Parents' and Kindergarten Teachers' Beliefs About the Effects of Child Care

Parents' and kindergarten teachers' beliefs about the effects of child care on children's adjustment to school were investigated. Using a standardized behavioral rating scale, both groups were asked to rate two hypothetical children just entering kindergarten; one with full-day child care experience and one who had only experienced care in the home by a parent or relative. There was an interaction between the experience of the believer and their ratings of the two hypothetical children. Parents who had used child care for their own children rated the ‘day care child' most positively. Parents who had kept their own children at home rated the 'home care child' most positively. Kindergarten teachers rated both hypothetical children equally, but more negatively than parents. Implications of the findings are discussed.     

The effects of infant day care through the prism of attachment theory: A critical appraisal

This commentary addresses the relevance of attachment theory and research to an understanding of the effects of early day care experience on sociopersonality development. Attachment theory figures prominently in Belsky's review of the day care literature both because of the theory's emphasis on formative early influences on personality functioning, and because of researchers' widespread (although not exclusive) use of the Strange Situation as a procedure for assessing the effects of day care on infant-parent attachment. This commentary offers an examination of the strength of the evidence which indicates that early day care experience may lead to insecure attachments. It is concluded that this evidence is substantially weaker than Belsky suggests. The article then draws upon the extensive research on attachment to explore the interpretation of infant behavior within the Strange Situation, and the significance of such behavior for later development, in light of the current concern about the effects of early day care experience. It is argued that this research suggests caution in concluding either that day care has negative consequences for the child or that it foreshadows long-term sociopersonality functioning. Suggested are areas of much needed future research which must be undertaken before strong conclusions concerning the effects of day care can be made.     

Evolving issues in early childhood education: A personal perspective

This article describes the issues in early childhood education that were most pressing during the past two decades. It indicates whether each issue has been settled and outlines urgent new issues for today. In 1967 the most salient issues were the importance of early childhood for education, when early education should begin, whether it could compensate for childhood experience at home, and whether the effects of early education were permanent. In 1972 the central issue was the best kind of early educational program. By 1977 attention had shifted to ways that early education could be done most efficiently and cheaply, whether parent education was the answer, and how it worked. By 1982 a new issue had arisen: the effects of full-time day care on preschool children's development. Today's most pressing issues seem to be finding ways to maximize the fit between programs and participants, the implications of the superbaby trend, and the effects of day care on infants' development.     

Differential effects of home and preschool learning environments on early language development

The present study is based on longitudinal data from a German early childhood education and care (ECEC) governmental initiative assessing children's grammatical and vocabulary development between 2;6 and 4;0 years (N = 1,331), quality of the home learning environment and quality of the preschool setting. Results showed that the quality of the home learning environment predicted development in grammatical skills, but not in receptive vocabulary at age 4, while the effects of preschool process quality showed similar relative impacts on both language outcomes. Further analyses revealed effects of accumulated advantages of preschool quality for children from medium‐ and high‐quality home learning environments in their vocabulary development. The results are compared with previous findings from the German ECEC context and discussed with respect to implications for policy efforts to improve ECEC quality and ways in which both learning environments act together on children's development.     

New Lunchbox,Old Feelings: What Kids Bring to School

Research on the transition to school has shown successful adjustment to be characterized by a high degree of effort, initiative, and positive interaction with peers and adults. These behaviors often have their root in the earliest transactions between infant and caregiver, particularly the infant's experience of having his/her cues and signals responded to in a consistent, sensitive way and the secure attachment which develops from such care. Through experiences with caregivers in the first year of life children begin to develop "working models" of others and self, models which influence how that child behaves at later ages, and which in turn influence how others respond to that child. Children who are deprived of the opportunity to develop a secure attachment often fail to develop the initiative and social skills which would facilitate their transition to school. Teachers' low expectations and negative responses to the child in the first years of school may perpetuate the child's negative working models and decrease the child's chances for subsequent school success. The challenge to us is to contradict the negative working models many children bring to school. This implies l) considering the meaning of the child's behavior within the context of his/her relationship history and current life experiences, 2) consistently and persistently caring for a child even in the face of apparent rejection of our efforts, 3) looking for opportunities to reframe how we and others perceive the child, and 4) being alert to subtle ways in which we and others may be perpetuating negative working models held by both the child and his/her parents.     

Learning in Early Childhood: experiences,relationships and ‘Learning to Be’

Learning in the earliest stage of life — the infancy, toddlerhood and preschool period — is relational and rapid. Child-initiated and adult-mediated conversations, playful interactions and learning through active involvement are integral to young children making sense of their environments and to their development over time. The child's experience in this early phase of life is at the heart of ‘Learning to Be’ in any society. This article reviews early learning studies aimed at understanding children's personal, intellectual and social development, and promoting that development. Particular reference is made to attachment and attention, the process of self-regulation, and the adult-child engagement strategies that advance the child's receptive and expressive language: these all exercise substantial influence on early childhood learning and child development outcomes over time. The selected research studies variously highlight the development of infants, toddlers, and young children in kindergarten and the early years of school, and how children make sense of their environments as social, learning and unique human beings. Both the home learning environment and early childhood education programmes are important in children's development. This article argues for high-quality early childhood experience and giving attention to the engagement role of adults in advancing young children's development, minimising the risk of poor development and supporting positive long-lasting personal, academic and social benefits. In this early phase of life, in the words of Jacques Delors: ‘… none of the talents which are hidden like buried treasure in every person must be left untapped’. (Delors et al. 1996, p. 23).     

Do parents' own school memories contribute to their satisfaction with their child's school?

In the present study a group of parents with a child in preschool were asked to give evaluative recollections of their own primary school and then to indicate the level of their satisfaction with the functioning of their child's school repeatedly in the course of the child's compulsory education. Across the follow‐up, the parents with positive recollections showed more satisfaction than those with negative recollections did. Over the years, the level of satisfaction decreased in all other groups but the fathers with positive recollections. Parents' recollections may be seen as an experience‐based component of their attitudes towards education.     

Perspectives on school readiness in rural Ireland: the experiences of parents and children

In contrast to a burgeoning literature examining the experience and management of children's start to school, much less is known about school readiness in rural Ireland. On this premise, a questionnaire survey was designed to explore the views of parents (n=145) on their child's preschool experiences and readiness for school. Due to a paucity of preschool provision in rural areas, attendance was mainly on a sessional basis with a small number having full weekly attendance and others no preschool experience. In consequence, a considerable number of children start school at four years of age, two years below the compulsory starting age. On reflection, almost one-third of the parents in this study believe their child was too young for school. An important feature of this research is the inclusion of young children (n=22) between four and six years of age in their first year at school. Although the children anticipated differences between preschool and school, the majority found it difficult to adapt to having fewer toys and play opportunities and to the formal curriculum which characterises teaching and learning in infant classes. Zeitgeist and global and national economic factors inform the interpretation of the results.     

Putting the child first how one student teacher negotiated the moral landscape of teaching

Abstract

One student teacher's moral development process is uncovered, using a case study approach to capture the participant's internal processes and the constructed social context. The participant was in the first eight‐week placement of her semester‐long student teaching assignment, a kindergarten classroom in a rural public elementary school with a diverse student body. The participant believed that her professional moral responsibility was to “put the child first.” She believed this included protecting the child's dignity and autonomy, creating a close classroom community, establishing trust between teacher and child, fostering productive communication among all adults in the child's life, and safeguarding the child's health and safety. The participant maintained these priorities in her daily teaching practice and used them in her decision‐making process. However, the decisions that she was required to make during her early weeks of student teaching led to a modified understanding of her values. Democratic discourse and professional autonomy were associated with the process of moral development in this case. Theoretical and practical implications are described.     

Linking Class and Gender Inequality: the family and schooling

Some feminists have argued that a woman's class position should be determined by her own employment and work history, whereas Goldthorpe has argued that the family is the basic unit in class analysis, with the husband's occupation determining the class position of all family members, including the wife's. Goldthorpe denies that this position is an example of gender bias, claiming that class and gender inequality are separate issues. This paper argues that gender and class inequality are strongly interconnected, by virtue of the importance of the work in child‐rearing carried out by the wife‐mother and its effects on the child's scholastic achievements and life chances. It shows that within‐family processes are more important than class position in affecting children's scholastic achievements. It further argues that children's family environments are affected by the biographies of both parents. The institutional separation of the family, schooling and the work‐place means that there will be great variability in the biographies of parents who are in the same ‘class position’ by virtue of their occupations. The notion of a single indicator of ‘class position’ therefore seems inappropriate, and too static for the complex institutional relationships involved.     

Effects of home environment and center-based child care quality on children's language,communication, and literacy outcomes

This study examined the joint effects of home environment and center-based child care quality on children's language, communication, and early literacy development, while also considering prior developmental level. Participants were 95 children (46 boys), assessed as toddlers (mean age = 26.33 months; Time 1) and preschoolers (mean age = 68.71 months; Time 2) and their families. At both times, children attended center-based child care classrooms in the metropolitan area of Porto, Portugal. Results from hierarchical linear models indicated that home environment and preschool quality, but not center-based toddler child care quality, were associated with children's language and literacy outcomes at Time 2. Moreover, the quality of preschool classrooms moderated the association between home environment quality and children's language and early literacy skills – but not communication skills – at Time 2, suggesting the positive cumulative effects of home environment and preschool quality. Findings further support the existence of a detrimental effect of low preschool quality on children's language and early literacy outcomes: positive associations among home environment quality and children's developmental outcomes were found to reduce substantially when children attended low-quality preschool classrooms.     

The Effects of Pre‐School Experience on Reading Attainment: a four year cross‐sectional study

This paper examines the reading attainments of a sample of Year 2 children who had one of three types of preschool experience. The results of a 4‐year cross‐sectional study of a sample of all Year 2 children (n = 834) from six randomly selected primary schools within one Local Education Authority (LEA) are presented. The children had attended nursery or playgroup or experienced no preschool provision outside the home: they were not matched for social background. Pupils’ scores on The Primary Reading Test (PRT) [France, N. (1981) The Primary Reading Test (Windsor, NFER/Nelson] are compared over the 4 years, as are the reading Standardised Assessment Task (SAT) scores of the last two cohorts. Results are not clear cut. For 3 of the 4 years, the group with no‐preschool experience performed significantly less well than at least one of the other two groups with some type of preschool experience on the PRT. The SAT levels of nursery children were significantly higher than those of the other two groups. Conclusions, based on such a small study, are tentative. It appears that preschool provision has an effect on children's reading attainments and that this is still significant in Year 2. The validity of the SAT is considered as a factor in the relative reading attainments of the three groups.     

Validity of the children's orientation to book reading rating scale

The present study investigates the validity of a 4‐point rating scale used to measure the level of preschool children's orientation to literacy during shared book reading. Validity was explored by (a) comparing the children's level of literacy orientation as measured with the Children's Orientation to Book Reading Rating Scale (COB) with a teacher's rating of a child's level of attention and effortful control on the Children's Behaviour Questionnaire (CBQ), and (b) computing the predictive validity of a child's COB rating with overall levels of emergent literacy at the end of the preschool school year. This study involved 46 preschool children from low‐income backgrounds; children's literacy orientation was rated during a group teacher‐led book reading. Children's ratings of literacy orientation during shared book reading using the global 4‐point COB scale were significantly correlated with teacher ratings of a child's attention and effortful control as measured on the CBQ. Hierarchical regression results indicated children's literacy orientation significantly predicted children's end‐of‐year alphabet knowledge and overall emergent reading skills above and beyond the variance contributed by children's language skills and family income. The validity of a global rating for indexing children's level of literacy orientation was supported. Educational implications and recommendations for the COB as a component of early literacy assessment are discussed.     

Teachers' Experience and Management of Young Children Treated Because of Home Conduct Problems: A qualitative study

In the present study, a sample of 27 teachers were interviewed regarding their experience and management of young children with conduct problems in day‐care or school settings. The children had been referred and treated because of oppositional and conduct problems at home. Qualitative analysis of data was performed by using elements of a grounded theory approach. Although the children had complex conduct problems presenting considerable challenges for their teachers, most teachers described a close and engaged relationship with these children. Teachers used within‐discipline and within‐classroom approaches in their work with a main focus on managing the child's daily life in day‐care or school, supported by close colleagues. Their practices were not deeply rooted in evidence‐based knowledge and methods. Most teachers reported collaboration with parents as positive and necessary, however, they only pursued it to a limited extent. Representatives from supplementary services, such as school psychologist, child protection care and child psychiatry, were rarely involved in the work of teachers. Implications of the findings are discussed.     

The Effects of the Occupations of Working Mothers on the Educational Inequality

ABSTRACT

Working mothers with children of school age are a recent phenomenon in the Netherlands, but are more common in other European societies. The social and scientific significance of this work for life chances in general and for educational inequality in particular is still not clear and subject of heated debate. In this article the effects of paid work outside the home by the mother and of the level of her work on her child's educational attainment at the end of primary school are estimated with ANOVA and LISREL for the most recent nationally representative cohort of Dutch primary school‐leavers in the late 1980s (the VOCL‐'89 cohort), controlling for other characteristics of the mother, her household, husband and children. The study is a follow‐up of a comparable analysis of an older cohort of Dutch primary school‐leavers in the late 1970s. The results of this most recent analysis show that the dilemma between working outside the home and working as a housewife is a false one. The central question for the educational chances of a child is not whether its mother works or not, but the level of her work. Working in labouring jobs has a negative effect on children's educational attainment compared to working as a housewife; this in contrast to the positive effects of working as a shopkeeper, farmer or employee. This also holds after controlling for all other relevant characteristics. These effects are substantial and cannot be explained by other characteristics. However, the effects are not similar to the effects of the level of her husband's job on the educational attainment of their children. This means that the conventional as well as the radical view must be replaced by a more moderate one. This also means that in order to get an accurate estimation, the mother's job has to be included in any measurement of parental class of pupils. The effects of the level of the mother's job on the educational attainment of her children do not differ between boys and girls. These results neither confirm suggestions of the model‐function of working mothers for their daughters, nor suggestions of the need of boys to be controlled by a mother at home. The effects of the level of the mother's job also do not differ between ethnic groups. The last two results are contrary to some results from the USA. In this article the effects of the mother's job on her children's educational attainment in a nationally representative cohort of the late ‘70s (the SMVO cohort) are compared to those of this recent VOCL‐'89 cohort. Despite the growth in the percentage of working mothers during the ‘70s and ‘80s in the Netherlands (mostly part‐time jobs) the effect of the level of the mother's job did not change. A possible consequence of these results is that a general change of the tax and wages system from one based on households with one wage‐earner to one based on individuals might be detrimental to families of parents with a low educational level, who are limited to less qualified jobs.     

Psychological reality and the role of the teacher in early-education sharing time

The study of children's language development has been strongly influenced since the 1950s by linguistic research. How well, however, has the education of young children incorporated the concept of psychological reality, which interrelates the child's perceptual and cognitive development with linguistic and non-linguistic events in his/her environment? In reply to this question, the paper concentrates on“sharing time”, known also as“show and tell”, which has both affective and cognitive value. Although sharing time is a student-centered activity, the teacher plays a pivotal role in establishing its context, structure and norms. Feedback from the teacher and peers promotes language development, and the growth of curiosity and inquisitiveness. The article is derived from experience in teaching kindergarten teachers to conduct sharing time periods in Saudi Arabia. Practical suggestions are made for the implementation of the activity, in the interests of encouraging spontaneous and personalized language rather than focusing on evaluation of students' competence in the formal aspects of language development.     

Preschool and primary school influences on the development of children's early numeracy skills between the ages of 3 and 7 years in Germany

Few studies have investigated how preschool and primary school interact to influence children's cognitive development. The present investigation explores German children's numeracy skills between age 3 (1st year of preschool) and age 7 (1st year of primary school). We first identified the influence of preschool experience on development while controlling for child factors, family background, and the quality of the home learning environment (HLE). We then considered how the instructional quality of primary schools influences numeracy. We finally analysed how preschool and primary school interact. We sampled 547 children who attended 97 German preschools. Latent growth curve analyses identified child and family factors related to age 3 numeracy and development to age 7: gender, migration background, socioeconomic status (SES), mother education, HLE. The effects of preschool on numeracy development persist until age 7 with notable effects from process quality. Strengthened efforts are needed to ensure high quality preschool education in Germany.     

Experiments in Moral Education at College Level

Abstract:

An attempt is made to distinguish four stages in the development of empathy during the pre‐school years. The method adopted is to examine four popular books frequently read to children throughout this age span and to show briefly how each contributes to the development of children's empathy by illustrating in a progressively more complex way situations which correspond to the child's own experience. It is assumed that the child's identification with the heroes of these books will both draw upon his present capacity for empathy and develop it further.     

The Child as a Philosopher of Values: Development of a Distinct Perception of Values in Childhood

Abstract

This study suggests a distinct concept of value as a reason for action, and examines its validity and development in children aged 6‐7, 9‐10, and 12‐13. In the distinct meaning suggested here, value refers to perception of a behaviour as intrinsically (non‐contingently) desirable yet not strictly obligatory. Values are thus distinguished from morality, conventions and personal preferences by the dimensions of (1) intrinsic versus contingent validity and (2) obligatory versus non‐obligatory nature. The study reveals that many 6‐ to 7‐year‐old children already demonstrate a distinct concept of value, as defined here, and that this distinction develops with age. Subjects also distinguished between values and other reasons for action in terms of the most frequent type of reasons they gave for their perceptions, i.e. short‐ and long‐term utility as opposed to the welfare of others or social norms. It is suggested that the child's concept of values is based on his or her perceptions of a child's development, entailing increasing control over the environment, and that these very perceptions affect the child's actual behaviour and development.