Berenice Nyland

DETERMINANTS OF SCHOOL ATTENDANCE AMONG MIGRANT CHILDREN: SURVEY EVIDENCE FROM CHINA'S JIANGSU PROVINCE*

Across the developing world education is seen as a means of raising levels of everyday wellbeing and is being linked to improved measures of productivity and economic growth. This paper employs a household production function framework to examine the determinants of school attendance among migrant children using a unique dataset collected in Chinas Jiangsu province. The study finds that the main predictors of school attendance among migrant children in the sample were household income, mothers education, the length of residence of the childs mother in the city and whether both parents were working in the same city.

grandparents as educators and carers in China

Many grandparents play a significant role as educators and carers of children in the preschool years. Recently, this role has become the focus of much early childhood research as challenges facing grandparent carers and grandparent-headed households increasingly become an economic and social issue. Using survey data from China we explore the role of grandparents who have a primary care responsibility for a young child and discuss this contribution to the family in relation to quality of care and education. We argue that grandparents play a significant role in terms of home education of the young, workforce support for young parents, cultural identity within families and community capacity building. Grandparents are therefore deserving of more sustained attention from policy makers and educators when considering the young childs developmental environment.

The Saudi Arabian international student experience: from a gender-segregated society to studying in a mixed-gender environment

In Saudi Arabia gender segregation is a cultural practice that occurs across all public and private domains. This segregation has shaped the lives of Saudi citizens and is driven socially through cultural and religious discourses and politically through regulation and policy. For Saudi students undertaking their education in western countries, the transitioning experience can be challenging. This paper draws on research conducted in Australia that has attempted to explore and understand this transitioning experience. The aim of the study was to highlight the dialectical relationship between participants’ cultural identity and the acculturation experience of cross-cultural contact. The findings indicate that Saudi students’ cultural identity has a significant influence on the experience of being in a mixed-gender environment. Findings also suggest a relationship between current experience and cultural identity. Drawing on in-depth interviews, the paper provides context to help understand the transitioning experience of Saudi students.

Infant Programmes in Australian Childcare Centres: Are There Gaps in Pre-Service Training of Childcare Staff?.

This paper discusses the potential of the childcare centre as a child‐rearing niche and is based on data collection and research carried out in childcare centres. The everyday experiences of infants were recorded on video over a period of eighteen months. These experiences were coded using a number of communicative language categories as well as by examining caregiver use of routines and provision of cultural artefacts. A detailed description of the infants in the particular developmental niche emerged. Extending this examination of everyday life for infants in a childcare centre, the paper explores the potential of the childcare centre as a context that supports the childs growth and development. A focus of analysis was the type of interactions the children experience with caregivers. Earlier studies revealed that incidences of joint attention, valued in the development literature, were minimal. This raises two questions. Do childcare staff who work with infants need special training in pre‐verbal communication? Does the group care arrangement contain alternative forms of stimulation that make one‐on‐one interactions with adults less important? These two questions are explored using aspects of attachment and sociocultural theory to frame the discussion.This paper discusses the potential of the childcare centre as a child‐rearing niche and is based on data collection and research carried out in childcare centres. The everyday experiences of infants were recorded on video over a period of eighteen months. These experiences were coded using a number of communicative language categories as well as by examining caregiver use of routines and provision of cultural artefacts. A detailed description of the infants in the particular developmental niche emerged. Extending this examination of everyday life for infants in a childcare centre, the paper explores the potential of the childcare centre as a context that supports the childs growth and development. A focus of analysis was the type of interactions the children experience with caregivers. Earlier studies revealed that incidences of joint attention, valued in the development literature, were minimal. This raises two questions. Do childcare staff who work with infants need special training in pre‐verbal commu...

Learning Stories – crossing borders: introducing qualitative early childhood observation techniques to early childhood practitioners in Saudi Arabia

Abstract Early childhood education has become a focus of government policy across the world. Part of the present increased interest in early childhood education has been a focus on curriculum frameworks and socio/cultural methods of assessment. Currently, New Zealand has emerged as a world leader in early childhood education, and observation and assessment techniques, developed in New Zealand, have become an international focus of research and pedagogic practice. One exemplar practice to have emerged from research in New Zealand is the assessment of childrens learning. An assessment project, conducted at the instigation of the New Zealand Ministry of Education, was designed to recognise key outcomes from the New Zealand curriculum, Te Whāriki, and to provide practitioners with a tool that would assist in the development of assessment ideas and procedures. The result was Learning Stories. This present research explored the introduction of Learning Stories into Australia and investigated the potential of Learning Stories as an assessment tool for early childhood practitioners in the context of Saudi Arabia.

Mindful hands, gestures as language: listening to children

This paper explores ideas of language as a cognitive tool and the role of gesture in expressing childrens interests and levels of knowledge. The context is a group of three‐year‐old children who participate in a weekly music session with a trained musician. The authors present drawings from photographs of childrens hands and interpret them, using contextual information, to explain how the positioning of the childrens hands reflects their internalized understandings and can be viewed as a rich symbolic language. A discussion of the early childhood curriculum and the use of finger plays has been included to suggest that gesture was initially viewed as part of ‘the whole child’ but, today, activities like finger plays have become ritualized exercises. It is suggested that if adults do not listen to the language of hands they are depriving themselves of a valuable window into childrens thinking and learning.

Preschool Provision and Children of Migrants in Beijing.

Chinese children with an urban household registration (hukou) normally attend subsidized preschools for three years prior to primary school. This is an experience available to relatively few of Chinas many millions of migrant children whose families are registered as rural residents but choose to migrate to urban areas. This paper presents research, in the form of a case study, which examined an informal playgroup for rural-registered migrant children whose parents worked in a Beijing market. The playgroup was established by volunteers to provide an affordable, though limited, alternative preschool experience for migrant children. The original programme was derived from community concepts that initially underpinned the “Sure Start” intervention in the United Kingdom. In the paper, survey data is utilized to determine if an informal playgroup can be a positive alternative in a context where migrant children have little capacity to access the preschool programmes available to their urban counterparts.

Language Experiences of Preverbal Children in Australian Childcare Centres.

ABSTRACT This paper explores the language experiences of preverbal infants in Australian childcare centres with the aim of examining cultural regulation within the childcare context. Language is defined as a social and communicative act that is related to the development of voluntary action (Vygotsky 1962; Lock 1980; Leontiev 1994). The study uses naturalistic observations of language and communication as a method of recording infant experiences and analysing daily events, framing the childcare context as a developmental niche. The developmental niche is the interface between the self and culture. Knowledge is socially constructed and can be liberating or constraining. The infants in this research were gaining a conceptual knowledge of the social world of childcare as constructed within the Australian community. Their experiences reflected cultural attitudes towards infants, towards particular infants as defined by age, personality, actions and probably gender. Findings from the study indicated the focus children initiated more communication than adults in the setting and their communicative messages were frequently misunderstood, even when repeated and diverse strategies were used to repair the message. That the settings were more reactive than reciprocal and the adults had a limited range of abilities for reading children’s preverbal language acts has implications for the social design of group care and pre‐service training for adults who will work with very young children. RÉSUMÉ: Cet article porte sur les expériences langagières de nourrissons dans les lieux d’accueil de la petite enfance en Australie, dans le but d’étudier les régulations culturelles au sein du contexte d’accueil. Le langage est défini comme un acte de communication et de socialisation qui est lié au développement des actions intentionnelles (Vygotsky 1962; Lock 1980; Leontiev 1994). L’étude utilise des observations du langage et de la communication en situation naturelle comme méthode de recueil des expériences des nourrissons et d’analyse des événements quotidiens, qui configurent le contexte du lieu d’accueil comme niche développementale. La niche développementale est l’interface entre le soi et la culture. Les connaissances sont socialement construites et peuvent être libératrices ou contraignantes. Les nourrissons, selon cette recherche, acquièrent une connaissance conceptuelle du monde social du lieu d’accueil, tel qu’il est construit au sein de la communauté australienne. Leurs expériences reflètent les attitudes culturelles envers les nourrissons, des nourrissons particuliers en fonction de leur âge, de leur personnalité, de leurs actions et sans doute de leur genre. Les résultats de cette étude montrent que les enfants observés initient davantage de communication que les adultes dans le lieu d’accueil et que leurs messages communicatifs sont fréquemment incompris, même quand ils sont répétés et que diverses stratégies sont utilisées pour les reformuler. Le fait que les lieux d’accueil soient plus réactifs que réciproques et que les adultes aient un registre de compétences limitées pour lire le langage préverbal des enfants, a des implications pour le projet social de ces lieux et pour la formation des adultes qui vont travailler avec de très jeunes enfants. ZUSAMMENFASSUNG: Der Artikel eruiert die Spracherfahrungen von vor‐verbalen Kleinkindern in australischen Kindergärten mit dem Ziel, die kulturelle Steuerung innerhalb des frühpädagogischen Bereiches zu untersuchen. Sprache wird dabei als sozialer und kommunikativer Akt definiert, der mit freiwilliger Aktivität in Beziehung steht (Vygotsky 1962; Lock 1980; Leontjev 1994). Frühkindliche Erfahrungen von Sprache und Kommunikation und tägliche Ereignisse in naturalistischen Beobachtungen von Sprache und Kommunikation wurden als Methode genutzt, um kindliche Erfahrungen aufzuzeichnen und Alltagsereignisse zu analysieren, wobei der Kontext der Kindertagesbetreuung als Entwicklungsnische formuliert wird. Eine Entwicklungsnische ist die Schnittstelle zwischen Selbst und Kultur. Wissen ist sozial konstruiert und kann befreiend oder einschränkend sein. Die Kleinkinder in der Studie entwickelten konzeptionelles Wissen von der sozialen Umwelt der Kinderbetreuung, so wie sie in Australien konstruiert wird. Ihre Erfahrungen spiegelten kulturelle Einstellungen gegenüber Kleinkindern allgemein sowie in Bezug auf bestimmte Kinder, definiert über deren Alter, Persönlichkeit, Handlungen und wahrscheinlich Geschlecht, wider. Ergebnisse der Studie deuten darauf hin, daß in dem untersuchten Milieu, Kinder öfter als Erwachsene Kommunikation initiierten und daß ihre Mitteilungen häufig missverstanden wurden, selbst wenn sie wiederholt versuchten mit verschiedenen Strategien ihre Botschaften zu verbessern. Dass die Settings eher reaktiv anstatt reziprok waren, und der Befund, daß die vor‐verbalen Sprachakte der Kinder von den Erwachsenen nur beschränkt verstanden wurden, hat Implikationen für das soziale Arrangement von Gruppenbetreuung und für die Ausbildung von Erwachsenen, die mit sehr kleinen Kindern arbeiten wollen. RESUMEN: El presente artículo explora las experiencias de lenguaje de los infantes pre‐verbales en guarderías/jardines de infantes de Australia, con el objeto de examinar la regulación cultural dentro del contexto guardería/jardín de infantes. El lenguaje es definido como un acto social y comunicativo que está relacionado con el desarrollo de la acción voluntaria (Vygotsky 1962; Lock 1980; Leontiev 1994). El estudio usa observaciones naturalistas de lenguaje y comunicación como un método para registrar las experiencias del infante y analizar los hechos diarios, dando marco al contexto jardín de infantes como nicho del desarrollo. El nicho del desarrollo es la interacción entre el yo y la cultura. El conocimiento se construye socialmente y puede ser liberador o limitador. Los infantes de esta investigación lograron un conocimiento conceptual del mundo social del jardín de infantes según se lo interpreta dentro de la comunidad australiana. Sus experiencias reflejaron actitudes culturales hacia los infantes, hacia infantes específicos definidos por su edad, personalidad, acciones y probablemente, por su sexo. Los resultados del estudio indican que los niños observados iniciaron más comunicación que los adultos de dicho escenario y sus mensajes comunicativos fueron, con frecuencia, malentendidos, aun cuando fueron repetidos y se usaron estrategias diversas para corregir el mensaje. Que los escenarios fueran más bien reactivos que recíprocos y que los adultos tuvieran un rango limitado de capacidades para leer los actos de lenguaje pre‐verbal de los niños tiene implicancias para el diseño social del cuidado grupal y la capacitación previa al servicio para los adultos que trabajen con niños muy pequeños.

Early childhood education and care in urban China: the importance of parental choice

The education and care of children during their first years has long been a topic of debate for policy‐makers and researchers. In recent years, neurological and longitudinal research has highlighted the impact the education and care environment can have on the long‐term cognitive, social and emotional development of young children. China’s policy‐makers have acknowledged the implications this research has for China’s capacity to develop an innovative economy and harmonious society. This acknowledgement is now beginning to be reflected in policies and practices designed to shape the state’s investment in early years human development. In this paper, we discuss the importance of care and education in the early years and the need for parents to be able to make informed childcare choices. Information from the research literature is supported by a survey conducted across a number of cities in China.

Listening to Infants: Emotional Literacy and the Child Care Setting.

ResumenLos estudios sobre niños e intersubjetividad nos han permitido explorar la capacidad de comunicación de los niños y el entendimiento que tienen de la mente. Trevarthen (1992) analiza como el niño se da cuenta de la intencionalidad en los demás a partir de más o menos los nueve meses, lo que puede equipararse con el comienzo de una teoría de la mente. Pero el autor dice que si incluimos la susceptibilidad frente a las emociones de los demás y la habilidad de comunicación como respuesta a los otros, que entonces se puede observar que la intersubjetividad está presente desde el nacimiento. Los niños construyen el conocimiento de su cultura a medida que adquieren el lenguaje. Llegan a comprender la comunidad y su relación con ella a través de interacciones. Este artículo se ocupa del niño como ente social, cuya primera alfabetización y forma de leer el mundo es la concienzación emocional. El desarrollo ocurre dentro de relaciones que son recíprocas. Y es importante que los adultos sean sensibles a la comunicacion no verbal si queremos que los niños desarrollen un sentido positivo de la identidad en el seno de su cultura. Muchos estudios sobre alfabetización emocional se ocupan del comportamiento social del niño, como el control sobre uno mismo, el ser servicial (recoger los juguetes), y la empatía (decir ‘lo siento’). El artículo discute que estos tipos de comportamiento pueden ser tanto el resultado de la obediencia como de la cooperación y que por lo tanto no son de utilidad para medir el desarrollo afectivo del niño.RésuméL’étude de l’intersubjectivité chez les enfants a permis d’explorer leurs compétences communicatives ainsi que leur conceptualisation de l’esprit. D’après Trevarthen (1992), la prise de conscience des intentions d’autrui qui se manifeste vers 9 mois marque le début d’une théorie de l’esprit chez l’enfant. Cet auteur démontre cependant que lorsqu’on prend en compte les échanges sociaux que l’enfant établit avec une personne qui y réagit, on peut observer cette intersubjectivité dès la naissance. La connaissance de leurs cultures et leur apprentissage du langage se mettent en place simultanément chez l’enfant. C’est grâce à leurs interactions sociales que les enfants parviennent à comprendre leur communauté et les liens qu’ils entretiennent avec cette communauté. Cette étude se concentre sur l’enfant en tant qu’être social, dont la première façon de ‘lire’ le monde est d’y réagir au niveau affectif. Le développement de l’enfant ne peut avoir lieu qu’au sein d’échanges affectifs réciproques. Il est important que les adultes soient sensibles à cette communication non-verbale s’ils souhaitent que leurs enfants développent une identité positive au sein de leur communauté culturelle. De nombreuses études examinent les comportements sociaux des enfants tels que la maîtrise de soi, la serviabilité (ramasser les jouets) et l’empathie (s’excuser). Cet article démontre que l’obéissance imposée ou une coopération voulue peuvent donner lieu à ce genre de comportements. Ceux-ci ne permettent donc pas de mesurer le développement affectif de l’enfant.