This paper reports on preschool children's social relationships developed in urban and rural kindergarten classes in Greece. We investigated the selection and rejection criteria children use and examined potential criteria differences as a function of a number of socio-demographic variables (children's age group, gender, parental job status, region of kindergartens' base). The sample consisted of 70 children (30 boys and 40 girls), 4-6 years old, from one urban-and one rural-based kindergarten. The findings of the study indicated that: (1) the children used two criteria on average; (2) as they grow up, children's choices and explanations present a quantitative increase; (3) rejections are attributed to the level of their classmates' negative behaviour, mainly their aggressiveness; and (4) children's explanations for their positive selections seem to focus on their 'common interests/play', 'closeness/kinship' and 'personality characteristics'. These findings are discussed in relation to the study's hypotheses, which they support in part.
IntroductionThe last two decades have seen the study of social relationships among preschool children occupy a significant part of scientific interest for two main reasons. The first, under the effect of ecosystemic theoretical approaches, is related to the recognition of the important role that social relations play in preschool children's cognitive and socio-emotional development (Bronfenbrenner 1996;Hartup 1987). Following this line, the need for greater attention to the content of early childhood education with particular emphasis on the skills that promote the development of social relationships among peers is highly recognised in advanced education systems (MacBeath et al. 2005). The second reason refers to modern views on the quality and characteristics of these relationships.With regard to the former reason in the Greek context, until 2003 there were not clear indications in the preschool educational curriculum regarding the importance and promotion of social relationships of children in kindergarten classes. However, there was a distinct change in the new curriculum of 2003 with explicit contextual theoretical positions and a particular emphasis given to the skills that promote
The Department of Education Sciences in Early Childhood of the Democritus University of Thrace has been implementing the Lesson Study model in Practicum since the academic year 2011-12. In this paper we present results of the model implementation, during the years 2011-12 and 2012-13. Data were collected through a questionnaire given to 248 students and their written assignments. Results show that students are satisfied with the processes of the model regarding collaboration and active participation. However, we have identified difficulties which are associated with the forms of collaboration, their reflection capacity and their role as observers during the educational process.
The purpose of this study is to examine the reflective capacity and the ability of fourth grade students of a Department of Preschool Education to plan educational programs with the Lesson Study model. The sample consisted of 72 students who performed a tabletop exercise in groups in order to plan a Project or a Cross Thematic program. At the end of the process students wrote a "reflection" report about the overall procedure. The analysis of those reports led to interesting results about their reflective skills and abilities as well as their difficulties to design collaboratively.
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