scholarly journals Early years immersion

2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-85
Author(s):  
Christine Stephen ◽  
Joanna McPake ◽  
Irene Pollock ◽  
Wilson McLeod
Keyword(s):  
Professional Practice ◽  
Language Immersion ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Early Language ◽  
Practice Model ◽  
Immersion Education ◽  
The Everyday ◽  
Language Revitalisation ◽  
Quality Learning ◽  
Theoretical Foundations

This paper considers the pedagogic challenges encountered in preschool settings which strive to provide high quality learning experiences across the curriculum for three- to five-year olds while also immersing them in a second language. In our effort to develop an empirically and theoretically informed foundation for the development of pedagogic practices in Gaelic-medium preschools in Scotland, we draw on literature from early years education and from early total immersion, particularly in relation to language revitalisation initiatives, and report the findings from our study of the everyday experiences of young learners in three Gaelic-medium playrooms. The paper concludes with a discussion of the challenges for early years practitioners charged with meeting the goals of both the early years curriculum and early language immersion. It proposes theoretical foundations from which a specific pedagogy and professional practice model for preschool immersion education can be developed, to ensure that these goals are integrated rather than in tension.

Language Revitalisation in Gaelic Scotland

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stuart Dunmore
Keyword(s):  
Language Use ◽  
Basque Country ◽  
Future Generations ◽  
Contemporary Society ◽  
Policy Interventions ◽  
School Based ◽  
Immersion Education ◽  
Medium Education ◽  
Language Revitalisation ◽  
First Time

Situated within the interrelated disciplines of applied sociolinguistics and the sociology of language, this book explores the language use and attitudinal perceptions of a sample of 130 adults who received Gaelic-medium education (GME) at primary school, during the first years of that system’s availability in Scotland. The school is viewed by policymakers as a crucial site for language revitalisation in such diverse contexts as Hawai’i, New Zealand and the Basque Country – as well as throughout the Celtic-speaking world. In Scotland, GME is seen as a key area of language development, regarded by policymakers as a strategic priority for revitalising Gaelic, and maintaining its use by future generations of speakers. Yet theorists have stressed that school-based policy interventions are inadequate for realising this objective in isolation, and that without sufficient support in the home and community, children are unlikely to develop strong identities or supportive ideologies in the language of their classroom instruction. For the first time, this book provides an in-depth assessment of language use, ideologies and attitudes among adults who received an immersion education in a minority language, and considers subsequent prospects for language revitalisation in contemporary society. Based on detailed analyses using mixed methods, the book offers empirically grounded suggestions for individuals and policymakers seeking to revitalise languages internationally. 

scholarly journals Supporting Student Transition into Professional Practice

2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Donna Jacqueline Dey ◽  
Angela Lindsay ◽  
Patricia Thomson
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Professional Practice ◽  
Local Authority ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Initial Teacher Education ◽  
Focus Group Discussions ◽  
Group Discussions ◽  
Student Transition ◽  
Student Focus ◽  
Student Transitions

Transitions can affect students throughout their time at university. This study aims to show the potential of an additional, non-assessed placement in supporting MA3 Initial Teacher Education (ITE) students with skills thought to benefit transitions. Much of the research around student transitions focuses upon transitions into and out of higher education. In addition, within the MA ITE programme, students perceive challenges in transitioning into Professional Practice during their four year programme. A pilot study was undertaken to support third year MA ITE students in developing skills and attributes associated with the enhancement theme of student transitions in higher education: self-efficacy; reflection; and connectedness. The study involved MA3 students visiting an Early Learning and Childcare (ELC) setting in one local authority, one afternoon a week for eight weeks, the aim of the placement being for them to gain experience in playing and communicating with younger children, prior to their official early years placement. Initial findings from student focus group discussions suggest that students perceived that the study did help to support them in further developing transition skills and attributes.

scholarly journals Protestant Ethics in Academia

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 7-18
Author(s):  
Anna Maria Kucharska
Keyword(s):  
Max Weber ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Academic Ethics ◽  
New Approach ◽  
Western Model ◽  
Polish Law ◽  
The Protestant Work Ethic ◽  
Religious Aspects ◽  
Work Ethos ◽  
Theoretical Foundations

Academic ethics has recently become an important issue in Poland. With changes in the Polish law on higher education a new approach to ethics of students and academics has been presented. As a PhD student and young researcher, I am personally interested in the introduced changes. This article seeks to examine professional academic ethics in terms of two chosen theories, that is, the Protestant work ethic of Max Weber and its adaptation to the academic environment by Robert K. Merton. I situate both theories in the  Polish context of shaping the academic ethos. In my deliberations I recall Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s works as fundamental for the Protestant work ethos values, which are honesty, reliability and diligence. Additionally I present their religious as well as non religious aspects. With such theoretical foundations, I attempt to evaluate the risks and violations in the ranks of Polish academics. The theoretical basis and the collected data enable me to put forward the claim that it is not feasible in Poland to follow the Western model of work ethics. Instead, it has to be built from scratch. To start this process, we need to consider the value of responsibility as a crucial category not only for the process of academic ethos formation, but also for everyday life from the early years.

scholarly journals Partnerships in Early Childhood Education and Care: Empowering Parents or Empowering Practitioners

2012 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 14-25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Rouse
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Professional Status ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Practice Model ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Learning Framework ◽  
Education And Care

Research acknowledges that outcomes for young children are enhanced when effective partnerships are developed between educators and families. The Australian Early Years Learning Framework provides direction for the professional practice of early childhood educators by acknowledging the importance of educators working in partnership with families. In the Victorian state-based early years framework, family-centred practice has been included as the practice model. Family-centred practice has as its core a philosophy of professionals supporting the empowerment of parents as active decision makers for their child. The early childhood education and care sector in Australia, however, is made up of a workforce which is largely perceived as being undervalued as a profession. This raises questions as to the capacity of these educators to support the empowerment of parents when they themselves are coming from a position of disempowerment due to their professional status. This article reports on findings from a small-scale study of childhood educators working in a long day-care setting which aimed to identify perceptions of the partnerships that exist between themselves and parents. In the course of the investigation, it became evident that some of educators felt disempowered in the relationships that exist with some families.

Sentence Diversity in Early Language Development: Recommendations for Target Selection and Progress Monitoring

2018 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 553-565 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pamela A. Hadley ◽  
Megan M. McKenna ◽  
Matthew Rispoli
Keyword(s):  
Progress Monitoring ◽  
Target Selection ◽  
Language Disorders ◽  
Language Intervention ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Early Language ◽  
Lexical Diversity ◽  
Early Language Development ◽  
Simple Sentences ◽  
Theoretical Foundations

Purpose This clinical focus article describes how to assess and when to target diverse, simple sentences as part of early language intervention. Method The theoretical foundations and clinical motivations for assessing sentence diversity based on unique combinations of subjects and verbs are explained, followed by a description of how to compute the measure. Sentence diversity is then related to familiar developmental measures of lexical diversity, utterance length, and grammatical complexity in a sample of 40 typically developing toddlers at 30 months of age. Descriptive and correlational analyses are used to demonstrate how sentences become more diverse as utterances also become longer and more complex. Conclusions The ability to produce simple sentences with diverse subject–verb combinations is proposed as a general developmental expectation for toddlers at 30 months of age. All 40 children produced at least 10 different subject–verb combinations in 30 min of parent–toddler conversation. Sentence diversity is also associated with familiar developmental measures. Recommendations are provided for using the measure of sentence diversity to inform treatment planning and monitor progress for young children with language disorders. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.5895976

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