Importance of the Need for Preschool Literacy - Assignment Example

Lee, Sun, & Ginsburg, Herbert P. (2007). Preschool Teachers' Beliefs About Appropriate Early Literacy and Mathematics Education for Low and Middle Socioeconomic Status Children. Early Education and Development. 18, 111-143. I. Purpose of the Study At present, a newly spreading belief that places importance on the need for preschool literacy, and mathematics education is taking root in the field of Early Childhood Education (ECE). This is partly due to the found awareness that preschool students, unlike previously believed, are much more capable learners. Also, observations show that inattention to literacy, and mathematics during preschool may have unfavorable consequence for children later on. Although discussions on the appropriateness of preschool literacy and mathematics education are ongoing; it is safe to say that in the end, it is still up to the teachers, and further exploration into the subject should be based on their personal views of the matter. Because often, as observations have previously showed, implemented changes in the classroom which did not take into account the views of the teachers were misunderstood or misinterpreted. Thus, it is important to investigate the beliefs of preschool teachers concerning the appropriateness of preschool literacy, and mathematics education. There are two objectives for the study. The first is to look into the pedagogical beliefs of preschool teachers, and to see whether they have a relationship to the socioeconomic status of their pupils. The second objective of the study was to find out whether there are differences regarding the preschool teachers’ pedagogical views when it comes to the subject matter, that is, literacy and mathematics. Also, there has been little exploration on the subject of teachers’ beliefs, other than the beliefs of teachers concerning general classroom practices. II. Samples In order to conduct the study, 60 samples were gathered by the researchers. The authors were unclear in the study of what sampling method they have used to gather the samples other than the fact that they chose New York City preschool teachers as samples. Also, the samples were stratified into 2 categories. 30 of the preschool teachers worked with low SES children from schools funded by the federal government. Another 30 preschool teachers who worked with middle SES children were obtained from private preschools. The mean no. of students per class was 18.32, and 18.59 for middle SES, and low SES schools respectively. The ethnicity of the children was divided into 6 categories, they are: White, Asian, Black, Hispanic, American Indian, and others. It was noted by the low SES teachers that the majority of their students were Black, and Hispanic, while the middle SES teachers indicated that the majority of the students were White. The break up of the students’ ethnicity was as follows for low SES preschools: White (3.2), Asian (.29), Black (7.25), Hispanic (9.5), American Indian (.07), other (.89). For middle SES preschools the break up of the students’ ethnicity is: White (14.19), Asian (1.96), Black (.56), Hispanic (.89), and American Indian (.00), other (.96). The preschool teachers also had differences regarding their ethnicity, education, and experience. The break up of the preschool teacher’s ethnicity was as follows: for middle SES preschools, 13 White and 2 Asian teaching literacy, and 11 White, 3 Asian, and 1 Hispanic teaching mathematics. For low SES preschools the break up was: 3 White, 4 Black, 7 Hispanic, and 1 other teaching literacy, and 2 White, 1 Asian, 8 Black, 3 Hispanic, and 1 other teaching math. It was observed by the researchers that low SES teachers leaned towards a minority background, had less experience teaching preschool, and had a lower level of education compared to middle SES teachers. III. Method and Procedure For the experiment proper, 10 vignettes that showed challenging problems in the field of ECE were used. The vignettes were developed to act as catalysts for the subjects to show their pedagogical views in the interviews. Several topics were included in the vignette addressing the purpose of preschool education, the readiness of preschoolers for academic education, curriculum, promotion of skills, formal and informal activities, and lastly the competence of children. The vignettes polarized the views of two hypothetical preschool teachers, one teacher academic oriented, while the other child oriented. Aside from the researchers, a panel of 4 ECE experts also reviewed both versions of the vignettes to make sure that they addressed the issues important to early childhood literacy, and mathematics. This method was chosen because it was believed that examining the appropriateness of contrasting approaches will push teachers to reveal their views. At the beginning of the study, the participants were subjected to an interview by the author. The questions concerned the situations in the vignette, and the participants were asked to evaluate the issues in the vignettes using their experiences. After the interview, the participants were asked to answer a series of open ended questions concerning situations that may arise in the classroom, and their reactions to the teachers portrayed in the vignettes. The analysis of the data obtained in the study comprised of two phases. In the first phase of the study, a software program called NUD IST was used. The program allowed for analysis of the qualitative data obtained from the 60 participants. The beliefs of the teachers were examined, and all beliefs that were relevant to the study were segmented, and subject to further tests. The next step involved analyzing which beliefs were shared by at least 20% of the participants. Using the method codes obtained(78 total), the codes were compared to the vignettes to see if they were present. The frequency of the codes in the vignette obtained values from 0 to 10, with 0 being the lowest, and 0 being the highest. The second phase of the study consisted of the qualitative data being converted to quantitative frequency data. A program called SPPS was used to analyze the codes, and to extract further relationships between them. IV. Analysis of the Study A major limitation of the study noted by the researchers is its small sample size. Although 60 participants were enough for a qualitative study, a sophisticated inferential analysis requires a larger sample size. The nature of the vignette is also a limitation, because their format may have elicited comments from the teachers that may have altered the data obtained, thus giving errors to the analysis. The only limitation in the study I can foresee is that the samples were all taken from New York City preschools. It may have been better if the researchers obtained samples from different states or cities to make a more accurate generalization of the preschool teacher’s beliefs regarding preschool literacy, and mathematics. Rieger, Gerulf, Linsenmeier, Joan A.W., Gygax, Lorenz, & Bailey, J. Michael (2008). Sexual Orientation and Childhood Gender Nonconformity: Evidence From Home Videos. Developmental Psychology, 44, 46-58. I. Purpose of the study Past studies have shown that there are significant discrepancies in gender nonconformity, but these studies were said to have been subjected to memory biases. The purpose of the study is to find out whether sexual nonconformity during the childhood years(before puberty) eventually lead to homosexuality. It was the objective of the authors to conduct the study without subjecting to any form of bias, and this was achieved through the use of childhood home videos. II. Samples Using a non probability sampling method, the authors managed to recruit participants for the experiment. The participants obtained were 21 homosexual men, 20 homosexual women, 23 heterosexual men, and lastly 26 heterosexual women, for a total of 90 samples. The average age of the participants differed for both gender, and sexual orientation. The average age of homosexual men was 28.6 years with a standard deviation of 7.9 years, while homosexual women had an average age of 23.8 years with a standard deviation of 5.3 years. On the other hand, the average age was 35.0 years for heterosexual men, and 24.6 years for heterosexual women, with standard deviations 5.9, and 7.4 years respectively. III. Methods and Procedure The participants were recruited through a non probability sampling method, that is by placing advertisements in the Chicago Reader, and Chicago.craiglist.org. The advertisements were then posted under the miscellaneous job opportunities, targeting each of the categories respectively. The participants obtained were asked to identify themselves as either gay or straight, and were requested to bring childhood home videos. One video clip was chosen for each age period, which resulting in one to six video clips per participant. The mean number of video clips per child was 2.4 for homosexual men, and 2.3 for homosexual women, with a standard deviation of 1.5 for both genders. Meanwhile, the mean number of video clips for heterosexual men, and women were 2.6, and 2.3 with a standard deviation of 1.6, and 1.2 respectively. The average age of children showed in the video clips were 4.6 years for homosexual men, and 5.4 years for women, with a standard deviation of 3.6, and 3.9. On the other hand, the mean ages of children showed in the video clips for heterosexual men, and women were both 5.5 years, with standard deviation of 3.6 years. The childhood gender nonconformity of the subjects was evaluated using the childhood gender non conformity scale with 7 statements for each sex, that is for male or female. Meanwhile, adult gender nonconformity was evaluated through the continuous gender identity scale with 10 items for each sex. The statements for both test were rated on a scale of 7, with strongly disagree, and strongly agree as descriptors for each point in the scale. To evaluate whether past parental, and peer treatment were factors in the development of the participants sexual orientation, a 40 item version of the Recollection of Early Childrearing scale was utilized. To evaluate whether peer treatment was a factor, the Mother-father-peer scale was utilized. Like the gender nonconformity test, the statements were also rated on a 7 point scale, with higher values indicating higher degrees of rejection. For the adult videos that were compared to the childhood videos, the participant were subjected to a recorded interview. During the interview, the participants were asked questions, and the answers were used to evaluate the video clips to be used for the experiment. In selecting the childhood video clips to be used, the participants watched their videos with an experimenter, and pointed themselves out in the video. The first scene in which the participants appeared for at least 10 seconds was chosen as the sample video. It was pointed out b the authors that scenes in which the participant was alone, or made sounds were favorable. An equal number of raters from each category of participants watched 4 sets of videos from each age period(adult, childhood), and gender( male, female). The videos were presented randomly. After viewing the videos, the raters evaluated participants on a 7 point scale, indicating the masculinity or femininity of the participant shown on the video clip. The raters were then asked to compare the participant to average persons of the same sex, and age. While the raters viewed the video clips, 2 research assistants independently viewed the childhood video clips, and noted the descriptions of each child's activities. The researchers were asked to focus solely on the activity itself. The descriptions were then given to six graduate students who evaluated the the activities for gender nonconformity on a 7 point scale. IV. Analysis of the Study A few limitations were observed by the authors in making the study. Unlike the adult videos which were standardized, the childhood videos brought by the participants differed from each other. Although the context of the videos seemed insignificant in the development of sexual orientation, the authors pointed out that the raters relied partially on the activities when they evaluated the participants for gender nonconformity. Another limitation observed was the length of time of the video clips used for the experiment. Since the length of the video clips were short( less than 30 seconds), there is a possibility for measurement errors. The authors also observed that the samples were self selected, and that a majority of homosexual people were open about their sexual orientation. These assumptions may make it possible that the homosexual participants were biased towards nonconformity. Lastly, the samples were limited only to those of heterosexual, or homosexual orientation. Regarding the sample, it is noted that 82% of the participants in the study were Caucasian(Reiger et al, 2008,p.48). This may decrease the credibility of the study since the data obtained will only will be applicable to Caucasians only. Another limitation that was observed in the study, was the lack of reference to other cultures where tolerance of childhood gender nonconformity may or may not be like the situations observed from a Caucasian family, for example, how parents treat their children may not be the same in other cultures. Regarding the procedures used for gathering of the samples, it may have been better if a method of probability sampling was utilized by the authors. A random method of gathering samples may have eliminated some of the possible errors that was noted by the authors in the study. Read More