The impact of mothers' perception of child care services and utilization

To examine the impact of mothers' perception of the roles of pre-primary institutions and what motivates them to choose a particular child care service, 138 working mothers and 20 proprietors of nursery schools and day care centers were interviewed. The facilities available to children in the centers studied was also assessed.

The results suggested that these mothers' expected these institutions to play custodial functions as well as to provide early childhood education. This knowledge could guide proprietors and other interested organizations in the provision of appropriate child care programmes to meet the needs of mothers and their children.

The demand for nursery/day care services in Nigeria has become very high due to the increasing number of women in the workforce.     

Who is the odd man out: men in early childhood settings?

Australia has, on the whole, been slow to react to many of the more innovative or welfare-oriented programs for young children and their families in the past two or three decades. We can speculate about this in terms of geographic isolation, natural caution or a population which is not appropriately tuned to the needs of parents with young children. Whatever the reason, Australia appears to be slow to respond to changes in attitude. One of the major potential areas for change in attitude is the employment of males in early childhood settings.

The history of the United States, which thirty years ago appeared to totally reject the notion of men working with young children, now records a substantial move towards encouraging males and females to assume androgynous roles in children's services.

It is interesting to note that this contemporary view has flourished in spite of the lack of empirical evidence to support previous notions relating to the role of male teachers and caregivers in terms of providing male models for fatherless children, offering more appropriate teaching strategies to young boys and providing examples of more tolerant caregivers for exhuberant boys.

While evidence suggests that prejudice still exists in U.S.A. about male teachers in early childhood settings, the androgynous philosophy appears to point the way in which early childhood services in Australia must go in order to provide a more balanced program for all young children.     

“caught in the middle” exploring children and young people's experience of domestic violence

This document seeks to explore children's experiences of domestic violence and the effects such violence may have on their lives, both in the short term and in the long term. It draws on the conclusions of various studies in this area which have been carried out in America and the United Kingdom. It aims to raise awareness of the complexity of this issue and to highlight the importance of support for both women and children who may be survivors of domestic violence. The document highlights a number of issues, namely

How children and young people may experience domestic violence;

Identification of links between domestic violence and child abuse;

The impact domestic violence may have on mothering;

The effects domestic violence may have on children and young people's lives;

The legitimacy of the cycle of violence theory;

Issues to be considered when assessing the possible impact of domestic violence on children and young people.     

Children are unbeatable!

The Children's Law Centre are members of The Children Are Unbeatable Alliance which is lobbying for effective legal reform to ensure that children and young people are given the same protection from assault as adults. In our view this means that legislative change will be necessary to protect children who are subjected to physical punishment. This needs to be done in conjunction with the promotion of positive, non-violent discipline and education programmes about positive discipline.

The Office of Law Reform in Northern Ireland is about to issue a consultation document on the use of physical punishment on children and we are seeking to extend the Northern Ireland membership of Children Are Unbeatable in an attempt to positively influence the debate which will be going on over the next 12 months about the physical punishment of children in Northern Ireland. We would encourage everyone working with or on behalf of children and young people to become involved in this debate and respond to the consultation document.     

From Togetherness to Equal Partnership in Role Play

In the day care centre, already at the transition stage to role play children show different kinds of participation. They observe each other's play, share goal orientation and directly tutor each other. The play process is materially supported and often initiated by educators. However, children also need to acquire the power to act autonomously in role play.

The different kinds of participation in young children's play, as well as the appearance and development of basic features of joint role play were examined in three games of a two-year-old girl, Katju, in her day care group. The games are examples of ten play sessions she was involved in. These data were collected by means of reactive participant observation and analyzed by using interpretive methods.

It turned out that Katju proceeded from a feeling of togetherness in a shared space, through parallel and successive play actions to reciprocity and equal exchange of play actions. Moreover, the three educators contributed to this process in different ways.

The findings may be of interest in discussions about play in early education practices, in particular with regard to the development of autonomy, social abilities and partnership in sociocultural activities.     

Methodological Reflections on Using the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale as a Measure to Make Cross-National Evaluations of Quality

How useful is the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale (ECERS) as a research instrument in making cross-national comparisons of the quality of nurseries?

The paper briefly outlines the ECERS and discusses the extent to which it can be used as a universal evaluative tool to measure quality. The author reflects on her use of the ECERS scale in cross-national contexts, to comment on its advantages and its limitations.

The author used the ECERS as part of a qualitative investigation into nursery provision and practice between 1991 and 1994 in cities in fourcountries, New York, (USA) Harnosand, (Sweden), Arezzo (Italy) and Barcelona (Spain). The nurseries in which the author carried out observations and interviews were chosen by contacts in the countries concerned for both their willingness to participate and for their representativeness. A minimum of four institutions which took children under three were visited for at least half a day in each city.

The author uses examples derived from this research to argue that while the scale may have some advantages in that, ratings can be undertaken in two hours, and the scale can provide comparison measures on a number of criteria which child care professionals have agreed are significant, it also has a number of disadvantages. Because the scale is empirically rather than theoretically based and is not explicit about the evaluative categories, which underlie it, its use can obscure rather than illuminate, what different countries see as the most significant aspects of their care and education provision.

The paper concludes that we need to develop measurement tools which explicitly state the values and theoretical perspectives behind their construction.     

First evaluation of The Down Lisburn Trust Befriending scheme for young people leaving care

The Down Lisburn Trust befriending scheme was initially set up in October 1998, this piece of research was conducted in April 2000 and is the first evaluation of the scheme.

The purpose of this research study was to evaluate the benefits of the befriending scheme for young people 'looked after' or leaving the care of Down Lisburn Trust. This was achieved by collecting the retrospective views of the young people and their befrienders in relation to how the befriending scheme has benefited them.

As the befriending scheme is a relatively new project, the subjects used in the study were from the first intake of participants on the scheme. This comprised of 5 young people and 6 befrienders. In order to obtain the relevant information, questionnaires were devised for the young people and the befrienders.

The findings of this research study indicated that the befriending scheme benefits those young people in care and leaving care, by providing them with someone to talk to and help them pursue their interests. Also it has ensured there was someone to support them through difficult familial relationships, life in care and/or life after care. The findings also highlighted the need for clearer procedures and follow up in relation to the ending of befriending relationships to ensure that this already vulnerable group of young people are not damaged further.

The findings of this study agree with the findings of other research studies dating from the early 1980's, regarding the plight of young people in care and leaving care.

The Adolescence Team was established in 1990/91 and provides an integrated, specialised service to young people aged between 14 and 21 years old living within the Down Lisburn Trust area. It also provides a supported continuum of care, which enables young people who have been or are in care to live independently and safely in the community. It aims to do so by providing the following services; individual counselling, family work, assessment, mediation/negotiation, preparation for leaving care, aftercare support, group work, and child protection investigations. The following is an overview of the first evaluation of the scheme.     

NIGERIAN CHILDREN'S PERSPECTIVE OF URBAN LIFE QUALITY

The Convention on the Rights of the child put in place some set of standards to ensure that in all consenting countries every child is wanted, healthy, educated, safe and loved. Nigeria is one of the countries that has taken some steps to put into practice the accepted rights.

Two hundred children (100 boys and 100 girls) in primary schools in four urban centres were served with questionnaires requesting their views on issues bordering on their well being and quality of life, in such areas as:

1. quality of education
2. space for movement and play
3. food and clean water for drinking and washing
4. play equipment and materials and
5. loving care giver.

The children's responses showed that provision was not made for recreational space for play, the quality of education is poor, there was no provision for play equipment and material and in most cases the adult-child ration was low. Children also complained of polluted environment.

Suggestions were made for the provision of adequate play parks for recreational purposes for the children. Suggestion is also made for government to pay more attention to the well being and health of the children.     

The efficacy of the parent-teacher “partnership” of the 1990s

The 1990s are times of rapid social and technological change. There are many unknowns that face both adults and children. We all have problems that need resolution. The time when adults “knew” the answers and children learned by “watching” echo faintly in the whirl of scientific change which is impacting on most aspects of our daily life. As early childhood teachers we have to learn to enquire, to listen, to think together with children, their families and society. The concept of negotiation is central to communication while the basic tenet of the process focusses not on the person but the issue. It is in these times of rapid change that we need to deepen our understanding of the family and further our professional insights by “tapping” the wealth of crucial kndowledge that parents have about their children. Hurst asserts that the partnership of parents in issues of their children's education:

“is probably the greatest single opportunity for educational advance open to teachers today”.

Hurst: 1987; 109     

Preparing early childhood educators and paraprofessionals to work with mainstreamed handicapped children

With the full implementation of public law 94-142 and a corollary mandate to integrate children with handicaps into the educational mainstream, new demands continue to be made on early childhood educators. The purpose of the present article is to aid school system personnel, service agencies and program trainers to meet the mandate by describing a successful training model for early childhood educators and paraprofessionals that are unprepared to work with mainstreamed handicapped children.

The present article is organized into nine parts. The first five sections describe the program, its goals and objectives, training modules used, training activities, and on-site visitation to program participants. Sections six and seven describe the evaluation of program participants and evaluation of the training by program participants. The final two sections include a discussion and some recommendations for future training efforts in regard to early childhood educators and paraprofessionals.     

Current practices in the identification of children with handicaps

In the United States, the development of techniques to identify children 'at risk' has been in progress for at least 25 years in the communities serving children and families. The medical profession was an early leader in the development of screening devices. However, recent federal and state mandates have placed the responsibility for the identification of children 'at risk' with the educators.

The purpose of the present paper is to present the diversity of procedures used within communities in the identification and assessment of young children with handicaps and to discuss the need and possibility of coordinating these efforts.     

Preparing early childhood educators and paraprofessionals to work with mainstreamed handicapped children

With the full implementation of public law 94-142 and a corollary mandate to integrate children with handicaps into the educational mainstream, new demands continue to be made on early childhood educators. The purpose of the present article is to aid school system personnel, service agencies and program trainers to meet the mandate by describing a successful training model for early childhood educators and paraprofessionals that are unprepared to work with mainstreamed handicapped children.

The present article is organized into nine parts. The first five sections describe the program, its goals and objectives, training modules used, training activities, and on-site visitation to program participants. Sections six and seven describe the evaluation of program participants and evaluation of the training by program participants. The final two sections include a discussion and some recommendations for future training efforts in regard to early childhood educators and paraprofessionals.     

Modelling and early language acquisitions in Down's syndrome

The marked delay in language acquisition suffered by Down's syndrome children is undeniable. This study affirms that the cause of this deficit could be found in a different communicative environment, for which reason early intervention is essential.

A sample of 40 Down's syndrome babies was used whose parents were taught methods of communicative training with their children according to two models: a) modelling techniques, b) written instructions.

The results obtained establish statistically significant differences in favour of the vicariously taught group.     

More than just play: The significance of mutually directed adult-child activity

In much current writing on developmentally appropriate practice in early childhood programs, emphasis is laid on the importance for young children's development and learning of spontaneous, self-initiated exploration and autonomous play (e.g. Bredekamp, 1987; Rogers & Sawyers, 1988. Adults are seen in this literature as setters of the stage for children and as responsive facilitators of children's activities. They are seldom seen as initiators of those activities or even particularly as co-explorers with children. Yet there is evidence that where adults actively engage with children in mutual pursuits -- especially everyday, family-style pursuits -- there is enhancement of children's social, emotional and cognitive development. Some of this evidence, drawn from both past and current studies, is presented.

The paper reviews a number of factors that appear to lie behind the present emphasis, in early childhood programs, on child rather than adult direction of activity, especially play. The proposal is advanced that young children's development and learning in a variety of settings would be better served and a more balanced curriculum achieved if adult roles as initiators and partners -- not only facilitators -- were recognized in a wide variety of activities -- not only play.

At an earlier time, it is suggested, children's developmental needs and individual interests were often largely disregarded as adults attempted to determine, in form and detail, the educational progress of their young tabulae rasae. The pendulum swing in educational theory is now giving central place, in the search for developmental appropriateness, to the autonomy of the child. This paper proposes a position between these two extremes, in order to draw more fully on the range of capacities of both adults and children. In short, it suggests that while retaining the baby and the bathwater, it is important not to throw mother (or caregiver or teacher) out instead.     

The “syndrome of the post-premature child”: a study of its significance -- Part I

Prematurity has the greatest influence upon frequency and degree of mechanical disturbances uncovered by the Test of Imitation of Gestures. The authors look for the significance of this syndrome at various levels:

1. Possible organic damage to the central nervous system structures, through the tonic and motor disturbances checked out by the neurological examination.
2. In the disturbances of the early development of posturomotor abilities.
3. Deviant and delayed development of the cognitive factors (spatial and temporal structuring).
4. Emotional and relationship development.

The investigations were carried out on a sample group of prematurely born children and a control group group of children born at term.

After observing certain behavior disorders which occur among normal children -- mild disorders which become less obvious with age -- the authors show that frequent and gross disturbances which appear in the first months of life and persist beyond the age of 6 years distinguish the premature child. In this same group, however, delays in mental development noted early in life often disappear entirely by the age of 4 years, even among children who were born very prematurely.

The authors then isolated the most typical disturbances found among the premature children, with stress on factors of pathology, maturation, adjustment, and environment.

The authors study the relationship between the disturbances described above and the various aspects of the neurological examinations which enable them to objectify the dynamic factors of the body adjustment to the external world and to other people. The hypothesis that a fundamental relationship exists between disturbances of adjustment and the genesis of the “post-premature child syndrome”, develops from the comparison between the psychological and neurological data in their longitudinal evolution.

Commenting on the relevance of these findings for the care of premature children, the authors stress the value of motor training and remedial education for overcoming the disturbances of spatial structuration and body schema.     

Brain damage and neuropsyochological impairment in female and male alcoholics and implications for their offspring

Matched pairs of 40 male and 40 female alcoholic inpatients living in Stockholm were examined and found to fulfill the alcoholism criteria of DSM-III-R. They comprised 40 matched pairs of men and women consecutively admitted to the Karolinska Alcohol Clinic and staying at least one week for treatment. The examination included a general medical examination, a psychiatric and social history, blood tests, ECG, computed tomography of the brain and neuropsychological testing. The subjects' and their families' possibilities of creating a good upbringing environment and their own and their children's childhood were studied.

The alcoholics and their offspring were followed from the registers of the child welfare committees, temperance boards, social service departments, the Social Insurance Office and the Medical Information System of the Medical Services Board of Stockholm County Council.

The children of the female alcoholics had, during their childhood, more often had contact with an educational welfare officer, a psychologist or a physician for various problems and also had a significantly higher rate of registration in the children's welfare committee registers than children of male alcoholics. The male alcoholics more often came from broken homes. 29% of the female and 32% of the male alcoholics had been fostered by their biological mother alone or by grandparents until 16 years of age. 51% of the women and 39% of the men had an alcohol-abusing mother and father during childhood. Signs of social maladjustment and having been under the care of a child welfare committee were recorded in 32% and 24% respectively of the male alcoholics and 20% and 12% of the females.

62% of the male alcoholics and 30% of the females showed cortical atrophy. Signs of neuropsychological impairment were present in 35% of the females but only 16% of the males.

It is concluded that female and male alcoholics resemble each other and that they both have a disturbed childhood and that female alcoholics more often have an alcohol and drug-abusing parent, nervous problems in the parents, attempted suicide by a parent and serious schisms in the family than male alcoholics.     

Parental health and stress in families with a child who has multiple disabilities

The presence of a disabled child is known to increase family stress and parental ill-health. However, it is unclear the extent to which support services can alleviate this.

Families using two, short-break services - both residential and domiciliary - formed the study population (N = 68). Measures were taken using standardised instruments of children's development and maladaptive behaviours, parental stress, parental health and the supports that the families received from services, professionals and relatives and friends.

Significant proportions of these service users were stressed and had high levels of psychiatric morbidity. The sole predictor of stress was parental ill-health which in turn was linked with children who had higher scores on motor skills and the presence of other disabled dependants in the family. Families who were most stressed or in poorer health received no greater amounts of support.

The findings reinforced the complexity of disentangling the relationships between family needs and service supports. They also suggest that existing presumptions about more services reducing family stress are too simplistic. It is argued that the meaning of support for families needs to be critically reviewed along with an examination of the coping strategies used by families. This should result in better matching of support services to individual family needs.     

Professional and Parent Views of Early Childhood Programs: A Cross-Cultural Study

Interrelationships between the macro-, mesoand microsystems can affect the partnerships which parents and professionals form to effectively support the growth of young children. These “systems” were explored through a cross cultural study.

To study the mesosystem where family and early childhood progam meet, a fivesection survey was sent to a random sampling of ten per cent of parents and professionals involved in early childhood programs in Kronobergs Lan, Smaland, Sweden and St. Louis County, Minnesota, United States. In general, parents and professionals in Sweden agreed with each other that open-ended, creative, childcentered materials and activities were important. In the United States, however, there were many significant differences between parent and professional views. More parents than professionals favored academic tasks and conformity to rules, while more professionals than parents supported children's creative exploration of the environment. The views of the respondents were affected in diverse ways by the macro-system political and economic societal contexts.

This study suggests that parents and professionals, particularly those who have significantly different ideas, may need to discuss a common purpose and philosophy about what is important for young children in early childhood programs. This purpose needs to take seriously the societal context in which children live. Building on a common base, various formats for involvement can be created to maximize the support network among parents, professionals and young children.     

Early educational intervention in the maternal and child health services--long-term evaluation of program effectiveness

The program's effectiveness justifies the integration of early infant stimulation programs into the existing health services, by the existing health personnel, thus modifying the pediatric health care which mainly focuses on physical health, by adding to it the developmental promotive aspect of child care.

An early stimulation program aimed at promoting cognitive development of infants and young children was integrated into the routines of the Maternal and Child Health services. The program was implemented by nurses, at each visit of the mother with her infant at the centers, from birth to two years of age. The program focused on verbal and play interaction. At five years of age, three years after cessation of the intervention, evaluation was carried out on 59 pairs of exposed and control children matched for maternal ethnic group education and birth order and found to be similar on seven additional characteristics. A statistically significant difference in IQ score was found between the exposed and the control groups. The difference was more significant between exposed and controls whose mother belonged to the lower educational categories, and more so on the performance score than on the language score. In addition to the t test for matched pairs a modification of the Mantel Haenzel test for matched pairs was applied, in order to control for sib born after index case and exposure to additional intervention. Results were similar to the other methods of analysis used.