This comparative study analyzed the similarities and differences in the mathematical communication used by teachers and primary school students in Japanese, Lao, and Thai mathematics classrooms. It adopted a qualitative research design, and the targets were teachers and students in Grades 1-6 at a selected school in each of the three countries.…

This longitudinal study examined the effectiveness of a progress monitoring method, namely the Multilayer Instruction Model-Progress Monitoring (MIM-PM), which is a word reading fluency measure. It was used from 1st grade onward to predict the overall reading achievement of students in elementary school by tracking their reading achievement over…

This study examined the effects of teacher self-monitoring combined with peer teacher feedback on their use of behavior-specific praise (BSP). We also examined its effect on children's academic engagement. The study was conducted in general education classrooms at a Japanese elementary school using a multiple-probe design across participants.…

Background: The present study aimed to examine the early growth of word and nonword reading fluency and their cognitive predictors in a consistent syllabic orthography (Japanese "Hiragana"). Method: One hundred sixty-nine Grade 1 Japanese children (M[subscript age] = 80.12 months, SD = 3.62) were followed until the middle of Grade 2 and…

We investigated whether the cool and hot executive functions (EFs) exhibited by kindergarteners could predict their academic achievement in the middle grades of elementary school. The study assessed the cool and hot EF of 48 Japanese kindergartners (M = 78.12 months) and then measured these same children's academic achievement in language and…

We investigated whether preschoolers' social-emotional competencies predict their peer relationships and academic achievements during grade one. Measures of cool and hot executive functions, theory of mind, social-problem-solving, and peer acceptance were administered to a sample of 48 preschoolers (M = 77.91 months). Academic achievement and peer…

We examined the role of different cognitive skills in word reading (accuracy and fluency) and spelling accuracy in syllabic Hiragana and morphographic Kanji. Japanese Hiragana and Kanji are strikingly contrastive orthographies: Hiragana has consistent character-sound correspondences with a limited symbol set, whereas Kanji has inconsistent…

The transition to formal education is a critical transition in children's lives that has importance for socio-emotional and behavioral functioning. In the transition process, teachers are key players who work intensively with children and their families. This article focuses on teachers' perceptions of children´s socio-emotional behavior during…

This study aims to describe how the learning study model can be used to improve lesson design and children's learning outcomes by enabling them to perceive and define the critical aspects of the object of learning, guided by variation theory. Three lesson designs were used with three groups of children (A = 24, B = 13, C = 14) from two schools.…

In research on the acquisition of reading, there have been cross-orthographic comparisons made between some alphabetic scripts and a few syllabic scripts. In the present study of Japanese Grade 1 children learning to read hiragana, a syllabic script, there was a comparison of assessments of oral word reading accuracy levels recorded by scorers…

This study examined whether children understand that people selectively conceal or express emotion depending upon the context. We prepared two contexts for a verbal display task for 70 first-graders, 80 third-graders, 64 fifth-graders, and 71 adults. In both contexts, protagonists had negative feelings because of the behavior of the other…

As young children enter formal schooling, they are at various points along their individual developmental paths toward literacy. Generally, their egocentric speech is becoming more social and they are building their capacity for logical thought and concrete problem-solving. This is a gradual development and teachers can support children's literacy…

This volume includes three sections of the 2021 NORDSCI international conference proceedings: (1) Education and Educational Research; (2) Language and Linguistics; and (3) Sociology and Healthcare. Education and Educational Research includes 15 papers covering the full spectrum of education, including history, sociology and economy of education,…

Nondisruptive problem behaviors exist to a large extent in group-oriented Japanese regular classrooms. However, many children remain untreated. We implemented an antecedent-based functional behavioral assessment (FBA) and developed a behavioral support program for a first-grade boy who exhibited inattentive behavior in a Japanese regular…

Background: Unhealthy lifestyles during childhood constitute a public health problem in Japan. However, current health education in Japan is ineffective in counteracting them. Previous studies contend that healthy lifestyles in children vary by academic grade and sex. This study examined changes throughout childhood suggests some intervention…