Previous research concerned with early science education revealed that guided play can support young children’s knowledge acquisition. However, the questions whether guided play maintains other important prerequisites such as children’s science self-concept and how guided play should be implemented remain unanswered. The present dissertation encompasses three research articles that investigated 5- to 6-year-old children’s science knowledge, science theories, and science self-concept in the stability domain and their relation to interindividual prerequisites. Moreover, the articles examined whether children’s science knowledge, science theories, and science self-concept can be supported by different play forms, i.e., guided play with material and verbal scaffolds, guided play with material scaffolds, and free play. The general introduction of the present dissertation first highlights children’s cognitive development, their science self-concept, and interindividual prerequisites, i.e., fluid and crystallised intelligence, mental rotation ability, and interest in block play. These prerequisites are applied to possible ways of supporting children during play. The first article focused on the measurement of 5-to-6-year-old children’s stability knowledge and its relation to interindividual prerequisites. Results suggested that children’s stability knowledge could be measured reliably and validly, and was related to their fluid and crystallised intelligence. The second article was concerned with the development of children’s intuitive stability theories over three points of measurement and the effects of guided and free play, children’s prior theories as well as their intelligence on these intuitive theories. Results implied that guided play with material and verbal scaffolds supported children’s stability theories more than the other two play forms, i.e., guided play with material scaffolds and free play. Moreover, consistency of children’s prior theories, their fluid and crystallised intelligence were related to children’s theory adaptation after the intervention. The third article focused on the effect of the playful interventions on children’s stability knowledge and science self-concept over three points of measurement. Furthermore, the reciprocal effects between knowledge acquisition and science self-concept were investigated. Results implied that guided play supported knowledge acquisition and maintained children’s science self-concept. Free play did not support children’s stability knowledge and decreased children’s science self-concept. No evidence for reciprocal effects between children’s stability knowledge and their science self-concept was found. Last, in a general discussion, the findings of the three articles are combined and reflected amidst children’s cognitive development. Summarising, the present dissertation shows that children’s science knowledge, science theories, and science self-concept can be supported through guided play that considers children’s cognitive development.
Die Dissertation untersucht das Selbstkonzept der indischen Ordensfrauen in deutschen Pflegeeinrichtungen. Für die Analyse wurde die Methode der Grounded Theory aus der empirischen Sozialforschung ausgewählt. Im Untersuchungsfeld wurden 26 indische Ordensfrauen und 5 Arbeitergeber interviewt. Als theoretische Grundlagen diente die Missionsgeschichte mit dem Standard des missionarischen Dienstes, die Ausprägung des deutschen und indischen Pflegeverständnisses, der Kulturbegriff in seiner strukturellen Bedingtheit von Dimensionen und Modellen mit dem Bezug zur Organisation „Ordensgemeinschaft“. Dem direkten Bezug zur Forschungsfrage dienten das hierarchische Selbstkonzeptmodell nach Shalveson und ein weiteres Modell nach Bracken, das zur Interpretation der empirischen Ergebnisse herangezogen wurde. In den fünf Kernkategorien und den dazugehörigen Subkategorien dominierte das Hauptmotiv „Missionarin sein“.Die indischen Ordensfrauen bezeichnen sich selbst als „Europamissionarin“ und wollen die Liebe Christi durch ihre Arbeit in der Pflege und Betreuung zu den Kranken, Hilfebedürftigen und alten Menschen bringen.
Damit die indischen Ordensfrauen in ihrem Selbstkonzept in Deutschland noch optimaler arbeiten können, empfiehlt es sich ein Anforderungsprofil zu entwickeln, vorausschauend bestimmte Rahmenbedingungen zu beachten und neue Lebensmodelle zu konzipieren.