Search results for "ta516"
showing 10 items of 614 documents
Children’s beliefs concerning school transition
2016
This study examines preschoolers’ beliefs concerning their transfer into primary education. Data from 1386 Finnish preschoolers were obtained using interviews with parents at the end of the children’s preschool year. The qualitative content analysis revealed categories, which encompassed peer relationships, relationship with teacher, learning, formal schoolwork, informal activities, comfortable school entry and no concerns. The results indicated that children’s beliefs concerning their prospective school entry centred on maintaining and making friendships, and that children possessed both negative and positive expectations about their relationship with their future teacher. Both girls and b…
Developmental profiles of task-avoidant behaviour and reading skills in Grades 1 and 2
2013
Abstract A latent profile analysis approach was used to examine the developmental profiles of task-avoidant behaviour and reading skills in Grades 1 and 2, as well as their antecedents in kindergarten. The participants in this study were 448 children. Four different developmental profiles of task-avoidant behaviour and reading skills were identified. Our results showed that task-avoidant behaviour and reading problems do not coincide for all children. Parents' educational level differentiated between the profile groups. Comparisons of kindergarten skills between the groups showed that social competence skills in kindergarten helped to differentiate between the profile groups with varying le…
Effects of teacher's individualized support on children's reading skills and interest in classrooms with different teaching styles
2016
Abstract The purpose of the study was to examine whether teacher's individualized support affects students' reading skills and interest in classrooms with different teaching styles. Groups of teachers with child-centered, mixed child-centered/teacher-directed, and child-dominated teaching styles were differentiated based on observed teaching practices. The participants were 552 children (273 boys) and their 21 homeroom teachers. Teaching practices were assessed in Grade 1, teacher individualized support and students' reading skills and interest in reading were assessed twice - at the end of Grades 1 and 2.The results showed that relations between individualized support and students' later r…
The effectiveness of increased support in reading and its relationship to teachers' affect and children's motivation
2016
Abstract The aims of this study were, firstly, to identify different groups of teacher–child dyads on the basis of the longitudinal associations between teachers' individual support in reading and children's reading skills, and, secondly, to examine whether the groups thus identified differ with respect to various teacher- and child-related factors. A total of 372 teacher–child dyads were examined. The reading skills of 6- to 7-year-old Finnish-speaking children were measured at the beginning and end of Grade 1. The amount of teachers' support in reading for a particular child was gathered from teachers by questionnaires. Regression Mixture Modeling identified three latent groups of teacher…
Early cognitive predictors of PISA reading in children with and without family risk for dyslexia
2018
Abstract This study examined language skills and pre-literacy skills (phonological awareness, rapid naming, and letter knowledge) before school-age as predictors of PISA reading at age 15 in two groups of children, with (n = 88) and without (n = 70) family-risk for dyslexia . Moreover, effects of family-risk on these early predictors, reading fluency , and PISA reading were examined while controlling the effect of gender. Children were followed from age 2 to 15. Family-risk had a significant effect on early language and pre-literacy skills, reading fluency and PISA reading. A similar model predicting PISA reading fitted the data well in the Family-risk and the No family-risk group. Languag…
Teachers' contribution to the social life in Finnish preschool classrooms during structured learning sessions
2013
This study aimed to clarify and deepen the knowledge on and understanding of the role that teachers’ practices during teacher-led learning sessions play in creating and enhancing social life in Finnish preschool classrooms. Observational data pertaining to 20 preschool teachers were analysed according to the principles of thematic analysis. Four identified themes reflected teachers’ contribution to social life in preschool classrooms in relation to their practices under different group compositions: (1) managing children’s peer-relations; (2) promoting the coherence of the group; (3) supporting individual child as a part of group; and (4) discussing friendship and respectfulness. As a concl…
Profiles of school motivation and emotional well-being among adolescents : Associations with math and reading performance
2018
This study examines profiles of school motivation and emotional well-being and their links to academic skills (reading and math) among adolescents (N = 1629) at the end of comprehensive school (age 15–16). Using a person-centered approach (latent profile analysis), five distinct profile groups were identified. Three of the identified groups had a flat profile in motivation and well-being but at different levels. The first group manifested high motivation and well-being (n = 178, 11%); the second group was average in both (n = 1107, 68%); and the third had low motivation and well-being (n = 121, 7%). Two groups had mixed profiles; one group manifested only low motivation (n = 140, 9%) and th…
Can reading fluency and self-efficacy of reading fluency be enhanced with an intervention targeting the sources of self-efficacy?
2018
Abstract The first aim of the study was to analyze whether reading fluency and self-efficacy of reading fluency (SE-rf) are malleable for children (Grades 3–5) with deficits in fluent reading via a 12-week special education program targeting both reading fluency and the sources of SE-rf (SE-program). The second aim was to investigate whether changes in SE-rf are related to changes in reading fluency. The SE-program (n = 40) was contrasted with the SKILL-program (n = 42) providing training solely in reading fluency. The groups showed equal improvements in reading fluency. Positive change in SE-rf emerged only in the SE-group, and this change was associated with changes in fluency, but the as…
Fostering transformational teacher agency in Finnish teacher education
2018
In this article, we studied how well teacher education in Finland is able to answer the changing needs of the contemporary world. More precisely, we focussed on the question of how well an alternative teacher education model guides teacher students’ agency towards a transformational view of the teaching profession, making it possible for schools to enable social change. This question was studied in the framework of critical social pedagogy. The data for this article was collected ethnographically by observing meetings in the Critical Integrative Teacher Education (CITE) programme at the University of Jyväskylä in 2015–2017. The analysis is based on a theoretical background in which we outli…
A Validation Study of Classroom Assessment Scoring System–Secondary in the Finnish School Context
2017
This study examined the reliability and validity of the Classroom Assessment Scoring System–Secondary (CLASS-S) in Finnish classrooms. Trained observers coded classroom interactions based on video recordings of 46 Grade 6 classrooms (450 cycles). Concurrent associations were investigated with respect to teacher self-ratings (e.g., efficacy beliefs and teaching-related stress). Confirmatory factor analysis showed that the hypothesized three-factor structure of the original CLASS-S (Emotional Support, Organizational Support, and Instructional Support), with some modifications, provided a better fit for the data compared with one- and two-factor structures. Structural validity was demonstrate…