling is the key element….” (p.16). In the same (1988) work, they go on to say that narrative is “….the study of how humans make meaning of experience by endlessly telling and retelling stories about themselves that both refigure the past and create purpose in the future” (p.24). According to Connelly and Clandinin (1994), narrative is both phenomenon (lived stories) and method (story telling). The paper is a narrative study of my daughter, Chin Chin as related to her nonverbal story telling experiences of musical movement. The main focus is on her musical movement in pretend play through a continuous period of from January 21, 2001 (Chin Chin aged 23 months) to June 12, 2006 (Chin Chin aged 49 months).

The aims of this paper are three-folded. First, it displays Chin Chin’s lived stories of musical movement with chronicles, which are the narrative story line that connect different sequences of events in Chin Chin’s lives. Secondly, in adopting Clandinin and Connelly’s (2000) three-dimensional narrative inquiry space: temporality, spatiality, personal and social interaction, I discuss and analyze the development of Chin Chin’s musical movement. Finally, based on Chin Chin’s music-movement experiences, I draw possible implications to parents, early childhood practitioners, educators and researchers.

Hsieh Ming-Fang, Indiana University

This study aims to reveal the experiences of learning English from a children’s point of view, and compare and contrast the experiences of learning between the partial English immersion program and the single-period English program. Data collection consists of three parts: observation of classroom activities, semi-formal interviews with children, and collecting children’s drawings about their English class. The results present that the children in the first class experienced structure-oriented curriculum, in which formal grammatical instruction is given through games while those in the second class received open-ended instruction in that the children were encouraged to express their thoughts about English storybooks though art activities. The children considered their ECE teachers the most important helper when they encountered difficulties in learning English. However, the children in the partial English immersion program indicated that writing Mandarin was more challengeable than speaking English and those in the single-period English program stated that learning English was more difficult than Mandarin. In addition, parents play an important role in pushing the trend of learning English at a younger age and also emphasize the importance and prestige of studying abroad. Besides, the children also demonstrated the abilities to identify the different functions and roles of their English and ECE teachers. Most importantly, most children seemed to enjoy their English lessons, but their favorite in school is play. Thus, it is suggested children’s typical learning activities in early childhood education should not be sacrificed due to the supplement of English language education.

Hameedy Mansoor A., University of Alzahra

Ranjbar Mehrnoosh F., University of Alzahra

The early childhood education programs would be the most appropriate place to initiate any program of change in any educational system, as they constitute the very foundation of the entire educating process. If children are to become self regulated explorers/learners in adolescence and adulthood, they must start doing so in early childhood. It is at this initial stage that children need to recognize themselves as constructors of their knowledge, and their teachers as assistances in this process of construction. Of all aspects of a program, i.e. philosophy and goals, activities and materials, and methods, it is the latter that could decide its success/failure.This would be as true in Iran as in any where else.

Early childhood education programs in Iran manifest themselves in a variety of forms as they are developed and implemented by different institutions. Among these programs, the preschool programs are the most recent. Considering this fact and the importance of pre-school education on the one hand, and the significance of the methods used in implementing these programs on the other, it appeared necessary to evaluate the methods used in three types of Pre-schools in Tehran from a constructivist perspective. A sample of pre-schools was selected and the methods of interaction between the teachers and the pupils were observed. Furthermore, the teachers were interviewed and the pupils tested to gather the necessary data. It is expected that the methods used in all three types of pre-school programs are mostly behaviorist in nature and hence, no significant difference between them shall be observed.

Gu Limin, Mid Sweden University

This paper is a comparative study of national policies and strategies for early childhood education in China and Sweden. The purpose of this study is to compare and contrast the preschool educational system of these two countries at policy and ideological level by examining and analyzing the frameworks of national kindergarten curriculum in their respective social, historical, cultural and pedagogical contexts. The special emphasis is on the similarities and differences in the statements and explanations of goals and principles for early childhood education and the pedagogical considerations etc. in those national official documents.

Chang Yu-Liang Aldy, MingDao University

Wu Su-Chiao Angel, National Chiayi University

The purpose of this research aimed to examine beginning teachers’ sense of efficacy in elementary schools. Beginning teachers whose background were and were not in mathematics and science were compared to explore the differences of their sense of efficacy. A mixed methods design was employed in this processing study. “Participant Main Survey” and “Mathematics Teaching Efficacy Beliefs Instruments” were used as the instruments of the quantitative part of this research. Participants were beginning elementary mathematics teachers in Taichung, Taiwan. Pre- and post-tests were administered to obtain their efficacy ratings. In the qualitative part, beginning teachers with and without background in mathematics and science were selected purposefully as participants according to their efficacy ratings in pre-tests. They were then divided into three groups: high, medium, and low; three teachers were selected from each group. Influential factors to beginning teachers’ sense of efficacy were identified through interviews, recordings, observations, researchers’ reflection notes. Finally, practical strategies for improvement were proposed to enhance beginning mathematics teachers’ sense of efficacy and accomplishing the ultimate objectives of increasing students’ learning interest and achievement in mathematics.

According to data analysis, research findings were reported as followings: First, beginning mathematics teachers who majored in mathematics and science had a significantly higher increase in their efficacy ratings than those who did not major in mathematics and science both at the beginning and the end of the first year. Also, beginning mathematics teachers who majored in mathematics and science had a significantly higher increase in both personal teaching efficacy and teaching outcome expectancy than those who did not major in mathematics and science. Further, main factors found in this study influencing beginning mathematics teachers’ sense of efficacy included: beginning teachers’ competence and ability in mathematics teaching activities and classroom management, care and assistance obtained from the school and the administration.

Aman Norhaida, Nanyang Technological University

Atan Noormala, Nanyang Technological University

This paper will explore the complex relationships between teacher beliefs and practices and whether teachers use teaching strategies to develop children’s literacy skills. Teacher belief is defined broadly as assumptions about students, classrooms, curriculum and the academic material to be taught.

A 148-item questionnaire was administered to 26 kindergarten teachers from 4 different preschool centres. Using a 5 point Likert scale, teachers were asked to rate their commitment to teaching, the efficacy of the school management in planning early childhood programs, parental support, student needs and teachers’ instructional focus and self-report on the various classroom pedagogical strategies they employ in the classroom.

The quantitative data relates teacher beliefs with observed classroom practices and the quantity and quality of classroom materials used. This leads to a discussion that teacher beliefs are translated into classroom instructions. Where the perceived objective of preschool education is primary 1 (first grade) school-readiness, classroom observations show that the curriculum is assessment-driven, and the nature of tasks and assignments given to the children is repetitive and classroom instruction didactic, with focus on developing basic literacy skills. Teaching materials generally include workbooks, worksheets and very little curriculum time is given to shared-book reading, extended discourse as well as connecting lessons to the real world.

There are also instances in which teacher beliefs do not match their classroom practices, which raise concerns on the processes in which teacher beliefs become contextualized in the classroom and the impact that has on school-readiness and child development in general.

Findings suggest practical implications for preschool teacher education and training are required and an effort to effect changes in teacher beliefs towards their students and profession, similar to that of personal beliefs.

Barbre Jean Griffith, Orange County Department of Education

Sixty children, ages 4 to 5, and their parents participated in a 36 week study, located at three sites in Orange County, California, to determine if the children would increase their oral language proficiency levels through participation in language-rich and print-rich activities. Ninety percent of the children were Hispanic with a home language of Spanish. The children attended a two-day preschool session and a one-day parent/child session and received curricular interventions for oral language development and phonemic awareness. Teachers received 101 hours of training on language acquisition and emergent literacy. Parents attended a weekly parent/child session where they were instructed on principles of child development and emergent literacy. Between sessions, parents participated in oral language home activities and submitted a log of these activities. The children were administered the Pre-IPT Oral test at the beginning and end of the study to measure oral language gains in both English and Spanish.

The findings in this research study reported out of 60 students, a majority of the students increased at least one English designation level and 2 students gained two levels. Thirty-one students scored as Fluent English Speaking. Fifty-four students took both the English and Spanish Pre-IPT Oral test, 15 students increased at least one Spanish designation level and 38 students scored as Fluent Spanish Speaking. Students increased their English scores based on days of attendance and oral language home activities. Parents, at each of the three schools, continued to be involved in their children’s classroom following the end of the study. This study’s findings revealed that differentiated instructional strategies in the classroom and at home increased both children’s first and second language acquisition. This study also found that parent directed activities helped reduce the school readiness gap and that parents continued to be involved in their child’s education.

Sze Ching Shim, Esther, Nanyang Technological University

The present study is an investigation of parenting behaviours as perceived by a sample of Primary Five boys and girls. The study examines three key dimensions of fathers’ and mothers’ parenting behaviours: warmth, control and communication, as well as children’s academic efficacy and self-efficacy.

In Singapore, education is about nurturing the whole child. Indeed, this is the traditional Asian understanding of the term. Education means developing the child morally, intellectually, physically, socially and aesthetically. The mission of the Ministry of Education in Singapore is to mould the future of our nation, by moulding the people who will determine the future of the nation. The vision for meeting the challenges for the future can be summed up as Thinking Schools, Learning Nation – a vision which will ensure that Singapore will be a nation of thinking and committed citizens who are capable of contributing towards Singapore’s continued growth and prosperity.

Many parents wonder about the different types of parenting behaviours and practices and how these affect the child’s growth and development. Indeed, parenting is a complex activity that includes many specific behaviours that work individually and together to influence child outcomes and one important child outcome is that of academic achievement.

In Singapore, the education system requires the child to put in a lot of effort into his/ her study. A child may spend up to three-quarters of his/ her day in school and after school, engaging in enrichment activities provided by the school. A child in Singapore undergoes at least 10 years of general education. This comprises 6 years of primary education, which is compulsory with effect from 1 January 2003, and 4 years of secondary education. At the primary level, pupils go through a 4-year foundation stage, from Primary 1 to 4, and a 2-year orientation stage from Primary 5 to 6. To maximise their potential, pupils are formally streamed into EM1, EM2 or EM3, according to their learning ability at the end of Primary 4. However, from end-2004, the distinction between the EM1 and EM2 streams was removed and schools now have the autonomy to decide how best to band their pupils by ability, in ways that add the most educational value. At the end of Primary 6, all pupils would sit for the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE), which assess their abilities for placements in a secondary school course that suits their learning pace and aptitude (Foo & Kwok, 1999). This in turn poses a great challenge to parents who want their children to be placed in good secondary schools.

As a result, Singapore parents become increasingly concerned about their child’s education and try to help out as they become more and more aware of the impact they may have on their child’s academic achievements. More parents engage themselves in school activities, tried to understand the child’s needs more, and interact with teachers and other parents in school, in an attempt to help their child achieve academically.

Although there is an abundance of literature in the West on parenting, few studies have been done in Singapore on children. Recently, studies such as that of Latika (2000), Ong (1999) and Sim (1998), have attempted to fill the gap by studying perceptions of parenting and their impact on adolescent adjustments. The present study is a modest attempt to help build the literature base on parenting for children in Singapore.

Lee Hyunjoo, Seoul National University

Kim Yongnam, Seoul National University

Shim Jeonga, Seoul National University

Shin Jongho, Seoul National University

This study investigates the factors affecting problem solving and mathematics performance of 15-year-old students in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2003 data across different cultural settings using a structural equation model. Three high ranked countries in the PISA 2003 data were selected for the comparison of cultural differences; Korea, Japan, and Finland. Although all the three countries’ student performances are high similarly, there are significant differences in factors which affect students’ performance. Thus, it’ll be meaningful to investigate how these factors affect differently students’ academic performance and each other, and how culture and education system surrounding students have effects on these factors by comparing three different countries. The factors studied are students related variable, teacher related variables, and school related variables. The student related variables include self efficacy in problem solving and mathematics, instrumental motivation and anxiety in problem solving and mathematics. Teacher related variables are the students’ perception of disciplinary class climate, and teachers’ commitment. Students’ attitude toward to school, sense of belonging to school, and class climates are included in school related variables. This study explores the structure and pattern how the teacher related and school related variables affect on the student’s motivation, self-efficacy and anxiety in mathematics. In addition, how these all variables affects on problem solving and mathematics achievements. These findings are discussed with reference to cultural context.

Ailwood Jo, Queensland Uiversity of Technology

For citizens of nations functioning with advanced liberal, knowledge-based economies a dominant theme is the exhortation to become reflexive, self-maximising individuals. This reflexive and self-maximising citizen, who is increasingly thought of as separated from institutional and structural constraint as a free and individual agent, has become the valorised citizen of western politics and policy. Some researchers regard this shift in understanding of citizenship as a detraditionalisation; or an unhooking of traditional social roles and relationships, such as gender, from individuals. Others argue that it is instead a more complex process of both detraditionalisation and retraditionalisation; that is ‘unhookings’ combined and in conflict with reinforcings of ‘tradition’.

One site in which these shifts in thinking about citizenship can be explicated is in the arena of women’s labour, motherhood and early childhood education. Early childhood education and care policy and women’s work are high on the policy agenda of governments across Australia. Given this, it is significant and timely to consider what governments are thinking, saying and doing about the problem of women, children, work and care. This paper seeks to make an analysis of the way in which the federal government is ‘problematising’ early childhood education and care in advanced liberalism, taking account of the complex combination of detraditionalisation and retraditionalisation across women’s labour, motherhood and early childhood education and care.

Wilkinson J Eric, University of Glasgow

Chen Jeng Chyeng, Taipei Municipal University of Education

Pei-jung Peggy, Taipei Municipal University of Education

In recent years governments in many developed countries have given priority to the development of early childhood services, particularly early childhood education. In a number of Western countries (for example, Britain and Sweden) such developments have been driven by the social democratic ideology referred to as the Third Way. A number of Asian countries such as Taiwan have also now recognised the need to prioritise the development of such services. In both Britain and Taiwan the relationship between the State, the family and the child is going through a period of flux.

Taiwan , as a relatively new political democracy, is in a unique and sensitive position. It has a chequered history with cultural and political influences from Portugal, Holland, Japan and China though the Chinese influence is now dominant. The education system is highly competitive with many educational establishments located in the private sector-from kindergartens to schools, colleges and universities. Young people are put under considerable pressure to get access to the 'best' Senior High School and the 'best' University. However, the Taiwan government has recently recognised the need to pay attention to the reform of early childhood education. Britain, on the other hand, and Scotland in particular, with long traditions of political democracy, has given top priority to early childhood education and care since 1997. The Scottish Executive's Childcare Strategy has brought two years of free universal services in pre-school education and has taken major steps in the integration of education and care into a single educational framework.

Using a qualitative methodology based on interviews with a Government Minister, kindergarten principals and professors of early childhood education in Taiwan and scrutiny of official documentation in Scotland, this paper analyses recent policy developments in both countries. Such policy developments are traced to their ideological roots. The paper then identifies the tensions facing both countries in the continuing development of early childhood education.

Wu Su-Chiao Angel, National Chiayi University

Chang Yu-Liang Aldy, MingDao University

Integrated curriculum is a well-known early childhood construct that recently has been explored by other levels of education in different country. Since integrated curriculum was emphasized in current educational reform in Taiwan, there were many discussions and arguments emerged. Some educators and researchers (e.g. Chou, 1999; Huang, 1999; & Ou, 2000) advised that we should pay more attentions on teachers’ professional development of integrated curriculum in order to achieve this reform. Because of differences in kindergarten and elementary and middle school teachers’ training backgrounds and practical teaching experiences, kindergarten teachers seem to have stronger perceptions in the philosophy, theory, and implementation of integrated curriculum than the other two (Wu, 2003). Thus, kindergarten teachers’ philosophical, theoretical, and practical, perceptions of integrated curriculum should be explicitly in order to provide recommendations for other levels’ teachers and teacher training program design.

This study uses a qualitative research design associated with use of triangulation analysis to investigate deeply kindergarten teachers’ perceptions of curriculum integration. Documentation analysis and literature review will be finished in the first stage of this study to develop a fundamental and theoretical understanding of curriculum integration. Then, the whole process of participant observations and interviews will be administered in a famous and successful early childhood educational institution, Emile, in Taichung City. There will have at least 108-hour participant observations (3 hours per week), which includes the curriculum development within the whole school and specific classrooms, during the research implementing stage. Moreover, at least 10 qualified kindergarten teachers will be interviewed face by face with open-ended questions. Finally, the data from documents, observations, and interviews will be analyzed together in relation to the literature review and be used to answer the research questions and provide recommendations for further study.

Lovorn Michael, California State University

This article discusses the significance of children’s literature as it relates to helping K-8 students deal with difficult times. Whether the tragedy or trauma is global, national, regional or personal, students can find answers in children’s literature. The author discusses his interest in this area and surveys several examples of literature from around the world that have been written for the purpose of helping children cope with disaster and trauma.

Ibe Milagros Dimal, Miriam College

This is a qualitative study of children's written responses to projective type situations which they meet in school or at home. Eight situations in 4-frame comic strips with simple one-line descriptions and/or conversations between story characters were used. Each situation was depicted in one sheet, and after the fourth frame the child was asked what he would do if he were in the situation described.

The subjects were onehundred forty 7-, 9-, 11-, year old pupils from two government elementary schools in rural Philippines. The children's responses were in 1 or 2 sentences in either English or Filipino language from which the values were inferred. The responses were categorized values-wise by a panel consisting of two teachers, two psychologists and one parent.

The study results showed varied values of the children which implied developmental differences with respect to gender and age as well as grade level in school.

Gao Fang, The University of Hong Kong

This article ethnographically examines how family characteristics, school resources and teacher expectations affect educational aspirations and attainment among Korean Chinese pupils in one ethnically-mixed Korean school. The academic success of Korean students in China has been widely discussed in local press/media often within the context of a “model minority” discourse. This discourse typically explains Korean student achievement as the result of a cultural emphasis on education combined with lived experience that confirms the perceived payoffs of that education. Not only does the model minority discourse perpetuate a myth of universal Korean student achievement, it also fails to consider the widening achievement gap among Korean students at a time of local transition and change. Using the Open Systems Approach (Ballantine, [2001. The sociology of education: A systematic analysis (5th). New Jersey: Prentice Hall]), the author demonstrates the variations in academic performance which are viewed as the result of the relationship between the school organization (“process”) and the environment outside the organization (“input”). Fieldwork focuses on two fourth-grade classes, both of which consist of a certain number of Danqin (Single-parent household) and Wuqin (Living with relatives) Korean pupils. Alongside detailed observations, in-depth, largely semi-structured interviews and the use of secondary source data, research results link the achievement gap among Korean pupils at this particular Korean school to the family structure, to the home learning activities, in which pupils participate with their families, to the school resources and the expectations Korean pupils have with their teachers and classmates. This paper seeks to contribute to the literature that critically examines Korean Chinese academic success by viewing it through the lens of open system of education which emphasizes the need to look beyond cultural explanations of success and failure to include an analysis of structural and institutional factors influencing the school experiences of Korean pupils.

Chua Lai Choon, Ministry of Education

Gan Eng Chuo, Ministry of Education

Teh Laik Woon, Ministry of Education

Low Ying Xiu, Ministry of Education

Numerous studies have shown that obesity is associated with poor academic performance, while other studies suggest that students who are physically fitter (e.g. score higher in physical fitness tests) tend to perform better academically. However, many of these studies do not take into account the combined effect of both Body Mass Index (BMI) and physical fitness on academic performance. The Socio-Economic Status (SES) of the students was also not considered in these previous studies. Hence, this study investigates the collective effect of the abovementioned factors on academic performance.

The national examination results of over 42,000 Primary 6 students in 2004, the National Physical Fitness Assessment (NAPFA) results, as well as the Ministry’s records of the students’ height and weight, and family background were obtained and analysed.

An index to proxy the SES of the students was extracted (using factor analysis) from data pertaining to their parents’ educational level as well as the type of their residence. All the data was fitted to OLS regression models, to estimate the partial effects of BMI, physical fitness and SES on PSLE performance.

First, our analysis suggests that the partial relationship between BMI and PSLE performance is non-linear. Second, the effect of BMI on PSLE performance was greatly diminished when physical fitness was added to the regression model. This suggests that the unadjusted BMI effect may be confounded by the students’ physical fitness.

These findings add to our understanding of the association between physical fitness, obesity and academic performance. It may result in the improvement and reorientation of school health programmes. For instance, instead of designing and implementing a strict dietary programme aiming primarily to reduce the body mass of obese students, our findings suggest that school health programme should perhaps focus more on helping students to become physically fitter.

Neanchaleay Jariya, King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi

Sumalee Chanchalor, King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi

Amonrat Srijarearn,

This research aimed to develop training activities kits for holistic thinking skill and study achievement of the training activities, which used to develop the holistic thinking of students. Sampling group was 40 students who were studying in Mathayom Suksa 1. Instrument used in this research were 1) four sets of the training activities kits for development of the holistic thinking skill, in total 16 of activities and 2) achievement test of the holistic thinking skill. The development of holistic thinking skill comprised of 8 factors which were observation skill, discrimination skill, classifying skill, ordering skill, interconnecting skill, reasoning skill, integrating skill, knowledge application skill. Model of the training activities comprised of many activities as for 1 package of PowerPoint program, 8 packages of videodisc, 2 packages of multimedia, 5 packages of materials media and job sheet. It also used group activities shared together with in good environment. Average posttest scores of the students were higher significantly than the pretest scores at a level of 0.01.

Ong Ai Choo, Nanyang Technological University

There is increasing understanding among educators that children’s social emotional learning should be promoted in school, if not given equal emphasis to academic achievement. Research evidence indicates that enhancing social and emotional skills of children provides a firm foundation for their successful cognitive and behavioral development, and that social and emotional skills are in fact essential for the successful development of thinking and learning activities. This paper first describes a framework for social emotional learning, its key components and features, and appropriate teaching methods, including cognitive and affective methods. It also demonstrates how SEL may be infused into the formal and informal curriculum. Finally it describes the implementation of an SEL programme in two primary schools, in which a total of 35 pupils participated in the programme. A brief description and evaluation of the programme is provided, including reflections on major lessons learned from the project.

Chang Mido, Virginia Tech

Singh Kusum, Virginia Tech

American schools have many ethnically and linguistically diverse students. Recent immigrants make up approximately 14 percent of elementary students, and this percentage is growing dramatically every year. Language minority immigrant students have to overcome more difficulties than native-born students to succeed in school, including the tasks of learning a new language and cultural norms. The pedagogically appropriate classroom practices to help those students adapt to a new educational environment are needed now more than ever. Identifying and supporting high-quality early school programs for immigrant students will be cost-effective in the long run, by making schools more responsive to the needs of diverse students, diminishing the inequalities of school systems, and reducing the probability of later academic failure, dropout, and delinquency of minority students.

In this paper, we identified beneficial classroom activities for kindergarten and elementary immigrant students of various ethnic groups. Specifically, we examined the effects of four mathematical grouping practices on the math performances of immigrant students: teacher-directed whole class activities, teacher-directed small group activities, teacher-directed individual activities, and child-selected activities.

We used the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (ECLS), a nationwide dataset, composed of more than 21,260 students and 5,963 non-English-speaking students as a home language. We used a hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) as a major analytical tool, and performed a series of cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses. Our results indicate the benefits of teacher-directed individual activities.

This paper supports the efficacy of certain classroom practices to reinforce immigrant students’ success in mathematics, which provides the foundation for future learning in math, science and other technological subject areas, preparing the students to be citizens of modern global technological societies. The long-term goal of this research is to lower barriers for immigrant students which prevent them from academically succeeding in school and living up to their potential.

Abu Bakar Mukhlis, Nanyang Technological University

Jalil Sajlia, Nanyang Technological University

Children’s earliest discoveries about literacy are learned through active engagement with their social and cultural worlds (Bissex, 1980). Play is a social activity that evolves through the internalization of socio-cultural processes and practices, a tool enabling children to learn about literacy through interaction with the environment (Neuman & Roskos, 1997). Symbolic play supports the development of early literacy skills. It is the imaginative function of language: characterized by the use of explicit language to convey meaning, linguistic verbs to clarify and negotiate meaning, as well as the theme of integration and organization of language and stories, required in both symbolic play and literate behaviors of children that results in this (Pelligrini & Galda, 1990, 1993). In this paper, we take a close look at two instances of symbolic play narratives (a movie-related dramatic play and a doctor-themed pretend play) enacted at home by a group of three siblings aged three to eight years. Micro-analyses of the play setting (props, play area), physical actions and movements, as well as the pattern of discourse contained within these narratives show a pattern of narrative competence (role appropriate language and story production and comprehension) and appropriation of socio-cultural experiences that Pelligrini (1985) argues is necessary for schooled literacy practices. Hence, it is within this context of purposeful, pressure-free play in familiar environments that children may best display and extend knowledge about literacy and how it may function in their worlds (Fantuzzo, Sutton-Smith, Coolahan, Manz, Canning & Debnam, 1995). Educators have to consider providing opportunities for both situated and formal school learning: creating a dynamic and active classroom context for participation in literacy development where real-world opportunities to engage in literacy practices results in continuity between the rich contexts of home and school literacy practices.

Ngan So Fong, The Hong Kong Institute of Education

The aim of the paper is to discuss the thinking process of a preschool teacher’s knowledge of child development and the concept of creativity in designing art activities. The design of an art curriculum will reflect the adults’ knowledge of child development (Morgan, 1995). Child development knowledge is very important in designing art activities for promoting children’s creativity. The design of curriculum will depend on teacher’s training, teaching experience, observation skills, concept of their theories of creativity and child development and the ability to reflect (Ngan 2006). Schon (1987) suggested ‘theories-in-use’ ‘reflection-on-action’, which indicate the importance of the teacher’s thinking. A qualitative methodology was applied in a study of a typical preschool in Hong Kong. A semi-structured interview was conducted. Video-tape recordings of the classroom teaching was used as a stimulated recall of the activities to find out the rationale, focus of the activities and the reflection of the teacher. The findings indicate that the teacher needs to develop her observation skills in order to be more sensitive to children’s needs. Finally her knowledge of creativity and children development are very important.

Joyce Bruce R., The Northern Lights School Division

Hrycauk Marilyn, The Northern Lights School Division

Calhoun Emily F., EFC Phoenix

For many years educational psychologists and specialists in early child education have maintained that the normal developmental cognitive development of kindergarten students is insufficient to sustain instruction in reading. Further, many of them have maintained that instruction in reading could actually be damaging to those young children. We challenge that supposition. Our challenge is because we believe that they have been operating on the assumption that the curriculum that would be used is of a primitive, "drill and practice" format. However, natural language approaches, where the developed listening-speaking vocabulary is used as the base for print language teaching, have reached the point where comfortable reading instruction is not only feasible, but desirable. Using a curriculum developed around the Picture Word Inductive Model of Teaching, the Northern Lights School Division has both been able to demonstrate that kindergarten students can learn to read effectively, but that those effects persist through the fifth grade. The 130 students who were taught to read in the kindergarten year have now reached the fifth grade and their average score on the Gray Oral Reading Test is 7.0, substantially above the norm for Canadian students.