Improving quality of the child care environment through a consultancy programme for centre directors

This study examined the effects of a newly developed on-site consultancy programme to improve global quality of the child care environment in non-parental child care centres for 0- to 4-year-old children as measured with the ITERS-R/ECERS-R. Using a randomised controlled trial with a pretest, posttest, and follow-up test, we compared 35 experimental group with 33 control group. The consultancy programme comprised three consultations in total. Analysis on the items that were specifically targeted during the consultancy showed a significant improvement on these targeted items between pretest and posttest and between posttest and follow-up. The effect of the consultancy programme on the total scores (including the non-targeted items) was not significant

UvA-DARE (Digital Academic Repository) Goodness-of-fit in Center Day Care: Relations of temperament, stability and quality of care with the child's adjustment Goodness-of-fit in center day care: relations of temperament, stability, and quality of care wit

Abstract In this study, the concept of 'goodness-of-fit' between the child's temperament and the environment, introduced by Thomas and Chess [Temperament and Development, Brunner/Mazel, New York, 1977], is applied within the setting of center day care. Mothers and primary professional caregivers of 186 children, aged 6-30 months, participated in this study. The child's problem behaviors were assessed with the CBCL Teacher Report Form [Achenbach, T.M., Guide for the Caregiver-Teacher Report Form for Ages 2-5, Department of Psychiatry, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT, 1997]. The child's socio-emotional well-being in day care was measured with the Leiden Inventory for the Child's Well-Being in Day Care. The Infant Characteristics Questionnaire measured the child's temperament. Children with an easier temperament showed less internalizing and total problem behavior and more well-being. The results suggest that for children with a more difficult temperament, several parallel care arrangements interfere with the process of adapting to the day care setting. Also, our results indicate that in the group of children with greater availability of trusted caregivers, a more easy-going temperament was associated with more well-being. The association between temperament and well-being was not found in the group of children with less access to trusted caregivers

Quantification of teaching behavior in physical education : a methodological study /

Diss. doct. sociale wetenschappe

Men and women in childcare: a study of caregiver–child interactions

In this observational study, male and female professional caregivers’ (n = 42) levels of sensitivity and stimulation toward three-year-old children (n = 42) were observed in a semi-structured play situation. Further, sex roles of male and female caregivers were examined with the Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI). Male and female caregivers showed the same levels of attention, sensitivity, and stimulation toward boys and girls. Furthermore, all caregivers were classified as feminine or androgynous, but not masculine. Only for female caregivers was a positive relation found between higher levels of femininity and more stimulation of girls. Taken together, these findings provide evidence that male and female staff in childcare share similar interaction styles and sex roles. However, our findings suggest that caregivers’ sex roles should be included in future research as well as in the debate on men in childcare

CTA – the World’s largest ground-based gamma-ray observatory

International audienc