No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

<p> This qualitative study explores the level of satisfaction of parents regarding early identification/intervention services for children who are deaf or hard of hearing (D/HH). The purpose of this study is to compare the progress of children who are D/HH with their hearing peers on elements used to measure the readiness of students to enter the first grade as measured by teacher and parental perception/satisfaction. This study will include a qualitative exploration of assistive strategies and parental choices regarding early-intervention services, amplification, and modes of communication. Furthermore, it will provide and analyze data concerning teacher and parent perception of the relative success of the various pre-school interventions for children with hearing losses. </p><p> The study employs a qualitative case-study methodology using an in-depth guided-interview format to collect data. Participants include four families of children who are deaf or hard of hearing. Triangulation of data sources is achieved through guided in-depth interviews with parents, document review, verbatim transcripts of all interviews, and personal observations. The findings reveal levels of functioning for children who are D/HH upon entry into the school system through the end of their kindergarten year and levels of parental satisfaction concerning their choices made about early-intervention services prior to their children's entry into the school system.</p>

<p> The purpose of this case study was to investigate and describe Recognition &amp; Response (R &amp; R) practices, a model of early literacy Response to Intervention, utilized by multidisciplinary staff teams in a purposively selected, inclusion-based preschool program in Southern California. Investigated R &amp; R practices included: (a) recognition of student needs through assessment, (b) collaborative problem-solving as a process to plan and evaluate next steps for students, and (c) response through a multi-tiered instructional approach. </p><p> The researcher utilized a qualitative case study design. The single district preschool program selected is comprised of ten inclusion-based classrooms located on two elementary school sites. The four-year old classrooms within this program were purposively selected for this study. The researcher designed an interview protocol, an artifact review form, and a classroom observation tool. </p><p> The findings of the study were synthesized into four overall conclusions. First, informal assessment is critical for providing intentional early literacy experiences to students. Second, informal problem solving between members of a multidisciplinary team is essential in planning an instructional response to support student early literacy needs. Third, a core literacy program that reflects agreed-upon literacy targets through thematic units and a range of learning formats across classroom is key to recognizing student early literacy needs. Fourth, the embedded use of multi-tiered instruction is a means of providing students with access to core literacy curriculum. </p><p> One policy implication is related to the current funding model for public preschool programs. The restrictions can serve as obstacles for implementing the practices described in this study. Three practice implications include the development of leadership and vision for early childhood programs, investment in the professional learning of early childhood education teams, and the allocation of time for teachers and support staff to engage in critical conversations. </p><p> Future studies that may benefit the early childhood profession include a longitudinal study of the program and a study of longevity of staff who serve on multidisciplinary teams. A third recommended area of study is to explore how, if at all, prompts support or hinder student independent use of learned skills in early childhood classrooms.</p>

Objectives: This thesis aimed to investigate whether a history of childhood trauma was indirectly associated with eating psychopathology through mediation by dissociation and/or emotion dysregulation. Method: Firstly, a systematic review was conducted to appraise the current level of evidence within the literature that supported dissociation as a potential mediator. To this end, studies that assessed the variables of childhood trauma, dissociation and eating psychopathology within a single study were identified and systematically reviewed. Secondly, an empirical cross-sectional study was undertaken to investigate a multiple mediation model of the association between childhood trauma and eating psychopathology which included dissociation and emotion dysregulation as potential mediators. 165 undergraduate Psychology students took part in this study. Participants completed measures of childhood trauma, eating psychopathology, dissociation and emotion dysregulation. Experiences of multiple forms of childhood trauma were assessed, including emotional abuse (CEA), physical abuse (CPA), sexual abuse (CSA), emotional neglect (CEN) and physical neglect (CPN). Results: The results of the systematic review were inconclusive regarding the potential role of dissociation as a mediator in the relationships between childhood trauma and eating psychopathology. Findings within the reviewed studies generally offered more support for associations between childhood trauma and dissociation and dissociation and eating psychopathology. Studies reported more inconsistent findings regarding the association between childhood trauma and eating psychopathology. The results from the empirical study indicated that CEA and CEN were both significantly associated with increased eating psychopathology within the whole sample. These relationships were significantly mediated by both dissociation and emotion dysregulation. A separate analysis with female participants only, indicated that CPA and CPN in addition to CEA and CEN were significantly associated with increased eating psychopathology. The associations between CEA, CEN, CPN and eating psychopathology were all significantly mediated by both dissociation and emotion dysregulation. Dissociation and emotion dysregulation did not mediate the association between CPA and eating psychopathology. Conclusions: The studies included within the systematic review offered tentative support for an indirect relationship between childhood trauma and eating psychopathology through dissociation. Firm conclusions were limited, however, due to a number of methodological shortcomings identified within the included studies. The main methodological shortcomings concerned the definition and measurement of childhood trauma and the failure of a number of studies to address theoretical models within their research design. Addressing both of these methodological limitations, the results of the empirical study provided support for the growing consensus that emotional maltreatment may be an important risk factor for the development of eating psychopathology. Further, the results of this study indicate that childhood trauma impacts indirectly on eating psychopathology through an enduring effect on both dissociative and emotion regulation processes.

Assumptions are made by policy makers, service planners and providers that their aspirations for early childhood are shared by professionals, parents and children. Policy makers consistently use words such as holistic, integration, partnership and collaboration to describe the ways they wish early years practitioners to engage with children and families. In order to explore these assumptions and expectations this thesis utilises data from early years settings themselves (focus groups/interviews with parents and staff and child based activities) to critically examine the connections between participants’ ideas of childhood, Scottish Government policies and staff roles/responsibilities. It specifically utilises the experiences of staff, parents and children in selected early years settings in Scotland to critique the Scottish Government’s key policy document, the Early Years Framework (2008). In this thesis I identify four main themes from the data. These relate to early childhood experience: • in the home and the impact of work on family life • in the community and a child’s ability to participate • living independent lives with peers and the ability to take risks • in the inner life of the child and the impact of commercialism on her self image. I conclude that there was a measure of shared aspiration for young children between participants in my research and the Framework document in relation to the importance of building family and community based experiences. However, there were also wide differences in expectations relating to existing capacities of families and communities to support young children. In particular there was a lack of recognition in the Framework of the considerable pressures experienced by families and communities from wider economic and social forces driven by a neo-liberal marketised economy. This finding enabled the illumination of gaps and mismatches between policy objectives relating to family and community strength and the lived experiences of children, families and communities in Scotland. I identify in the thesis how such mismatches impact significantly on the ways in which services are organised and the ways in which practitioners understand their roles and responsibilities. Current professional responses are based in an assumed power and authority emanating from a restricted sense of professional identity. As such, they may act in a detrimental way on the development of collaborative, strengths based relationships between staff and parents and children. The thesis contributes to knowledge in this field by exposing, for the first time, the policy, practice and experience divides relating to creating strength and resilience in young children and their families in Scotland, and in discussing the implications for theoretical and policy based understandings of the relationships between the four themes identified above and professional responses.

This thesis is a practitioner based inquiry into how I can support the development of reflective dispositions within Early Childhood Studies (ECS) undergraduate students. The students involved in this research were all level 4 (first year, new entrants) who started their studies at an English University in September 2009. The study takes a Social Constructivist approach through pedagogical action research and was informed by a Reflective Methodology. My own beliefs regarding ontology lie in the notion that there is no one truth; that is multifaceted and that truths are ‘socially constructed multiple realities’ (Patton, 2002, p. 134). This is what Denzin and Lincoln (2008, p. 32) refer to as ‘relativist ontology’. It used qualitative methods to explore my own experiences and the experiences of students in establishing an understanding of expectations to use reflective practice to inform their developing professionalism. My own reflective journey has been a central part of this project and has enabled me to identify how my practice can be improved to enhance the development of a reflective culture within the Centre for Early Childhood in my institution. Reflective lenses of self, colleagues, students and literature have been used to create an understanding of the existing landscape of reflective practice within this particular context. Focus Group Discussion Forums (FGDF); reflective accounts; peer observation and Post-it Note response were all methods used to collect the data. A grounded theory approach to the data analysis was used which was both an inductive and deductive process. The findings of this research have been both enlightening and confirmatory. The pedagogical cultural differences between most new ECS students’ previous educational experiences, and those introduced when they start their programme in HE, entails a shift from a predominantly transmission approach to one of transformative learning. This requires an understanding of the tutor team to create an environment that is conducive to supporting students through this transition that is underpinned by Social Constructivist concepts. The data highlights that strategies already used within the ECS programme are complementary to this transition; however, it also highlights that tutors’ assumptions about students’ capabilities to demonstrate reflective practice is sometimes unreasonable. This research journey and the findings from the data of this project have enabled me to identify some key considerations when supporting the development of reflective dispositions within ECS students and in enabling a ‘Reflective Community of Early Childhood Practice’. These considerations include: • Transitional needs of students • Becoming professionally self-aware and developing a professional artistry • The significance of practical experience and its relationship to theoretical perspectives • Opportunities for collaboration within a community of practice The other significant finding from this inquiry is that of self-discovery and identifying that my own reflective limitations require consideration. My adaptation of Brookfield’s (1995) four lens theory, which includes a new ‘fifth dimension’ that uses a ‘peripheral socio-cultural lens’ to widen and enrich the critical reflective process, has been created. Post viva voce examination has prompted an additional section to this thesis (Section 6). This post script is a critically reflective piece from my perspective as a researcher. Applying my own theory of a wider perspective through a Socio Cultural peripheral lens (Figure 7) which has allowed me to explicitly communicate the significance of this project and demonstrate the relationships between the arguments I make and the impact of these within the early childhood sector and within extended fields of professional practice.

No description available.

<p> A mixed-method explanatory sequential design utilizing surveys and interviews conducted at three Florida library systems examines caregivers&rsquo; perceptions of emergent literacy programming, how these perceptions compare with the National Research Council&rsquo;s Features for Quality Programs for children, and what is their motivation for attending these programs. The results from the survey and interview reveal that caregivers&rsquo; perceptions of emergent literacy programming align with the National Research Council&rsquo;s Features for Quality Programs. The data shows caregivers&rsquo; perceptions are very positive toward emergent literacy programming in terms of learning and the environment. Themes emphasized in the interviews on why caregivers are motivated to attend include socialization, getting out of the house, and free access. The results of these surveys and interviews will inform public libraries as to how to design, market, and deliver emergent literacy programming to caregivers with very young children.</p>