Evridiki Zachopoulou

implementing intervention movement programs for kindergarten children

The reported study aimed to identify the effects of two 10-week intervention programs on fundamental locomotor skill performance in kindergarten children. Seventy-five children with mean age 5.4 ± 0.5 years participated. Experimental Group A followed a movement program, experimental Group B followed a music and movement program, and free-play Group C was engaged in free-play activities. The TGMD (Ulrich, 1985) was used for the assessment of locomotor skills (running, galloping, hopping, leaping, horizontal jump, skipping, and sliding) before and after the implementation of the intervention programs. Results indicated that both experimental groups significantly improved their performance compared to the free-play group in running, hopping, leaping, horizontal jump, and skipping. Differences were also found between Group A and Group C on sliding. It seems that the performance of fundamental locomotor skills can be improved through different types of organized practice in kindergarten children.

The design and implementation of a physical education program to promote children’s creativity in the early years

The purpose of this study was to design and implement a physical education program to promote creativity in preschool children. The study was based on the following phases: (a) to design and formulate 20 physical education lessons in order to provide children with opportunities to develop their creative thinking through the use of movement elements, motor skills and movement exploration; (b) to train early educators to be able to implement the proposed physical education program; (c) to undertake an initial evaluation of preschoolers; (d) to implement the program; and (e) to undertake a final evaluation of preschoolers. Two hundred and fifty‐one children, aged four to five years, were randomly selected from 12 preschool centers and participated in the 10‐week physical education program. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected and estimated with a pre‐ and post‐program creative thinking evaluation. The results showed that children improved their creative fluency and imagination and useful information was provided by children’s behavior during their participation in the proposed physical education program.

A developmental perspective of divergent movement ability in early young children

Movement responses to a stimulus could be either quantitative or qualitative, or could also be the answer to a pre‐established problem. This process activates both divergent thinking and critical thinking. Divergent movement ability generates both quantitative and qualitative movement responses to a stimulus. The aim of this study was to examine the divergent movement ability of preschool and elementary school children. The effect of age and gender in two factors of motor creativity—motor fluency and motor flexibility—was estimated. The sample consisted of 191 early young children (101 boys and 90 girls). The subject’s divergent movement ability was assessed using the Divergent Movement Ability Test, which included three locomotor/movement tasks. Motor fluency and motor flexibility evaluation was based on the specific scoresheets. Analysis of variance showed statistically significant differences among the three age groups on both factors of divergent movement ability. The older children produced more quantitative and qualitative movement responses than younger children. The results also showed no statistically significant differences between the two genders. Early young girls and boys seemed to have similar ability in producing divergent movements.

Evaluation of children's creativity: psychometric properties of Torrance's ‘Thinking Creatively in Action and Movement’ test

The purpose of this study was to examine the test–retest reliability of Torrances ‘Thinking Creatively in Action and Movement’ (TCAM) test and the relationship between TCAM and the Divergent Movement Ability (DMA) test. The TCAM and DMA tests were used for a sample of 115 children, while the whole experimental procedure included three testing sessions: first and second testing sessions for the TCAM test and retest, and third testing session for the DMA test. The time interval between the two testing sessions was two weeks and each testing session lasted approximately 10 days. The results for the comparison between the test and the retest session for TCAM showed a high intra‐class correlation coefficient, and also the paired simple t‐test indicated that there were no statistically significant differences between the two testing sessions. Canonical correlation analysis revealed a high correlation between TCAM variables and DMA variables. A low value has been only reported concerning the variable of TCAM imagination. In conclusion, the present results are encouraging and seem to support the psychometric properties of TCAM for preschool‐aged children, showing that TCAM is a valid and reliable instrument to measure creative movement in preschool children.

Applying a Mixed Method Design to Evaluate Training Seminars within an Early Childhood Education Project.

Abstract The body of research relating to assessment in education suggests that professional developers and seminar administrators have generally paid little attention to evaluation procedures. Scholars have also been critical of evaluations which use a single data source and have favoured the use of a multiple method design to generate a complete picture of the effectiveness of procedures under evaluation. The purpose of the current study was to evaluate two training seminars using a mixed method design. The evaluation procedure was specifically designed to utilise triangulation of sources and to follow Killions eight-step process. The seminars were part of the ‘Early Steps’ project, a European Union (EU) Comenius Programme, concerning the development and implementation of an alternative physical education curriculum for preschool pupils. Results of the study support the assertion that a mixed method design increases the validity of the evaluation procedure. It is suggested here that educational evaluation procedures, inherently difficult to measure directly, may successfully utilise multiple measures. Such measures should be various in nature, and combine qualitative and quantitative approaches and – when used appropriately – can also help to predict the likely impact of training on teachers’ behaviours and professional practice.

Perceptions of gender differences in playful behaviour among kindergarten children

SUMMARY There is a distinction between girls and boys regarding the manifestation of sex-appropriate behaviour from an early age. There is evidence that boys and girls play and are reared differently, and also are reinforced differently to manifest behaviours regarded as playful. The purpose of this study was to identify if there were differences between the two genders concerning the factors of playful behaviour among Greek kindergarten children. The sample included 607 children (303 girls and 304 boys) from 16 Greek kindergarten centres, with a mean age of 5,4 ± 0,6 years. Childrens Playfulness Scale (Barnett, 1990) was used by the teachers to evaluate the five factors of playfulness: physical spontaneity, social spontaneity, cognitive spontaneity, manifest joy and sense of humour. Multivariate analysis of variance indicated that the multivariate effect of gender was statistically significant only for physical spontaneity (F 5,607=37.12, p<.05), manifest joy (F 5,607=19.02, p<0.5) and sense of human (F 5,607=6.61, p<.05). Boys were rated higher than girls on all of the above measures. Those findings must be taken into consideration in order to organise an effective learning environment and to choose the most appropriate way to modify and implement play activities.

Early Change: Description of a Project for Continuing Professional Development

This chapter provides detailed descriptions of the basic purpose, the goals, the methodology, the participants, and the philosophy of the Early Change project. It presents information about the project’s structure, consortium, and basic aims and discusses the methodology, the instruments, and the training procedures that were implemented during the course of the project. It ends with a description of the project’s results, the deliverables, and the outputs as well as its potential for innovation and the conclusions drawn from the overall experience.

Self-Evaluation as a Means to Improve Practice: An Alternative Approach for the Professional Development of Early Childhood Educators

This chapter offers a brief description of the field of educator professional development and presents research-based evidence regarding the effectiveness of current alternative approaches. It describes the method that the authors propose for the professional development of early childhood educators and focuses on the conclusions drawn from using quality observation rating scales as a basic means for professional training. It elaborates on how the training with these tools helped early childhood educators improve their daily practices and how it can be further utilized and discusses the basic strengths and weaknesses of this innovative approach. This chapter offers a detailed proposal for the extension of such an approach for the development of small local teacher networks through the use of these tools.

Early Childhood Education and Care Today: Impact, Policies, Quality

This chapter includes a brief description of the current framework and challenges related to Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC). It discusses the diversity of the existing terms regarding early childhood education and recent research findings in regard to the effects ECEC quality has on children’s development and well-being. The chapter also deals with the professional development of early childhood educators and the policies adopted around the world to promote it. Finally, it focuses on the current momentum in efforts to improve the quality of ECEC as a result of the various policies being developed and implemented.

Professional Development and Impact of the Early Change Project: Reflections from the Greek Example

This chapter focuses on the reflections and feedback from the implementation of the Early Change project in Greece. More specifically, it discusses the particular way in which the project was implemented in Greece, presents some experiences of the early childhood teachers who used the observational rating scales and the way that it influenced their practices. Further, it discusses the impact the use of observational rating scales had on two levels—on the professional development of the early childhood teachers and on the educational policies implemented in the educational districts that were partners in the Early Change project.