Search results for "0503 education"
showing 10 items of 2188 documents
The precursors of double dissociation between reading and spelling in a transparent orthography.
2016
Research and clinical practitioners have mixed views whether reading and spelling difficulties should be combined or seen as separate. This study examined the following: (a) if double dissociation between reading and spelling can be identified in a transparent orthography (Finnish) and (b) the cognitive and noncognitive precursors of this phenomenon. Finnish-speaking children (n = 1963) were assessed on reading fluency and spelling in grades 1, 2, 3, and 4. Dissociation groups in reading and spelling were formed based on stable difficulties in grades 1–4. The groups were compared in kindergarten phonological awareness, rapid automatized naming, letter knowledge, home literacy environment, a…
Cognitive predictors of counting skills
2018
Rote counting skills have found to be a strong predictor of later arithmetic and reading fluency. However, knowledge of the underlying cognitive factors influencing counting skill is very limited. Present study examined to what extent language skills (phonology, vocabulary, and morphology), nonverbal reasoning skills, and memory at the age of five could explain counting skill at the beginning of first grade. Gender, parents’ education level and child’s persistence were included as control variables. The question was examined in a longitudinal sample (N = 101) with a structural equation model. Results showed that language skills together with memory, nonverbal reasoning skills and parent’s e…
Early Cognitive Profiles Predicting Reading and Arithmetic Skills in Grades 1 and 7
2020
The aim of this study was to investigate cognitive profiles composed of skills predicting the overlap between reading and arithmetic in kindergarten (phonological awareness, letter knowledge, rapid automatized naming, and counting sequence knowledge) and the relation of these profiles to reading and arithmetic skills at Grades 1 and 7. A total of four distinct cognitive profiles were identified in an unselected sample of 1,710 children aged 5–6 years: (1) high linguistic and high counting skills (39.2%), (2) low linguistic and low counting skills (25.4%), (3) high counting skills in relation to linguistic skills (15.3%), and (4) low counting skills in relation to linguistic skills (20.1%). …
Prematurity and overlap between reading and arithmetic: The cognitive mechanisms behind the association
2019
It is well-known that very preterm children perform at lower levels than full-term children in reading and arithmetic at school. Whether the lower performance levels of preterm children in these two separate domains have the same or different origins, however, is not clear. The present study examined the extent to which prematurity is associated with the overlap (i.e., common variance) of reading and arithmetic among Finnish school beginners. We also examined the extent to which the association of prematurity with the overlap between reading and arithmetic is due to different prereading skills, basic number skills, and general cognitive abilities. The participants (age 6-7) consisted of 193…
Research to engage voices on the ground in educational development
2014
The article discusses how a variety of qualitative methods could be used for investigating the engagement of the voices on the ground, where the change is expected to happen. It also reviews how qualitative research approaches involve students and teachers, the so-called “target groups” of educational development, as subjects, rather than objects. The qualitative methods are presented here for their potential in engaging the voices on the ground. Actor-centred inquiry and participatory action research consist of data collected, analysed and reported, in collaboration between researchers and the research subjects. Enabling the subjects as autonomous actors to take part in the analysis of the…
Child-centered versus teacher-directed teaching practices: Associations with the development of academic skills in the first grade at school
2016
This study examined the extent to which child-centered versus teacher-directed teaching practices predicted the development of children's reading and math skills in the first year of elementary school. In addition, we investigated whether associations between teaching practices and children's academic skills development in Grade 1 differed among children who had low, average, or high initial academic skills at the beginning of school. The reading and math skills of 1,132 Finnish children from 93 classrooms were assessed at the beginning and end of Grade 1, and the Early Childhood Classroom Observation Measure (ECCOM) was used to observe teaching practices in 29 classrooms. The results of mu…
Analysis of leadership dynamics in educational settings during times of external and internal change
2017
Background: The article concerns the tensions that can arise during demanding external, and consequential internal changes and considers how educational leadership is able to respond to them. Leadership is here understood as a collaborative endeavour, producing shared sense-making in situations of tension. Purpose: The main research question was: what kinds of leadership dynamics underlie situations of tension brought about by external and internal change? The sub-question was: what kind of micro-level sense-making processes, argued to be the true source of change, assist in revealing these dynamics? Programme: Educational organisations increasingly face demanding external changes, such as …
‘It is important at this point to make clear that this study is not “anti-iPad”’ : Ed-Tech speak around iPads in educational technology research
2020
This position paper contributes to the field of critical educational technology (Ed-Tech) research by providing empirical evidence for the qualities of the phenomenon known as Ed-Tech speak. The research question, how does Ed-Tech speak in research articles about Apple's iPad contribute to promoting and validating the importance and utility of the iPad for teaching and learning, is addressed by applying critical genre analysis to investigate empirical research articles discussing the use of iPads in institutional education. As a result, four categories were formed: the self-evident importance of iPads, overgeneralization of references, the use of strong reporting verbs (to boost weak refere…
Reception of the quality assurance commitments of the Bologna process in Finnish higher education institutions
2016
AbstractThis article analyses Finnish higher education institutions’ reception of the implementation of the new quality assurance systems that governments participating in the Bologna Process have committed to establishing in the Berlin Communique of 2003. The data were collected using a web survey and the respondents were classified with a cluster analysis. The reception was more positive in the polytechnics than in the research universities and women were more positive than men. People working in managerial positions were most positive about, and committed to, quality assurance. Most critical were young researchers in research universities working in temporary jobs. Some opinions were so …
Contesting language policy for asylum seekers in the Northern periphery: the story of Tailor F
2020
AbstractThis article is about navigating asylum, employment and language policy in a new country as an asylum seeker. Through the story of one individual, we show that profound inequalities are exacerbated when forced migrants are limited in their choice of language they might study or use. The individual is Tailor F, an Iraqi man seeking asylum, and the country is Finland, officially bilingual, with a majority language (Finnish) and a minority language (Swedish). Finland’s official bilingualism does not extend evenly to language education provided for asylum seekers, who are taught Finnish regardless of the region where they are placed. Upon arrival, Tailor F was housed in a reception cent…