At all levels of education the assessment of learning is generally regarded as an integral part of teachers' work. For early childhood teachers, i.e., those who work with children in the age-range birth to six years, there are very particular considerations arising from the characteristics of young learners and the nature of early learning. This…

This paper argues that current child and childhood research is problematical in as much as there is a discrepancy between theory and research practice. Although in theory, children are conceptualised as active agents in the social world, the type of research that children are typically involved in implies that children are competent, knowledgeable…

Canada receives over 30,000 refugees each year, approximately 10% of whom are under five years of age. While to varying degrees the factors influencing the experiences of adult refugees have been identified and researched, the experiences of young refugee children "living in-between" has only recently begun to capture researchers'…

A qualitative study was done to investigate how adult children become caregivers to older parents with functional impairments and what roles their own children adopt in their family's care arrangement. Interviews revealed five influences on children and grandchildren's adoption of caregiver roles: expectations; family rules; religious training;…

Examines the emotional and situational factors that influence the child victim's role in sexual assult by adults, and the social implications of blaming the victim. (Author/CM)

This article reviews "Everyday Theatre", an interactive applied theatre project from Auckland based company Applied Theatre Consultants Ltd., which explores the dynamics of family relationships and touches obliquely on issues of abuse and violence. The article looks at the form, strategies and processes of "Everyday Theatre"…

While most of the existing literature has focused on the risks associated with parentification, we examined the potential benefits (i.e., posttraumatic growth) associated with parentification. Predictors of posttraumatic growth explored in our study included: attachment, differentiation of self, parentification, and resiliency. Partial support was…

The new paradigm of studying childhood that has emerged in the past 15 years has significant implications for rethinking research with children. This article examines some methodological and ethical issues related to the role and responsibility of a researcher in the process of designing, structuring, and conducting research on childhood…

Results of a study of the types of help provided by 27 adult children to chronically ill parents demonstrated that despite profound stress and strain, they still provided a range of help within the formal structures of the hospital. Dependence was a weak indicator and stress was a stronger indicator of the adult child's helping behavior. (JOW)

In the "His Dark Materials" trilogy, Pullman reworks the fall of humanity into an ascent and suggests that ascent into adulthood through sexual experience is the desired goal for children. Although this ascent is accompanied by a radical reconceptualization of life and death, Pullman fails to offer any genuinely new ideas of the world with respect…

This paper's starting point is the dynamic changes and shifts in the field of measuring and monitoring children's well being. In the paper we focus on one specific change--the "new" role of children in measuring and monitoring their own well being--a role of active participants rather than of subjects for research. We then turn to present based on…

Many early childhood teachers report lacking confidence to teach science. Today, science education is defined as "doing science", as opposed to memorization of facts (Seefeldt & Galper, 2002). This paper discusses developmentally appropriate practices in the context of teaching science. Knowledge of child development, individual differences and…

Children's participation is increasingly ambiguous and contested. Such complexity emerges in response to its emancipatory possibilities as well as unresolved tensions and power practices. The authors argue that closer attention must now be given to the interpretative milieu of children's participation, that is, to the act of dialogue that has…

Children at risk for early reading difficulties were identified on entry into kindergarten, and half of these children received small-group intervention two to three times a week during their kindergarten year. The other half received whatever remedial assistance was offered by their home schools. These children were again assessed at the…

Within early years education research there is a lack of research that focuses on the child and that constructs the child as co-constructor of knowledge, culture and identity. Although there is much writing on early childhood education with regard to teacher practice, pedagogy and curriculum, these discussions are rarely informed by the…