Browsing by Author "Pathirana, B.D.D."

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Perceived practices and attitudes of the Sri Lankan preschool children pertaining to environmental protection
(Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2014) Pathirana, B.D.D.
Perceptions of the environment that young children acquire in their early childhood function as a base for their holistic development. Studies convey that if children do not develop a sense of respect and caring for the environment during their early years, they are at risk of never developing such attitudes later in life. Therefore, educators, primary caregivers of children and environmental proponents should address and assess the frequency, nature, and quality of child-environment interactions during early childhood. However, research studies carried out to investigate children’s sense of environmental protection is almost nonexistent in the Sri Lankan context. The present study explores the preschool children’s perceived practices and attitudes pertaining to environment protection using a two point pictorial rating scale (12 statements, 6 pairs). Participants were 34 preschool children, 12 boys (M = 3.91; S.D = .539) and 21 girls (M = 4.19; S.D = .602), from Colombo. The research was conducted, adhering to the ethical standards of test administration for young children. After listening to their preschool teacher instruction the children were requested to put stickers against the appropriate picture which indicated their preference. Results conveyed that the majority of the children have said that they do not leave the water running when they brush their teeth (28, 82.4%), love animals (31, 91.2%), like to play outside (23, 67.6%), pick trash (32, 94.1%), like to plant things (31, 91.2), turn the lights off when they leave a room (28, 82.4%). When children’s perceived practices and attitudes of the environment was calculated the scores ranged between 9 to 12 (M = 11.088; S.D = 0.996), conveying that the majority of the children have positive attitudes and perceived practices pertaining to environmental protection.
Play of novice monks before and after being ordained: an exploratory study
(University of Kelaniya, 2013) Khamra; Pathirana, B.D.D.
According to the Buddhist texts, monks are considered as distinctive group of people. Hence, even novice monks, undergo rigorous trainings/ restrictions after being ordained, though they are considered to be children and therefore have the right to play according to the convention of Child Rights. Therefore, question arises whether novice monks are allowed to play after being ordained and whether significant differences can be observed within their play behavior before and after the ordinance. In order find out the answers to these research questions the present study explored the play behaviors of 15 novice monks in two distinctive age groups; novice monks (n = 08) in early adolescence (10-14 Yrs.) and novice monks (n = 07) in their middle adolescence (15-18 Yrs.), using semi structured interviews by the first author. The key findings of this study are as follows: Psychosocial development was observed before and after being ordained within the novice monks‟ play behavior impacted by their chronological age. After being ordained, novice monks experienced guilt while playing regardless of the fact whether adults reprimanded them or not, which could be attributed to the religious and cultural consciousness/ beliefs, social values and attitudes ingrained within their training. There was a decline in the number, types and duration of play behaviors of the novice monks after being ordained. Modern life style and competitive educational system has created a negative impact on Sri Lankan children‟s play behaviors in general whether they are ovice monks or ordinary school going children Findings are discussed in the contexts of psychoanalysis, socio-cultural, behavioral and developmental and rights based perspectives.