Fostering Classroom Communities

 
 

The relationship between parent involvement and preschool children's social competence and learning behaviors 

DeWar, Amanda Lee. University of Northern Colorado, ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 2011. 3498436. 

Purpose:  The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between parent involvement and preschool children's social competence and learning behaviors. 

Population/Participannts:  The participants were recruited from 47 preschool classrooms.  A total of 46 preschool teachers were invited to participate that had been teaching in their classrooms for 11 weeks to ensure they would know the students who would potentially participate in the study. 

The students represented 3 groups: 

1st group- students who paid tuition to attend the preschool. 

2nd group-students who received special education services within the classroom and were on an Individual Education Program (IEP) 

3rd group- students who attended the preschool at no cost; who participated in the Colorado Preschool Project (CPP) for children who demonstrated at-risk characteristics. 

The author of this study used the Preschool Learning Behaviors Scale that was completed by teachers that has 29 items representing specific learning- related behavior. 

The Penn Interactive Peer Play Scale was used to measure social competence. It's comprised of 32 items that look at preschool children's interactive peer play skills.  Teachers and Parents each reported on how often they observe certain interactive behaviors during a child's free play. 

The Family Involvement Questionnaire is a multidimensional rating scale that parents complete to measure the type of and extent of their involvement in their child's education. 

When it came to data collection the author used a multiple regression analysis to determine the relationship between parental involvement and preschool students level of social competence, and demonstration of learning behaviors. 

The results of the current study did not support a significant relationship between parent involvement and preschool children's social competence and learning behaviors. 

Because the population was not from a Head Start Program, the measures used in this study differed from the findings of other research when it came to Parental Involvement.   

Limitations for this study are primarily a result of the measures used as well as the characteristics of the sample and sample size. 

Arnold, D. H., Zeljo, A., Doctoroff, G. L., & Ortiz, C. (2008). Parent involvement in preschool: Predictors and the relation of involvement to literacy development. School Psychology Review, 37(1), 74-90.  

Epstein, J. L., Sanders, M. G., Simon, B. S., Salinas, K. C., Jansorn, N. R., & Van Voorhis, F. L. (2002). School, family, and community partnerships. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press, Inc. 

Fan, X., & Chen, M. (2001). Parental involvement and students’ academic achievement: A meta-analysis. Educational Psychology Review, 13(1), 1-22. 

Each of these resources that was used by the author was relevant to the study because of what the author primarily focused the study on.  The study was about Parental Involvement and the relationship of preschool children's learning behavior and social competence.   These resources helped the author in the development of the study because of the focus and the findings these resources presented to help the author. 

The information from this dissertation definitely gave me so much insight when it comes to fostering supportive learning environments.  I have a small business working with children from preschool to elementary and when I do my tutoring sessions I make sure I create the environment to make them feel welcomed and that they have a fun learning experience along with building a great relationship with their parents to inform them of the progress and working together so the child can reach their highest potential. 

Week 11 Blog

I have learned so much through out this course. From looking at my colleagues blog they mainly want to focus on prenatal development as far as continuing research and educating families on the importance of  limiting stress and environmental factors that could cause issues during pregnancy. I would continue my research on prenatal development and definitely educate families about teratogens and ways to avoid them to have a healthy pregnancy throughout the entire term.

Attachment Theory

The Attachment Theory was developed by John Bowlby in 1969 and provided a way to understand the nature of mother/infant relationship (Colmer, Rutherford, & Murphy, 2011). Attachment within children provides a sense of security between the child, caregiver, and the environment they are in. Families should understand the importance of attachment and how it affects a child’s development. A secure and consistent relationship through a secure base develops a child’s sense of connection and belonging (Colmer, Rutherford, & Murphy, 2011).   When children are rejected from caregivers it causes them to have trust issues and they lose that sense of security.  Attachment theorists suggest that attachment security with parents supports the quality of social adaptation in peer groups during early childhood, and numerous studies supporting this conjecture have been published (Veríssimo, Santos, Fernandes, & Vaughn, 2014).  The goal of informing parents about attachment from an Early Childhood Administrator standpoint is to let them know how children develop and engage in the classroom setting from this aspect.

References

Colmer, K., Rutherford, L., & Murphy, P. (2011). Attachment Theory and Primary Caregiving. Australasian Journal Of Early Childhood, 36(4), 16-20.

Veríssimo, M., Santos, A. J., Fernandes, C., & Vaughn, B. E. (2014). Associations between Attachment Security and Social Competence in Preschool Children. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly: Journal Of Developmental Psychology, 60(1), 80-99.

Time Well Spent

Wow! I can't believe that my journey through this program is coming to an end. I have learned so much in this program that I know that I can definitely achieve my ultimate goal. Completing my capstone was definitely a challenge and it made me think so much about what I hope to achieve in the future. I enjoyed learning about the meaning of Community of Practice and having an idea of what my Community of Practice would be like.  My last memorable moment was writing the speech for the end of the capstone. I felt so much running through my head when writing that speech and visualizing my voice being heard by many people that were inspired by the work I have done in the field of ECE. My long term goal is to open my own school.

I have enjoyed working with my colleagues and professors through this journey and I look forward to possibly keeping in touch. I am on Instagram: @j_by_jasmyn You can email me at jasmyn.adwaters@gmail.com

Jobs/Roles in the ECE Community: Internationally

South African Congress for Early Childhood Development

www.sacecd.co.za

The South African Congress for Early Childhood Development is the representative national mass-based, non-governmental early childhood development (ECD) organisation in South Africa.

Asia-Pacific Regional Network for Early Childhood

www.arnec.net

 The Asia-Pacific Regional Network for Early Childhood (ARNEC) is a network established to build strong partnerships across sectors and different disciplines, organisations, agencies and institutions in the Asia-Pacific region to advance the agenda on and investment in early childhood.

Early Childhood Australia
www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au

Early Childhood Australia (ECA) is the national peak early childhood advocacy organization, acting in the interests of young children, their families, and those in the early childhood field. ECA advocates for quality in education and care as well as social justice and equity for children from birth to eight years.

Jobs/Roles in the ECE Community: National/Federal Level

The Association for Early Learning Leaders

The Association for Early Learning Leaders is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that has been serving directors, owners and administrators of early care and education programs since 1984.

Mission

The Association for Early Learning Leaders is committed to excel­lence in the field of Early Care and Education by promoting lead­ership development and enhancing program quality.

Goal

Our goal is to strengthen the knowledge, skills and abilities of directors, owners, emerging leaders and other early learning pro­fessionals to ensure quality programs for young children.

I chose the Association for Early Learning Leaders, because my ultimate goal is to open my own school and being a member of this organization at the National level would be a great organization for me when it comes to strengthening my skills as an owner of a school.

 http://www.earlylearningleaders.org/

 National Autism Association

The National Autism Association is a parent-run 501(c)3 nonprofit organization.  Founded in 2003, NAA is a parent-run advocacy organization and the leading voice on urgent issues related to severe autism, regressive autism, autism safety, autism abuse, and crisis prevention.

I have a passion for helping those with Autism, and when I open my school I mainly want to help children with Autism reach their full potential. I chose this organization because I believe this would be a great organization to be a part of and a great community of practice at the National level.

http://nationalautismassociation.org/

The Association of Professional Behavior Analysts

The Association of Professional Behavior Analysts (APBA) is a 501(c)(6) nonprofit organization whose mission is to promote and advance the science and practice of applied behavior analysis. APBA carries out that mission by

Representing the interests of appropriately credentialed professional and paraprofessional practitioners of applied behavior analysis
Providing support and resources to appropriately credentialed professional and paraprofessional practitioners of applied behavior analysis
Working with federal, state, governmental, and third party entities to enhance recognition of appropriately credentialed professional and paraprofessional practitioners of applied behavior analysis
Working with federal, state, governmental, and third party entities to support the needs of appropriately credentialed professional and paraprofessional practitioners of applied behavior analysts
Providing education opportunities to appropriately credentialed professional and paraprofessional practitioners of applied behavior analysts
Providing resources to professionals and paraprofessionals in other fields and to consumers of behavior analytic services concerning the practice of applied behavior analysis
Bringing professionals, paraprofessionals, consumers, and vendors together at national and regional meetings
Supporting improvements in and access to services provided by professional and paraprofessional practitioners of applied behavior analysis
Promoting public understanding of the professional practice of behavior analysis

I chose this organization because I plan to work towards becoming a Board Certified Behavior Analyst and I believe this organization would allow me to get to know other Analysts and continue to grow as a professional.

 http://www.apbahome.net/index.php