Thomson J A, Ampofo-Boateng K, Lee D N, Grieve R, Pitcairn T K, Demetre J D
Department of Psychology, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, Scotland.
Br J Educ Psychol. 1998 Dec;68 ( Pt 4):475-91. doi: 10.1111/j.2044-8279.1998.tb01306.x.
Young children show poor judgment when asked to select a safe place to cross the road, frequently considering dangerous sites to be safe. Correspondingly, child pedestrian accidents are over-represented at such locations. Increasing the child's ability to recognise such dangers is a central challenge for road safety education.
Practical training methods have proved effective in improving such judgments but are labour-intensive, time-consuming and therefore difficult to implement on a realistic scale. The study examined the possibility that volunteers from the local community might be capable of using such methods to promote children's pedestrian competence.
Sixty children from the Primary 1 (Reception) classes of three Glasgow schools took part. Volunteers were ordinary parents from the same areas. None had 'formal' experience of working with children other than through being parents.
Volunteers received experience of training children at courses organised in each school. Children learned in small groups, receiving two sessions of roadside training followed by four on a table-top model. Pre- and post-tests allowed the effectiveness of training to be assessed.
Significant improvements relative to controls were found in all children following training. Improvements proved robust and no deterioration was observed two months after the programme ended. Comparison with a previous study in which training was undertaken by highly qualified staff showed that the volunteers were as effective as 'expert' trainers.
Parent volunteers can significantly increase the pedestrian competence of children as young as five years. They constitute a most valuable 'resource' in road safety education. The opportunities afforded by involving the local community in educational interventions should be further explored.
当被要求选择过马路的安全地点时，幼儿表现出较差的判断力，经常将危险地点视为安全地点。相应地，儿童行人事故在这些地点的发生率过高。提高儿童识别此类危险的能力是道路安全教育的核心挑战。
实践训练方法已被证明在改善此类判断力方面有效，但劳动强度大、耗时，因此难以在实际规模上实施。该研究探讨了当地社区志愿者是否能够使用此类方法来提高儿童的行人能力。
来自格拉斯哥三所学校小学一年级（学前班）的60名儿童参与其中。志愿者是来自同一地区的普通家长。除了作为家长外，他们没有与儿童合作的“正式”经验。
志愿者在每所学校组织的课程中获得培训儿童的经验。儿童以小组形式学习，接受两次路边培训，随后在桌面模型上进行四次培训。通过前后测试来评估培训的效果。
所有儿童在接受培训后相对于对照组都有显著改善。改善效果稳固，在项目结束两个月后未观察到能力下降。与之前一项由高素质工作人员进行培训的研究相比，结果表明志愿者的效果与“专家”培训师一样好。
家长志愿者可以显著提高年仅五岁儿童的行人能力。他们是道路安全教育中最宝贵的“资源”。应进一步探索让当地社区参与教育干预所带来的机会。
