2015, 7
2015, 7
p. 22–27
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1320
The issue of pre-school education quality has a long history in Russia as its system of preschool education has traditionally been in existence for a long time. On the strength of international practice the author shows that quality assessment of preschool education programs is applicable to different objects and based on different perceptions of quality. The article describes the ECERS (Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale), an integrated assessment of education quality in preschool educational establishments, in particular, its latest version – the ECERS-R Scale, which has been translated, adapted and tested in different regions of Russia. The author notes that the ECERS scales present a very interesting tool for studying the quality of preschool programs, especially in view of global comparative research since they are indisputable leaders in the amount of countries in which they are used. In addition to high reliability and validity, the Scales have a high level of quality development tools in terms of their reliance on the humanistic pedagogy of early childhood development. This experience proves to be highly beneficial in the Russian context because the Federal State Educational Standard for pre-school education introduced five educational areas which are almost identical to those on the list of subscales and indicators contained in these tools.
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2015, 7
p. 28–37
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975
The article describes a longitudinal study called “Conditions of Effective Pre-school, Primary and Secondary Education” what was conducted in the United Kingdom in 1997 and 2014. It is noted that the study is Europe’s biggest longitudinal project as of today. The author underlines the complexity of longitudinal studies stemming from the need to plan one for several years ahead and possible changes in the political or economic situation. The study was conducted in four stages, each of which took a great number of targeted cross-sections, a huge amount of data was collected and processed, which was subsequently classified by areas and detailed case reports published. The longitudinal nature of the study revealed the long-term effect early childhood education has and the important role high-quality early childhood education plays in child’s subsequent development and his future academic success or failure - it creates a solid foundation for all future learning and development. The researchers’ conclusions helped to shape the development of the UK educational policy by placing an emphasis on the development of targeted programs and improving the quality of pre-school education, by involving parents in the educational process in the early stages of child development and a deliberate search of ways to reduce the impact of negative factors on child development.
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2015, 7
p. 38–49
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1291
The article describes the tools used to measure preschool educational environment – the ECERS Scales (Early Childhood Environment Rating Scales). The authors address the following questions: What are the ideas of quality education underpinning the ECERS Scales, and Are they suitable to us? Is it generally acceptable to use tools developed in another country to assess education quality in your own? Does the scale measure conditions for the child’s future socialization and development at school? How does it work, what are its parameters for measuring quality? How reliable is it? Can this tool be used in different educational practices (e.g. the Montessori system, Waldorf kindergartens, etc.)? Or does it focus solely on specific program? It is noted that the fact that the ECERS scale is used in countries focused on child’s cognitive development is of great importance for Russian education, which has traditionally placed high value on “school readiness”. The authors come to the conclusion that the ECERS Scales fully meet the Federal State Educational Standard requirements and possess distinctiveness and therefore can be used to assess the quality of education in Russian preschool children. The ECERS Scales are highly promising in cross-cultural research that compares the quality of Russian and foreign pre-school education.
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2015, 7
p. 50–53
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691
The authors report on a study of kindergartens, which was conducted by the Child Development Laboratory at the Institute of System Projects, Moscow City Pedagogical University, and which included testing of the ECERS Scales in contrasting groups that had been formed on the basis of expert assessments. One group consisted of kindergartens which used the The Golden Key program and a program called “Kindergarten as a system of conditions for developing individuality and capability for self-determination” with a high quality educational environment. The other group consisted of kindergartens with an average quality educational environment. The article analyzes the specific features in the educational programs these groups used. Both groups shared the teaching staff situation, which is conducive to reflection and initiative on the part of the teachers. During the testing of the ECERS Scales very few groups received high ratings for their quality of the educational environment. The authors conclude that shared reflection and initiative on the part of preschool teaching staff in the construction of education is a sine qua non condition for a high quality educational environment aimed at supporting children’s activities and initiatives.
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2015, 7
p. 50–53
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806
The author notes that the most important international initiative in education quality assessing including pre-schools is to determine “sustainable development goals until 2030”. As part of this initiative, national experts, UNESCO and Brookings Institute experts have been engaged in elaborating an initiative to measure the quality of education - Learning Metrics Task Force (LMTF). The author emphasizes the similarities between the areas of quality preschool education development in the LMTF initiative and those contained in the pre-school education FSES. The article deals with the evaluation of Russia’s pre-school education quality using the ECERS scales. It is noted that the ECERS Scales are already being used by two regions in Russia - the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) and Moscow. According to the author, the experience of using the ECERS in Russia has shown these international tools to be highly relevant to Russian pre-school education, comprehensible to teachers and experts, and to offer a great potential for developing the Russian system in terms of interaction between kindergarten teachers and preschoolers. The toolkit is of interest to researchers and specialists in regional education systems, heads of pedagogical universities alike because it enables them to get a comprehensive picture of quality both in individual establishments and in the preschool education system as a whole.
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2015, 7
p. 58–65
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939
The article reveals organizational issues of introducing the preschool education FSES in kindergartens based on its three main core/innovative objectives: positive socialization, development individualization, support of children’s initiative. The author stresses the particular type of the Standard which is associated with support for childhood diversity, the need to pursue common strategic activities in the present day pre-school educational system while reinforcing the diversity principle. The author provides examples of activities that should be planned and implemented to ensure the introduction of the preschool education Federal State Educational Standards in kindergartens: to create a government and state-controlled system of kindergarten management; to streamline state and public management in preschools; to study main regulations on the Federal Educational Standards introduction in pre-school education; to study manuals and aids on organizing joint partnership activities between adults and preschool children; to organize and attend model lessons with preschool children; to create a system of staff development at the kindergarten level; to analyze the developing object-spatial environment in preschool education and see if it corresponds to the development of initiatives in children; to collaborate with kindergarten staff in selecting, analyzing and evaluating partial programs; to study the needs and interests of preschoolers’ parents; to monitor social studies; to plan the content and ways of monitoring the preschool Federal State Education Standard implementation in kindergartens.
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Amelina E.G., Meshchaninova E.L. Working with story pictures in a complex correction of preschoolers
2015, 7
p. 68–73
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386
The article is devoted to the feasibility of using visual aids to enhance the efficiency of the pedagogical process. The authors emphasize the efficient use of visual aids, such as story pictures as means aimed at the development of higher mental functions. The authors note that for correction of children with mental and speech delays the program of the complex neuropsychological correction is used. A case-study of treatment of a child with insufficient formation of a number of mental functions (motor, spatial, verbal, mnemonic) is described. To achieve the goals of the correctional methods of work are connected with play and story pictures. Based on the results of re-examination the authors note positive dynamics in the formation of a number of mental functions: the motor sphere, hemispheric interaction, spatial representations, regulatory and mnemonic functions. It is concluded that work with story pictures has greatly contributed to the emergence of positive dynamics.
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2015, 7
p. 74–78
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452
The article describes conducted study on the identification of how the cultural congruence of children is related to cognitive development, especially to the development of dialectical thinking. Author investigates how the child’s behavior in the cultural (normative) situation allows him to solve problem situations involving dialectical mental actions as thinking tools. Study sample included 106 preschool children from the city of Kazan, as well as the parents of those children. Methods used were aimed at the diagnostics of dialectical thinking (“Dialectical stories”) and cultural congruence (“Method of the cultural congruence of preschooler determination”). The author reveals the conventional model of the relationship of dialectical thinking and cultural congruence. A high level of compliance with the normative situation tends to reflect low flexibility in solutions of problem situations, which imply active usage of dialectical mental actions. Among the factors included in the assessment of cultural congruence child of preschool age, the most inconsistent factor turned out to be the safety factor.
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