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.