All articles

The relevance of the topic of the article. The development of tools for diagnosing the development of thinking in childhood is of interest for modern scientific research and educational practice. If the diagnosis of the formation of formal-logical operations in thinking has well-established traditions, then the creation of means for determining how a child thinks dialectically - in a contradictory situation, is at the beginning of its path in the field of developmental psychology. Since dialectical thinking is associated with the development of the child’s creativity, with flexibility, the creation of diagnostic methods to identify the formation of dialectical thinking is an urgent educational task.

The aim of the study. The design and psychometric evaluation of the methodology for determining the formation of the child’s dialectical mental action of changing the alternative are provided.

Description of the research progress. The methodology for diagnosing the dialectical mental action of changing an alternative consists of 15 series of 6 pictures each depicting images of flora, fauna and familiar objects of everyday life known to children. Children are invited to form two classes from six pictures. When choosing a classification basis, the action of changing the alternative is performed. The study involved 100 children aged 6 years 10 months to 8 years 2 months.

Research results. In the process of psychometric evaluation of the methodology for diagnosing the dialectical mental action of changing alternatives, procedures for calculating validity, reliability and discriminativeness were carried out.

Conclusion. High indicators of constructive and criterial validity, retest reliability of the method, its discriminativeness allow using it as a diagnostic tool in determining the child’s ability to use the dialectical mental action of changing the alternative.

Introduction. The article presents the results of the theoretical retrospective analysis of the problem of developing a methodology for the humanitarian research of childhood in the scientific school of the Pedagogical Institute of Preschool Education (1918-1925) and the Department of Preschool Pedagogy of the Herzen State Pedagogical University. The purpose of the study is to analyze and summarize the scientific and theoretical approaches that formed the basis of modern methodology of humanitarian research of pre-school childhood.

The key ideas of the study was considering child as a subject focused on the adult world, and the socialization culture of the preschool child on the basis of the unity of the emotional-sensual world, cognition and activity.

Results. Article provides description and generalization of scientific and theoretical approaches, which formed the basis of preschool pedagogy as a branch of pedagogical science and methods of preschool education, developed by the Herzen State Pedagogical University. Approaches to the renewal of preschool education are presented taking into account modern knowledge about the phenomenon of childhood.

Conclusion. The concept of methodology of the humanitarian study of modern childhood makes it possible to study childhood and design interaction with the child, focused on its subject development.

The article is devoted to the description of CLASS observation methodology, developed for the analysis and evaluation of interaction between the teacher and children in the kindergarten group. There are three main areas and criteria for evaluation of this tool: emotional support, organization of work in a group and methodological support. The article reviews studies carried out during past 20 years. Research show the impact of the criteria identified in this methodology or the overall level of pedagogical skill measured using the CLASS methodology on the cognitive, regulatory and emotional-personal development of preschool children. The analysis shows the importance of assessing the interaction of the teacher with children in pre-school institutions for scientific and practical research in the field of preschool education and development, and also shows the possibilities of using this tool to assess the quality of education in Russia.

Since the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child was ratified in 1991, children’s right to have a voice, and to have their opinions heard, has led many providers and practitioners in the field of early years to seek ways to involve children’s perspectives in the evaluation and development of practice. Those who value democracy understand that encouraging young children to actively participate has long term implications for participatory citizenship. Researchers in early childhood have also been sensitised to the challenge of inclusive research, in which our youngest children are viewed as active subjects, rather than objects, in a research process that is set in the context of a democratic encounter. The Centre for Research in Early Childhood in Birmingham, England has a strong ethical commitment to including the voices of children as an integral part of all its research and development work. We operate through an ethos of empowerment of all participants, and aim for participatory research practice which has at its heart an active involvement in promoting the rights of children as citizens with voice and power. This paper will trace a brief history of the children’s participatory position in England and explore the struggles and challenges we, as researchers, have faced in making our personal commitment to children’s participation a reality. It will draw upon the work of a series of research and development projects we have undertaken over the last fifteen years in which we tried to work alongside children to explore and document their realities of life in early childhood settings. These projects include the Effective Early Learning (EEL) Programme, the Accounting Early for Life Long Learning (AcE) Programme, the Children Crossing Borders Project (Bertram and Pascal 2007) and the Opening Windows (OW) Programme. Through the work of these projects, and with an especial focus on the Children Crossing Borders research, which was the precursor to the OW programme, we explain how we have attempted to provide space for multiple voices in the research process. We share our learning about how better to support and listen to the voices of young children, who are the most often silenced in the production of knowledge and understandings about their lives. From this experience, methodological and epistemological lessons for researchers and practitioners will be identified and further explored.

How can we better understand childhood learning in its historical development? How do institutions (including family) influence and shape what is possible in early childhood? As part of a wider study in an Australian community pre-school, this paper focuses on how cultural–historical methodology can be used to understand institutional influences over time. Returning to an original workplace pre-school site as a field researcher challenged thinking about apparently invisible influences of historical development. Framing this study are Hedegaard’s learning and development through participation in institutional practices model, and Vyqotsky’s cultural–historical theory. This paper uses case study data from one family for building a methodological dialectic in order to theorize practices and thereby illustrate the concept of historical childhood development.

Level of cognitive activity is essential for child successful learning at school. The authors aimed at measuring the ability of preschool age children with mental retardation to establish a causal link between the events. Techniques of diagnostic and development of this ability are described. The first method is aimed at studying the level of development of the ability of preschool children with mental retardation to the establishment of a causal link between the events in relation to their normally developing peers. The second technique is aimed at developing preschool children with learning disabilities. Based on the techniques the authors conclude that the correction and development work can provide systematic and consistent principles. It is shown why it is important to form new skills basing on already acquired skills.