Navigating different cultural beliefs and practices to support immigrant preschoolers and their families: a Bakhtinian textual analysis on preschool teacher and administrator perspectives

ABSTRACT

Understanding different cultural beliefs and practices has become increasingly important for early childhood educators in the contemporary United States. This paper investigates how preschool teachers and administrators navigate different cultural discourses in classrooms that frequently go unidentified or ignored, and how they support children and parents from immigrant families. Preschool teachers and administrators play a vital role as moderators in contemporary early childhood education and care settings due to the increasingly diverse demographic and cultural landscape. Using a version of Bakhtinian textual analysis, we illustrate the complexities of navigating multiple sets of cultural beliefs and practices in early childhood classrooms, as well as the possible challenges of supporting children and parents from immigrant families. The paper makes visible tacit cultural values and attitudes that manifest in early childhood classrooms to explore the circulating discourses about cultural diversity in the midst of rising anxieties, ambivalence, and tensions around immigration.     

Persuading the “Movable Middle”: Characteristics of effective messages to promote routine and COVID-19 vaccinations for adults and children – The impact of COVID-19 on beliefs and attitudes

PurposeWe sought to 1) explore trusted sources for vaccine information, 2) describe persuasive characteristics of trusted messages promoting routine and COVID-19 vaccines for children and adults and 3) explore how the pandemic has impacted attitudes and beliefs about routine vaccinations.We conducted a mixed method cross-sectional study between May 3-June 14, 2021 including a survey and six focus groups among a sub-set of survey respondents. A total of 1,553 survey respondents (from which n = 33 participated in the focus groups) including adults without children under age nineteen years (n = 582) and parents with children under age nineteen years (n = 971).ResultsPrimary care providers, family, and credible sources, characterized as known and well-established entities, were top sources of vaccine information.Neutrality, honesty, and having a trusted source to rely on in sorting through volumes of sometimes conflicting information were highly valued. Trustworthy qualities about sources included: 1) expertise, 2) fact-based, 3) unbiased, and 4) having an established process for sharing information. Because of the evolving nature of the pandemic, attitudes and beliefs about COVID-19 vaccine and sources of COVID-19 information differed from typical views about routine vaccines.Of 1,327 (85.4 %) survey respondents, 12.7 % and 9.4 % of adults and parents cited that the pandemic impacted their attitudes and beliefs. Among these respondents, 8 % of adults and 3 % of parents cited more favorable attitudes and beliefs about getting vaccinated with routine vaccines because of the pandemic.ConclusionVaccine attitudes and beliefs which inform intent to vaccinate can change and differ among different vaccines. Messaging should be tailored to resonate with parents and adults to improve vaccine uptake.     

Parental attitudes and decisions regarding MMR vaccination during an outbreak of measles among an undervaccinated Somali community in Minnesota

Incidence of measles is increasing in the US, largely due to transmission among growing unvaccinated communities. To elucidate predictors of parental decision to obtain measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine for unvaccinated children during a measles outbreak, we surveyed families among a vaccine-hesitant Somali community in Minnesota. The survey assessed attitudes and beliefs about MMR vaccine, motivators for vaccinating, and intention to vaccinate future children on time. Among 300 families surveyed, 95% vaccinated their child with MMR due to fear of measles. The predominating parental concern about MMR vaccine (71%) was a fallacious presumed connection between vaccination and autism. Only 41% of parents intended to vaccinate future children on time with MMR; parents who received recommendations for MMR vaccination from multiple sources were more likely than other parents to intend to do so. These findings support the importance of diverse outreach efforts to increase vaccine coverage among undervaccinated communities.     

Continuity and change in home literacy practices of Hispanic families with preschool children

The aim of this qualitative study was to examine how Latino immigrant families incorporate school-based interactive literacy activities into their existing home literacy practices. Findings revealed that Hispanic parents appropriate school-related literacy activities into their existing repertoire when they believed it would best help their children to succeed academically. At the same time, parents modified school-related literacy activities to reflect their existing cultural beliefs and practices. These complex patterns of adapting school literacy practices into home literacy interactions revealed that Hispanic parents: (a) emphasise pleasure and interactivity in literacy activities; (b) merge supportive and direct instruction scaffolding strategies into home literacy instruction; (c) impart moral messages while engaging in interactive literacy activities with their children; and (d) activate linguistic resources by creating opportunities for bilingual literacy events to occur during school-designed interactive literacy activities.     

Case management of the dying child

A parent should never have to bury a child. One of our cultural beliefs is that someone can suffer no greater loss than a child. This loss interrupts the expected cycle of life, and parents are anguished at the loss of a child who so often has embodied their hopes and dreams for the future. Because of advances in research, medical care, and technology, our cultural belief and basic supposition that "children don't die" has been heightened in recent years. This denial makes accepting death as a painful reality that much more difficult for the child, parents, grandparents, siblings, friends, and even professional care providers.     

Coping and resilience of children of a mentally ill parent

This paper examines the needs and stress reactions of children of mentally ill parents, as well as coping and resilience. The study is based on the interviews of six 9-11 years old children and narratives of seventeen female grown up children of mentally ill parents. The younger and older children of the mentally ill parents had not been informed about their parent's illness. The illness of the parent aroused a variety of emotions in them. The children used both practical problem solving and emotional coping mechanisms. Informal social support was available to them but seldom from the public services. It is recommended that professionals in mental health and child welfare services clarify their roles when working with mentally ill parents. The best interest of the child and the parenting they need should be carefully assessed. Open care measures should be offered to families early enough to prevent serious child welfare and mental problems.     

Parents’ Perceptions of Water Safety and Quality

Every day parents make choices about the source of water their families consume. There are many contributing factors which could affect decisions about water consumption including taste, smell, color, safety, cost, and convenience. However, few studies have investigated what parents with young children think about water quality and safety in the US and how this affects the choices they are making. This study aimed to describe the perceptions of parents with regard to water quality and safety and to compare bottled water and tap water use, as well as to examine motivation for water choices. We conducted an online questionnaire to survey parents living in Pennsylvania about water quality and safety, and preference for bottled versus tap water. Parents were recruited through child care centers, and 143 surveys were returned. The survey results showed high overall scores for perception of tap water quality and safety, and a preference for tap water over bottled water. We found that parents were concerned for the environmental impact that buying bottled water may have but were also concerned about potential contamination of tap water by natural gas drilling processes and nuclear power plants. These findings regarding parental concerns are critical to inform pediatric health care providers, water sellers, and suppliers in order that they may provide parents with the necessary information to make educated choices for their families.     

The effects of family structure and regular places of care on preventive health care for children

Data from the 1982 National Access to Medical Care Survey were examined to answer questions on preventive health care received by children in families with one or two working parents and possible differences among their various regular sources of care. Evidence supports the general and expected conclusion that children of single female workers are most at risk. Children from these non-traditional families appeared to benefit most from care given in the offices and clinics of private physicians, while those of such families enrolled in health maintenance organizations benefitted least. When compared with HMO enrollees from the other two types of families (those where men were working and women stayed home, or where both parents worked), children of single parents were least likely to have received tine tests or DPT inoculations. Finding implications are discussed with suggestions for further research including investigating the effects of modifying hours of service and the provision of institutional supports for working parents.     

Young carers in South Africa: tasks undertaken by children in households affected by HIV infection and other illness

‘Young carers’ are children who take on adult responsibility in response to familial illness. South Africa’s high disease burden, limited health care capacity and cultural notions of children’s familial duty suggest a large population of ‘young carers’ in this country. This study aims to explore the nature of responsibility among children affected by illness in deprived South African communities. A total of 349 children and adolescents aged 10–18 years in illness-affected households in the Western Cape province were recruited via community- and school-based convenience sampling. Data about their daily life, responsibilities and the impact of familial illness were collected via semi-structured interviews. Caring tasks involving intimate contact and medical treatments were relatively common among children in the sample, and nearly all children were engaged in some type of responsibility, from caring tasks to housework, childcare and earning money. Children frequently indicated their responsibilities constituted a substantial burden. Responses suggested a tension between duty to care and appropriateness of intimate contact between parents and children required for some caring responsibilities. Children often linked their tasks burden to familial illness, though further quantitative research is needed to identify the drivers of child responsibility.     

Association of vaccine-related attitudes and beliefs between parents and health care providers

Objectives

Health care providers influence parental vaccination decisions. Over 90% of parents report receiving vaccine information from their child's health care provider. The majority of parents of vaccinated children and children exempt from school immunization requirements report their child's primary provider is a good source for vaccine information. The role of health care providers in influencing parents who refuse vaccines has not been fully explored. The objective of the study was to determine the association between vaccine-related attitudes and beliefs of health care providers and parents.

Methods

We surveyed parents and primary care providers of vaccinated and unvaccinated school age children in four states in 2002–2003 and 2005. We measured key immunization beliefs including perceived risks and benefits of vaccination. Odds ratios for associations between parental and provider responses were calculated using logistic regression.

Results

Surveys were completed by 1367 parents (56.1% response rate) and 551 providers (84.3% response rate). Parents with high confidence in vaccine safety were more likely to have providers with similar beliefs, however viewpoints regarding disease susceptibility and severity and vaccine efficacy were not associated. Parents whose providers believed that children get more immunizations than are good for them had 4.6 higher odds of holding that same belief compared to parents whose providers did not have that belief.

Conclusions

The beliefs of children's health care providers and parents, including those regarding vaccine safety, are similar. Provider beliefs may contribute to parental decisions to accept, delay or forgo vaccinations. Parents may selectively choose providers who have similar beliefs to their own.     

Parental health attitudes, illnesses and supports and the referral of children to medical specialists

Parental illness and maternal health beliefs in the parents of a group of 40 children referred to a paediatric neurology service because of headaches were compared with illness histories and health beliefs in the parents of a matched group of 40 children presenting to the same service with recognized structural pathology, mainly epilepsy. The study focused on the mother's perceptions of her own health (current and past), on life events, social supports and on her beliefs about her own health and the validity of medical reassurance. Significant differences between the two groups were found in relation to: (a) the greater amount of illness experienced by both parents in the index group (i.e. parents of children with headaches), particularly the mothers, both as children and as adults; (b) the greater amount of illness present in the families of the index group in the 3 years prior to being seen by the neurologist; (c) the greater number of index mothers who had experienced the loss of their own mothers caused by death; (d) the greater tendency of the index mothers to express feelings of loneliness; (e) the greater proportion of index mothers who, in response to the Whiteley Attitudes to Health Questionnaire, expressed both (i) concern about serious disease in themselves, and (ii) reluctance to accept medical reassurance; (f) on the other hand, significantly more'comparison mothers'complained of currently suffering'many different symptoms'.     

The influence of autonomy and paternalism on communicative behaviors in mother-daughter relationships prior to dependency

Parents and their adult children rarely have discussions regarding caregiving preferences, especially before the onset of dependency. Families develop decision-making practices during caregiving, ideally, ones that maintain the care recipient's autonomy. Maintaining autonomy is essential because limiting autonomy leads to potentially negative health consequences. This study examined the attitudes of older, independent mothers and their adult daughters (n = 36 dyads) as well as their communication behaviors during decision making. All the mothers and daughters (100%) held strong beliefs in shared autonomy. Mothers (55.6%) and daughters (58.3%) were about evenly split in their strength of belief in independent autonomy. More mothers (63.9%) held strong beliefs in paternalism than did daughters (36.1%). In their conversations, daughters talked more when the mother and daughter held stronger beliefs in paternalism. These findings suggest that an individual's attitudes toward paternalism influence who controls conversations between parents and their adult children regarding caregiving, even before the parent has begun to show any signs of dependency. Once caregiving begins, it can be too late to change already ingrained patterns of decision making. Although this study takes a step toward establishing an understanding of how families develop decision-making processes utilized during caregiving, the sample size and composition limit generalizability. Future studies should follow families, as the parents make the transition from independence to dependence, to develop a better understanding of the factors involved in successfully making such a critical transition in the family's life.     

Caring for the Ill Child in Day Care

Current estimates indicate about 54% of American children have mothers who work outside the home. All children become ill, whether or not their parents are employed. However, for a working mother, even a mild illness can create anxiety, since alternate day care arrangements may be necessary. The problem of caring for the ill child in preschools or day care has received little attention from program planners or policy makers. Most state regulatory policies require exclusion of the ill child from day care. This article discusses recent developments in providing for ill children in day care settings. Four models of providing such care are described and criteria are offered for evaluating ill child care arrangements.     

Mothers' fear of child death due to acute diarrhoea: a study in urban and rural communities in northern Punjab, Pakistan.

The investigation of cultural models of diarrhoeal illness which are employed by mothers and their emotional responses to children's illnesses is presented in a study of 595 households in urban and rural communities in Punjab, Pakistan. The household survey of mothers of children 0-36 months was complemented with in-depth interviews of a subsample of 70 mothers. Findings indicate that diarrhoea must be regarded not only as a disease but as a symptom belonging to several popular illness categories. Mothers' emotional responses to symptoms are in part shaped by the illness categories to which they assign a child's diarrhoea episode, and maternal fears that symptoms of diarrhoea may be life threatening are associated with previous experiences with death of children, with treatment choices and help-seeking. A significantly higher proportion of mothers who fear diarrhoea to be life threatening to their children than mothers with other concerns choose to use NIMKOL, the Pakistan ORS. The necessity of recognizing the complexity of interpretive and emotional processes which shape the care of children and the home treatment of childhood disease is emphasized.     

Community's voice in managing childhood asthma: the assessment phase of research

This study was designed to investigate community beliefs about caring for childhood asthma and to elicit suggestions for interventions to improve asthmatic children's health. Focus groups were conducted with parents of children with asthma, children with asthma, school staff, and health care and childcare professionals. Data were analyzed for themes, such as disruption of normal living and having to work in a chaotic system, enabling researchers to posit a core belief for each group. These core beliefs, together with encompassed other, related beliefs held by group members, guide attitudes and actions about asthma. Interventions recommended by focus group participants included creating an asthma play, asthma education, and developing a clinic-based registry to standardize asthma documentation. The community's voice is important in assessment and design of health improvement projects. Incorporating the community's suggestions gives the community a sense of contributing to the health care of their children with asthma.     

The Health Beliefs of Migrant Farmworker Parents: An Ethnographic Exploration

The purpose of this study was to explore the health beliefs of migrant farmworkers parents by approaching and interviewing the sample population in a health clinic where they seek care for their children. It is impossible to plan, implement care, or create health care delivery models without knowledge of health beliefs. An understanding of parental health beliefs in the vulnerable population of migrant farmworkers will assure a more informed approach to health matters of their children, while also improving health care delivery and providing culturally specific health care models. Collecting data in locations historically proven to generate trust and respect supported the objectives of this research study and promoted direct engagement with a group that is often misunderstood and marginalized. Twenty migrant farmworkers parents were interviewed during growing season in the largely agricultural setting of Weld County, Colorado. Associated variables/phenomena determining health beliefs include parental decision-making regarding children’s health maintenance, injury prevention, and health care. The overarching theme that emerged from the data was pride in having healthy children with major themes of respect, convenience and inhibition/suppression.     

Practitioners beware: regional differences in beliefs about nutrition during pregnancy

We surveyed 1,771 members of The American Dietetic Association, who worked in general nutrition, pediatrics, and public health nutrition, about their clients' beliefs about nutrition during pregnancy. The practitioners were chosen because they likely served pregnant women and/or women with young children. Items for the belief inventory were generated by surveying the beliefs of pregnant and nonpregnant adolescents and their families, teachers, and peers as well as by collecting beliefs heard from clients of social workers, nurses, and dietitians residing in the state of Tennessee. Using a modified q-sort, 26 statements were developed to survey dietitians practicing nationwide. Results indicate that beliefs about physiological needs during pregnancy, practices related to a healthy baby, and beverage recommendations were not significantly different across the regions designated by US Public Health Services (Standard Federal Administrative Regions). However, beliefs about cravings and folklore showed strong regional differences, with the Southeast regions and adjacent states differing significantly from other regions. The majority of beliefs are not supported by scientific information, and results support the need for each region to identify beliefs that could influence dietary patterns (eg, eating for two, eating only a few selected foods, restricting salt, taking vitamins to overcome an inadequate diet, and deciding pregnancy is a good time to lose weight). We recommend that dietetic practitioners become aware of clients' beliefs, support beliefs that are accurate according to current recommendations for pregnancy, and counsel clients about beliefs that are potentially detrimental to good nutrition during pregnancy.