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MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING VIETNAM INSTITUTE OF EDUCATIONAL SCIENCES VU THI NGOC MINH COOPERATIVE SKILLS EDUCATION FOR PRESCHOOLERS AGED TO THROUGH THE ORGANIZATION OF PLAY-BASED ACTIVTIES Major : Theory and History of Education Code : 14 01 02 SUMMARY OF DOCTORAL THESIS IN EDUCATIONAL SCIENCES Ha Noi, 2020 The work was completed at: Vietnam Institute of Educational Sciences – 101 Tran Hung Dao, Ha Noi Academic supervisors: Assoc Prof., PhD Nguyen Thi My Trinh Assoc Prof., PhD Hoang Thanh Thuy Counter-argument Counter-argument Counter-argument The thesis shall be defended before the thesis evaluation council on institutional level, to be held at Vietnam Institute of Educational Sciences, 101 Tran Hung Dao, Ha Noi At hour day month year The thesis can be found at: - National Library of Vietnam - Library of Vietnam Institute of Educational Sciences INTRODUCTION Rationale Given the current trend towards globalization, knowing how to cooperate with others to achieve efficiency is one of the crucial skills for every individual It becomes even more necessary as we are on the cusp of the 4th industrial revolution while facing challenges of how people achieve efficiency in which skills matter Capacity-oriented education for learners is a popular trend in the world which is demonstrated in the new general education program - the next level of preschool education Cooperative skills are an integral part of the capacity to cooperate, helping people link together to work effectively in a group Children should be equipped with these skills from early childhood, especially children aged to 6, as a vital preparation not only for them to study effectively in general education but also for their lifelong learning Age to is the transition period from preschool to primary school Children need to be well prepared not only in terms of physical fitness and mindset, but also social skills (especially cooperative skills) since this is an important factor to help children learn effectively in grade (which imposes increasing requirements on interaction and teamwork as an effective way for children to acquire knowledge thus laying a solid foundation for lifelong learning) Play is the key activity for preschoolers in which children can experience social relationships and actions of different characters through role playing Children will have to negotiate and communicate with each other when they are playing Therefore, play-based activities are an effective mean to teach cooperative skills to children Nevertheless, these activities have not been brought into full play in practice For the above reasons, the dissertation topic of "Cooperative skills education for preschoolers aged to through the organization of play-based activities" has been selected Purpose of the study: Proposing procedure and methods of organizing play-based activities as an effective means to teach cooperative skills to preschoolers aged to in kindergarten Object, subject of study 3.1 Object of the study: The process of teaching cooperative skills to children aged to through the organization of play-based activities 3.2 Subject of the study: Procedure and methods of organizing play-based activities to teach cooperative skills to children aged to in kindergarten Scientific hypothesis Cooperative skills are comprised of three sets of skills with fifteen component skills Currently, these skills in preschoolers aged 5-6 remain at average level, for which the main reason is that teachers have not organized play-based activities decently based on an appropriate procedure to teach cooperative skills to children If the play-based activities for preschoolers aged to are organized based on a strict pedagogical procedure, which consists of three stages and each stage is focused on creating activities to provide children with opportunities to demonstrate cooperative behaviours, creating positive interactions among children; developing a relationship between interdependence and independence of each individual; considering play as the leading activity, whilst continuing to strengthen cooperative skills for children through other educational activities in kindergarten, they may assist a better development of cooperative skills in children Research aims - Research on the theoretical framework of teaching cooperative skills to preschoolers aged to through the organization of play-based activities - Research on the practical framework of teaching cooperative skills to preschoolers aged to through the organization of play-based activities - Propose and experiment on the pedagogical procedure of organizing playbased activities to teach cooperative skills to preschoolers aged to 6 Approach and research methods 6.1 Approach: Activity and communication-based approach, systemic approach, integrated approach, developmental approach 6.2 Research methods: The thesis combines research methods including: Theoretical research methods (desk review of documents and historical-logical analysis, generalization of theories); Practical research methods: observation, educational investigation, summary of educational experience; case study; pedagogical experiment; Supplementary research methods (comparative method, expert method; mathematical statistics) Scope of the research 7.1 Contents: Research on the education of cooperative skills for preschoolers aged to in play-based activities with a focus on play, group activities in accordance with the kindergartens' schedule 7.2 Location, time and survey object - Actual situation survey: 297 teachers at 16 kindergartens in the area of Dong Da, Cau Giay, Bac Tu Liem and Hoai Duc districts in Hanoi; 60 preschoolers aged to at kindergartens in Hanoi, selected representative samples for urban and suburban areas - Experiment: two rounds including (i) Pilot experiment: conducted with the participation of 20 preschoolers aged to at Hoa Hong kindergarten, Dong Da District, Hanoi; (ii) Official experiment: conducted with the participation of 60 preschoolers aged to in the urban and suburban areas of Hanoi (of which 30 preschoolers attend Quang Trung kindergarten, Dong Da (urban area), Hanoi and 30 preschoolers attend Di Trach kindergarten, Hoai Duc (suburban area), Hanoi) 30 preschoolers from each school are included in the control group Time: from January 2017 to May 2017 Arguments to be defended in the thesis - Cooperative skills of preschoolers aged to are a system of three sets of skills with fifteen specific skills which are closely linked together - Preschoolers aged to have manifestation of cooperative skills at different levels The development of cooperative skills in preschoolers aged to is affected by fundamental factors (developmental characteristics of individuals, educational environment, and teachers) Capacity and skills of kindergarten teachers in organizing play-based activities to teach cooperative skills to children are the most influential factor - Play is an effective means to teach cooperative skills to preschoolers aged to The education of cooperative skills for children aged to will be highly effective if educators know how to organize play-based activities based on a strict pedagogical procedure, including three stages: Prepare to play; guide children to play; review and comment after play At each stage, educators should focus on creating positive interactions among children thus enabling each child to express his or her independence and positive interdependence with others New contributions of the thesis - Theoretically: Adopt perspective on cooperative skills, structure and expression of cooperative skills in preschoolers aged to 6; elaborate and improve the theoretical framework of cooperative skills education for preschoolers aged to through the organization of play-based activities in kindergartens - Practically: Review the current situation of cooperative skills education for preschoolers aged to through the organization of play-based activities and the level of cooperative skills in preschoolers aged to Propose and demonstrate by scientific experiment the reliability of the procedure and methods of organizing play-based activities to teach cooperative skills to preschoolers aged to in kindergarten - Research results can be used as a reference for managers of early childhood education, teachers at kindergartens, research institutions and parents to teach children aged to about cooperative skills 10 Structure of the thesis In addition to the Introduction, Conclusions and Recommendations, References, Appendices, the thesis consists of three chapters: Chapter 1: Theoretical framework of cooperative skills education for preschoolers aged to through the organization of play-based activities Chapter 2: Practical framework of cooperative skills education for preschoolers aged to through the organization of play-based activities Chapter 3: Organization of play-based activities to teach cooperative skills to preschoolers aged to and experiment CHAPTER THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK OF COOPERATIVE SKILLS EDUCATION FOR PRESCHOOLERS AGED TO THROUGH THE ORGANIZATION OF PLAY-BASED ACTIVITIES 1.1 Overview 1.1.1 Research on skills and cooperative skills Skills and cooperative skills in children have been researched by many authors, especially in the fields of psychology and pedagogics Thus far, there has not been a complete agreement among studies on the concept of skills, however, skills are acknowledged as a psychological process which is formed when people apply knowledge into practice They need to be practiced and enhanced in order to achieve proficiency and flexibility Regarding cooperative skills, studies have shown that cooperative skills are manifested when people support and help each other in a certain activity towards achieving a common goal Most researches focus on the issue of cooperative skills in students at high-school level, while there are few in-depth studies on cooperative skills in preschoolers aged to If so, specific cooperative skills have not been clarified for preschoolers aged to 1.1.2 Research on cooperative skills education for preschoolers Domestic and international studies and early childhood education programs of some countries over the world show the need to teach preschoolers about cooperative skills, for instance, researches of psychologists and educational scholars of the U.S.S.R and modern educational philosophies in Europe and Asia nowadays Generally speaking, all these researches mention educational content of component skills including: 1) Unity, towards the common goal; 2) Positive interdependence among individuals; 3) Interaction between individuals in a group; 4) Individual responsibility associated with overall responsibility of a group Concerning cooperative skills education for children, studies share the same opinion: to create opportunities for children to play and work with other children, help children learn how to participate in a common activity with a common goal Also, studies highlight the need to organize diverse activities associated with the real life to teach cooperative skills to children, in which play in kindergartens is an activity with many advantages Nevertheless, there has not been any research that provides a deep insight into the procedure and methods of organizing play-based activities to teach cooperative skills for preschoolers aged to 1.1.3 Research on children's play-based activities in relations to cooperative skills education for children Many psychologists and educators (for example, Vygotsky L.S., Enconhin D.B., Leontiev A.N., Daporozet A.V., Rubinstein X.L., Xorokina A.I., Lublinskaya A.D., Petrovxki A.V., etc.) affirm the role of play-based activities in teach cooperative skills to children In Vietnam, some authors (such as Nguyen Anh Tuyet, Ngo Cong Hoan, etc.) researching on preschoolers' play emphasize that play is the fundamental way to teach cooperative skills to children During the course of playing, children can easily coordinate actions and establish relationships with friends Play is a form and mean of establishing and developing cooperative skills in preschoolers An overview of domestic and international studies on cooperative skills education for preschoolers shows that: - Cooperative skills has been touched upon by many studies, pointing out basic characteristics of cooperation such as: consensus on the common goal when taking action; interaction and coordination when taking action towards achieving common goals, etc However, studies have not clarified sets of skills/specific component skills of cooperative skills in preschoolers - Researches on cooperative skills education mainly consider cooperation as an approach to educate children while there are only a few studies showing how to organize and develop content, methods and specific measures to achieve the goal of teaching cooperative skills for preschoolers aged to - There are no studies focusing on clarifying specific issues related to the procedure and methods of organizing play-based activities to teach cooperative skills to preschoolers aged to 1.2 Cooperative skills in preschoolers aged to 1.2.1 Concept of skills and cooperative skills - Skills: are part of the capacity, allowing individuals (subject of actions) to perform actions effectively on the basis of applying knowledge and experience in a reasonable and flexible manner in different situations to achieve the defined goal - Cooperative skills: are part of the capacity, allowing individuals (subject of actions) to perform collaborative actions effectively on the basis of interdependence, positive interaction and personal responsibility to solve problems, in order to achieve common goals under certain conditions 1.2.2 Structure of cooperative skills in preschoolers aged to Cooperative skills are a type of social skills and one of the conditions to establish and develop cooperative skills in children is to participate in groups and interactive activities in groups Thus, starting from the concept and characteristics of cooperation while inheriting research works of domestic and international authors, in this research, cooperative skills are a system of three sets of skills with 15 component skills, which are closely related to each other in a whole in consideration of the process of joining and developing group activities for preschoolers aged to Figure: Cooperative skills in preschoolers aged to 6 1.2.3 Developmental characteristics and manifestation of cooperative skills in preschoolers aged to Cooperative skills in preschoolers aged to develop in direct proportion to their increasing level of social understanding and experience The initial and basic manifestation of cooperative skills is to work together Children aged to are more skillful in coordinating their behaviors with their peers, observing and helping each other achieve goals together In play-based activities for children aged to 6, in addition to the independence which has developed quite steadily, children always have the need to play with other friends and know how to coordinate together in play-based activities in groups or teams They know how to reach an agreement on what to play, map out a play plan, find a means of fulfilling their intentions, discuss and assign roles for each member of the group, and communicate, coordinate and share with friends Children at the age of have already known how to adapt, link actions together towards actions and goals not only for themselves but also for friends in their “same” group They also begin to monitor actions of other friends in the group towards achieving common goals 1.2.4 Stages of forming cooperative skills in preschoolers aged to Cooperative skills education for preschoolers needs to go through three basic stages Stage 1: Children are equipped with knowledge of actions (purposes, objects, methods, conditions of action) Stage 2: Children are guided (suggestions, instructions by words, actions, modelling) from people with better knowledge and skills Stage 3: Children are provided with opportunities to apply knowledge, experience and skills in a flexible manner to practice in different conditions and situations and perform actions with results The above division is merely relative For preschoolers aged to 6, the formation of cooperative skills may not necessarily follow the above order, stage could be achieved before stage and 1.3 Play-based activities of preschoolers aged to in kindergarten 1.3.1 Definition - Play and play-based activity: Scientists provide two manifestations of playbased activity, which are: (i) The subject's voluntary participation in the activity and (ii) the joyfulness and comfort that play brings to participants - Play-based activity of preschoolers aged to 6: is a natural and voluntary activity with motivating factors involved in the course of playing During play, interpersonal relationship and the relationship between human and nature, human and society are simulated, giving participants a happy, relaxed, and comfortable mental state 1.3.2 Characteristics of play-based activities of preschoolers aged to Children's play-based activities have some characteristics as follows: (i) freedom, voluntariness and independence; (ii) selfcontrol ; (iii) creativity ; (iv) emotionality; (v) representativeness 1.3.3 Role of play-based activities in the development of cooperative skills in preschoolers aged to Play is the main activity of preschoolers, has an outstanding role and advantage in cooperative skills education for preschoolers aged to Play is both an educational activity and a form of teaching cooperative skills to children When playing, children have the opportunity to participate in sharing activities with peers, through which they learn, practice and develop communication, interaction and social skills Play also promotes a child's ability to "read" others' mind and intentions In play-based activities, interactions and coordination occur between children playing together This is the grounds for the development of cooperative skills in children Play is an environment in which cooperative actions take place, allowing children to practice cooperative skills naturally When children play together, they identify and agree on goals and plans, resolve problems, discuss and coordinate their behaviors to initiate interaction, stay active, and approach common goals Play is real life for children, at the same time, it is also a place where children can “practice” and experience cooperative skills before becoming adults with real-life social relationships 1.4 Cooperative skills education for preschoolers aged to through the organization of play-based activities 1.4.1 Definition: The pedagogical process influencing children with specific goals, content, methods, means and forms of teachers through the organization of play-based activities which comprise of particular stages At each stage, it is necessary to focus on creating positive interactions and interdependence among children, in order to help them build up the ability to interact, coordinate effectively with others when performing actions to achieve goals 1.4.2 Elements of the process of cooperative skills education for preschoolers aged to through the organization of play-based activities 1.4.2.1 Educational goals - Prepare children with skills of working effectively together with others in different conditions, circumstances, situations, and working in groups to adapt to social life in future - Help children to be confident and active in communicating with friends and with people around them - Support children in the transition from preschool to grade 1; help children adapt to learning activities when entering primary school 1.4.2.2 Educational content - Provide children with knowledge about cooperative skills: Children have basic knowledge about cooperative skills - Practice and enhance cooperative skills for children: Guide and allow children to practice, train, and enhance three sets of cooperative skills (see section 1.2.2) through play-based activities and other educational activities in kindergarten 1.4.2.3 Methods of education - Instructing: includes visual instructions and verbal instructions on behaviors, modelling behaviors, cooperative skills in play-based activities and other activities in kindergarten for children to imitate - Suggesting and encouraging exploration: Teacher raises questions about problems, situations related to cooperative skills in front of the whole class or groups of children; encourage children to communicate openly about their ideas; teachers classify and summarize children's opinions; encourage children to talk about how to handle each situation - Experiencing: What the children has perceived will be tested and applied again in play-based activities (experience through the action of role playing) and other activities taking place at other times in a daily schedule of a child in kindergarten (experiences in real life) - Using pedagogical situations: taking advantage of situations occurring during children's play or actively creating situations to provide children with opportunities to reinforce and practice cooperative skills; thus helping children reach the proficiency and flexibility of cooperative skills step by step 1.4.2.4 Forms of education There are some basic forms to achieve the goals of cooperative skills education: Teaching cooperative skills to children through play-based activities in the form of groups, each group has at least two or more children: large groups (6-7 children), small groups (2-4 children) There will be interactions and coordination between children of these groups to perform common tasks Considering the location/ space of the organization of the activity: playing inside classrooms (classrooms, activity corners, etc.); playing outside classrooms (play area, spaces outside the classroom and the school) In addition, practicing and enhancing cooperative skills through other educational activities in kindergarten: Playing, studying, working, eating, personal hygiene, sightseeing activities, experiences, etc and other activities in children's daily schedule in kindergarten 1.4.2.5 Test and evaluation a Objective of evaluation: to determine the level of development of children's cooperative skills in order to take measures appropriately, thus improving children's cooperative skills level b Content and evaluation criteria * Content of evaluation: according to three sets of skills, with 15 component skills, focusing on two aspects : (+) The existence/occurrence of cooperative skills in children: Preschoolers have cooperative skills “yes” or “no”; (+) Evaluating the level of development of preschoolers' cooperative skills: If yes, which is the level of cooperative skills: Good, moderately good, average, weak * Evaluation criteria: (i) Completeness; (ii) Proficiency; (iii) Flexibility; (iv) Efficiency d Evaluation methods and techniques: Observe children's natural behavior in activities; communicate with children; analyze children's activities, directly check on children through evaluative exercises; use situations; discuss with parents, kindergarten teachers 1.4.3 Stages of the procedure of organizing play-based activities to teach cooperative skills to preschoolers aged to Considering the process of play-based activities in children, the organization of play-based activities teaching cooperative skills for preschoolers aged to goes through three fundamental stages: Stage 1- Prepare for children to play: Teachers allow children to participate in the preparation for every condition (materials, space, spirit, etc.) to encourage and expand children's play ideas and meet children's needs throughout the play Stage 2- Guide children to play (the 11 children Conducting in-depth interviews with kindergarten teachers, parents of children aged to 6; Observing and documenting children’s natural behaviors in some activities which manifest cooperative skills; Using scenario exercises for children; Evaluating the product of children’s activity; Communicating with children; Communicating with teachers, parents/caretakers - Survey tools: include questionnaires, in-class observation forms, summary, evaluative exercises, cooperative skills rating scales 2.2.1.5 Criteria and scales to evaluate cooperative skills in preschoolers aged to a) Criteria: criteria - Criteria 1: Completeness of skills in action - Criteria 2: Proficiency of skills - Criteria 3: Flexibility of skills - Criteria 4: Efficiency of skills b) Evaluation scales: levels: Good, moderately good, average, weak Good: All skills are at the moderately good level or above, in which the core skills1 are at good level Moderately good: All skills are at the average level or above, in which core skills are at moderately good level Average: All skills are at the average level or above Weak (with almost no skills): One of the core skills is at the weak level, the rest are at the weak level or above The evaluation and rating of each cooperative skill in children are graded by levels (Good: marks, Moderately good: marks, Average: marks, Weak: mark) The interval scale is employed to calculate the intervals and assign the grade to each level of cooperative skill in each child 2.2.2 Current cooperative skills education for preschoolers aged to 2.2.2.1 Awareness of teachers on cooperative skills for preschoolers aged to - 99,3% kindergarten teachers are aware of and emphasize the necessity of cooperative skills education for preschoolers aged to However, only 60.27% of the surveyed teachers have comprehensive knowledge of cooperative skills The remaining teachers have correct knowledge but only in one certain aspect 5.05% teachers have a different viewpoint on cooperative skills, in which they only see a specific expression of cooperative skills such as: “Cooperative skills mean that the children know how to care for their friends and help each other.” - The kindergarten children have different interests to each specific or set of cooperative skills in children Teachers not pay adequate attention to teach core component cooperative skill They only have interest in teaching one or a few specific skills which they think are necessary for children – according to the teachers’ subjective view and not based on the current level of children’s cooperative skills (the skill teachers most focus on is presentation skill in group, while the skill teachers least 1.2: Skill of negotiating with team members on each person's duties; 1.3: Skill of undertaking individual tasks; 2.1: Skill of performing individual tasks in relation to the group's common tasks; 2.2: Time management skill to complete works in groups; 2.5: Cooperative communication skill in groups; 2.6: Coordination skills; 2.8: Skill of showing cooperative attitude; 2.9: Skill of resolving disputes, disagreements, and conflicts that occur when working together in groups; 2.10: Skill of helping others and asking for help when needed; 3.1: Skills of assessment and self-assessment 12 focus on is cooperative communication skill in group) This is partly because the teachers are not fully aware of cooperative skills in preschoolers aged to 2.2.2.2 Current cooperative skills education for preschoolers aged to through the organization of play-based activities a) On defining objectives 97.6% surveyed kindergarten teachers answer that: They define the objective of teaching cooperative skills for preschoolers aged to when planning the play-based activities However, the review of their educational plans and indepth interviews show that: When organizing play-based activities (and educational activities), most teachers not pay attention to the content of play-based activities (or educational activities which children take part in) and not define specific objectives of teaching cooperative skills to children b) On defining contents 57.66% surveyed kindergarten teachers answer that: They define the content of cooperative skills education for preschoolers aged to when planning the play-based activities In contents on cooperative skills education (1/ Providing children with cooperative skills knowledge; 2/ Training and consolidating children’s cooperative skills), the teachers tend to focus only on the second content – train children with some cooperative skills through activities without any defined planning or objective to teach these skills appropriately When carrying out activities, teachers not teach some core skills of the cooperative skills to children While some teachers focus more on teaching interpersonal skills, others focus on individual responsibility without guiding children to cooperate with others to achieve the common goals in group activities c) On methods and forms of education The methods employed by teachers for cooperative skills education are in general not diverse and not encourage children to actively manifest cooperative skills (which they have already possessed) during play; not make use of situations and create opportunities for children to practice cooperative skills in daily activities The use of methods to teach cooperative skills to preschoolers aged to shows a difference in the years of experience between teachers Those with 10 to 20 years of experience tend to regularly use all methods Other teachers with fewer years of experience tend to use simpler methods One common issue is that all teachers are confused at how to organize play-based activities to teach cooperative skills to preschoolers aged to (they not know how to make the planning and undertake activities…) e) On conditions, means and references All teachers participating in the survey use three basic channels to access references for cooperative skills education for children, which are: referring to books and documents sold at bookstore; discussing with and learning from colleagues; learning from television, website, social media There is a difference in terms of teacher’s age in the frequency of using references: While 75.0% teachers aged 31 to 40 tend to use all three reference sources, those at 50 and above not refer to any sources during cooperative skills education for children In fact, in- 13 depth guidance on the organization of play-based activities to teach cooperative skills to preschoolers aged to is almost non-existent g) On teachers’ viewpoint towards factors influencing cooperative skills education for preschoolers aged to Chart 2.1 Impact level of factors influencing cooperative skills education for preschoolers aged to Chart 2.1 shows that: Kindergarten teacher’s capacity and pedagogical competence and organization of educational activities are factors to have the strongest impact on cooperative skills education for children (79.12% teachers respond as very influential The average mark of this factor is 2.79 out of total 3) Following is Educational environment at school/in class, family, community where the child is living and number of children per class (the average mark is 2.64) Facility conditions have the lowest impact (59.26% teachers respond as influential, only 34.68% respond as very influential), the average mark is 2.29 out of total h) On the organization of play-based activities to teach cooperative skills to preschoolers aged to The questionnaire results from 297 kindergarten teachers show that: All teachers organize play-based activities in stages (1/ Prepare for children to play, 2/ During the play-based activity, 3/ End of play-based activity) The activity 100% teachers most emphasize in each stage is “Teachers commenting and evaluating children on the play process and results” The activity least chosen by teachers in both urban and suburban areas during the organization of play-based activities is “Teachers encouraging and respecting the child’s actions and interactions between children in group during play” (the average percentage is 60.9%, urban 56.4%, suburban 65.5%) Teachers tend to pay less attention to interactive activities between children (less than 75% response) than teachers actively organizing play-based activities for children (more than 80% response) In the preparation stage, 68.7% teachers focus on preparing diverse and suitable conditions to assist children’s playbased activities During play, 85.9% teachers affirm that they “divide children into small groups” and allow children to communicate with eacher other Many teachers “create situations or make use of situations to encourage children to discuss and communicate with each other”, “facilitate a friendly, open environment for children” 14 (from 75.1% to 83.8% response) 100% teachers also “assess and give comments on children’s play process” However, the analysis of teachers’ lesson plans, in-class observation and discussion with teachers on the organization of play-based activities for children shows that: - Teachers’ lesson and educational plans not define the goal of cooperative skills education Cooperative skills education for children is not mentioned at all when teachers define the goals of play-based activities for preschoolers aged to as well as when teachers prepare necessary materials for the children’s activities - In the stage “Prepare for children to play” of all play-based activities, children not participate in the preparation and teachers are the one to prepare all materials, spaces and toys The children are mostly “fixed” in a certain group (according to weekly or daily schedule) Before play, children not make group rules together - During the whole play process, teachers not know how to teach cooperative skills for children in terms of actively creating situations and opportunities as well as in terms of making use of situations to teach cooperative skills to children The relations between children during play are loose and lack closeness – an important condition for cooperation between members of a same group Teachers usually not realize this problem partly because they focus more on the final results of the activities (to produce products/outcomes as required) than on the play process and how children coordinate with each other to achieve those results 2.2.3 Current level of cooperative skills in preschoolers aged to - Cooperative skills in preschoolers aged to are not high, mostly at the average level and only a few at moderately good level, none at good level: 58.3 % children have average cooperative skills and 26.7% have moderately good cooperative skills Among 15 skills, skills children are worse at are resolving disputes and conflicts and adjustment and self-adjustment (which have the lowest average mark) skills children are moderately good at are: group participation and showing cooperative attitude The remaining skills are at average level - By geographical area: There is a difference between level of cooperative skills in preschoolers aged to attending kindergarten in suburban and urban areas However, the difference is not significant In the sets of cooperative skills, children have better skills in the set of group organizational skills compared to the two remaining sets (9.2% compared to 0% and 0.8%) The set of performance skills has the highest number of children at average (57.5%) and weak (17.5%) level - By sex: There is a difference between boys and girls in terms of level of cooperative skills on the whole as well as in particular sets of cooparative skills According to the study, girls are better at cooperative skills in general and in particular sets of cooperative skills compared to boys - By family background: There is a difference in the children’s level of cooperative skills Those living in large family with parents and relatives (grandparents, aunts, uncles…) have much better cooperative skills than those living in family with only parents (or single parent); or family with only parents 15 and a few siblings Experimental results in typical case studies (H.P.N boys, code No 11 and girls N.V.N.V, code No 6) have made the research more clearly 2.2.4 Assessment of current situation * Strengths: Kindergarten teachers have capacity and experience and ability to organize play-based activities to teach cooperative skills to children Teachers area aware of the necessity of cooperative skills education for children In practice, kindergarten teachers have used play-based activities as a means to teach cooperative skills to children (although the methods are not appropriate) The current early childhood education program has mentioned the content of cooperative skills education for children The development standards for 5-yearold children also have criteria and indicators directly evaluating cooperative skills School facilities in general meet the standards to take care of and educate children Preschoolers aged to have already had cooperative skills (albeit only at average level) This is an important foundation to improve the level of cooperative skills in children if there are appropriate educational interventions * Limitations: Knowledge of kindergarten teachers is not yet comprehensive on cooperative skills, leading to inadequate attention to core cooperative skills education during the organization of play-based activities The biggest obstacle is that teachers have difficulty in planning and organizing play-based activities to teach cooperative skills to preschoolers aged to Teachers not yet know how to so because they have not had received necessary knowledge and practice Many important skills which are the core of cooperative skills have not been mentioned in current early childhood education program The coordination between family and school is not effective The level of cooperative skills in preschoolers aged to is not high, mostly at average level and some at moderately good level * Reasons: The following reasons are fundamental: 1/ Teachers not know to make plans and organize play-based activities in a reasonable procedure to teach cooperative skills to preschoolers aged to 2/ There is no in-depth guidance on cooperative skills education for children or if available, not yet specific 3/ In some places, the number of children per class is higher than regulations (92.13% teachers mention this difficulty) 4/ The children’s living environment has different cultural values and parents have limited awareness of cooperative skills There is a lack of coordination between teachers and parents 2.2.5 Correlation and regression analysis The results show that: All factors (including: 1/ Kindergarten teachers’ skills in organizing play-based activities; 2/ Teachers’ frequency and methods to organize play-based activities; 3/ Teachers’ forms of cooperative skills education; 4/ Children’s living environment at family) affect and positively correlate with the children’s level of cooperative skills, in which Kindergarten teachers’ skills in organizing play-based activities has the highest positive correlation with children’s total mark of cooperative skills If interventions are carried out to affect these factors, the level of cooperative skills in preschoolers aged to will be improved 16 Conclusion of chapter Kindergarten teachers are aware of the importance of cooperative skills education for preschoolers aged to 6, although they have not had comprehensive knowledge of specific cooperative skills as well as the advantages of play-based activities in cooperative skills education for prschoolers aged to They have limitations in making plans and organizing play-based activities in a proper procedure to teach cooperative skills to preschoolers aged to 6; not know how to choose suitable cooperative skills for teaching in each stage of the play-based activities During play, teachers not know how to guide children into situations that “force” them to interact and coordinate with each other Teachers have not made good use of and created opportunities for children to experience and practice cooperative skills in daily activities as a way to strengthen their cooperative skills towards proficiency, flexibility and turning into a habit for children in life Cooperative skills of preschoolers aged to are mostly at average level, some at moderately good level and none at good level Most core cooperative skills which are relating to cooperation and interaction between individuals during an activity are at average and weak level, with the worse skills being adjustment and self-adjustment and resolving disputes and conflicts There is a correlation between children’s sex, living environment at family and their level of cooperative skills Girls have better cooperative skills than boys; children living in large family with parents and relatives have better cooperative skills than those living in nuclear family with only parents (or single parent) or family with only parents and a few sibilings Regression analysis shows that: Kindergarten teachers’ ability to organize play-based activities and Forms of cooperative skills are two factors having strong positive correlation with the children’s total mark of cooperative skills It means that if interventions are carried out to affect these factors, the level of cooperative skills in preschoolers aged to will be improved CHAPTER ORGANIZATION OF PLAY-BASED ACTIVITIES TO TEACH COOPERATIVE SKILLS TO PRESCHOOLERS AGED TO AND EXPERIMENT 3.1 Requirements for the organization of play-based activities to teach cooperative skills to preschoolers aged to - Ensuring the basic features of play-based activities for kindergarten level - Ensuring the selection of cooperative skills for child education suitable to the advantage of each stage during play - Ensuring the participation of all children with a focus on creating cooperative relations between the children and their peers during play in a way that children have many opportunities to practice and strengthen cooperative skills - Ensuring consistency in cooperative skills education for children - Ensuring development in cooperative skills education for children 17 3.2 Organization of play-based activities to teach cooperative skills to preschoolers aged to 3.2.1 Stage 1- Prepare for children to play: Creating group activities and encouraging children to participate in these activities by group during the preparation Teacher’s activity Children’s activity Cooperative skills “learnt” by children Developing an activity plan to teach cooperative skills: - Identify the educational objectives of the play-based activities and the goals of cooperative skills education - Identify the children’s level of cooperative skills and notable personal characteristics to select suitable contents and educational impacts - Choose cooperative skills to be learnt suitable to the playbased activities and each stage of the play-based activities - Develop play-based activities to teach cooperative skills to Children participate in children: As 5-years old proposing the content, children are able to be how to play, expand and independent during games, the develop the play-based teacher should not always be activities the one to develop the activities and can make use of the activities developed by children, guide them how to develop the activities in a way that encourages cooperation between children during playing - Identify (or expect in advance) the “scenarios” of scale and composition of children’s groups when they play, choose the form of play - Choose suitable methods to organize play-based activities to teach cooperative skills to 18 the children - Develop the progress of playbased activities (or expect in advance the “scenarios” of the progress of the activities) and appropriate time length Engaging children to prepare the spaces for the play-based activities and facilities (place, toys, background…) and helping them prepare their mindset before play Enriching children’s symbolic capital of surrounding environment Fostering children’s enthusiasm before play Creating activity groups: Guide the children to select a group and partners; discuss and divide tasks for each group member; and agree on the goals and rules for the group Children participate (individually or in group) with the teacher to prepare necessary conditions for the playful activities * Core skills: Group participation skill; skills in the set of interpersonal skills such as: dividing and undertaking individual tasks; coordinating; adjusting and selfadjusting… * Support skills: Undertaking individual tasks; presentation skill in group… - Children form activity groups: select their partners, groups, content and method to play - Children can discuss with each other to propose their own idea of play-based activities - Children cooperate with each other during playing: Discuss/divide tasks for each group member and agree on the goals and rules for the group, tasks for each individual and group: which tasks are for each individual, which tasks are for the whole group * Core skills: Group participation skill; skills in the set of interpersonal skills such as: dividing and undertaking individual tasks; positive listening; presentation skill in group; cooperative communication skill in group… * Support skills: Giving comments and responding to comments 19 - Children can discuss on how to develop the content of the play-based activities and how to play on their own 3.2.2 Stage – Guide children to play: Promoting interactions between children based on strengthening existing cooperative skills and developing new cooperative skills, viewing cooperative skills as the goal and basis for connecting children during the games Teacher’s activity Children’s Cooperative activity skills “learnt” by children - Continue to guide the children on how to - Discuss on how * Core skills: discuss and divide tasks for each group to play (if Sets of member and reiterate the rules after children possible) after performance return to each group; returning to each skills and - Help the children form groups: select group interpersonal partners, groups, content and method to play - Create relations skills, such as: - Encourage the children to discuss with each (between performing other to propose their ideas for play individual individual and tasks in - Organize play-based activities in a natural children and enthusiastic way, ensuring the features of between groups) relation to the children’s play and skilfully eliciting during the games group's children’s needs to take cooperative - Play with each common time behaviors; create connections (between other in group; tasks; the management; individual children and between groups) change coordination; during play, helping children to communicate contents, methods to play, resolving with each other - Play with the children; integrate cooperative toys, partners disputes; to helping others skills education in children’s play-based according interests and asking for activities to adjust the relations in each group their under the help… towards positive cooperation * Support - Observe children’s expression on teacher’s skills: Giving establishing relations with their partners; guidance make changes to keep the activities new and - Play in a comments and way; responding interesting, as well as to create opportunities natural for children to practice cooperative skills collaborate with to comments each other in a … during play and/or Strengthen the groups, help children to group between groups connect groups based on the play theme or related contents Guide the children to expand the play theme and contents Show them how to collaborate with each other and find partners through creating situations that force them to collaborate with each other 20 Each type of play-based activities (role-playing, acting, building-assemblingconstruction, learning, movement) is organized in a way that fosters connection and cooperation between children and their peers, ensuring them to have many opportunities to experience, learn and practice cooperative skills in different situations 3.2.3 Stage 3- End of play-based activities - The teacher comments on the children’s playing and guides them to self-evaluate: Encouraging children to join in the evaluation of their playing with attention to the benefits of cooperative behaviors during play Teacher’s activity Children’s Cooperative skills activity “learnt” by children - Suggest eliciting questions to - Express * Core skills: Set of encourage the children to join in the their own assessment and evaluation of their own playing and opinions response skills: others with attention to the benefits of when self- assessment and selfcooperative behaviors during play evaluating assessment; giving - Emphasize the significance and role of and comments and cooperation between members, helping evaluate responding to each child recognize the strength of other comments solidarity and cooperation when doing a group * Support skills: common task members Positive listening; - Encourage the children to share on showing cooperative experience of how to cooperate with cooperativ attitude others; join with the children to learn e skills from the experience and encourage them to apply these lessons learnt and cooperative skills in other situations during play and in real life - Guide the children on how to give comments and respond to others’ comments (in terms of language, tone, behavior, attitude…), focusing more on the strength and contributions of each member to the achievement of the group rather than the mistakes * Follow-up actions: From Stage 3, the teacher can recognize each child’s level of each cooperative skill to adjust the planning and methods for cooperative skill education in further plays or in other activities (working, “learning”, eating, sleeping, hygene…) in a more suitable and effective way 21 3.3 Pedagogical experiment 3.3.1 Overview 3.3.1.1 Objective: To verify the effectiveness and feasibility of the procedure and methods of organizing play-based activities for cooperative skills education for preschoolers aged to 6, through which identifying the relevance between the experiment results and the proposed hypothesis 3.3.1.2 Content: Procedure and methods of organizing play-based activities (in stages) to teach cooperative skills to preschoolers aged to 3.3.1.3 Subject: Pilot experiment (for weeks): Conducting experiment with the participation of 20 children aged - years old in Rose Kindergarten, Ha Noi Official experiment (for 16 weeks): Conducting experiment with the participation of 120 children in kindergarten classes from: Di Trach kindergarten - Hoai Duc district, Quang Trung kindergarten – Hoan Kiem district, Ha Noi (at each school: 30 children in experimental group and 30 children in control group) The experimental and control groups have identical conditions (in terms of the number of children, children’s sex, teacher’s age and capacity, children’s quality before experiment, facilities…) The control group plays in the way that is currently conducted by teachers The experimental group plays in the way and procedure proposed in this research 3.3.1.4 Experiment process - Select identical experimental and control group samples (in terms of the number, sex and cooperative skill level of children, teacher’s age and pedagogical capacity, facilities…) - Guide and share with the teachers in the experimental group in terms of the objective, content and method to organize play-based activities according to the research’s idea - Prepare necessary conditions for the experiment (means, tools…) - First round experiment (pilot experiment): To test the tools and verify the reliability of the evaluation scales, the appropriateness of the whole process The results from this round help adjust the tools and methods, contributing to the accuracy of the official experiment - Second round experiment (official experiment): Measure the inputs and outputs (before and after the experiment) of the level of cooperative skills in preschoolers aged - years old in both experimental and control groups - Gather and process the data (both quantitative and qualitative): make comparison and analyze the results 3.3.1.5 Methods of analysis of the experiment results - Evaluate the level of cooperative skills in the children based on the evaluation criteria and scales; Use both the results of the children when doing the exercises and results from observing children’s expression in doing so - Employ SPSS 22.0 software to process data and analyze the experiment results 3.3.2 Analysis of the experiment results 3.3.2.1 Results of the first round experiment (pilot experiment) The results of the pilot experiment show that: The tools and evaluation scales are suitable, reliable and effective to evaluate the children’s level of cooperative 22 skills based on the criteria The children’s level of cooperative skills in both experimental and control groups is at average However, the following issues should be noted during the official experiment: (+) paying attention to the results from observing children’s natural behaviors in educational activities at the kindergarten to identify their level of cooperative skills accurately and objectively; (+) paying attention to the children’s differences in terms of sex, cultural, social, community and family background; (+) adjusting the form of some tools to make the documentation and synthesis more scientific; removing some questions which are not helpful to collect necessary data in in-depth interview with kindergarten teachers 3.3.2.2 Results of the second round experiment (official experiment) a) Results of the experimental and control groups before and after the experiment: There are differences in the children’s level of cooperative skills in experimental and control groups and in comparison with the results of each group before and after the experiment However, the differences are only statistically significant to show the increase in level of cooperative skills regarding the experimental group After the experiment, the average grade of the children’s cooperative skills in the experimental group is higher than that in the control group and this difference is statiscally significant (p