Janet S Gaffney
Biographic Data
| ID | 5180753 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Janet S Gaffney |
| GIVEN NAMES | Janet S |
| FAMILY NAME | Gaffney |
| SIGNATURE | GAFFNEY J S |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-0782-2093 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 12 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 4 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 12 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1985 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 1 |
Unfinalizability
Drawing on a Bakhtinian idea of unfinalizability and a semiotics lens of multimodality, the authors conceptualize children's everyday narratives as chains of living stories that emerge at home and in early childhood education settings. In this study, the authors interpret the living stories and emergent identities of Dylan, a five-year-old Vietnamese boy, in Aotearoa New Zealand. Two narrative chains of Dylan's living stories were selected to rep…
Toddlers as active, competent story weavers
Communication and literacy development of young children is shaped by the nature of social and cultural relationships in everyday situations. Few studies, however, have explored early story experiences encountered by infants and toddlers in naturalistic settings. We argue that personal stories about everyday lived experiences are a vital context for considering how toddlers develop communicative competencies as they participate in these stories w…
Voices from the Margins
Young carers are a largely invisible and unsupported population of Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ) children and youth aged 25 years and under who physically, emotionally, socially, and/or spiritually support loved ones experiencing ill health, disability, substance misuse, mental illness, or advanced age. The total number of young carers in NZ is unknown because census data only capture those aged 15-25. The nine published NZ studies recommend further …
Examining the Relative Effects of Task Complexity and Cognitive Demands on Students’ Writing in a Second Language
While many studies have investigated the effect of task complexity on L2 writing, little has been reported on the effects of intended task complexity manipulations on task-generated cognitive demands in L2 writing. This study, therefore, was designed to examine the relative effects of task complexity and cognitive demands on students’ L2 writing. Two argumentative writing tasks were manipulated with varying numbers of elements and reasoning deman…
Ēhara tāku toa i te toa takitahi, engari he toa takitini
Transmission of skills and knowledge is a core message in dominant discourses surrounding early verbal and non‐verbal communication of babies. Narrow conceptualisations fail to place adequate emphasis on sociocultural elements of language and children’s sophisticated non‐verbal communication. Utilising Kaupapa Māori research methods, this study describes a critical reflective narrative of a community‐led parenting programme that makes space for w…
Imagining possible worlds with young children, families, and teachers
KEYWORDS: Indigenous languagesfamily pedagogiescommunity-led initiativesearly childhood educationnarrative of possibility
Critical reflections on emancipatory partnerships in transition research
Transition from school involves different perspectives. Those most silenced in the process are transitioning students with significant disability, and similarly, they are alienated from the conduct of research. In this empirical project, three young men with complex autism conditions in Aotearoa New Zealand reclaimed their position as experts on their own transitions, and moreover, their contributions to research on the subject. Over a six-month …
When Service Learning meets the Project Approach
The researchers described in this case study how Service Learning was incorporated within the context of an early childhood program where the teachers used the Project Approach. The Service Learning project was embedded in an investigation about water and was designed to help tsunami victims in Asia. Participants included two teachers and 12 children age five to seven in a kindergarten/first grade classroom. Data were collected over one month thr…
At home with disability
We examined the lived experiences of a Cypriot family with a young child with autism. Semi‐structured interviews with parents, siblings, and extended family members across three generations and observations of the family’s daily activities were the primary data‐generating methods. Critical events related to the disability diagnosis, the mother’s decision to undertake a significant role in the child’s education following negative interactions with…
Availability and Use of Informational Texts in Second-, Third-, and Fourth-Grade Classrooms
A sharp increase in the proportion of informational text with the corresponding expansion of cognitive demands and conceptual structures is a widely held explanation for the decline inreading achievement at the fourth-grade level. In this study, differences in the proportion of informational text across the second, third, and fourth grades were examined in order to determine if this perennial explanation for the fourth-grade slump was supported. …
Learning (about Learning) from Four Teachers
Investigates elementary school teachers' beliefs and classroom practices about reading. Describes how three of the teachers experimented with new language, beliefs, and/or practices, juxtaposing them with current beliefs and practices. Considers how, at the end of two years, two teachers had altered their beliefs and transformed their practices, primarily because of their inquiry approach
Facilitating the Acquisition of Science Facts in Learning Disabled Students
Fifty-six learning disabled students were presented materials describing minerals of North America. For each mineral, the students had to learn three associated attributes: the mineral's hardness level, its color, and its common use. The students were randomly assigned to four different methods of study. The two principal conditions were direct instruction, where students were taught eight minerals according to the basic principles of direct inst…
Facilitating the Acquisition of Science Facts in Learning Disabled Students
Fifty-six learning disabled students were presented materials describing minerals of North America. For each mineral, the students had to learn three associated attributes: the mineral's hardness level, its color, and its common use. The students were randomly assigned to four different methods of study. The two principal conditions were direct instruction, where students were taught eight minerals according to the basic principles of direct inst…
Critical reflections on emancipatory partnerships in transition research
Transition from school involves different perspectives. Those most silenced in the process are transitioning students with significant disability, and similarly, they are alienated from the conduct of research. In this empirical project, three young men with complex autism conditions in Aotearoa New Zealand reclaimed their position as experts on their own transitions, and moreover, their contributions to research on the subject. Over a six-month …
Facilitating the Acquisition of Science Facts in Learning Disabled Students
Fifty-six learning disabled students were presented materials describing minerals of North America. For each mineral, the students had to learn three associated attributes: the mineral's hardness level, its color, and its common use. The students were randomly assigned to four different methods of study. The two principal conditions were direct instruction, where students were taught eight minerals according to the basic principles of direct inst…
Learning (about Learning) from Four Teachers
Investigates elementary school teachers' beliefs and classroom practices about reading. Describes how three of the teachers experimented with new language, beliefs, and/or practices, juxtaposing them with current beliefs and practices. Considers how, at the end of two years, two teachers had altered their beliefs and transformed their practices, primarily because of their inquiry approach
Availability and Use of Informational Texts in Second-, Third-, and Fourth-Grade Classrooms
A sharp increase in the proportion of informational text with the corresponding expansion of cognitive demands and conceptual structures is a widely held explanation for the decline inreading achievement at the fourth-grade level. In this study, differences in the proportion of informational text across the second, third, and fourth grades were examined in order to determine if this perennial explanation for the fourth-grade slump was supported. …
At home with disability
We examined the lived experiences of a Cypriot family with a young child with autism. Semi‐structured interviews with parents, siblings, and extended family members across three generations and observations of the family’s daily activities were the primary data‐generating methods. Critical events related to the disability diagnosis, the mother’s decision to undertake a significant role in the child’s education following negative interactions with…
When Service Learning meets the Project Approach
The researchers described in this case study how Service Learning was incorporated within the context of an early childhood program where the teachers used the Project Approach. The Service Learning project was embedded in an investigation about water and was designed to help tsunami victims in Asia. Participants included two teachers and 12 children age five to seven in a kindergarten/first grade classroom. Data were collected over one month thr…
Critical reflections on emancipatory partnerships in transition research
Transition from school involves different perspectives. Those most silenced in the process are transitioning students with significant disability, and similarly, they are alienated from the conduct of research. In this empirical project, three young men with complex autism conditions in Aotearoa New Zealand reclaimed their position as experts on their own transitions, and moreover, their contributions to research on the subject. Over a six-month …
Ēhara tāku toa i te toa takitahi, engari he toa takitini
Transmission of skills and knowledge is a core message in dominant discourses surrounding early verbal and non‐verbal communication of babies. Narrow conceptualisations fail to place adequate emphasis on sociocultural elements of language and children’s sophisticated non‐verbal communication. Utilising Kaupapa Māori research methods, this study describes a critical reflective narrative of a community‐led parenting programme that makes space for w…
Imagining possible worlds with young children, families, and teachers
KEYWORDS: Indigenous languagesfamily pedagogiescommunity-led initiativesearly childhood educationnarrative of possibility
Examining the Relative Effects of Task Complexity and Cognitive Demands on Students’ Writing in a Second Language
While many studies have investigated the effect of task complexity on L2 writing, little has been reported on the effects of intended task complexity manipulations on task-generated cognitive demands in L2 writing. This study, therefore, was designed to examine the relative effects of task complexity and cognitive demands on students’ L2 writing. Two argumentative writing tasks were manipulated with varying numbers of elements and reasoning deman…
Voices from the Margins
Young carers are a largely invisible and unsupported population of Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ) children and youth aged 25 years and under who physically, emotionally, socially, and/or spiritually support loved ones experiencing ill health, disability, substance misuse, mental illness, or advanced age. The total number of young carers in NZ is unknown because census data only capture those aged 15-25. The nine published NZ studies recommend further …
Toddlers as active, competent story weavers
Communication and literacy development of young children is shaped by the nature of social and cultural relationships in everyday situations. Few studies, however, have explored early story experiences encountered by infants and toddlers in naturalistic settings. We argue that personal stories about everyday lived experiences are a vital context for considering how toddlers develop communicative competencies as they participate in these stories w…
Unfinalizability
Drawing on a Bakhtinian idea of unfinalizability and a semiotics lens of multimodality, the authors conceptualize children's everyday narratives as chains of living stories that emerge at home and in early childhood education settings. In this study, the authors interpret the living stories and emergent identities of Dylan, a five-year-old Vietnamese boy, in Aotearoa New Zealand. Two narrative chains of Dylan's living stories were selected to rep…
Psychology (12 works) · Pedagogy (9 works) · Sociology (8 works) · Developmental psychology (7 works) · Linguistics (5 works) · Aotearoa (4 works) · Gender Studies (4 works) · Mathematics education (4 works) · Anthropology (3 works) · Early childhood (3 works)