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1 – 10 of over 3000Kristen E. Darling, Deborah Seok, Patti Banghart, Kerensa Nagle, Marybeth Todd and Nadia S. Orfali
The purpose of this paper is to examine Conscious Discipline’s (CD) Parenting Education Curriculum (CD PEC), the parenting component of CD’s research-based social and emotional…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine Conscious Discipline’s (CD) Parenting Education Curriculum (CD PEC), the parenting component of CD’s research-based social and emotional learning program. CD aims to change child behavior by changing how adults understand and manage their own behaviors and emotions. Researchers explored CD PEC’s association with improved parenting skills, parent–child relationships and child behavior and emotion management.
Design/methodology/approach
During pre- and post-site visits, parents in four Head Start programs completed the Attentive Parenting Survey (n=25) and interviews (n=19); and 20 staff were also interviewed.
Findings
Parents reported that CD PEC shifted their perspectives and practices for managing children’s challenging behaviors, improved parent–child relationships and resulted in decreased child behavior problems.
Research limitations/implications
The study was correlational, based on self-report, and had a small sample with no comparison group.
Practical implications
This study supports CD PEC as a means of shifting parenting practices, relationships and child behavior by focusing on adult social-emotional skills and self-regulation.
Social implications
This study provides preliminary evidence that addressing the social-emotional needs of adults is a viable step to helping children improve their social skills, emotion regulation and general behavior, which have all been linked to later academic and life success.
Originality/value
The paper studies improvements in parents’ emotion recognition and self-regulation before disciplining their children.
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Amy K. Noggle and Sara D. Hooks
As part of a larger grant-funded project, a professional development (PD) series was conducted within the framework of a school–university partnership to improve teachers’…
Abstract
Purpose
As part of a larger grant-funded project, a professional development (PD) series was conducted within the framework of a school–university partnership to improve teachers’ capacity to meaningfully include fathers and father figures in the school environment, with a particular focus on fathers of children with disabilities. The authors sought to understand the extent to which a school-wide PD framed through the lens of a father of a child with a disability might inform practice with sustainable implementation. Due to the pandemic, the original format of the PD was redesigned for virtual delivery.
Design/methodology/approach
A three-phase data collection and analysis approach included a pre-PD survey, a post-PD survey and a one-year follow-up survey. All surveys included both quantitative and qualitative self-report data components.
Findings
Results suggest school personnel found the virtual PD valuable, gleaning several useful strategies for reflecting on their own practices, working to improve communication with families of children with disabilities and more meaningfully including fathers and father figures in future school-related activities and programing.
Research limitations/implications
First, the sample size of the present study was small, and participation was variable across PD sessions. In addition, participants self-selected into the series, and therefore, they may be more likely to value father-figure involvement with or without participation in the PD series. The small sample size may minimize the generalizability of these results across other replicable settings and participants. Second, the results of the pre-PD survey could be positively skewed since the university partner’s initial delivery of PD related to this topic began in 2018. In the pre-PD survey, the majority of respondents indicated, as an example, that they believed father involvement was correlated with higher academic achievement. It is not clear if respondents held these beliefs independently at the inception of the partnership or if they perhaps learned of these connections during an earlier PD offered by the authors.
Practical implications
The current study offers a small glimpse into the world of a school–university partnership and its ability to actualize meaningful reflection on family engagement practices. Results also indicate a greater awareness of significant male figures/fathers and their needs. Content delivered during each PD supports capacity building in terms of teachers’ ability to see fathers and father figures as meaningful contributors within the context of the school environment. Participants mentioned that the PD taught them ways to recognize and remediate some of the insidious communication barriers that exist.
Social implications
Participants stated that they grew in their understanding of intentional connections with significant male figures, noting a concerted effort to ensure communication of information pertaining to school events, conferences and, in some cases, individualized educational programs (IEPs). Staff members also felt as though the pandemic fostered greater connections with fathers who were working at home and who were simultaneously helping their children access online learning platforms. However, it is noteworthy that the latter benefit was likely a positive side effect of mandatory home-based learning as opposed to a direct result of the present study. Socially, the authors all find ourselves embarking on a bit of social uncertainty, where perhaps it is no longer appropriate or significant to mention one's gender. Nonetheless, the research highlights the unique contributions that fathers and father figures can make to children's positive trajectory, and the authors espouse that the current study suggests that virtual PD sessions can help train school personnel to recognize and foster such relationships.
Originality/value
The past few decades have ushered in an awareness of significant male involvement and its importance in the development of young children. Despite this surge of interest, the research on father/significant male involvement in the school context remains limited. Additionally, the implementation of virtual PD and its potential positive impacts remain largely unexplored, especially when the intersection with father engagement practices is considered. As such, the authors espouse that the present study reflects a unique combination of content and pedagogy.
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Alyse C. Hachey and Pratimaben J. Mehta
This paper discusses the implementation of integrated science, technology, engineering and mathematics (EC-iSTEM) education with children in birth-to-age 5 classrooms. It offers a…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper discusses the implementation of integrated science, technology, engineering and mathematics (EC-iSTEM) education with children in birth-to-age 5 classrooms. It offers a conceptualization for EC-iSTEM, as well as a developmental trajectory in the form of the iSTEM Rope Model. It further highlights the intersection of EC-iSTEM education and the Reggio Emelia-Inspired Approach (RE-IA) as a lens for both viewing EC-iSTEM implementation with young children and as an area of needed research.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper uses a qualitative interpretive methodology, drawing from a wide array of theoretical and research literature on early childhood education and integrated STEM education.
Findings
Despite growing research and policy reports that advocate for the inclusion of integrated STEM education in early childhood classrooms, today there is currently imprecision in understanding what exactly “integrated STEM” means when applied to the instruction of very young children. This suggests a need for the creation of a unifying conceptual framework, as well as finding alignment with currently known pedagogical approaches to ground the work of birth-to-age 5 teachers and researchers.
Research limitations/implications
This paper proposes a new conceptualization of integrated STEM education for use in birth to age 5 classrooms, as well as a systhsis of the current literature to assess the pedagogical linkages between EC-iSTEM and RE-IA. As the proposed conceptualization offered in this paper is new and research in this area is nascent, further empirical investigation is warrented.
Originality/value
This paper proposes a new conceptualization of integrated STEM education for use in the early childhood education field. It further synthesizes the current literature to assess the pedagogical linkages between EC-iSTEM and RE-IA, suggesting practice implications for supporting the knowledge and skill development of young children from birth to age 5.
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Jamie Borchardt and Deborah Banker
We examined skill building techniques and changes over the course of a semester with pre and post-test data collection after implementing experiential learning assignments.
Abstract
Purpose
We examined skill building techniques and changes over the course of a semester with pre and post-test data collection after implementing experiential learning assignments.
Design/methodology/approach
The Schutte Self-Report Emotional Intelligence Test (SEEIT) was used to measure emotional intelligence among students who interned for a 16-week period.
Findings
We found a significant difference using a paired samples t-test in SSEIT scores between the pre (M = 126.6, SD = 4.3) and the post-internship (M = 133.8, SD = 5.7) scores. t(5) = -5.61, p = 0.002. Students had an overall increase in mean scores over the course of one semester.
Research limitations/implications
This was a pilot study that we completed to determine applicability of internship and increasing emotional intelligence. Overall, we saw an increase in EI in pre and post-test comparisons. This was a pilot study, so more research is needed on this topic.
Practical implications
Students were placed in situations during the internship process to help facilitate real world problems and were required to apply applicable textbook knowledge, develop theory-based activities and report their findings. Students worked with various age groups and learned how to work with a variety of populations including faculty, teachers, children and parents on a regular basis and this process contributed to their experience and potentially increased emotional intelligence over a 16-week period.
Social implications
This research addresses the importance of emotional intelligence (EI) in career readiness and its role in potentially mitigating burnout in psychological professions.
Originality/value
This is important to those in the field of psychology and child development and family studies because it addresses concerns with the shortage of skilled and prepared workers.
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Susanne Ayers Denham and Hideko Hamada Bassett
Emotional competence supports preschoolers’ social relationships and school success. Parents’ emotions and reactions to preschoolers’ emotions can help them become emotionally…
Abstract
Purpose
Emotional competence supports preschoolers’ social relationships and school success. Parents’ emotions and reactions to preschoolers’ emotions can help them become emotionally competent, but scant research corroborates this role for preschool teachers. Expected outcomes included: teachers’ emotion socialization behaviors functioning most often like parents’ in contributing to emotional competence, with potential moderation by socioeconomic risk. This paper aims to discuss this issue.
Design/methodology/approach
Participants included 80 teachers and 312 preschoolers experiencing either little economic difficulty or socioeconomic risk. Children’s emotionally negative/dysregulated, emotionally regulated/productive and emotionally positive/prosocial behaviors were observed, and their emotion knowledge was assessed in Fall and Spring. Teachers’ emotions and supportive, nonsupportive and positively emotionally responsive reactions to children’s emotions were observed during Winter. Hierarchical linear models used teacher emotions or teacher reactions, risk and their interactions as predictors, controlling for child age, gender and premeasures.
Findings
Some results resembled those parents’: positive emotional environments supported children’s emotion knowledge; lack of nonsupportive reactions facilitated positivity/prosociality. Others were unique to preschool classroom environments (e.g. teachers’ anger contributed to children’s emotion regulation/productive involvement; nonsupportiveness predicted less emotional negativity/dysregulation). Finally, several were specific to children experiencing socioeconomic risk: supportive and nonsupportive reactions, as well as tender emotions, had unique, but culturally/contextually explainable, meanings in their classrooms.
Research limitations/implications
Applications to teacher professional development, and both limitations and suggestions for future research are considered.
Originality/value
This study is among the first to examine how teachers contribute to the development of preschoolers’ emotional competence, a crucial set of skills for life success.
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This paper describes the rationale and key aspects of how one school-university partnership leveraged resources to create, implement and refine an innovative professional pathway…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper describes the rationale and key aspects of how one school-university partnership leveraged resources to create, implement and refine an innovative professional pathway called the Early Childhood Certificate (ECC) program which reflects the National Professional Development Schools (NAPDS) Essential Guideline 4: Reflection and Innovation. The ECC program is an innovative, career-building model that leverages resources between a predominantly white regional state university, a nonprofit organization serving as a Head Start grantee, a large urban school district and community-based education settings across a Midwestern metropolitan region.
Design/methodology/approach
This descriptive narrative documents how the ECC program developed as a professional pathway for early childhood educators to scale up their skills for teaching young children while strengthening their capacities and credentials within the early childhood education (ECE) profession pipeline. The narrative includes relevant literature and examples from the field.
Findings
This paper includes a discussion of the benefits and challenges related to the design, implementation and refinement of the professional learning ECC program.
Research limitations/implications
This is a descriptive narrative. As such, generalizability is lacking. Research is needed to determine the effectiveness and sustainability of innovative teacher education programs.
Practical implications
Relevant research and lessons learned provide guidance for other school–university partnerships to consider how to meet workforce and career needs for educators in the field of ECE.
Social implications
School–university partnerships can be change agents and positively impact early childhood educators' career development.
Originality/value
This paper addresses the need for understanding how predominantly white early childhood teacher education programs can partner with schools and agencies and then together leverage resources to support workforce and career development opportunities.
Details