Research Findings: A growing number of stakeholders in early childhood education (ECE) rely on self-assessment to assess and improve the quality of ECE. In this systematic review, we investigated the reliability and validity of self-assessment in ECE, summarizing findings from 27 publications. We meta-analytically synthesized findings from 25 publications for 1,882 groups and 79,163 children aged 0–72 months in center-based childcare. Most studies reported high internal consistency, but one study reported a lower consistency. Inter-rater reliability was generally high. A three-level meta-analysis (k = 13, ES = 45) revealed a positive association between self-assessment ratings and ratings with validated measures of ECE quality (r = .38), indicating a moderate convergent validity. Studies with lower methodological quality and published “peer reviewed” studies reported somewhat higher correlations between self-assessment ratings and ratings with validated measures. The meta-analytic correlation remained significant after removal of studies with lower methodological quality (r = .33) or studies from the “grey” literature (r = .44). A second meta-analysis (k = 16, ES = 71) with a focus on the predictive validity of self-assessment ratings showed a small significant association between self-assessed ECE quality and child outcomes (r = .09); there were no significant moderators. Practice or Policy: Despite empirical evidence for the validity of self-assessment, further studies are needed to investigate potential bias in self-assessment. Future studies should further explore the validity and reliability of self-assessment measures in ECE, including countries outside the United States.
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Research has demonstrated that teachers working in early childhood education and care (ECEC) are proficient in offering emotional support to young children, but markedly weaker when it comes to instructional support. We conducted a controlled experimental study in the Netherlands, to investigate the effects of targeted in-service training on improving teachers’ instructional support. Teachers (N = 72) were randomly assigned to four conditions: an intensive early childhood education (ECE) training (N = 17), video interaction guidance (VIG) (N = 16), a combination of both training programs (N = 18), or a control condition with no training (N = 21). Teachers’ interactive skills were measured pre- and postintervention, according the scales of the Caregiver Interaction Profile (CIP). The ECE training improved the proficiency of teachers’ verbal communication and offering developmental stimulation. VIG proved to be effective in teachers’ fostering positive peer interactions between children. Intensive and targeted training can successfully improve the quality of teachers’ instructional support in ECEC settings, although more research on effective elements of professional development of ECEC teachers is needed.
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In dit artikel wordt het spanningsveld tussen uitingsvrijheid en godsdienstvrijheid geschetst. Mag je alles zeggen wat je wil? Bestaat er een recht op kwetsen? Het begon met het boek De Duivelsverzen van Salman Rushdie. Bijna twintig jaar later was er de affaire rond de Mohammed-cartoons in de Deense krant Jyllands Posten. Pim Fortuyn en Theo van Gogh wakkerden met gepeperde uitspraken en felle columns het debat aan. Bijna alle kwesties gingen over de verhouding tussen moslims en niet-moslims. De auteur maakt onderscheid tussen een juridische en een moraliteitsoptiek. Hij meent dat de morele grens daar wordt overschreden waar iemand met een artistieke, literaire of journalistieke uiting doelbewust de intentie heeft om anderen te kwetsen.
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Two key air pollutants that affect asthma are ozone and particle pollution. Studies show a direct relationship between the number of deaths and hospitalizations for asthma and increases of particulate matter in the air, including dust, soot, fly ash, diesel exhaust particles, smoke, and sulfate aerosols. Cars are found to be a primary contributor to this problem. However, patient awareness of the link is limited. This chapter begins with a general discussion of vehicular dependency or ‘car culture’, and then focuses on the discussion of the effects of air pollution on asthma in the Netherlands. I argue that international organizations and patient organizations have not tended to put pressure on air-control, pollution-control or environmental standards agencies, or the actual polluters. While changes in air quality and the release of greenhouse gases are tied to practices like the massive corporate support for the ongoing use of motor vehicles and the increased prominence of ‘car culture’ globally, patient organizations seem more focused on treating the symptoms rather than addressing the ultimate causes of the disease. Consequently, I argue that to fully address the issue of asthma the international health organizations as well as national health ministries, patient organizations, and the general public must recognize the direct link between vehicular dependency and asthma. The chapter concludes with a recommendation for raising environmental health awareness by explicitly linking the vehicular dependency to the state of poor respiratory health. Strategic policy in the Netherlands then should explicitly link the present pattern of auto mobility to public health. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/book/10.1002/9781118786949 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/helenkopnina/
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The use of in-body wearable devices is increasing in the healthcare sector, given their capacity to diagnose diseases and monitor health conditions. At the same time, some of these devices have entered the market and are being researched for use in workplace settings to enhance workers’ health and safety. However, neither specific EU legislation nor national law currently regulates the use of in-body wearables in employment, raising questions about the safeguarding of workers’ fundamental rights to privacy and data protection. Addressing the challenges posed by this regulatory gap, this article explores whether the European legislative framework employed in the healthcare sector for medical devices could be applied to the use of in-body wearables in employment settings. It also discusses the application of a key principle of the General Data Protection Regulation when in-body wearables are used in the workplace: lawfulness.
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All over the world entrepreneurs drive changes. They develop new products and services, inspire others and take decisions that result in growth of their businesses. But the world around entrepreneurs is changing and so are entrepreneurs. Life-long selfemployment or permanent wage employment are of the past. And the way people perceive self-employment is changing as well. And so must our thinking. Changes in our society call for policies and programmes in support of enterprising people. Diversity, mobility and connectivity offer new opportunities for enterprising people. Markets are changing, become more accessible and there is less need to be bound physically to one place for an entrepreneur. New avenues for business are open thanks to our improved access to information, our connectivity globally through social media and our ability to travel freely and frequently from one country to another. With less focus on life-long (self) employment people now combine paid work (or unpaid – house- work) with self-employment, or opt for just parttime entrepreneurship. New, hybrid forms of enterprising emerge. This combining of work with self-employment is rather common in developing countries, but in Europe it is a phenomenon not yet reported on in statistics and for which policy makers and service providers have no answers yet. Neither exist clear definitions or classifications. This book may serve as an eye-opener: hybrid entrepreneurs are indeed around us and deserve our attention. The research unit Financial Inclusion and New Entrepreneurship of The Hague University of Applied Science challenges policy makers, academics and service providers (such as educational institutes, business advisers and financial institutions) to pay more attention to hybrid entrepreneurs, those enterprising people who intend to create new values for a fair and sustainable society. They might not yet been seen, but they exist…..
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Although many publications have documented the use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in children and adolescents, the recent review showed that there are only few well-controlled studies that support the efficacy of CAM in the treatment and clinical improvement of children with asthma. However, some evidence has been found that specific CAM techniques are differentially associated with psychosocial outcomes, indicating the importance of examining CAM modalities individually, as well as within culturally specific contexts. Based on the previous study of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) treatment in children’s asthma, this study examined the efficacy of TCM in areas with differing air pollution. This study is based on a longitudinal qualitative data and observations of families of children with asthma collected between 2009 and 2012 in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. The study results indicate that while TCM treatment of children can be beneficial to treatment of asthma, environmental pollution renders positive effects of alternative treatment largely ineffective. https://www.linkedin.com/in/helenkopnina/
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The Dutch conservation area Oostvaardersplassen was initiated as a rewilding project within the Netherlands’ protected area network. It came under the spotlight when management strategies and practices were criticized by scientists, conservation practitioners, and the public, from a number of perspectives – not all of which were compatible. This article reviews the origin, evolution, and application of the rewilding concept and examines the Oostvaardersplassen project as a case study. Our assessment demonstrates that the area was never an appropriate site for rewilding, beset by rudderless management, and led to a situation that was ecologically and ethically untenable. The case study is used to illustrate humanity’s evolving role in environmental protection where advances in the understanding of ecological complexity, animal behavior, and sentience, cannot be ignored when addressing environmental protection, problem solving, and management. Finally, it lays out options for the future in the absence of the three Cs of rewilding, the Cores, Corridors, Carnivores, and introduces the concept of the fourth C, Compassion. https://ijw.org/learning-to-rewild/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/helenkopnina/
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This paper analyses the ways in which informal mediation channels facilitate service delivery in the Citizen Service Bureaus at the Municipal Corporation of Delhi and give rise to an interplay between formal and informal institutions. In particular, the personal backgrounds of brokers as informal mediators and how they ensure their acceptance amongst service seekers are explored. Further, the motivations of the service seekers to solicit help from these mediators as well as institutional responses from the municipal administration along with other relevant actors like the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi are examined.
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