Mother-toddler conversation: A two-way learning environment

Everyday conversation between parents and toddlers provides a rich context for the child's acquisition of conceptual skills and communication abilities. While earlier studies generally have analyzed the utterances of either parent or child, this analysis of conversations of one mother and 22-month old child focuses on the interaction of the two. The paper describes the sequences the pair uses in clarifying one another's focus of attention and in instructing and learning about concepts and motor skills. Mother and child adapt clarification and instruction patterns to the constraints of three play situations: free play, reading aloud, and parallel activity. The child adopts a “clarification” and the mother an “interpreter” role during free play, where the mother supports the child's focus. They reverse roles and communication strategies in the parallel context, where the child attempts to draw the mother into collaborative play. Further studies of mother-toddler discourse should focus on variations across mother-child pairs in the saliency of clarification and instruction in relation to other conversation functions.     

Children's Ways of Experiencing Peer Interaction

Educational practice in age integrated child groups rests on the assumption that children learn from their peers. The benefits of age integrated teaching is to enhance the value of heterogeneity in child groups. The fact that children are different from each other with different experiences is seen as an asset, which both children and teachers can benefit from. 22 children in a school class with children of mixed age; ranging from 7-9 years, were interviewed about their conceptions of peer interaction. How do children conceive peer collaboration, and what does it mean to children to teach someone something? A phenomenographic research approach is being used to discern the variation in ways of thinking about how children do when they teach someone something, and how they conceive peer collaboration at school. Children are conscious about the fact that they are able to teach their peers, and they can express this in different ways. Children also shift in their roles as “teacher” and “learner”. In some examples it is the “teacher” who plays the active role, in others it is the “learner” who has to be active by imitating the model/teacher.     

A qualitative study of caregivers' attitudes about child care

Thirty-one caregivers and directors involved in various types of day care for young children were interviewed. Qualitative methods were used to assess their role identity constructs and attitudes toward parents and the child care profession. Caregivers thought of themselves as “mothers,” “grandmothers,” or “teachers.” These social role identities clustered with attitudes about parents and professional role (e.g., “mothers” tended to see parents as neglectful, while “teachers” felt parents failed to reinforce progress made in day care). The authors concluded that conflict over attachment issues contributed to problems between parents and caregivers.     

Rethinking “Harmonious Parenting” Using a Three-factor Discipline Model

Diana Baumrind's typology of parenting is based on a two-factor model of “control” and “warmth”. Her recommended discipline style, labeled “authoritative parenting”, was constructed by taking high scores on these two factors. A problem with authoritative parenting is that it does not allow for flexible and differentiated responses to discipline situations. It is argued that a simpler, and more adequate, approach would be to switch to a model of discipline with a third factor, labeled “tolerance”. Parents of the most socially competent children are adept at knowing when they have a problem and when they do not. An example of the latter would be when a child expresses negative affect while complying fully with a request. Baumrind's notion of authoritative parenting was a useful “dialectic”, demonstrating that control and warmth are independent and equally necessary behaviors, but it did not go far enough. Baumrind's category of harmonious parenting (high warmth, moderate control, high tolerance), which she sees as an anomaly, should be substituted for authoritative parenting as the preferred discipline pattern.     

Parenting Practices in Northern Ireland: Evidence from the Northern Ireland Household Panel Survey

The impact of parental child-rearing practices on child outcomes has been the subject of much research and debate for many years. Studies carried out within a variety of disciplines and across a number of different countries in the world have indicated that parents tend to use a different pattern of rearing their sons than their daughters, and that child-rearing practices are related to the gender of the parent, as well as to the age and developmental stage of the child. However, there has been little research in Northern Ireland on child-rearing behaviours. In order to address this shortfall, this paper presents an analysis of parents' perceptions of their interactions with their children. Data from Wave 3 of the Northern Ireland Household Panel Survey were analysed to explore aspects of “negative” parenting practices (arguing, yelling and use of physical punishment) as well as “positive” parenting practices (talking, praising and hugging). The participants were all parents (aged 16 years and over) with children under the age of 16 years living in the same household. Each parent reported his/her interaction with each child (up to a maximum of six children), and in total 1,629 responses were recorded. The results of the research supported previous findings from the United Kingdom and elsewhere, and indicated that the parenting styles of respondents in Northern Ireland were indeed related to the gender and age of the children and to the gender of the parents. The survey found that parents in Northern Ireland tend to have a harsher, more negative style of parenting boys than girls and that children in their teenage years have fewer positive interactions with their parents than younger children. The same parents and children will be followed up in 2007 in order to provide a longitudinal analysis of parent/child relationships in Northern Ireland.     

Developmental awareness and moral stage development in child Abuse

In an attempt to better understand why children who have been sexually assaulted commonly fail to reveal their victimization to parents or other adults, a study was undertaken in which the “engagement strategies” of 41 perpetrators were examined, exploring common rationalizations, threats, etc. aimed at insuring continued silence on the part of the victim. The “appeal” for silence offered by the perpetrator to the child was analyzed according to Kohlberg's stages of moral development.

Results indicate that perpetrators appear to alter their engagement strategies to coincide with the developmental level of the child, thus further insuring silence by appealing to criteria for assessing “appropriate” or “inappropriate” behaviors (eg. sexual contact) which are developmentally consistent with the child's level of cognition and moral reasoning.     

Children drawing: Are young children really scribbling?

Most research on children's drawing concerns itself with analyzing configural end products, whilst all that precedes them is dubbed “scribbling”, and has received scant attention. This paper, based on detailed longitudinal and cross-sectional studies, puts forward evidence which suggests that the child builds iconography on a substratum of symbolizations which are as much to do with movement and time as they are with configuration. The paper describes how the child experiments with 2D representation much earlier than has been commonly accepted, before and during the “scribbling stage”. Investigations made by the child at this time include those which monitor and represent the movement of imagined objects through space and time. Differing, interacting modes of representation are described, hitherto ignored by most investigators, which are mutually reciprocal in their contribution to the foundations of later iconography. More than this, these experiments aid the child in understanding the nature of the world.

The discussion is placed within a developmental context which starts from the child's early mark-making experience, where drawing defines basic axes and trajectories of body dynamism. From there, the emergence of different modes of representation leads to depictions of a topological nature. Transition from topological space to early (and rather startling) configural representation is described, as this is based on discoveries made by the child in the so-called “scribbling stage”. Implications for childcare and education are considered.     

Interaction process analysis of mothers with their newborn infants

The analysis of early interactions between the newborn infant and his mother has been conducted by putting an emphasis on their components, their rhythm and their development in time. Ten films, involving observation of eye to eye contact sequences with 42 mother-child couples, were analyzed. An analysis method has been adopted, in which a parallel between the child's communication behavior, essentially his visual activity, and the mother's communication behavior, is constantly drawn. 7 headings permit to analyze the mother's activities directed toward the child. The extreme variability of interaction patterns during the first week of life has been shown clearly. Specific contact modes seem to be favored by some mothers, while for others, all communication modalities are always present and are building on one another in true' “chain” interactions. The mother's role and the child's role have been commented upon, with particular emphasis on the activity of the child, who is capable, through his gaze, to initiate communication channels in the mother.     

Characteristics of successful directors of for-profit child care centers

The need for quality child care is a national concern of increasing interest to parents, child care providers, employers, and policy-makers in the United States. One of the newest entries in child care options available for consumers is for-profit daycare chains. As for-profit chains increase in both number and size, they will receive increased research attention. Few studies have examined for-profit centers in general or the background characteristics of their directors specifically.

The purpose of this research was to develop a profile of directors of for-profit child care centers and to investigate whether certain background variables, such as level of education, differentiated “successful” from “unsuccessful” directors. Data were collected on 362 child care directors employed during a three-year period with a nation-wide daycare chain in the United States.     

James' Story: A Decade in the Life of a Male Early Childhood Professional

This article uses narrative inquiry techniques to construct an Australian male's account of formative experiences during his decade as an early childhood educator and the difficulties he encountered as a minority group member of a traditionally “female” profession. His overwhelming fear of unwarranted accusations of child sexual abuse and the debilitating impact of such accusations highlight the potential vulnerability of men in this profession. Implications concerning appropriate support for men who wish to make a long term commitment to early childhood education are considered.     

Change in women's perceptions of parental child rearing attitudes in Turkey: a three generation comparison

The change in women's perceptions of parental child rearing practices, attitudes, and beliefs across three consecutive generations within the context of social change in the Turkish society was investigated. The total sample consisted of 48 subjects; 16 representing each consecutive generation of “daughters”, their “mothers”, and “grandmothers” from the same family. Each generation represented the time periods that signify the relatively different periods of social change in the Turkish society. Each subject sorted 87 socialization relevant items on a seven point scale for both parents. Mean difference and correlational analysis across generations was made. Perceived child rearing practices, attitudes, and beliefs show significant differences across generations. The direction of change indicates a trend towards decreasing emphasis on authoritarian control and an increasing emphasis on encouraging independence, open expression, and expression of affect.     

“Omics” research,monetization of intellectual property and fragmentation of knowledge: can clinical epidemiology strengthen integrative research?

An analysis of the contributions of “omics technologies” to human health and clinical care needs to address the relationships between internal issues (e.g., methodological shortcomings in “omics” research and clinical biology) and external influences. Among the latter, monetization of intellectual property (IP) appears to be a powerful force favoring methodological limitations and an excessive reductionism and fragmentation of biological knowledge. Following economic successes in other industries (semiconductors, software, and “dot-coms”), monetization of IP tries to market small fragments of big research “puzzles”; the strategy seems partly responsible for the biotech industry having underperformed methodological, clinical, and economic expectations. Hence, internal, purely scientific reasons can hardly explain failures in the application of long-proven principles of clinical epidemiology to the discovery and validation of diagnostic and prognostic tests. Nevertheless, this paper also sketches methodological proposals that may help integrate microbiological, clinical, and environmental evidence. Clinical and epidemiological reasoning, knowledge, and methods need to be applied on a much wider scale than until now by “omics” studies that aim at making inferences relevant for human beings. Rather than adopting the values and norms of “science business,” “omics research” could apply a diversity of clinicoepidemiological models favoring integrative research.     

The organisational and professional context of the first acpc conference

The theme of today's conference “Partnership in a Changing Environment” is highly significant and could be adopted for almost any major conference in the health and personal social services field. “Partnership” is an “in” word, and like quality and other euphemisms it has become part of our rhetoric. Its definition and translation into practice at different points in our organisations, is however more problematic. For example in the area of child protection there has been a tendency to think of partnership as based around case conferences, but that is too far into the process to be of value to families or professionals. Partnership starts at policy making and today's conference is an attempt at bringing together the principal partners who should influence policy, as well as what happens further into the system when parents and children become engaged. The second part of today's theme “a changing environment” also applies throughout the public service. In recent years we have become accustomed to rolling organisational change. The most recent manifestations of this in Northern Ireland have been the introduction of general management throughout the services, the separation and redefinition of purchaser and provider functions, and more recently, the establishment of HPSS trusts. But change to the environment within which partnership in child protection takes place is influenced by forces other than organisational development. Research in child care over the last 15 years, the introduction of the Children Act 1989 in Great Britain and the prospect of similar legislation here within the next year or two, the impact of major reports, sometimes focusing on tragic events and the publication by the Inspectorate of the investigation into the case of Martin Huston have served to perpetuate change.     

Family life: the place of children's work around the house

Cultural groups vary considerably in their expectations of work around the house by children, and these variations provide a window for viewing ideas about the nature of children and of family life. This paper provides (a) a summary of differences found between two cultural groups in Australia (Australian-born and Lebanese-born), (b) a review of differences found within historical studies and within other cross-cultural comparisons, and (c) a report on approaches and concepts to children's work within a further Australian-born group (a report that considers views about money for work as well as some general underlying principles about work that can legitimately be asked of others and work that cannot). The important differences among cultures, it is argued, have to do not only with the expectations of work, but also with the way parents mark some jobs as different from others (e.g. “regular” vs. “extra”, boys' work or girls' work, can be pased on vs. cannot be), and with the way they use, as a sign of whether a child is acquiring the desired concepts of family life, the child's understanding of phrases such as “your job” and the child's recognition of the mother's work.     

Predictors of Paternal Versus Maternal Stress in Families of Children With Neural Tube Defects

This study examined the types of stress experienced by maternal and paternal caretakers of children with Neural Tube Defects (NTD) and examined child and family characteristics that correlated with stress. Participants were 71 two-parent families of a child with spina bifida. Parents completed the Parenting Stress Index-Short Form to measure types of stress. Additional measures were completed to investigate variables potentially related to reported stress. Fathers reported significantly higher levels of stress from “dysfunctional parent-child interaction.” Mothers' personal stress correlated with disability and medical characteristics of the child. Fathers reported more stress when the child had maladaptive behaviors and when experiencing fewer social supports and resources. Mothers and fathers coparenting a child with NTD have both common and unique stresses. It is important that both be included in parent support and education initiatives.     

Children: Rights, education and equal opportunity

The point of departure in this paper is the concept of RIGHTS. Whereas most countries accept that children have rights as is evidenced in the UNO Declaration of Rights of the Child (1959), such rights are statements, not laws. Statements advocating benefits, care, love, education etc. are goals or beliefs. Few countries have legalised rights; consequently, children may be at risk. In countries where there is discrimination of some degree in respect of race, colour, sex, religion, national or social origin, financial standing in society, level of education and so on, the right to “rights” as stated in the UNO Declaration is further jeopardised. The implications for educational provision from early childhood and onwards in countries where “rights” are not entrenched in statutes or where child advocacy is not forceful enough for all people are examined in this paper. Consequently, the chances for equal opportunity in life are reduced in situations where the child did not receive the benefit of education. Such a child may not perish as he might as a result of being deprived of food, but “the deprivation and injustice, the degradation of an individual and the setting of his vital interests at naught would at least approach in gravity the act of allowing him to die for the want of food” (1981, Wringe). In this paper, the author argues for the Rights of the Child, particularly where discrimination and inequalities exist and where provision for early education has to contend with excessive population growth.     

The effect of sudden paternal death on young people and their family relationships: Some implications for practice

The importance for children and young people to be able to communicate openly about the death of a parent is evident from the literature. This small-scale investigation uses a case-study approach to illustrate the impact on siblings of the sudden death of a father. The abundance of comments from the young people in the study such as “talking is the only thing that helps” and “everybody has to get it out” emphasise the important role of communication within the family. Children tend to take their emotional cues from other family members and, paradoxically, restrict communication of their own grief in an attempt to protect others. Even if painful in the short term, certain lines of communication may need to be established if family members are to be able to support each other in dealing with the distressing experience of the death in a healthy manner. The study suggests that those who work with young people in such circumstances should take cognisance of these issues.     

When, How and Why Child Caregivers Respond to Children's Behaviors

In a qualitative study, 42 child caregivers participated in one of six focus groups. They were asked to address three questions in open-ended discussion. “What child behaviors are of concern to you?”, “How do you respond to these behaviors?”, and “How do you make the decision about your response?” Responses were analyzed and categorized to examine when, how, and why caregivers discipline young children. Results showed that aggression, not listening, and sexually-related behaviors were most often mentioned by caregivers as behaviors of concern to them. The most frequently mentioned disciplinary strategies were time-out, explanation, and redirection. The question related to how caregivers make decisions about responding to misbehaviors was analyzed in terms of attributions made by caregivers about misbehaviors. The majority of caregivers indicated that their response was dependent of the circumstances. Most frequently mentioned attributions were about the children themselves, for instance, their age, gender, or state. Also mentioned were home and family, society, caregiver emotion, and the child care setting. Results also showed that caregivers with higher levels of early childhood education and more experience, and those working with smaller group sizes and smaller adult-to-chiid ratios provided more thoughtful answers that were more congruent with developmental appropriateness.     

The case for counselling provision in schools

This paper examines the case for including counselling as part of the normal school provision. It looks briefly at the statutory basis for pastoral care and then goes on to examine the present provision in two Education and Library Board Areas. An argument is then developed that suggests the true figure for child abuse may be much higher than is currently accepted and it uses this as the basis for supporting the need for providing school counselling. Finally it considers the experience of one school and uses this to substantiate the premise that counsellors in school are a “must” rather than a “luxury”.     

INTRODUCTORY OBSERVATIONS: THE REGION, NUTRITION, AND HEALTH

Geography and culture only loosely define the Middle East and there are differing opinions as to which countries should be included in the region. International agencies also use the terms “Near East,” “Eastern Mediterranean,” and “West Asia and North Africa” each with a somewhat different definition. The region has shown a greater than average increase in food availability in recent years and projections for 2010 show these trends progressing. Significant differences, however, exist between the individual countries since they range from some of the poorest in the world to some of the richest. As a consequence the nutritional and health conditions found, vary from those associated with poverty to those associated with affluence. Nutritionally related chronic diseases such as heart disease, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and osteo-arthritis are now major contributors to morbidity and mortality in the industrialized world. However, in many countries of the Middle East, micronutrient malnutrition, especially iron, iodine, and vitamin A deficiencies as well as general child undernutrition coexist with the newer diet related chronic diseases. The papers in this volume, originating from Egypt, Kuwait, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and Syria reflect our desire to highlight these twin sets of problems in the region.