Using an Ecological Framework for Understanding and Treating Externalizing Behavior in Early Childhood

This paper will review the literature on the rate, stability, and outcomes associated with externalizing behavior problems prior to kindergarten entry. Bronfenbrenners (The ecology of human development. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press) ecological framework will be used to present the factors related to the onset and persistence of externalizing behavior problems in young children. Behavior problems prior to school entry are somewhat developmentally appropriate and most can be resolved within the classroom or child care setting. Intervention for children with moderate to severe behavior problems in early childhood is crucial because behavior problems are likely to persist into elementary school leading to a variety of social and academic concerns. Steps will be presented to help teachers determine whether or not a referral to a specialist is needed and locate an appropriate specialist.     

The Effects of COVID-19 on Early Childhood Education and Care: Research and Resources for Children,Families, Teachers,and Teacher Educators

The COVID-19 world health crisis has profound implications for the care and education of young children in homes and schools, the lives of preservice and inservice teachers, and the work of college/university faculty. This article begins by discussing the implications of a world health pandemic for education and the challenges of conducting a literature review on such a rapidly evolving topic. The next four sections categorize the COVID-19 literature into themes: (1) threats to quality of life (QoL) and wellness, (2) pressure on families and intensification of inequities, (3) changes in teaching methods and reliance on technology, and (4) restructuring of higher education and scholarship interrupted. Each of the four themes is introduced with a narrative that highlights the current context, followed by the literature review. Next is a compilation of high-quality, online resources developed by leading professional organizations to support children, families, and educators dealing with the COVID crisis. The article concludes with changes that hold the greatest potential to advance the field of early childhood education and care.

     

Exploring the Dynamics of Teacher Perceptions of Homeless Children and Families during the Early Years

The perceptions teachers have of homeless children and their families are a significant influence on children and parents. These perceptions of teachers are explored from a social justice view and in relation to barriers that may impede teacher development of nurturing and supportive perspectives. Effective strategies for helping teachers strengthen their perspectives of homeless children and families are presented and discussed.     

Transforming Teacher Constructs of Children and Families Who Are Homeless

The focus of this article is on articulating the importance of teacher development of constructs about homeless children and families and examining factors that influence teachers’ perceptions of children and families who are homeless or at high-risk of becoming homeless. The article also explores some strategies to support teachers in transforming their perceptions of homeless children and provides case examples of how this process can work. Three case studies explore how teacher educators and practicing teachers can work together to reflect on their own perceptions of homeless children from high-poverty backgrounds and how educators were able to transform their own perceptions in being able to better serve their students.     

Insights on Caring for Early Childhood Professionals and Families

Caring is the core value that empowers families and early childhood professionals. This article articulates the meaning and power of caring in the lives of children and families. It also explores family, professional, and community strategies for creating caring and nurturing children and families. In particular, insights that show that caring is learned early and that its impact is life long are discussed and applied to the early childhood professional’s identity.     

How Early Childhood Teachers Perceive the Educational Needs of Military Dependent Children

Military dependent children remain a largely unexplored subject, particularly in early childhood education. In an effort to fill the gap in the current literature, this research study focuses on how early childhood teachers perceive the educational needs of military dependent children. Previous research in the areas of geographic mobility, parental separation, and socioemotional needs are reviewed and used as a platform for this study. The study includes a survey developed by the researcher used in conjunction with Teacher Observation of Classroom Adaptation—Checklist to further examine the needs of these children from the perceptions of their teachers. The results of the study demonstrate that while early childhood teachers do not perceive a significant difference between military and nonmilitary dependent children in the socioemotional domains of prosocial behavior, concentration, and disruptive behavior, they do believe there is a difference related to stability. Additionally, early childhood teachers noted a negative socioemotional and academic impact related to parental separation and a negative academic impact related to geographic mobility. Teachers’ responses indicated mixed beliefs about the social impact of frequent relocations.     

Responding to the Voices of Homeless Preschool Children and Their Families

By utilizing all of the voices of homeless children and families we can gain a better understanding of their needs and thus be more effective in designing programs that can support them in becoming more independent. This article reviews the importance of the voices of homeless preschool children and their parents as well that of the professionals who work with them in developing responses to this problem. Strategies that empower homeless preschool children and their families are noted. These strategies include: quality preschool care, therapeutic practices that empower the entire family, case management schemes that provide support to homeless children and families, and societal changes that empower the family. Critical roles that early childhood education professionals can carry out in this empowerment process are delineated and discussed.     

Shifting to Remote Learning During COVID-19: Differences for Early Childhood and Early Childhood Special Education Teachers

This study explored similarities and differences in how early childhood education (ECE) teachers (n?=?947) and early childhood special education (ECSE) teachers (n?=?160) provided remote learning to young children and their families following COVID-19 shelter in place orders in the spring of 2020. The most utilized remote learning activities for both ECE and ECSE teachers were the provision of activities for families to use at home, communication with families, online lessons, and singing songs and reading books. Both types of professionals spent more time planning and communicating with families than providing instruction to children. Results of chi-square tests of independence revealed differences in activities provided, how time was spent, and training received by professional role. Open-ended responses revealed particular challenges for ECE and ECSE teachers. Findings are discussed in the context of how the early childhood field adapted quickly to remote learning during COVID-19 and the implications for ongoing technology support for early childhood personnel based on their professional role.

     

少年打工仔:我把200元书学费变成100万

穷人的孩子早当家 杨剑出生于贵州省安龙县一个只有几十户人家的小山村,由于绵延起伏的大山的层层阻隔,这里偏远而又贫穷.     

Parenting as a Protective Process for School Success in Children from Homeless Families

The role of parenting as a protective process for school success was investigated among 59 African American children 6 to 11 years old from homeless families residing in a Minneapolis shelter. Reliable scores for three dimensions of parenting—parent-child closeness, parent involvement in education, and firm discipline—were derived from ratings based on interviews with parents while they were living at the shelter. After families had left the shelter, children's school success was assessed via three types of indicators: a) performance on a standardized achievement test; b) ratings of school records for the current school semester as well as cumulative school records; and c) teacher assessments of appropriate school behavior. Results suggested that good parenting may be protective for school success in these children. Close parent-child relationships and high parent involvement in the child's education were associated with school success in terms of school records of achievement and behavior in school. Parent's intellectual functioning, education level, psychological distress and firm disciplinary practices were unrelated to child academic success. Future research directions and implications for intervention are discussed.     

Parenting as a Protective Process for School Success in Children from Homeless Families

The role of parenting as a protective process for school success was investigated among 59 African American children 6 to 11 years old from homeless families residing in a Minneapolis shelter. Reliable scores for three dimensions of parenting—parent-child closeness, parent involvement in education, and firm discipline—were derived from ratings based on interviews with parents while they were living at the shelter. After families had left the shelter, children's school success was assessed via three types of indicators: a) performance on a standardized achievement test; b) ratings of school records for the current school semester as well as cumulative school records; and c) teacher assessments of appropriate school behavior. Results suggested that good parenting may be protective for school success in these children. Close parent–child relationships and high parent involvement in the child's education were associated with school success in terms of school records of achievement and behavior in school. Parent's intellectual functioning, education level, psychological distress and firm disciplinary practices were unrelated to child academic success. Future research directions and implications for intervention are discussed.     

The Voices of Single Parent Mothers Who are Homeless: Implications for Early Childhood Professionals

Single parent mothers who are homeless have distinct ideas about how to resolve their situations. This study explored the voices of single parent mothers who are homeless and attempted to articulate their major concerns and ideas as well as offering ideas to early childhood professionals related to these insights. The voices of these mothers are highlighted in this study and related to the findings of the research literature on homeless mothers. Finally, the implications for early childhood professionals are explicated and briefly discussed.     

Empowering Culturally Diverse Families of Young Children with Disabilities: The Double ABCX Model

Many culturally diverse families and their young children with disabilities or delays are not provided appropriate early intervention/early childhood special education services, especially not in a culturally sensitive and meaningful context. Families with diverse backgrounds often feel helpless and stressful because their values are not respected, concerns are not identified, and therefore their needs are not met due to the lack of support from appropriate resources. The purpose of this article is to provide a positive strategy to empower families of young children with special needs and who are from culturally diverse backgrounds through a family-centered, strength-focused family system model: Double ABCX model. Procedures of implementing the double ABCX model was described and discussed. Supported by previous research and the current case studies, the double ABCX family adaptation model has found to be an effective approach to serving diverse families of children with disabilities.     

Exploring a Framework for Professional Development in Curriculum Innovation: Empowering Teachers for Designing Context-Based Chemistry Education

Involving teachers in early stages of context-based curriculum innovations requires a professional development programme that actively engages teachers in the design of new context-based units. This study considers the implementation of a teacher professional development framework aiming to investigate processes of professional development. The framework is based on Galperin’s theory of the internalisation of actions and it is operationalised into a professional development programme to empower chemistry teachers for designing new context-based units. The programme consists of the teaching of an educative context-based unit, followed by the designing of an outline of a new context-based unit. Six experienced chemistry teachers participated in the instructional meetings and practical teaching in their respective classrooms. Data were obtained from meetings, classroom discussions, and observations. The findings indicated that teachers became only partially empowered for designing a new context-based chemistry unit. Moreover, the process of professional development leading to teachers’ empowerment was not carried out as intended. It is concluded that the elaboration of the framework needs improvement. The implications for a new programme are discussed.     

Early Childhood Education in Societal Context: Teachers in Three Countries Speak About Early Childhood Education

Building on the cross-cultural patterns and systems research as well as social constructivism, in-depth interviews were conducted with key informant early childhood teachers in three regions with similar characteristics in Sweden, Russia, and in the United States. Inductive analyses revealed differences in responses among Swedish, Russian and American informants related to the macro-, meso-, and micro-levels of societal system. United States teacher informants had a great number of separate topic comments and distributed them more evenly across all levels than did Russian and Swedish teacher informants who had more emphasis at the meso level. United States and Russian teacher informants discussed the lack of societal support for young children and their families, while Swedish teacher informants seemed to almost take this support for ranted. United States teacher informants suggested that early childhood programs were important in developing support networks among parents, while Russian teacher informants often gave information to parents and Swedish teachers spoke about mutually sharing information. United States teacher informants desired both strict rules with strong academic content and extension of the child's initiations through play; they emphasized activities and materials. Swedish teachers discussed a child- centered approach to social learning and creativity and desired to be with children rather than do activities with them. Russian teacher informants emphasized the importance of obedience, aesthetic education, and preparation for school and the labor of the larger society. These study outcomes deepen understanding about the multidemensional relationships between early childhood programs and societal contexts in which they are embedded, and they suggest alternative approaches to working with young children and their families.