Parent Perceptions Of Play-Based Early Education In Abuja, Nigeria

As education in Nigeria transitions to play-based learning there is a need to understand parent perspectives as it applies to their children’s education and daily experiences. This qualitative study explored 32 parents’ perspectives of their children’s education pre and post play-based intervention at two early learning centres in Abuja, Nigeria. An ecocultural theoretical framework was used to guide the study. Focus groups were transcribed and analyzed. The four themes that emerged from focus groups conducted with parents at both sites were: parents’ reasons for using the school/care system, advocacy for systematic change, understanding play based education and the connection between home and school. Parents embodied an understanding of early childhood development and curriculum and shared a desire to see play-based learning take place in their child’s classroom. Parents also shared a desire to continue to see evidence of their child’s learning.

Parent Perceptions Of Play-Based Early Education In Abuja, Nigeria

As education in Nigeria transitions to play-based learning there is a need to understand parent perspectives as it applies to their children’s education and daily experiences. This qualitative study explored 32 parents’ perspectives of their children’s education pre and post play-based intervention at two early learning centres in Abuja, Nigeria. An ecocultural theoretical framework was used to guide the study. Focus groups were transcribed and analyzed. The four themes that emerged from focus groups conducted with parents at both sites were: parents’ reasons for using the school/care system, advocacy for systematic change, understanding play based education and the connection between home and school. Parents embodied an understanding of early childhood development and curriculum and shared a desire to see play-based learning take place in their child’s classroom. Parents also shared a desire to continue to see evidence of their child’s learning.

Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) Assessment in After-School Care

An abundance of research links children's social-emotional competence with positive school and life outcomes, but many barriers to widespread, high quality social-emotional learning (SEL) exist. Studies also found SEL delivered consistently and in coordination with other programs, both in and out of school, is more effective, but lack of unified standards, a supportive framework, and systematic approach prevent consistency and coordination of delivery. Process monitoring and impact evaluation help overcome barriers and improve implementation. After-school programs provide opportunities for quality SEL delivery and evaluation. This chapter reports results of an evaluation comparing pre- and post-program survey data from elementary school children (n = 98) in an after-school program that has incorporated an SEL curriculum. Results showed significant increases in the SEL competencies of self-management, social awareness, and social skills. The author also explored advantages of providing both SEL instruction and low-cost evaluation in after-school care settings in addition to schools.

An Effective Knowledge-Based Modeling Approach towards a “Smart-School Care Coordination System” for Children and Young People with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities

There is a significant need for a computer-aided modeling, effective information analysis and ontology knowledge base models to support both special needs children and care providers. As this research work correlated to the symmetry scope, it proposes an innovative generic smart knowledge-based “School Care Coordination System” (SCCS), which is established on a novel holistic six-layered data management model. The development of the Smart-SCCS adopts a methodology of ontology engineering to transform the given theoretical unstructured special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) code of practice into a comprehensive knowledge representation and reasoning system. The intended purpose is to deliver a system that can coordinate and bring together education, health and social care services into a single application to meet the needs of children and young people (CYP) with SEND. Moreover, it enables coordination, integration and monitoring of education, health and social care activities between different actors (formal, informal and CYP in the education sector) involved in the school care process network to provide personalized care interventions based on a predefined care plan. The developed ontology knowledge-based model has been proven efficient and solved the enormous difficulties faced by schools and local authorities on a daily basis. It enabled the coordination of care and integration of information for CYP from different departments in health, social care and education. The developed model has received significant attention with great feedback from all the schools and the local authorities involved, showing its efficiency and robustness.

Canadian after-school care providers’ perceived role promoting healthy lifestyles: A focused ethnography

BACKGROUND: After-school care programs have garnered interest in recent years as the hours of 3:00–6:00p.m. are an opportune time for children to engage in healthy behaviours, specifically healthy eating and physical activity. Care providers are major influencers within the after-school care setting, impacting health promoting opportunities for children. However, little is known regarding the role care providers play in health promotion interventions in the after-school care setting, specifically those using comprehensive approaches. The purpose of this research was to explore care providers’ role and experience promoting healthy eating and physical activity through the after-school care health promotion intervention School’s Out…Let’s Move (SOLMo). SOLMo was guided by the evidence-based comprehensive school health framework.SOLMo had two main goals: (1) to serve a healthy snack with vegetable or fruit, and milk or water as the drink; (2) to include 30 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity. The intervention included resources and coaching for care providers to promote healthy eating and physical activity for children and took place in four after-school sites over a six-month period. Three of four sites were located in a school. The primary researcher was engaged with the sites over 22-months. METHODS: This research was guided by the qualitative method focused ethnography. Semi-structured interviews with care providers (n=13) taking part in SOLMo were conducted. Participant observation was included as part of data generation to further understand care provider roles. Latent content analysis was utilized iteratively and concurrently throughout data generation. RESULTS: Overall, care providers were supportive of promoting health behaviours in the after-school setting. Through analysis, five themes and eight subthemes emerged related to care providers’ role and experience promoting healthy eating and physical activity through SOLMo: 1) enhanced awareness; 2) improved programming; 3) strong relationships; 4) collaborative approach; and 5) role tension. CONCLUSIONS: As major influencers, care providers play a crucial role in promoting healthy lifestyle behaviours for children. This research provides valuable insight into this role and the implementation of comprehensive health promotion approaches in the after-school setting. Findings contribute to the implementation knowledge base and help inform the promotion of healthy lifestyle behaviours for children.