The quality of caregiving in child care: relations to teacher complexity of thinking and perceived supportiveness of the work environment

Manlove, Elizabeth E.; Vazquez, Arcel; Vernon–Feagans, Lynne

doi:10.1002/icd.547

Cited by 25 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 50 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Educators' qualifications and group size were not directly related to 'near and clear' talk, but our findings align with others who found that these structural quality indicators are related to the interaction quality of the room (Degotardi 2010;Manlove et al 2008;NICHD 2002a;Phillips et al 2001). Infants in rooms with larger group sizes tended to experience lower ITERS-R-derived interaction quality than those in smaller group sizes, which explained a significant indirect path to 'near and clear' talk.…”

Section: Associations Between 'Near and Clear' Talk And Quality Indicsupporting

confidence: 87%

“…The quantity of educator 'near and clear' talk could also be related to structural quality indicators. One such indicator could be educators' level of early childhood qualification through its established relationship with the quality of educator-child interactions (Degotardi 2010;Degotardi et al, 2016;Manlove, Vazquez, and Vernon-Feagans 2008;Phillips et al 2001). Group size and educator-child ratios may similarly be implicated, also due to their relationship with the quality of educator interactions (NICHD 2002a, Vermeer et al 2016 and because these elements impact educators' opportunities to engage in proximal talk to the infants (Manlove, Frank, and Vernon-Feagans 2001).…”

Section: The Present Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Infants’ experience with ‘near and clear’ educator talk: individual variation and its relationship to indicators of quality

Degotardi

Han

Torr

2018

International Journal of Early Years Education

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This study investigated the quantity of audible and intelligible ('near and clear') educator talk directly experienced by under-two-year-old infants attending early childhood education and care (ECEC) programs and examined whether the quantity of educator talk was related to characteristics of quality in their ECEC room. Participants were 57 infants attending separate infant rooms in and around the Sydney metropolitan area, Australia. Each infant was observed for 3 hours, wearing a small, customdesigned digital language processor (DLP) which digitally recorded and generated measures of 'near and clear' adult talk, unclear talk and infant vocalisations. Structural quality indicators include educator qualification, group size and educator-infant ratios, and Interaction Quality was assessed using the ITERS-R Interaction and Listening and Talking subscales. Infants' experience with 'near and clear' talk was predicted by Interaction Quality, the presence of a degree-qualified teacher and group size. 'Near and clear' talk was also significantly and positively related to the quantity of infant vocalisation and, negatively, to their level of exposure to unclear talk. Findings are discussed in terms of conceptualisations of quality in infant ECEC rooms, as well as the potentials and limitations of the 'near and clear' talk measure for use in future studies of language development in this context.

show abstract

Section: Associations Between 'Near and Clear' Talk And Quality Indicsupporting

confidence: 87%

Section: The Present Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

Infants’ experience with ‘near and clear’ educator talk: individual variation and its relationship to indicators of quality

Degotardi

Han

Torr

2018

International Journal of Early Years Education

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Moreover, we found that certain activity contexts appeared to prompt differently-qualified educators to modify the frequency of their question use. These findings add detail and complexity to previous studies which have demonstrated an effect of qualification on broad measures of infant program quality or infant-educator sensitivity and stimulation (Degotardi, 2010;Goelman et al, 2006;Manlove et al, 2008;National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Early Child Care Research Network, 2002). Our study found that educators' qualification levels were associated with different patterns of question use, leading to different learning opportunities for infants, and that these opportunities presented in specific activity contexts.…”

Section: Explaining the Variation In Educators' Use Of Pedagogical Qusupporting

confidence: 59%

Infant Educators’ Use of Pedagogical Questioning: Relationships With the Context of Interaction and Educators’ Qualifications

Degotardi

Torr

Han

2018

Early Education and Development

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Research Findings: This study investigated the prevalence of pedagogical questions posed by 27 early childhood educators as they interacted with infants in each of two different contexts: book-focused interactions and educator-mediated play. The pedagogical questions expressed by educators to infants during ten-minute naturally-occurring interactions were coded as confirm (yes/no), specify (what, who, where, when) or explain (why, how) questions on the basis that these types of questions present infants with different opportunities to use their developing communication skills to provide information to others. We then sought to determine associations between question use, activity context and educators' qualification levels. Results revealed that explain questions were used very rarely, while confirm and specify questions were more frequent, comprising 7.60% and 8.32% respectively of messages that were expressed by educators to the infants in their care. A 2 (activity context) x 2 (qualification level) mixed factorial MANOVA, supplemented with post-hoc qualitative analyses, demonstrated that, in specific activity contexts, degree qualified early childhood teachers used pedagogical questioning in ways which differed from their less-qualified counterparts. Practice or policy: The findings provide much needed data on how educator questioning is used with children under two, how questioning affords context-specific language learning opportunities for infants in ECEC centres, and how educator qualifications may be implicated in these opportunities.

show abstract

“…Creating this interactive context in infant childcare settings is a vital component in supporting infants' social-emotional development and meaningful learning (Howes & Ritchie, 2002;Manlove et al, 2008). Despite what we know about the significance of this interactive context, however, what is less clear is how infants adapt to teacher expectations and interaction styles and how infant teachers make decisions in the moments of their day-to-day practice to foster the ideals of a caring and supportive social culture in their infant childcare settings.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The impact of high-quality caregiving on infants' developmental outcomes has been of increasing national concern (Manlove, Vazquez, & Vernon-Feagans, 2008;NICHD Early Child Care Research Network, 2001). Researchers have argued that warm, positive, and responsive interactions, as well as reciprocal relationships between infants and caregivers, are fundamental to infant development (Howes & Ritchie, 2002;NICHD Early Child Care Research Network, 2001;Raikes, 1996;Shonkoff & Phillips, 2000;Wittmer & Petersen, 2010).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

In and out of synch: infant childcare teachers’ adaptations to infants' developmental changes

Recchia

Shin

2012

Early Child Development and Care

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This qualitative multi-case study explored the social exchanges and responsive connections between infants and their infant childcare teachers within a group care context. Infants' naturally occurring behaviours were videotaped purposefully at two separate time points, near the end of their first year and approximately six months later. Findings revealed various ways that infants and their teachers were 'in synch' or 'out of synch' within everyday practice. Infant teachers were 'in synch' with infants when they established reciprocal and meaningful joint understandings that were differentiated according to infants' individual and changing developmental needs. Infant teachers could also be 'out of synch' with an infant when they missed the infant's subtle cues or an infant did not easily adapt to caregivers' expectations and styles. Our findings urge teachers and teacher educators to think deeply about the meaning and complex nature of high quality, responsive caregiving within infant childcare environments.

show abstract

The quality of caregiving in child care: relations to teacher complexity of thinking and perceived supportiveness of the work environment

Abstract: QUALITY OF CAREGIVING Howes and Hamilton (1993) define quality caregiving, from a child development perspective, as providing experiences that enhance rather than impede children's E.E. Manlove et al. 204

Cited by 25 publications

References 50 publications

Infants’ experience with ‘near and clear’ educator talk: individual variation and its relationship to indicators of quality

Infants’ experience with ‘near and clear’ educator talk: individual variation and its relationship to indicators of quality

Infant Educators’ Use of Pedagogical Questioning: Relationships With the Context of Interaction and Educators’ Qualifications

In and out of synch: infant childcare teachers’ adaptations to infants' developmental changes

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About