One hundred fifty-six gifted elementary students (grades 3 through 6) responded to the Coopersmith Self Esteem Inventory on a pre- and posttest basis during a 3 week, 45 hour College for Kids program, designed as an enrichment program with focus on critical thinking, problem solving, inquiry, research, and questioning. Thirty students responded to…

A study used a case-contrast approach to explore children's multiple story-telling motivation. Kindergarten children were invited to dictate stories during free play once a week. The stories were written down in a book-like pamphlet and later, read to the class during story time. Many children chose this activity but one child, Rachel, told many…

The purpose of this study was to characterize the behavior of 2-, 3-, 4-, and 5-year-old children engaged in improvisational musical tasks. Ten subjects from each of the four age levels participated in the 4-year investigation, which lasted until the 2-year-olds reached 5 years of age. Children met individually with the investigator for 15 minutes…

The music, art, and physical education areas can lay the groundwork for the basic skills of reading, writing, and arithmetic. For example, music instruction develops receptive, auditory, visual, emotional, and mathematical areas. Art instruction emphasizes eye-hand coordination, creativity, concentration, spatial relationships, planning, and…

A distinction can be made between the term "creativity" and creative thinking skills. Creativity typically refers to a talent for original and masterful production in the arts and sciences, and there is scant evidence that teachers have any influence on creativity of this kind. Creative thinking refers to a group of six thinking skills that if…

The important role of spontaneous play in preschool education programs is emphasized. At present too much emphasis is placed on structured learning activities and it's suggested that more "open spaces" be allowed for in a child's day. In spontaneous play, adequate space and time must be allotted for investigation and unhurried experience. Good…

A philosophical orientation to teacher education would be a critical orientation, laying stress on the clarification of terminology, on the understanding of the logic of subject matter, and on a consideration of "what the known demands," or action deemed necessary from content knowledge. Fragmentation would be overcome, and a synthesis would be…

The concept of excellence is explored in relation to various dimensions. Since the time of ancient Greece, there has been difficulty in defining "the Good," or the nature of human excellence. It is suggested that "the Good" of which excellence is an important part is a fundamental concept of the human personality, and that…

This conference paper proposes a classification of possible psychological activity and illustrates some ways that cognitive development depends on affective development. Through diagrams and examples, the following assumptions (based on Piaget) are developed: (1) Learning is socially as well as materially oriented. (2) Affective and cognitive…