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The necessity for parents and teachers to work together collaboratively to optimize children's learning and development in early childhood education is well recognized. Yet, ways in which initial teacher education programs might prepare teachers for professional relationships with parents are rare in the literature. This paper reports on the use of field experience in family homes that occurred in the 1st year of a teacher education program. A case study of two student teachers is discussed to illustrate the potential of such an approach to this aspect of teacher preparation. These student teachers experienced the realities of the daily lives of families with young children. Six months later, their experiences appeared likely to have had a positive influence on their understanding of parenting and their attitudes towards establishing and maintaining effective partnerships with parents in their future professional role.

That early childhood education learning and teaching ought to be holistic in approach seems uncontested. Te Whāriki: He Whāriki Mātauranga mō ngā Mokopuna o Aotearoa: Early Childhood Curriculum (Te Whāriki) (Ministry of Education [MoE], 2017), like most early childhood curricula, defines holism based on the Aristotelian view that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. This paper invites a conversation about the conventional perception of holism and self in early childhood education. Teachers' beliefs about holism matter, as do how the self is conceptualised in relation to, within, and between me, others, and the Universe, for these are instrumental in how relational connectedness underpins teaching and learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this two-part series, the author's task is to draw out some themes from the Working Forum for Teacher Educators, held in Auckland, New Zealand on April 30-May 2, 2008. Earlier he identified ten concerns relating to future directions in early childhood teacher education. In this article, he suggests ten principles for early childhood teacher education programs: (1) Early childhood teacher education honours the whole person; (2) Early childhood teacher education welcomes the full expression of diversity; (3) Early childhood teacher education nurtures teachers and their journeys toward authenticity; (4) Early childhood teacher education values teachers' beliefs as instrumental in understanding their motivation and actions; (5) Early childhood teacher education nourishes the fullness of teacher presence; (6) Early childhood teacher education honours emotions, dispositions, and personality as reflecting the humanness of teachers--this includes joy, love, compassion, grace, humility, and passion; (7) Early childhood teacher education values freedom to initiate as well as to exercise autonomy with responsibility; (8) Early childhood teacher education enables teachers to critically reflect, self-reflect, contemplate, and to nourish their souls; (9) Early childhood teacher education encourages teachers to be wise and to grow in wisdom; and (10) Early childhood teacher education upholds and practises social justice. [For Part 1, see EJ864775.]

What are the problems that early childhood educators are trying to answer? In this article, the author presents his ten concerns for early childhood teacher education: (1) A concern about policymakers' pottery wheels; (2) A concern about "white shoe" education evangelists; (3) A concern that increasing control may cripple autonomy and build distrust; (4) A concern about producing products rather than nurturing people; (5) A concern about compulsory school creep; (6) A concern about dependence on educational myths and fads; (7) A concern about undervaluing families; (8) A concern about living in unquestioned rhetoric; (9) A concern about the stifling of special character; and (10) A concern about resisting the new and devaluing the old.

The effects of pressure-overload cardiac hypertrophy on cardiac mechanical pulsus alternans and Ca2+ regulation were analyzed in rabbit right ventricle during POL hypertrophy. Cardiac Ca2+ regulation and contractility were altered in rabbit right ventricles after cardiac POL hypertrophy. Steady-state stimulation of rabbit cardiac POL muscles indicated prolonged contractile duration due to impaired contractile cross-bridge cycling and decline in recirculation fraction. Furthermore, abnormal Ca2+ regulation due to POL hypertrophy mediated cardiac mechanical pulsus alternans.

An increase in energy output indicates the presence of shortening heat in twitches of soleus and extensor digitorum longus (EDL) muscles of young rats. Shortening heat increases with the distance shortened in soleus but not in EDL muscles. The shortening heat coefficient in rats is higher than those in amphibians. Shortening heat is a major component of the total heat released by mammalian skeletal muscles.

Papillary muscles severed from adult rat hearts observed in vitro were found to have retained their mechanical and energetic properties when maintained in 2,3-butanedione monoxime medium. The muscles were derived from groups with similar cross-sectional areas and observed as a whole group, as longitudinally split muscles and isolated muscles. The whole and split muscles responded similarly to stress conditions measured in terms of work, enthalpy and isometric performance.

Presents results of a study indicating that what young readers say when they first read is influenced by their previous experiences with books, the structure of the text, and also the accompanying illustrations. Points out implications for reading to young children, and for choosing early texts. (SKC)

Discusses how beginning readers respond to familiar and unfamiliar stories. States that children begin as inventive readers, using different strategies--such as naming, counting, or structuring--to "read" the text. (MM)