K.F. Hein Fonds honors three DoY project proposals
The K.F. Hein Fonds has approved three project applications in the field of Dynamics of Youth:
Gonneke Stevens - The sky is the limit? How young people from different social groups think about their future
Young people in senior secondary vocational education (MBO), from families with a low socio-economic status and with a migrant background are more likely to experience psychological problems and are less likely to participate in society than their peers. Stevens' research examines how young people with different social backgrounds think about their future. To what extent do young people feel they have a chance to make their dreams come true? Which obstacles do they identify? In terms of their vision of the future, how important is trust in their family, friends, school and society?
In order to gain insight into the feelings and expectations for the future of young people with different backgrounds, 60 young people aged 16 and over in secondary education, senior secondary vocational education, higher professional education and university education are being interviewed.
Elma Blom – LITMUS language test
About one out of 20 children are born with a language disorder. Actually, instruments to determine this disorder at multilingual children are not available, which leads to misdiagnosis. To be able to offer proper care and education, it is necessary to solve this problem. Recently, several new instruments as the LITMUS test have been developed and are evaluated to improve this diagnosis for multilingual children.
In the Netherlands about 25% of the children grow up in migrated families. They learn Dutch as a second language and about 7% of them have a language disorder. In the future this percentage will augment. The presented project contributes to the solution of this urgent problem by resulting in new instruments for multilingual children as well as a pilot study for the benefit of standard settings.
Heidi Lesscher - Play for healthy development
Play is important for healthy development of humans and animals. Through exploration and experiencing different situations and scenario’s, play allows young children and mammals to develop skills that are essential for optimal functioning in adulthood. However, many children are restricted in their opportunities to engage in social play, e.g. children with a chronic or life-threatening disease. Importantly, these children develop social and emotional problems that may be related to play restrictions.
To support these children to develop in the most optimal way, it is essential to understand their play needs. With an interdisciplinary team (WKZ Children’s Hospital, UU, HU, Jantje Beton) we will therefore (1) determine what play is and means for healthy children and children with a chronic disease and (2) develop an instrument to measure play in children.