Vasilis Grammatikopoulos

Development and evaluation of metacognition in early childhood education

The aim of the present study is to provide information and suggest ways to improve and evaluate metacognition in early childhood. Metacognition is important to learning and knowledge transfer and preparing students to become lifelong learners is a main aim of schooling. The engagement of young students in metacognitive thinking is considered necessary, as they seem capable of developing fundamental forms of metacognition after the age of three. The development of metacognitive skills helps young children to become thoughtful about their learning process. Specifically, the implementation of interesting activities in an enjoyable manner that develops young childrens high-order thinking could help them to enhance metacognitive skills and become effective learners. Physical activities during reciprocal and self-check teaching styles are such activities that could guide young students to reflect on their own learning and realise what they are doing.

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.

Integrating program theory and systems-based procedures in program evaluation: a dynamic approach to evaluate educational programs

The current study attempts to integrate parts of program theory and systems-based procedures in educational program evaluation. The educational program that was implemented, called the “Early Steps” project, proposed that physical education can contribute to various educational goals apart from the usual motor skills improvement. Basic elements of cybernetics and program theory were combined into a dynamic evaluation procedure in order to provide ground for a discussion of a possible strengthening of the evaluation results. To this respect, this article presents how this integration may help evaluators to come up with valuable outcomes. Moreover, it is discussed how integration may enrich the program evaluation domain.

Comparing quality of childcare and kindergarten centres: the need for a strong and equal partnership in the Greek early childhood education system

The purpose of this study was to examine whether kindergartens and childcare centres differ in terms of educational and caregiving components. More specifically, two aspects of the process quality of the early childhood education and care were examined regarding the ‘Activities’ and the ‘Programme Structure’. A multi-stage sampling technique was applied to recruit a national representative sample from the Greek early childhood education system. A total of 535 early childhood classrooms from kindergarten and childcare programmes participated in the study, together with 4158 children. The quality of the participating classrooms was evaluated with the use of the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale-Revised (ECERS-R) edition. Results showed a medium-quality picture from both the kindergarten and childcare classrooms. Explanations are provided regarding the statistically significant differences between the two types of preschool programmes. This study attempts to initiate a discussion about the need to build a strong and equal partnership between kindergarten and childcare programmes and to move towards a more coherent approach in the Greek early childhood education system.

Evaluating the Student–Teacher Relationship Scale in the Greek educational setting: an item parcelling perspective

Abstract The Student–Teacher Relationship Scale (STRS) is one of the most extensively used instruments that evaluate the quality of teacher–child relationships. The STRS has a strong theoretical background based on attachment theory and research on parent–child and teacher–child relationships. The purpose of this study was to examine the dimensional structure of the adapted STRS proposed by Koomen et al. (2012) in the Greek educational settings. Another purpose was to examine the intercorrelations of the Dependency subscale with the Closeness and Conflict subscales of the adapted version of STRS, when applied in a cultural context different from the context, where it was developed originally. We applied confirmatory factor analyses with item parcelling in two independent samples (N1 = 118 teachers, 921 students and N2 = 118 teachers, 925 students). Findings provided evidence for the dimensional structure of the adapted STRS subscales and its validity. Results also showed that the Dependency subscale is positively correlated with Closeness in Greece as a background with more collectivistic characteristics. This finding suggests that the cultural universality of dependency can be challenged and that the possible socio-cultural influences in the nature and interpretation of dependent relationships needs to be further examined.

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.

Applying exploratory structural equation modeling to examine the Student-Teacher Relationship Scale in a representative Greek sample

Teacher-child relationships in early childhood are a fundamental prerequisite for childrens social, emotional, and academic development. The Student-Teacher Relationship Scale (STRS) is one of the most widely accepted and used instruments that evaluate the quality of teacher-child relationships. STRS is a 28-item questionnaire that assess three relational dimensions, Closeness, Conflict, and Dependency. The relevant literature has shown a pattern regarding the difficulty to support the STRS factor structure with CFA, while it is well-documented with EFA. Recently, a new statistical technique was proposed to combine the best of the CFA and EFA namely, the Exploratory Structural Equation Modeling (ESEM). The purpose of this study was (a) to examine the factor structure of the STRS in a Greek national sample. Toward this end, the ESEM framework was applied in order to overcome the limitations of EFA and CFA, (b) to confirm previous findings about the cultural influence in teacher-child relationship patterns, and (c) to examine the invariance of STRS across gender and age. Early educators from a representative Greek sample size of 535 child care and kindergarten centers completed the STRS for 4,158 children. CFA as well as ESEM procedures were implemented. Results showed that ESEM provided better fit to the data than CFA in both groups, supporting the argument that CFA is an overly restrictive approach in comparison to ESEM for the study of STRS. All primary loadings were statistically significant and were associated with their respective latent factors. Contrary to the existing literature conducted in USA and northern Europe, the association between Closeness and Dependency yielded a positive correlation. This finding is in line with previous studies conducted in Greece and confirm the existence of cultural differences in teacher-child relationships. In addition, findings supported the configural, metric, scalar, and variance/covariance equivalence of the STRS between males and females and between preschoolers (3–5 years) and early primary years (5–7 years). Latent factor means comparisons showed that females seem to have a warmer and more dependent relationship with their teachers and are less conflictual in comparison to males.