Transforming the Workforce for Children Birth Through Age 8

Transforming the Workforce for Children Birth Through Age 8
Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 587
Release: 2015-07-23
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0309324882

Children are already learning at birth, and they develop and learn at a rapid pace in their early years. This provides a critical foundation for lifelong progress, and the adults who provide for the care and the education of young children bear a great responsibility for their health, development, and learning. Despite the fact that they share the same objective - to nurture young children and secure their future success - the various practitioners who contribute to the care and the education of children from birth through age 8 are not acknowledged as a workforce unified by the common knowledge and competencies needed to do their jobs well. Transforming the Workforce for Children Birth Through Age 8 explores the science of child development, particularly looking at implications for the professionals who work with children. This report examines the current capacities and practices of the workforce, the settings in which they work, the policies and infrastructure that set qualifications and provide professional learning, and the government agencies and other funders who support and oversee these systems. This book then makes recommendations to improve the quality of professional practice and the practice environment for care and education professionals. These detailed recommendations create a blueprint for action that builds on a unifying foundation of child development and early learning, shared knowledge and competencies for care and education professionals, and principles for effective professional learning. Young children thrive and learn best when they have secure, positive relationships with adults who are knowledgeable about how to support their development and learning and are responsive to their individual progress. Transforming the Workforce for Children Birth Through Age 8 offers guidance on system changes to improve the quality of professional practice, specific actions to improve professional learning systems and workforce development, and research to continue to build the knowledge base in ways that will directly advance and inform future actions. The recommendations of this book provide an opportunity to improve the quality of the care and the education that children receive, and ultimately improve outcomes for children.

Spontaneous Cognitive Processes in Handicapped Children

Spontaneous Cognitive Processes in Handicapped Children
Author: Miriam Cherkes-Julkowski
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 249
Release: 2012-12-06
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 146138804X

The thinking that began this book arose out of some dissatisfaction with the rela tively simplified, unidimensional model of development, which seems to have come to dominate the fields that address the needs of atypically developing chil dren. It seemed impossible to us that developmental differences could explain the range of learning and coping styles we have seen and read about in children iden tified as mentally retarded, slow learning, learning disabled, nonhandicapped, and gifted. If a typical model of development did not account for what children with handicaps to learning could do, when they would do it, and how they would accomplish it, such a model was not likely to imply anything important about how to intervene with and help them. Unfortunately, when we first began to examine this problem, turning away from a developmental model for interpreting atypical behavior meant turning toward a behaviorist one. This was not very satisfying either. Again the assumptions were bothersome. We were expected to accept that all children, this time at all ages as well as with all kinds of diagnoses, learned in essentially the same way with perhaps some variation in rate, reac tivity, reinforcement preferences, and, according to more liberal applications, expectancy. In our search for a more satisfying view of the atypical learner, we were lucky to be lost at the moment when cognitive psychology and systems theory were being found.

The Child as Thinker

The Child as Thinker
Author: Sara Meadows
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 634
Release: 2012-09-10
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 1135422532

This second edition of The Child as Thinker has been thoroughly revised and updated to provide an informed and accessible overview of the varied and extensive literature on children's cognition. Both theory and research data are critically examined and educational implications are discussed. After a brief discussion of the nature and subject of cognition, Sara Meadows reviews children's thinking in detail. She discusses the ways children remember and organise information in general, the acquisition of skills such as reading, writing and arithmetic, and the development of more complex reasoning as children grow to maturity. As well as studies that typically describe a generalised child, the book also reviews some of the main areas relevant to individual differences in normal cognitive development, and critically examines three major models of cognitive development. In outlining the work of Piaget, information-processing accounts and neo-Vygotskian theories, she also evaluates their different explanations of cognitive development and their implications for education. Finally, the book examines biological and social factors that may be involved in normal and suboptimal cognitive development. Sara Meadows provides an important review of the crucial issues involved in understanding cognitive development and of the new data and models that have emerged in the last few years. This book brings together areas and approaches that have hitherto been independent, and examines their strengths and weaknesses. The Child as Thinker is essential reading for all students of cognitive development.

Social Processes in Children's Learning

Social Processes in Children's Learning
Author: Paul Light
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 148
Release: 1999
Genre: Education
ISBN: 9780521596916

This book, first published in 2000, is an investigation of the social processes of children's learning (including computer-based learning) and problem-solving behaviour.

How People Learn II

How People Learn II
Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 347
Release: 2018-09-27
Genre: Education
ISBN: 0309459672

There are many reasons to be curious about the way people learn, and the past several decades have seen an explosion of research that has important implications for individual learning, schooling, workforce training, and policy. In 2000, How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School: Expanded Edition was published and its influence has been wide and deep. The report summarized insights on the nature of learning in school-aged children; described principles for the design of effective learning environments; and provided examples of how that could be implemented in the classroom. Since then, researchers have continued to investigate the nature of learning and have generated new findings related to the neurological processes involved in learning, individual and cultural variability related to learning, and educational technologies. In addition to expanding scientific understanding of the mechanisms of learning and how the brain adapts throughout the lifespan, there have been important discoveries about influences on learning, particularly sociocultural factors and the structure of learning environments. How People Learn II: Learners, Contexts, and Cultures provides a much-needed update incorporating insights gained from this research over the past decade. The book expands on the foundation laid out in the 2000 report and takes an in-depth look at the constellation of influences that affect individual learning. How People Learn II will become an indispensable resource to understand learning throughout the lifespan for educators of students and adults.

Active Learning from Infancy to Childhood

Active Learning from Infancy to Childhood
Author: Megan M. Saylor
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 265
Release: 2018-05-04
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 3319771825

This book presents new findings on the role of active learning in infants’ and young children’s cognitive and linguistic development. Chapters discuss evidence-based models, identify possible neurological mechanisms supporting active learning, pinpoint children’s early understanding of learning, and trace children’s recognition of their own learning. Chapters also address how children shape their lexicon, covering a range of active learning practices including interactions with parents, teachers, and peers; curiosity and exploration during play; seeking information from other people and their surroundings; and asking questions. In addition, processes of selective learning are discussed, from learning new words and trusting others in acquiring information to weighing evidence and accepting ambiguity. Topics featured in this book include: Infants’ active role in language learning. The process of active word learning. Understanding when and how explanation promotes exploration. How conversations with parents can affect children’s word associations. Evidence evaluation for active learning and teaching in early childhood. Bilingual children and their role as language brokers for their parents. Active Learning from Infancy to Childhood is a must-have resource for researchers, clinicians and related professionals, and graduate students in developmental psychology, psycholinguistics, educational psychology, and early childhood education.

Verbal Processes in Children

Verbal Processes in Children
Author: Charles J. Brainerd
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 298
Release: 2012-12-06
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 1461394759

For some time now, the study of cognitive development has been far and away the most active discipline within developmental psychology. Although there would be much disagreement as to the exact proportion of papers published in developmen tal journals that could be considered cognitive, 50% seems like a conservative estimate. Hence, a series of scholarly books to be devoted to work in cognitive development is especially appropriate at this time. The Springer Series in Cognitive Development contains two basic types of books, namely, edited collections of original chapters by several authors, and original volumes written by one author or a small group of authors. The flagship for the Springer Series will be a serial publication of the "advances" type, carrying the subtitle Progress in Cognitive Development Research. Each volume in the Progress sequence will be strongly thematic, in that it will be limited to some well-defined domain of cognitive-developmental research (e. g. , logical and mathematical de velopment, semantic development). All Progress volumes will be edited collec tions. Editors of such collections, upon consultation with the Series Editor, may elect to have their books published either as contributions to the Progress sequence or as separate volumes. All books written by one author or a small group of authors will be published as separate volumes within the series. A fairly broad definition of cognitive development is being used in the selection of books for this series.