Thesis (M.S.)--Eastern Illinois University, 1994. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 56-58).

Thesis (M. Ed.)--University of Toronto, 2007. / Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 45-06, page: 2799.

Thesis(M.S.)--Auburn University, 2006. / Abstract. Includes bibliographic references (p.68-73).

Thesis (M.S.)--Eastern Illinois University, 1996. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 136-138).

This thesis is an exploratory ecological study of the role of the family environment as it relates to a number of variables under investigation in the Vancouver Day Care Research Project's extensive contextual study of children enrolled in family day care settings. These variables include child language scores, indices of socio-economic status, conditions of maternal employment and attitudes related to maternal employment, other measures of the home environment, and parental attitudes to childrearing. In addition, the family environments of the family day care caregivers were examined in relation to the quality of care provided. The Moos Family Environment Scale (1986) was administered to parents and caregivers enrolled in the study. Scores from its ten subscales were correlated with measures of the variables of interest and then tested for significance. Data was then analyzed for important trends, patterns and highlights. Results showed that exposure of family members to stimulating ideas and activities is facilitative of child language skills, while an emphasis on achievement seems to have a negative effect. Families from higher socio-economic status homes seemed to be more likely to provide these opportunities for their children, particularly if they are well-educated. Findings also indicate that mothers who are satisfied with their employment tend to provide more positive family environments for their children than those who are working reluctantly. Mothers who worked part-time also appeared to provide better family environments than did those who experienced the increased stress of full-time employment. Adult-centered parenting values which stressed obedience were associated with family environments which were less facilitative of child cognitive development, whereas homes with child-centered parenting values appeared to be more positive. Family day care caregivers who provided superior childcare were found to be more organized in their own families, more supportive of one another, and more able to allow their family members to function independently than were other caregivers. There was considerable overlap in the results for each variable of interest; many similar features were found in the environments which were considered optimal in terms of language development, socio-economic factors, conditions of maternal employment, attitudes to childrearing, and high quality care for children. The study results strongly support the importance of exposure to a wide range of intellectual and cultural stimuli, participation in activities outside the home, expression of feelings amongst family members, and well-organized family functioning in the creation of optimal family environments; an emphasis on achievement, and the use of rigid rules and doctrine were found to be deleterious to the creation of positive home environments. / Education, Faculty of / Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department of / Graduate

Employing institutional ethnography, this research is an examination of the everyday activities of mothers who provide licensed family child care in their homes in the southern region of Vancouver Island, British Columbia. From this standpoint, I map the work of being licensed to show how their activities, homes and families become articulated to the textual organization of an institutional matrix of regulation. While the institutional matrix is conceptually organized around ensuring the provision of quality child care, family child care providers’ descriptions of their work to maintain licensure illustrate how they find themselves acquiescing to and/ or challenging the ways in which their work is co-ordinated for the administrative purposes of legal compliance with minimum health and safety standards. / Graduate / 0626 / 0518 / 0630 / naomi.northstar@gmail.com

Thesis (M.S.)--Auburn University, 2007. / Abstract. Vita. Includes bibliographic references (ℓ. 58-61)

The purposes of this study are to examine the reported childrearing beliefs and practices of family day home caregivers, to examine the reported childrearing beliefs and practices of parents whose children are in a family day home, and to determine the congruency of the reported childrearing beliefs and practices between caregivers and parents. The childrearing beliefs and practices selected for the study are in the areas of discipline, sleeping, feeding-eating, toilet training, sex-role development, and selected home activities.

Abstract The purpose of the study was to describe family day care as part of the Finnish day care system, to analyze the views of family day care staff and parents concerning family day care and its quality and, based on these findings, to outline a theoretical model of the key determinants of the quality of family day care. The empirical data were collected through a survey with a focus on open-ended questions concerning family day care and its quality. The survey was carried out in different parts of Finland, and both large and small municipalities from different geographical parts of Finland were included. The response percentage was 93 % for family day care providers and 95 % for family day care supervisors. The parental inquiry was carried out as a case study, and 33 families responded. Methods of both inductive and deductive content analysis were applied. The parents of children in family day care and the family care supervisors listed the following factors as key challenges for the quality of family day care: development of the education and professionality of family day care providers, diversification of the functional contents of family day care and promotion of planning and goal orientation. These requirements are partly contradictory to the quality criteria presented by the day care providers themselves. The family day care providers considered conscious and goal-oriented education and instruction secondary, but underlined the importance of warm togetherness, a home-like environment and individual care. According to the family day care providers, the most important aspect of quality improvement is the need to improve family day care providers' salary and working time regulations and to enhance co-operation and internal welfare within the working community. For theoretically modelling the quality of family day care, four key approaches to quality were applied in the study: 1) family day care provider's personality and professionality, 2) functioning and functional environment of family day care, 3) goals of family day care and 4) impacts of family day care. Apart from the different approaches to quality, the findings also highlighted some matters crucial to the quality of family day care, some of which emerged from the empirical material and some others from a review of the research literature. In the theoretical model of the quality of family day care based on a synthesis of the findings, these factors were divided into five larger categories of factors: 1) societal factors, 2) factors related to the organization of family day care 3) factors related to the educational process, 4) factors related to the family care provider and 5) factors related to the impact of family day care. The model will provide municipalities a scientific basis for evaluating and developing the quality of family day care in co-operation with the staff, children and parents. / Tiivistelmä Tutkimuksen tehtävänä oli kuvata perhepäivähoitoa osana suomalaista päivähoitojärjestelmää, tarkastella perhepäivähoitohenkilöstön ja vanhempien käsityksiä perhepäivähoidosta ja sen laadusta sekä edellisiin pohjautuen rakentaa teoreettinen jäsennys perhepäivähoidon keskeisistä laatutekijöistä. Tutkimuksen empiirinen aineisto on kerätty kyselytutkimuksena, jossa painopiste oli perhepäivähoitoa ja sen laatua kartoittavissa avoimissa kysymyksissä. Kysely suunnattiin siten, että mukaan saatiin sekä pieniä että suuria kuntia maantieteellisesti eri puolilta Suomea. Vastausprosentiksi muodostui perhepäivähoitajien osalta 93 % ja ohjaajien osalta 95 %. Vanhemmille suunnattu kysely toteutettiin case-luonteisena kyselytutkimuksena, johon vastasi 33 perhettä. Tutkimusaineiston analyysissa on hyödynnetty sekä induktiivista että deduktiivista sisällön analyysia. Tutkimus osoitti, että perhepäivähoitolasten vanhemmat ja perhepäivähoidon ohjaajat pitävät laadun kannalta keskeisenä haasteena hoitajien koulutuksen ja ammatillisuuden kehittämistä, perhepäivähoidon toimintasisältöjen monipuolistamista sekä toiminnan suunnitelmallisuuden ja tavoitteellisuuden lisäämistä. Tämä vaade on osittain ristiriidassa perhepäivähoitajien omien laatukäsitysten kanssa. Perhepäivähoitajat pitävät tietoista ja tavoitteellista kasvattamista ja opettamista toisarvoisena ja korostavat lämminhenkisen yhdessäolon, kodinomaisuuden ja yksilöllisen hoivan merkitystä. Perhepäivähoitajien mukaan laadun kehittämisessä on tärkeintä perhepäivähoitajien palkkaus- ja työaikasäädösten kohentaminen sekä työyhteisön sisäisen yhteistyön ja hyvinvoinnin kehittäminen. Perhepäivähoidon laadun teoreettisen jäsentämisen perustaksi löytyi tutkimuksessa neljä keskeistä laadun tarkastelukulmaa: 1) perhepäivähoitajan persoonallisuus ja ammattitaito, 2) perhepäivähoidon toiminta ja toimintaympäristö, 3) perhepäivähoidon tavoitteet ja 4) perhepäivähoidon vaikutukset. Laadun eri tarkastelukulmien lisäksi tutkimuksesta löytyi tiettyjä perhepäivähoidon laadun kannalta keskeisiä tekijöitä, joista osa nousi esiin sekä tutkimukseni empiirisestä aineistosta että perhepäivähoidon laatuun liittyvästä tutkimuskirjallisuuskoonnista. Tutkimustulosten synteesinä luodussa perhepäivähoidon laadun teoreettisessa mallissa nämä tekijät on jaoteltu viiteen laajempaan tekijäluokkaan: 1) yhteiskunnalliset tekijät , 2) perhepäivähoidon organisointiin liittyvät tekijät, 3) kasvatusprosessiin liittyvät tekijät , 4) perhepäivähoitajaan kytkeytyvät tekijät sekä 5) perhepäivähoidon vaikutuksiin liittyvät tekijät. Malli antaa kunnille tieteellisesti perustellun pohjan arvioida ja kehittää perhepäivähoidon laatua yhteistyössä henkilöstön, lasten ja vanhempien kanssa.

This scientific essay starts with a description of a dilemma that I as a childminder find hard to handle. The story is reproducing an incident where this day care child -John- is getting an outburst that is affecting many persons in the group activity local for childminders. The problems that are created by the repeated defiant and unwieldy outbursts by this boy are challenging to handle. I have got certain experiences of children with special needs, but that competence is not sufficient in this case. The text also describes the doubt if a single childminder really is capable to handle a child that is demanding a lot more assistance than what is normal among day care children. Is it possible to offer all the children secure attention and interesting learning when one of them is demanding extra attention and support? Would an single-handed educator be able to help the boy to function better in social contexts? When I reflect over my dilemma, I am framing my questions. Through the writing I seek a deeper insight about what solutions eventually turns out to work for the challenging child. As a result of this examining writing process, I have found that the including of the child in the day care group was successful beyond expectation. The relation between me and the child is developing in a positive way when I choose to handle his tantrums in a less emotional way. An empathic approach and dialogues opens up for a cooperation which give the child possibilities to become a participant and able to affect his everyday situation at the family day care. The smaller group is a postulate for the positive development taking place within the boy. According to me, professional childminders should have a natural place as carers to children who for various reasons do not work or thrive in larger groups. The essay also includes explorations of other educators experiences in the form of participating observations on a preschool. The initial report, the observations, the empirical analysis and the result are all linked together with the theories of practical knowledge, my reflections, new insights, theoretical knowledge, research and literature that strengthen these. The practical knowledge is running like a red thread through the text. / Den här vetenskapliga essän börjar med en beskrivning av ett dilemma, som jag som dagbarnvårdare, upplever svårhanterligt. Berättelsen återger en incident där dagbarnet, John får ett utbrott, som påverkar många personer på dagbarnvårdarnas gruppverksamhet. Problemen som pojkens återkommande trotsiga och svårhanterliga anfall orsakar är utmanande att handskas med. Viss erfarenhet av barn med speciella behov har jag men den kompetensen räcker inte till i det här fallet. Jag funderar över vilken inverkan pojkens raserianfall har på de andra barnen och vuxna i gruppverksamheten -både i den större och mindre gruppen som barnet vistas i. I texten beskrivs också tvivlet över huruvida en ensam arbetande dagbarnvårdare är kapabel att hantera ett barn, som kräver betydande assistans utöver det som dagbarn vanligtvis gör. Kan en pedagog på egen hand hjälpa pojken att fungera bättre i socialt kontext? När jag reflekterar över mitt dilemma så väcks mina frågeställningar. Genom skrivandet söker jag en djupare insikt om det som med tiden visar sig fungera för det utmanande barnet. Till följd av den här granskande skrivprocessen har jag kommit fram till att inkludering av barnet i dagbarnsgruppen lyckades över förväntan. Relationen mellan barnet och mig utvecklas positivt när jag väljer att hantera de problematiska utbrotten mindre emotionellt. Empatiskt förhållningssätt och samtal öppnar till ett samarbete, som ger barnet möjlighet att vara delaktig och påverka sin vardag på familjedaghemmet. Den mindre gruppen är en förutsättning för den gynnsamma utvecklingen som sker hos pojken. Enligt mig bör yrkesgruppen dagbarnvårdare ha sin givna plats som omsorgsgivare för barn som inte av olika anledningar trivs eller mår bra i större grupper. Uppsatsen innehåller även ett utforskande av andra pedagogers erfarenheteri form av deltagande observationer på en förskola. Den inledande berättelsen, observationerna, analysenav empirin samt resultatet knyts samman med den praktiska kunskapens teori, mina reflektioner, nya insikter, teoretiska kunskaper, forskning och litteratur som stärker dessa. Den praktiska kunskapen går som en röd tråd genom texten.