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Playful learning has garnered supporters and research evidence, and also can be seen as nebulous and, therefore, reliant on practitioners' intuitions in early education settings. In this paper, we offer an explicit theoretical account, grounded in developmental psychology of how play might support the acquisition of broad skills and dispositions for lifelong learning. We argue that play develops self-regulation and motivation, both of which support the child's agency in their learning. We discuss a culturally inclusive view of agency that is distinct from autonomy, and which is visible in many existing early childhood pedagogies. We conclude by suggesting practical strategies that educators can adopt to enhance learning through play and children's agency in their learning.

Background: Self‐regulation is crucial for children's learning and development. Several studies have explored children's inter‐individual differences in self‐regulation, but little is known about sources of intra‐individual variation. Aims: This study addressed the variability of children's self‐regulation across typical classroom situations and how this might be associated with children's executive functions (EFs). Sample: The study included 148 children (54.7% girls; Mage = 56.73 months). Methods: Self‐regulation was assessed with an observational measure in teacher‐led and child‐led activities within naturalistic classroom settings. Children's EFs were assessed with direct assessments at the start and end of the school year. Results: Linear mixed‐effect models showed that children demonstrated higher levels of self‐regulation in child‐led in comparison with teacher‐led activities. Children with higher levels of EFs at the start of the school year showed less variation across teacher‐led and child‐led activities in comparison with children with lower levels of EFs. Regarding other aspects of the classroom context, neither the group size in which the activity took place nor which school subject it was focused on were associated with children's self‐regulation. However, in teacher‐led activities the type of interaction involved in the activity and the type of task influenced children's self‐regulation. Conclusion: These results suggest that children who start school with higher levels of EFs are more able to adapt to different situations, highlighting the importance of fostering these skills in early childhood. In turn, children with lower levels of EFs may need additional support from teachers to remain self‐regulated across different contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Autistic pupils' full engagement with education can be limited by characteristics of their autism and features of the learning environment. We sought to identify which barriers to inclusion are most commonly and most frequently experienced and where gaps exist in the quantitative literature. In this systematic review, we followed the PRISMA guidelines to identify relevant literature and used the Research Domain Criteria (National Institute of Mental Health, 2017) framework to synthesise the findings. We then evaluated the strength and quality of the current literature in terms of the perspectives reflected in the data, characteristics of the participants and the methods used. Forty-eight studies were found that contained quantitative data directly collected from autistic pupils relating to their mainstream school experience. Experiences of friendship, anxiety and sensory sensitivity have been explored in the literature, with findings suggesting that difficulties in these areas are common for autistic pupils. We found gaps in the research in the domains of cognitive systems, negative affect, positive affect, arousal and sensorimotor processes. Further quantitative research is needed that directly reflects the pupils' experience and more thoroughly covers the relevant focal domains in which barriers to inclusion for autistic pupils may be expected to occur.

This article gives a reflective account of lessons learned from the experiences of three cognitive developmental scientists conducting psychological research in educational settings. First, we describe and analyze four key cultural distinctions between traditional approaches to research in psychology and education: 1) different structures, 2) different research philosophies, 3) different time frames, and 4) different semantics. Valuing and understanding the rationale behind the differing views from education is vital for creating effective collaborations. Second, we describe how our independent research questions and methods in the area of executive functions have been impacted by classroom constraints and observations, discussions of findings, and planning interventions. We advocate for shared goal setting with educators because it improves the research design, validity generalizability, and the impact of findings. We anticipate that as psychologists engage in more transparent research, the opportunity to collaborate with educators on educational policy will increase and that these lessons will remain important as we consider policy making in future research studies.

Subject comprehension and critical thinking are both key goals of higher education. However, while the former is, on the whole, successfully cultivated in undergraduate students, the latter is not. Few empirical studies have investigated the relationship between subject comprehension and critical thinking. In the present article we suggest that supporting the development of subject comprehension is not at odds with developing critical thinking. In fact, we argue that subject comprehension plays a key role in developing critical-thinking skills. Using an experimental design, we demonstrate differing effects of an intervention on subject comprehension, subject-specific critical thinking, and general critical thinking as a function of students' academic background. We discuss the implications of our results for teaching in higher education

Self-regulation is crucial for children's development and learning. Almost by convention, it is assumed that self-regulation is a relatively stable skill, and little is known about its dynamic nature and context dependency. Traditional measurement approaches such as single direct assessments and adult reports are not well suited to address questions around variations of self-regulation within individuals and influences from social-contextual factors. Measures relying on child observations are uniquely positioned to address these questions and to advance the field by shedding light on self-regulatory variability and incremental growth. In this paper, we review traditional measurement approaches (direct assessments and adult reports) and recently developed observational measures. We discuss which questions observational measures are best suited to address and why traditional measurement approaches fall short. Finally, we share lessons learned based on our experiences using child observations in educational settings and discuss how measurement approaches should be carefully aligned to the research questions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Core knowledge theories advocate the primacy of fundamental principles that constrain cognitive development from early infancy. However, there is concern that core knowledge of object properties does not constrain older preschoolers' reasoning during manual search. Here we address in detail both failure and success on two well-established search measures that require reasoning about solidity. We show that poor performance arises from an inability to engage the appropriate search strategy rather than a simple failure of core knowledge. Moreover, we demonstrate that successful search is positively correlated with inhibitory control. We believe that toddlers' manual search for an occluded object reflects a general capacity to deploy inhibition so that search behaviour can be guided by core knowledge.

Executive functions play an important role in cognitive development, and during the preschool years especially, children's performance is limited in tasks that demand flexibility in their behavior. We asked whether preschoolers would exhibit limitations when they are required to apply a general rule in the context of novel stimuli on every trial (the "opposites" task). Two types of inhibitory processing were measured: response interference (resistance to interference from a competing response) and proactive interference (resistance to interference from a previously relevant rule). Group data show 3-year-olds have difficulty inhibiting prepotent tendencies under these conditions, whereas 5-year-olds' accuracy is near ceiling in the task. (Contains 4 footnotes and 1 table.)

As we reform university teaching post-pandemic, we urgently need to know how best to meet the needs of all our students. By better understanding their experience, we can remove the barriers to inclusion for autistic and neurodiverse students. Building on existing conceptualisations of learning engagement, this study adapts engagement for neurodiverse students by reviewing conceptualisation and operationalisation of this metaconstruct for appropriateness and capacity to reflect the characteristics, complexity, and context of students' learning experiences. The adapted engagement framework supports the design of more appropriate instruments to measure the engagement of students with their learning activities. This in turn supports research that reflects the importance of context and has the potential to inform inclusive teaching practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We tested the feasibility of an educational intervention for ADHD and social difficulties, with three boys, ages 8, 9, and 10. A novel approach was used: exploratory talk and deep learning educational techniques were combined in a three-part psychoeducation, collaborative group work, and homework intervention. These techniques have been shown to increase metacognition and self-regulation in academic learning for typically developing children, but have not been combined and tested with social skills learning or ADHD children. Engagement levels varied by case, and corresponded to socio-economic status (SES), interest in the homework activity, and Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) scores. Key themes were 'just want to play', 'don't see problems', and 'stress and frustration of parents'. Socially problematic subthemes dominated the boys' talk, supporting literature on social difficulties, positive self-perception bias and pragmatic language difficulties in ADHD. Results suggest future research should take into account individual differences on SDQ scores and adopting a play-based format. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To facilitate future outcome studies, we aimed to develop a robust and replicable method for estimating a categorical and dimensional measure of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders‐5 (DSM‐5) attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in the 1970 British Cohort Study (BCS70). Method: Following a data mining framework, we mapped DSM‐5 ADHD symptoms to age 10 BCS70 data (N = 11,426) and derived a 16‐item scale (α = 0.85). Mapping was validated by an expert panel. A categorical subgroup was derived (n = 594, 5.2%), and a zero‐inflated item response theory (IRT) mixture model fitted to estimate a dimensional measure. Results: Subgroup composition was comparable with other ADHD samples. Relative risk ratios (ADHD/not ADHD) included boys = 1.38, unemployed fathers = 2.07, below average reading = 2.58, and depressed parent = 3.73. Our estimated measures correlated with two derived reference scales: Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire hyperactivity (r = 0.74) and a Rutter/Conners‐based scale (r = 0.81), supporting construct validity. IRT model items (symptoms) had moderate to high discrimination (0.90–2.81) and provided maximum information at average to moderate theta levels of ADHD (0.5–1.75). Conclusion: We extended previous work to identify ADHD in BCS70, derived scales from existing data, modeled ADHD items with IRT, and adjusted for a zero‐inflated distribution. Psychometric properties were promising, and this work will enable future studies of causal mechanisms in ADHD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]