Vol 20, No 3 (2023): Phenomenology of Childhood in Contemporary Research Contexts

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In psychology, playing is traditionally considered the most developing form of preschool children’s activity. Nowadays, despite the large amount of research demonstrating the significant impact of pretend play on the psychological development of the preschoolers, project-based learning is widespread in kindergartens. Therefore, the purpose of this work is to determine whether it is enough for the successful development of the preschool children to include them in pretend play or whether it is important to use other educational technologies as well. According to the cultural-historical and activity-based approaches in the educational psychology, the key features of play and project-based learning are identified as fundamental for the development of the preschoolers. Based on the identified key features, the authors conduct a comparative analysis of play and project-based learning in order to determine their fundamental differences. The results of the analysis show that these types of activities have their own developmental tools: an imaginary situation (in play) and a space for children’s realization (for project-based activity). It is also demonstrated that inclusion in pretend play involves a process orientation caused by the underdevelopment of the operational sphere in the preschoolers, while project-based learning is result-oriented activity aimed at creating a socially significant product. Finally, an essential point in play and project-based activity is associated with the role of the adult. In play, the child is independent, being the subject of play activity. In project activities, the child is the author of an idea, with the adult being the child’s interpreter. The research shows the fundamental differences between pretend play and project-based activity for the development of the preschoolers, which should be taken into account when working with children of this age.

Coherent monologue speech is one of the main factors determining both school performance and social success of children. Therefore, problems related to methods and techniques for developing coherent monologue speech in children still remain relevant. It is often recommended to use various types of play activities (i.e., games) for this purpose. However, the question remains whether all of them have an equally positive impact on the development of coherent speech in such an aspect as its macrostructure (coherence, cohesion, semantic completeness, narrative structure). For this reason, the purpose of this study is to find out how different types of play affect the speech development in children of senior preschool age. According to our preliminary hypothesis, the development of semantic elements of a story is most influenced by role-playing games. Our study involved 220 preschoolers ( M = 60.84 months; SD = 4.14 months) who were randomly assigned to seven groups in which they either participated in a series of games of a certain type, or listened to additional stories, or were not exposed to experimental treatment at all. Before and after the exposure, the children made up stories based on a series of pictures. The resulting stories were evaluated in terms of their macrostructure. The groups were then compared in terms of the impact that different types of play interaction had on the development of the macrostructure of coherent speech. It was found that the best effect was shown by the role-playing games, and, first of all, ‘directed’ ones. These results allow a more reasonable approach to the use of games for the development of coherent monologue speech in children aged 5-6 years.

Due to the fact that in the life of modern preschoolers the traditional role-playing game with peers is increasingly being replaced by playing on digital devices, many researchers have expressed concern about how well their imagination develops. However, other scientists, on the contrary, see the potential for developing children’s imagination in digital games and applications. For this reason, the study is focused on differences in the productive imagination among preschoolers who prefer different types of games on digital devices. The authors propose a typology of digital games played by the preschoolers. A survey was conducted on the use of digital devices among 450 children aged 5-6 years who attended preparatory groups of kindergartens from four regions of Russia, and their imagination was assessed using the “Completing Figures” technique (by O.M. Dyachenko) and a questionnaire developed as part of the study for educators on behavioral manifestations of imagination in their pupils (42 educators were involved). Based on the results of a survey of the educators, it was found that they evaluated the results of creative productive activity lower in the children who liked games for reaction speed than in those who did not play such games. At the same time, the educators rated this parameter of imagination higher in children playing simulation games compared to those who did not play them. The results of the “Completing Figures” technique showed that the children playing logic games had significantly higher ratings for the elaboration of drawings than those who did not play games of this type, and the parameter of originality of the drawings was lower in the children playing strategic games compared to those who did not play them. The typology of digital games proposed by the authors of the study and the data obtained can be useful in conducting scientific research on the digitalization of modern childhood and in developing recommendations for parents of preschoolers.

Early executive functioning is a crucial precursor to the future cognitive and behavioral development of children. Given that the mother is typically the child’s primary caregiver, her maternal behavior may be an important factor that either facilitates or hinders the child’s cognitive development, especially if the mother suffers from depression. It is important to analyze these effects, taking into consideration the mother’s birth experience. This study focuses on assessing the child’s executive functions, the mother’s concomitant depression and her birth experience, including the mode of delivery. The results obtained have shown no significant relationship between the executive function performance and the mother’s concomitant depression. However, significant relationships have been found between the child’s executive function performance and complications during the mother’s pregnancy, birth and mode of delivery. The regression analysis shows that cesarean birth reduces the child’s overall executive function performance by 1 point, while the data of the moderation analysis including the mode of delivery and mother’s depression are not statistically significant. The total executive performance score is largely related to the mother’s educational level. The mother’s perinatal depression may have a stronger adverse effect on the child’s development than her concomitant depression. A higher level of the mother’s education may be a protective factor that could potentially offset the cesarean birth effect.

The problem of the relationship between school engagement and self-regulation of students is a topical area of modern research in the field of educational psychology. The objectives of this study include: 1) identifying individual typological groups of students depending on the rates of the behavioral, cognitive and emotional components of engagement; 2) conducting a comparative analysis of self-regulation and academic performance in the selected groups; 3) revealing regulatory and personal resources for the performance of adolescent students with different profiles of school engagement. The sample consisted of 7-9-grade students of general education schools ( N = 484; boys - 53%; M = 14.11; SD = 0.76). The study was conducted using the questionnaire “Self-Regulation Profile of Learning Activity (by V.I. Morosanova), the Multidimensional Scale of School Engagement, and the Russian-language adaptation of the questionnaire “Big Five - Children’s Version”. Depending on the profile of school engagement, four groups of the participants were identified with significant differences in the levels of conscious self-regulation, particular regulatory components and academic performance. The data analysis revealed the following special resources for academic success in the selected groups: the regulatory competences “modeling of significant conditions” and “evaluation of results” as well as personal disposition “openness to new experience”. The results obtained are discussed in the context of the resource approach and the practical technologies for maintaining academic performance and school engagement in adolescence.

Social competence during adolescence plays a crucial role in socialization and psychological well-being. Available data suggest that social cognition (theory of mind, ToM) and self-regulation (behavioral control) abilities make a significant contribution to social competence at a young age, but research on their role in adolescence is still limited. The purpose of the research is to study the role of behavior control and ToM in the social competence of adolescents. The study involved 106 6-8-grade students (girls - 51), aged 12-15 years ( Me = 13, SD = 0.87). The BRIEF questionnaire was used to assess their behavior control; ToM was assessed using tasks for understanding high-order false beliefs. For external assessment of the social competence of the participants, a questionnaire for teachers and a sociometric method were used. The groups of the adolescents, divided by the median criterion, were compared using the overall BRIEF regulation index and the total score for false-belief understanding. The most salient differences in the teachers’ and peers’ assessments of the social competence were found between the contrasting groups of the participants, i.e., with high levels of ToM and behavior control and with low levels of these abilities. At the same time, differences in the teachers’ assessments were observed for both positive and negative assessments but, in sociometric indices, only for negative ones. The teachers considered the adolescents with high levels of behavior control to be more socially competent, regardless of their level of social cognition. For the peers, the level of behavioral control mattered only when the ability to assess the mental states of other people was weak. The results of our study show the importance of the role of social cognition and behavioral control in the implementation of socially competent behavior in adolescents. At the same time, the data obtained indicate the heterogeneity of the contribution of these abilities to the social competence of adolescents assessed by peers and teachers.

The relevance of the study is due to the need to obtain reliable data on the components of effective teaching that affect important learning outcomes, such as motivation, engagement, academic performance, and well-being of school students. The purpose of the study was to analyze the contribution of three, actively discussed in the literature, psychological and pedagogical indicators of teaching quality, assessed by the school students, to their engagement, psychological well-being and academic performance. The study involved 2028 eighth-grade students (1085 girls, 906 boys and 35 of unspecified gender; mean age - 13.96, SD = 0.46) from 73 schools and 16 regions of the Russian Federation. The analysis of the respondents’ assessments included such indicators of teaching quality as the relevance of the learning content, psychological and instrumental support, as well as school engagement, indifference, academic performance and indicators of their satisfaction (with themselves, their teachers and school). The results of the regression analysis showed that the perceived psychological support from the teacher was the strongest predictor of the growth of all the types of educational engagement of school students and the decrease of all the types of educational indifference; besides, this component of teaching quality was a predictor of well-being in the context of school life (including the respondents’ satisfaction with their school, their teachers and themselves). The teacher’s instrumental support was the next most important predictor of cognitive and emotional engagement of the students and, no less important, was a negative predictor of all the types of learning indifference; it was also a predictor of the students’ satisfaction with their school and relationships with their teachers. Thus, the present study, conducted on a large and representative sample of Russian school students, has shown the positive effects of two components of teaching quality, namely, psychological support and instrumental support provided by the teacher. The effects of actual learning content are less clear, which casts doubt on the importance of teachers emphasizing the connection between the educational material and real life in order to maintain the motivation of school students. The results obtained can be used for training and retraining school teachers and improving teaching quality in Russian schools.