One of the outcomes of the New Zealand early childhood curriculum, "Te Whariki", is "working theories". Prior research on this concept has primarily utilised sociocultural theoretical underpinnings and neglected Piagetian constructivist theories. This paper explores ways the Piagetian concepts of equilibrium and disequilibrium…

Families play important roles in children's learning. Yet, teachers' values and beliefs may sway how families may participate in assessment of their child's learning within early childhood education. This paper reports on a qualitative case study in a New Zealand early childhood setting that explored teachers' views about involving families in…

Recognising school readiness as a national priority, the National Education Goals Panel identified the development of young children's approaches to learning as essential for achieving readiness. Approaches to learning include inclinations, attitudes, and learning styles. Despite wide agreement that learning approaches are critical for school…

Raising consciousness about the environment and learning ways to care for our planet are important for all citizens of the world. Young children are particularly receptive to learning new concepts; thus the preschool years are an ideal time to teach lessons about the environment. It is often the case that the information learned when children are…

Describes some ways in which learning styles have been examined. Discusses the ways in which differences in learning styles may develop. Presents educational implications of this work. (RJC)

It is evident that all teachers have individual attributes relating to their teaching processes and they teach differently at different paces because of their biological and psychological differences. Naturally, mismatches often occur between the teaching styles of student-teachers in preschool and the teaching style of the cooperating teachers,…

Reviews literature concerning the relationship between symbolic play and ideational fluency. Discusses a study relating preschool symbolic play to aspects of divergent cognitive style. Symbolic play at preschool was related to ideational fluency and measures of flexibility, originality, and intelligence three years later. (RJC)

Discusses the position of Aboriginal people in Australian society and the relation of this position to the provision of early childhood education. Focuses on possible ramifications of popular perceptions of behavior on experiences and development of Aboriginal children. (RJC)

Assessed cognitive styles of 300 children aged 3-5 years and explored social factors in children's play based on their cognitive style. Field dependent children engaged more often in activities with others and with concrete objects, while field independent children were more involved in restructuring the environment. (RJC)

Discusses trends in the conceptualization of children's cognitive style which continue to generate research activity. Trends discussed include field dependence-independence, reflection-impulsivity, conceptualization styles, breadth of categorization, metaphoric sensitivity, cognitive complexity-simplicity, and cognitive control. (RJC)

Discusses the reciprocal, interactionist activity of creativity. Suggests an explanation of how specific characteristics of personality, cognitive style, and situation develop creativity. Notes that these factors are interrelated--none is sufficient for creativity by itself--and that creativity can be explained only by a model that encompasses all…

Describes limitations in the understanding of cognitive styles and the constraints these limitations place on the use of cognitive styles in early childhood education. Topics include historical problems of definitions, issues of early childhood education, and guidelines for educational applications and for research. (RJC)

Describes formal and informal techniques used to evaluate young children's cognitive style for the purpose of individualizing instruction. Topics include controlled laboratory procedures, paper and pencil tests, classroom assessments, and individualization in educational programs. (RJC)

Examines perceptual patterns of Indian Americans and Afro-Americans to determine the degree to which their perceptual development influences their handling of information. Suggests that perceptual development differs within various ethnocultural groups. (RJC)

Discusses the relation of individual differences to cognitive styles in the early childhood education classroom. Topics include the use of knowledge of cognitive styles in classrooms and in matching teachers to children. (RJC)