3 results
13 - Executive functions in early childhood
- from Part 2 - Dimensions of health and wellbeing
- Edited by Susanne Garvis, Swinburne University of Technology, Victoria, Donna Pendergast, Griffith University, Queensland
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- Book:
- Health and Wellbeing in Childhood
- Published online:
- 08 March 2024
- Print publication:
- 04 March 2024, pp 209-223
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- Chapter
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Summary
Executive functions refer to the higher-order skills we use to engage in purposeful and goal-directed behaviours (Carlson et al., 2013). ‘Purposeful’ means that we call on these functions when we have a goal in mind. Developmental psychologists compare the brain with a bustling airport, referring to executive functions as the mind’s ‘air traffic control’ system (Center on the Developing Child, 2011). In the same way that an air traffic controller manages the arrival and departure of several aeroplanes at the same time, the brain’s executive functions enable us to manage a lot of information. Executive functions help us to focus and resist distractions, to think before acting, and to cope with frustrations and rules simultaneously. Young children use executive functions in all aspects of their everyday lives, such as remembering the rules of a game, resisting temptations or impulsive reactions, waiting their turn, staying focused, recalling routines and respecting different points of view. This chapter begins by defining executive functions and their role in children’s learning. It then describes how educators work across the early years to promote executive functions. The final section of the chapter lists questions that may help early years educators to reflect on the ways in which they support children’s emerging executive functions.
11 - Mathematics
- from Part II - Pedagogy in Interaction
- Edited by Amelia Church, University of Melbourne, Amanda Bateman, Swansea University
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- Book:
- Talking with Children
- Published online:
- 16 June 2022
- Print publication:
- 30 June 2022, pp 227-246
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Summary
Early childhood educators are faced daily with supporting young children’s learning in educational environments that include digital technologies. This chapter first discusses what is currently known about young children’s use of digital technologies from health and educational perspectives. Specifically, this chapter shows how young children’s digital technology use in early childhood classrooms is influenced by a range of factors, such as access to digital technology and educator beliefs about the benefits of technology, and how to integrate digital technology in ways that align with early childhood pedagogy. Next, this chapter shows how educators and children engage with digital technologies through employing interactional practices that support inquiry-based learning, problem solving, and conceptual engagement, including digital and critical literacy skills. In this way, it highlights how teacher pedagogy-in-use makes possible children’s rich engagement with digital technologies. Finally, this chapter shows how these understandings are be applied by educators in their own practices.
Chapter 5 - Partnering with families to promote learning
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- By Caroline Cohrssen, Melbourne Graduate School of Education at the University of Melbourne., Frank Niklas, University of Würzburg
- Jane Page, University of Melbourne, Collette Tayler, University of Melbourne
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- Book:
- Learning and Teaching in the Early Years
- Published online:
- 21 June 2018
- Print publication:
- 13 September 2016, pp 90-111
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Summary
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
In this chapter you will:
1. consider research evidence that demonstrates the contribution made by the family to children's learning
2. reflect on the relationship between teachers, children and children's families in supporting children's learning
3. learn how to build strong relationships with families as a teacher.
Introduction
The family is a child's first teacher. More specifically, families are both the first site and the first agents of learning: this means that learning happens within the family setting and through interactions with family members. Children are not merely passive recipients of information (see also Chapters 1, 3 and 4). They are active participants in the process of learning and children both affect, and are affected by, the environment in which they learn. As a result of this multidirectional process, it is essential for teachers to support families in promoting children's learning and development, and working collaboratively with families is a key part of an effective teacher's practice. In the early childhood profession, this is often referred to as ‘family-centred practice’.
This chapter will address three important considerations when working with families. It sets out how the crucial role played by families in advancing young children's learning is reflected in various documents that guide early childhood practitioners. It explains what research tells us about the importance of the home learning environment for child development. Finally, the chapter suggests practical strategies for establishing and maintaining effective relationships and coaching family members in everyday techniques that support young children's learning.
In addition, three case studies will be presented. The first case study offers an example of a policy perspective on partnerships in learning with families. The second case study describes current research exploring the important influence of the home learning environment and how teachers can support parents in supporting children's learning. The third case study focuses on the Families as First Teachers (FaFT) Program, initiated in the Northern Territory, and demonstrates how families working alongside formal school settings are both supporting family interactions with schools and school personnel, and thereby enabling families and schools to collaborate in supporting individual children as they transition into school.