Recent literature has suggested the importance of physical activity in early childhood such as during the toddler years (12 months - 3 years.) Despite this, most toddlers are not physically active. There is a need to determine the types of physical activity programs that would interest toddlers within the settings they spend a significant amount of time in (e.g., childcare center). Currently, data on the feasibility, implementation, and process evaluation of physical activity interventions in toddler age children attending childcare centers is lacking within the literature. Therefore, the purpose of the Toddler Activity Pilot (TAP-A-LONG) study was to examine the feasibility and acceptability of a four day per week, 10-week physical activity program in toddler aged children during the childcare day. Process evaluation data was collected daily during the entire 10-week study using a semi-structured questionnaire. Once per week on a randomly selected day, toddlers’ physical activity was assessed with accelerometers during the 10-minute intervention session or gross-motor playtime for the treatment and control group, respectively. Accelerometers were also worn for the duration of the full day during baseline, midpoint, and post. Participants were male (58%), white (46%), and lived in a household with married parents (58%). Toddlers’ average age was 25.0 ± 4.2 months. A total of 69.4% of the toddler population was recruited to participate in the study amongst the three participating centers (TAP = 37; CON = 13). During the 10-minute intervention session, toddlers in the treatment group spent 60.4 ± 22.0%, 28.7 ± 15.7%, and 10.9 ± 10.6% of time in sedentary (SED), light physical activity (LPA), and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA), respectively. While control center spent 55.7 ± 18.8%, 35.9 ± 15.1, and 8.4 ± 8.0% in SED, LPA, and MVPA, respectively. For program quality, 76.7% and 62.0% of researcher and provider led intervention sessions were delivered clearly (i.e., directions were understandable to toddlers), respectively. The majority of intervention sessions held toddlers’ attention (60% of toddlers participated in at least half of the intervention). Overall, the high acceptability of our TAP-A-LONG intervention highlights the usefulness of physical activity interventions within the childcare setting.

[pt] As inúmeras transformações que acompanham a contemporaneidade, podem requerer determinados ajuste no ambiente familiar, principalmente quando há crianças pequenas. Diante deste contexto, a babá hoje se estabelece como sendo uma figura que compartilha os cuidados com a família, não somente no que diz respeito à sobrevivência, mas como participante do processo de desenvolvimento infantil. Embora seu trabalho seja de fundamental importância, pouco se pesquisa e se reflete acerca de seu contexto de vida, da sua escolha profissional e de como realiza as práticas de cuidado com a criança. A tese, portanto, visa identificar, à luz da perspectiva sociocultural, as práticas e crenças de cuidado infantil, bem como a percepção das babás acerca das práticas maternas, em dois contextos culturais distintos, Brasil e Portugal. A pesquisa contou com 34 participantes, sendo 16 respondentes brasileiras e 18 portuguesas. Para a realização deste trabalho, utilizouse uma pesquisa semiestruturada, composta por 9 questões, sendo que a última pergunta, apresentou as figuras que representam os cinco sistemas de cuidado parental. Os resultados foram analisados de forma qualitativa, através do software IraMuteQ e da análise de conteúdo de Bardin. No Brasil as práticas de cuidados se associaram a conteúdos afetivos, enquanto em Portugal, o foco estava voltado para o desenvolvimento cognitivo. Quanto às crenças de cuidado infantil, tanto as babás brasileiras quanto as portuguesas remeteram a alguns aprendizados que lhes foram transmitidos na infância e, que hoje, procuram passar às crianças que estão sob sua responsabilidade. No que diz respeito à percepção de práticas maternas, as babás brasileiras entendiam que estas buscavam estabelecer interações afetivas, atividades de lazer e cuidados relativos às necessidades básicas. As babás portuguesas acreditaram que as práticas maternas tratavam de cuidados voltados para a alimentação, a exploração do ambiente e a necessidade de criar vínculo entre mãe/filho. A pesquisa contribuiu para compreender o papel da babá em relação às práticas de cuidado infantil, bem como a influência do contexto sociocultural, no exercício dessas práticas e sua relação com a criança. / [en] The countless transformations that accompany contemporary times may require certain adjustments in the family environment, especially when there are young children. Given this context, the nanny can establish herself as a character who shares care with the family, not only with regard to survival, but as a participant in the child development process. Although her work is of fundamental importance, little is researched and reflected on her life context, her professional choice and how she carries out child care practices. The thesis, therefore, aims to identify, in light of a sociocultural perspective, child care practices and beliefs, as well as nannies perception of maternal practices, in two distinct cultural contexts, Brazil and Portugal. The research had 34 participants, 16 Brazilian respondents and 18 Portuguese respondents. To carry out this work, a semi-structured survey was used, consisting of 9 questions, with the last question presenting figures representing the five parental care systems. The results were analyzed qualitatively, using the IraMuteQ software and Bardin s content analysis. In Brazil, care practices were associated with affective content, while in Portugal, the focus was on cognitive development. Regarding child care beliefs, both Brazilian and Portuguese nannies referred to some lessons that were passed on to them in childhood and which, today, they try to pass on to the children under their responsibility. With regard to the perception of maternal practices, Brazilian nannies understood that they sought to establish affective interactions, leisure activities and care related to basic needs. Portuguese nannies believed that maternal practices dealt with care focused on nutrition, exploration of the environment and the need to create a bond between mother/child. The research contributed to understanding the role of the nanny in relation to child care practices, as well as the influence of the sociocultural context, in the exercise of these practices and their relationship with the child.

Digital technologies such as televisions, touch screen tablets, smartphones, and smart speakers are now frequently encountered and used by young children even before the age of one. These devices facilitate modern parents in their care-giving of young children due to their prevalence in the home environment. The use of these devices is especially common by international student mothers of young children who subscribe to a multiplicity of roles such as being a productive student, efficient mother, and dutiful partner in a new country. This dissertation summarizes four studies exploring the role of technology in international student mothers' life as a parent of young children, and the implications of design and research of technologies for parents based on the transferable learning from these studies. The first and second studies employ auto ethnographic and collaborative approach to involve these mothers as equal stakeholders and collaborators to understand their context of use of technology. The third and fourth studies explore the various uses of technology by caregivers and young children, to obtain certain gratifications. By engaging primary caregivers in in-depth efforts of understanding of their motivations and perceptions about early childhood media exposure, I set forth the praxis between the professional recommendations and their actual lived experiences with technology and young children. Building on these insights, I present a conceptual framework for research which considers the dyadic use of technology due to the close relationship between primary caregivers and young children. Based on the various roles of technology in international student mothers' parenting, I present implications for designing technologies which can assist parents in their care giving duties. / Doctor of Philosophy / Digital technologies such as televisions, touch screen tablets, smartphones, and smart speakers are now frequently encountered and used by young children even before the age of one, and facilitate modern parents in their care-giving of young children due to their prevalence in the home environment. The use of these devices is especially common by international student mothers of young children who subscribe to a multiplicity of roles such as being a productive student, efficient mother, and dutiful partner in a new country. I employ auto ethnographic and collaborative asset-based approaches to involve these mothers as equal stakeholders and collaborators to have an in-depth understanding of their context of use of technology. I explore the various gratifications sought by caregivers and children through their uses of technology, and illustrate how current technologies succeed in delivering those gratifications, and where they do not come up to scratch due to their unique living circumstances. By engaging primary caregivers in in-depth efforts of understanding of their motivations and perceptions about early childhood media exposure, I set forth the praxis between the professional recommendations and their actual lived experiences with technology and young children. Building on these insights, I present a conceptual framework for research which considers the dyadic use of technology by primary caregivers and young children due to their close relationship. Based on the various roles of technology in international student mothers' lives, I then present implications for designing technologies including screen-based digital childcare assistants and interactive shows, conversational user interfaces as bilingual language learning partners, and mobile applications to support young children's incidental learning, which can assist parents in their care giving duties.

Detta arbete utgår ifrån den diskussion som förts i det svenska samhället vad gäller förskollärarnas ansvar som synliggjorts i den reviderade läroplanen samt införandet av lärarlegitimation. Arbetet syftar på att förstå, genom kvalitativa intervjuer, vad fyra verksamma pedagoger inom förskolan har för tankar omkring arbetets huvudfrågor: Samarbete, ledarskap och ansvar, erfarenhet och praktisk kunskap samt teoretisk kunskap. Vidare finns viss historik omkring förskolan och förskollärarens bakgrund. Målet med denna undersökning är att lyfta upp frågan om samverkan mellan praktisk kunskap och teoretisk kunskap och diskutera samarbetet mellan yrkesgrupperna samt stärka betydelsen av att inneha båda dessa kunskaper. I resultatdelen ämnas de fyra intervjuade pedagogernas åsikter framföras och sedan diskuteras i förhållande till begreppen och tidigare forskning. Samtliga pedagoger är och har varit aktiva i förskolan under minst fem år. Genom studien har resultatet pekat allt tydligare på att de två förskollärarna och de två barnskötarna har olika syn på de olika arbetsrollerna. Sammanfattningsvis menar jag att förskollärarna verkar tycka att ansvar och ledarskap till viss del är deras uppgifter men att arbetslaget, innefattande både förskollärare och barnskötare, bör samarbeta och man kan ana att de inte vill ta hela ansvaret själva. Barnskötarna, å andra sidan, eftersöker mer ledarskap av förskollärarna och vill att de tar det ansvar som de har utbildning och får lön för. De två barnskötarna är inte lika strikta i sin linje vad gäller rollfördelningen, den ena barnskötaren uttrycker att många pedagoger på förskolan gör ett bra arbete oavsett teoretisk kunskap. Som resultat vill jag lyfta fram att det alltså är de som saknar akademisk utbildning som lyfter fram att det är den teoretiska kunskapen är avgörande för ansvarsbiten. Detta trots att samtliga fyra pedagoger menar att den praktiska kunskapen är viktig. Slutligen innefattar arbetet förslag på vidare studier inom ämnet: då särskilt, varför tycker förskollärarna och barnskötarna i denna undersökning så olika beroende av egen utbildningsgrad? / This study departs from the discussion in Swedish society concerning preschool teachers’ responsibilities as visualized in the revised curriculum and the introduction of teacher license registration.The study is aimed at understanding, through qualitative interviews, what four active pedagogues involved in pre-school feels about the changes, which are this study’s main issues: the concept of cooperation, leadership and responsibility, experience and practical knowledge and theoretical knowledge. Further, there is some history about kindergarten and preschool teachers’ background. The purpose of this study is to highlight the issue of interaction between practical knowledge and theoretical knowledge as well as the cooperation of the people involved in preschool.The results section is dealing with the four pedagogues, who are and have been active in pre-school for at least five years, to be presented and then discussed in relation to the concepts and previous research. The study results have indicated more clearly that the two preschool teachers and the two childminders have different views on the differing roles. In sum I believe that preschool teachers find that responsibility and leadership in some way lies on their shoulders, but they’re pointing more to the team, including both preschool teachers and childcare workers, for cooperation. You can sense that they do not want to take full responsibility themselves. Childcare workers are on the other hand looking for more leadership from the preschool teachers and expect that they should take the responsibility they have been educated and are paid for. The two childcare workers are not as strict in the terms of roles. One of them expresses that many teachers in the preschool are doing a good job regardless of theoretical knowledge. As a result, I would highlight that it is the pedagogues without theoretical knowledge that emphasizes that theoretical knowledge is crucial for the responsibility part, despite the fact that all four teachers believe that practical knowledge is important. Finally, this study includes suggestions for further studies in the subject: on particular, why do preschool teachers and childcare workers in this study feel so different depending on their own level of education?

1 Abstract The diploma thesis deals with three innovative models of childcare. The work is divided into theoretical and practical part. The object of the work is to inform about innovative child care models and to map the implementation possibilities of one described model. The theoretical part deals with the theme of family and its importance for the society. The disorders of family, reasons for child removals out of family, prevention of family failures and family preservation are farther described in this part. Other chapters are focused on already mentioned three models of care. The first model describes sharing care within providing support of volunteers, the second model inheres in sharing care within the residential care and the last model describes the sharing care within care provided by foster parents. The practical part addresses the research which was undertaken as semi-structured dialogs with social workers of foster parents and with foster parents too. A part of the research is formed by the analyse of reasons for child removals out of family. It was found out within the research that the implementation possibilities of sharing care within care provided by foster parents are low with regards to its demandingness and the general settings of our society.

En France, les politiques de conciliation travail-famille reposent principalement sur le développement de modes de garde institutionnels. Les grands-parents continuent pourtant d’occuper une place importante dans les arrangements quotidiens des familles. Comment expliquer leur implication dans la garde des jeunes enfants ? En alliant sociologies de la famille et de l’articulation des temps sociaux, et en croisant méthodes qualitatives et quantitatives, cette thèse s’intéresse aux bricolages des parents au quotidien pour articuler vies familiale et professionnelle, à travers l’étude du cas limite qu’est le recours à l’aide des grands-parents. Cette thèse met l’emphase sur deux logiques. 1) S’il existe une norme de bonne grand-parentalité qui règle la façon dont les grands-parents s’impliquent dans la garde de leurs petits-enfants, celle-ci émane des catégories sociales supérieures et n’est pas intériorisée de façon homogène dans tous les milieux sociaux. Les stratégies éducatives des parents et les attentes vis-à-vis des grands-parents diffèrent selon l’origine sociale. 2) Les contextes professionnels, familiaux et institutionnels jouent comme des contraintes et des opportunités qui influent sur les arrangements quotidiens des parents et les conduisent à infléchir leurs stratégies éducatives quant à l’implication des grands-parents. L’analyse de l’articulation de ces logiques permet d’identifier quatre types de garde grand-parentale : dépannage, routine, intensif et loisirs. Cette thèse montre enfin la corrélation entre développement des enfants et garde grand-parentale, invitant à penser cet objet comme un ensemble diversifié de pratiques vectrices d’inégalités sociales. / In France, work-family policies rely mainly on the development of formal childcare. Yet grandparents still have an important role in the daily arrangements of families. How can this involvement of grandparents be explained? By allying the contributions of the sociology of the family and the studies on work-family reconciliation, and based on the combination of qualitative and quantitative methods, this thesis examines to what extent the efforts of parents to articulate professional time and family aspirations are often stopgap solutions made on a daily basis. The use of grandparental childcare is a case study for such analysis.This thesis focuses on two logics. First, while there is a norm of what is good grandparenting that determines the way grandparents should get involved in childcare, it originates from the upper-classes and is not homogeneously internalized in all social categories. Parents' educational strategies and expectations regarding grandparents differ according to their social background. Second, professional, family and institutional contexts act as constraints and opportunities that influence parents' daily arrangements and lead them to modify their educational strategies as to the degree and forms of grandparents' involvement. The analysis of the articulation of these logics makes it possible to identify four types of use of grandparents for the care of young children: temporary fix care, routine care, intensive care and leisure care. This thesis also shows how grandparent involvement affects child development. It invites us to consider grandparental childcare as a broad set of practices through which inequalities can be transmitted.

Im vorgelegten Materialband wird illustriert, wie im Rahmen der ethnografischen Erforschung der Praxis des Ganztagsangebotes von Grundschule und Hort mittels der Technik \"Ablaufgrafik\" Informationen zum zeitlichen und territorialen Ablauf des Ganztagsprogrammes dokumentiert und in der Begegnung mit Feldakteuren reflektiert werden konnten.

As the literature on work–family conflict grows and absenteeism increasingly comes into the spotlight, one cannot help but ask the question: “What is an acceptable absenteeism rate and how can an organisation control and manage absenteeism?” With current absenteeism rates as high as 12% and with an estimated R12 million lost per annum because of absenteeism, the idea of an on-site employer-sponsored childcare facility seems viable. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between absenteeism and on-site employer- sponsored childcare. The following dimensions of absenteeism will be examined over a period of a year: absence frequency, absence intensity, attitudinal absence and medical absence. The results of two companies, one with a facility and one without, will then be compared in order to establish the relationship between absenteeism and an on-site facility. To date, evidence remains mixed and the ongoing challenge of establishing real return on equity remains a major barrier to the support of on-site employer-sponsored childcare. / Industrial & Organisational Psychology / M. A. (Industrial and Organisational Psychology)

South Africa faces a high disease burden and a limited public capacity to provide care to the ill. Research from the UK and sub-Saharan Africa suggests the burden often falls to children, who also take over domestic responsibilities necessary for household survival. To date, there is limited research exploring the relationship between parental illness and children’ responsibilities, or the moderating effect of socio-demographic variables. The thesis is comprised of three research phases. The first is a literature review to summarise existing research and identify substantial gaps, which included limited amounts of quantitative evidence on this topic and a lack of a tool to as-sess child responsibility that had both been adapted to the South African context and included caring responsibilities. The second research phase consists of an exploratory study of n = 349 children living with ill adults in urban and rural communities in the Western Cape province of South Africa to investigate their range of responsibility, which included caring for an ill parent, household chores, childcare, and income-generation. The resulting data were used to create the Child Responsibility Measure, which assesses the range and time burden of re-sponsibilities among South African children. The third research phase is a cross-sectional quantitative survey of n = 2,476 pairs of children and parents from urban and rural communities in KwaZulu-Natal province, South Africa. Resulting data on parental health, socio-demographics, and child responsibilities were analysed with multiple regres-sions to determine drivers of children’s responsibility. Among the findings were that parental illnesses increase the likelihood children provide care and have larger responsibility workloads, and girls are more likely to take on all types of responsibility excluding income-generating activities, which were more common in boys. Additionally, while urban children were more likely to provide personal care, rural children had greater responsibility workloads.

This study examines how gender and the gender order used to be reproduced in “the kind of workhouses known as “arbetsstugor” in Swedish” in Karlstad and Borås 1899-1928. What ideologies and general notions of gender were expressed in their activities? I have made a comparative analysis of the workhouses in Karlstad and Borås using what is known as contextual contrasts. This method is used to test theories and hypotheses about what is locally unique or features that are shared between places. The hypothesis tested in the study is based on Hirdman's theory of gender contracts and “the law of separation” and it was formulated on the assumption that the traditionally more conservative Borås would also have a stricter policy on gender separation than the traditionally more liberal Karlstad.     This study examines how gender and the gender order used to be reproduced in “the kind of workhouses known as “arbetsstugor” in Swedish” in Karlstad and Borås 1899-1928. What ideologies and general notions of gender were expressed in their activities? I have made a comparative analysis of the workhouses in Karlstad and Borås using what is known as contextual contrasts. This method is used to test theories and hypotheses about what is locally unique or features that are shared between places. The hypothesis tested in the study is based on Hirdman's theory of gender contracts and “the law of separation” and it was formulated on the assumption that the traditionally more conservative Borås would also have a stricter policy on gender separation than the traditionally more liberal Karlstad.     This study examines how gender and the gender order used to be reproduced in “the kind of workhouses known as “arbetsstugor” in Swedish” in Karlstad and Borås 1899-1928. What ideologies and general notions of gender were expressed in their activities? I have made a comparative analysis of the workhouses in Karlstad and Borås using what is known as contextual contrasts. This method is used to test theories and hypotheses about what is locally unique or features that are shared between places. The hypothesis tested in the study is based on Hirdman's theory of gender contracts and “the law of separation” and it was formulated on the assumption that the traditionally more conservative Borås would also have a stricter policy on gender separation than the traditionally more liberal Karlstad.     This study examines how gender and the gender order used to be reproduced in “the kind of workhouses known as “arbetsstugor” in Swedish” in Karlstad and Borås 1899-1928. What ideologies and general notions of gender were expressed in their activities? I have made a comparative analysis of the workhouses in Karlstad and Borås using what is known as contextual contrasts. This method is used to test theories and hypotheses about what is locally unique or features that are shared between places. The hypothesis tested in the study is based on Hirdman's theory of gender contracts and “the law of separation” and it was formulated on the assumption that the traditionally more conservative Borås would also have a stricter policy on gender separation than the traditionally more liberal Karlstad.     This study examines how gender and the gender order used to be reproduced in “the kind of workhouses known as “arbetsstugor” in Swedish” in Karlstad and Borås 1899-1928. What ideologies and general notions of gender were expressed in their activities? I have made a comparative analysis of the workhouses in Karlstad and Borås using what is known as contextual contrasts. This method is used to test theories and hypotheses about what is locally unique or features that are shared between places. The hypothesis tested in the study is based on Hirdman's theory of gender contracts and “the law of separation” and it was formulated on the assumption that the traditionally more conservative Borås would also have a stricter policy on gender separation than the traditionally more liberal Karlstad.