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- Building inclusive preschool classrooms: How desirable and feasible is a set of strategies that facilitate teacher-child relationships?Publication . Sanches-Ferreira, Manuela; Gonçalves, Joana L.; Araújo, Sara Barros; Alves, Sílvia; Barros, SílviaPositive teacher-child relationships promote children’s engagement, as children feel more secure to explore and participate in free or oriented activities. For children with disabilities, a context wherein they can receive the support to maintain a positive engagement in different activities is even more relevant. A scarcity of research exists on how to promote ECEC quality, namely, how to facilitate teacher-child interactions in inclusive environments. This study aims to evaluate preschool teachers’ opinions about the desirability and feasibility of a set of empirically validated strategies to improve teacher-child interactions in ECEC classrooms, for the group and children with disabilities. The participants were 89 Portuguese preschool teachers. Based on a non-systematic literature review, a questionnaire composed of 22 strategies to facilitate teacher-child interactions (in 4 dimensions: emotionally responsive interactions, classroom management, attend to children’s perspectives, and scaffolding learning) was developed. Along with the questionnaire, a set of socio-demographic variables was also collected. ECEC teachers scored significantly higher in the desirability subscale compared with the feasibility subscale in all dimensions and at both the child and the group level. This gap between teachers’ perceived desirability and feasibility provides important insights regarding the dimensions which are important to reinforce in ECEC teachers’ education and professional development. The mean difference between the desirability and feasibility subscales registered a higher effect size at the child’s level than at the group’s level, confirming that the inclusion of children with disabilities in preschool settings remains a challenge. Moreover, the effect size was small to moderate in the Emotionally Responsive Interactions dimension for both child and group levels. These results are aligned with previous studies stating that among different self-identified dimensions for improvement, emotional support is the less evoked by ECEC teachers. Across all dimensions, the main reason teachers give for difficulty in feasibility, both at the group and child’s level, is lack of knowledge. Overall, understanding the reasons teachers attribute to the difference between the strategies’ desirability and feasibility informs the assessment of teacher education needs and might be operationalized as a new observation instrument.
- Transição para a creche e bem-estar emocional dos bebês em PortugalPublication . Peixoto, Carla; Barros, Sílvia; Coelho, Vera; Cadima, Joana; Pinto, Ana Isabel; Pessanha, ManuelaO presente estudo analisa a relação entre a implementação de práticas de transição do contexto familiar para a creche e o bem-estar emocional dos bebês durante o primeiro de mês de frequência neste contexto extrafamiliar. Foram recolhidos dados, antes e após a entrada do bebê na creche, junto das mães e das educadoras de 90 bebês.Os resultados indicaram que o número de práticas de transição reportadas pelas educadoras se revela positivamente associado ao bem-estar emocional dos bebês durante o primeiro mês de frequência da creche. Estes resultados recomendam a implementação de um conjunto diversificado de práticas de transição, antes e após a entrada na creche, no sentido de facilitar a adaptação dos bebês ao novo contexto desenvolvimental.
- Roles of the interaction with children and families in mediating the association between digital health literacy and well-being of early childhood teachers in Portugal: A cross-sectional studyPublication . Rosário, Rafaela; Araújo, Sara Barros; Silva, Ana; Barros, SílviaAim To analyze the associations between early childhood education (ECE) teachers´ digital health literacy (DHL) and well-being, and to determine whether the ECE teachers´ interaction with children and family mediated these associations. Methods A total of 853 early childhood teachers, predominantly women (99.4%) participated in this cross-sectional study. The participants had a mean age of 39.9 years (standard deviation SD = 8.2). Data was collected through an online survey. DHL was assessed using five subscales adapted to the new coronavirus context, and the professionals´ well-being was measured using the WHO-5 well-being scale. Binary logistic regression and mediation analysis were used to analyze the data. Results ECE teachers’ DHL in dimensions of “information searching” and “determining relevance” had both direct and indirect effect on their well-being. Specifically, higher DHL in these dimensions was associated with better well-being. The dimension “evaluating reliability” had an indirect positive effect on well-being by promoting interaction with children. Conclusion These findings suggest that improving ECE teachers´ DHL could have a positive effect on their well-being and their interactions with children. Therefore, it is recommended to develop health promotion practices aimed at enhancing DHL among ECE teachers. Additionally, integrating DHL contents and competencies more prominently into the qualification, further education and training of ECE teachers may help equip them with the necessary skills to access and apply health information effectively. This, in turn, can enhance interactions with children and contribute to their overall well-being.
- Exploring teacher-family partnerships in infant center-based care: A comparative study of teachers' and mothers' perspectives and influential factorsPublication . Coelho, Vera; Barros, Sílvia; Peixoto, Carla; Pessanha, Manuela; Cadima, Joana; Bryant, DonnaTeacher-family partnership are elements of high-quality early childhood education and care (ECEC). Nevertheless, the need for better understanding such partnerships and factors influencing it particularly for children under three is underlined. This study compares teachers’ and mothers’ reports regarding real and ideal partnership practices, exploring child, ECEC and family level predictors of partnership. Mothers and teachers of 90 infants answered the Real-Ideal Teacher-parents Partnership Scale (Gaspar, 1996). Classroom quality was observed with CLASS-Infants (Hamre et al., 2014); home environment with HOME (Caldwell & Bradley, 1984); child temperament with IBQ (Rothbart, 1981). Results show that both mothers and teachers report a medium-high number of implemented practices. Ideally, they would like a significantly higher number of practices to be implemented. Mothers and teachers report of real and ideal practices were significantly associated. Teachers tend to report more practices than mothers. Teacher qualification was uniquely and positively associated with real partnership practices reported both by teachers and mothers. Teacher qualification was the only statistically significant predictor of ideal practices reported by teachers; mothers’ education predicted mothers’ report on ideal partnerships. Results point to the relevance of teacher qualification for better partnerships, particularly considering the variability of legal requirements regarding teacher qualification in infant classrooms across Europe.
- Participação das crianças: Dos direitos às práticasPublication . Barros, Sílvia; Pessanha, Manuela; Guimarães, Cristiana
- Pedagogia / educação Social: teorias práticas: espaços de investigação, formação e açãoPublication . Delgado, Paulo; Barros, Sílvia; Serrão, Carla; VEIGA, SOFIA; Martins, Teresa; Guedes, António; Diogo, Fernando; Araújo, Maria JoséEstamos viviendo una época de emergencia de la pedagogía social. Después de una trayectoria muy irregular de más de siglo y medio de existencia, parece que nuestra disciplina y nuestro campo de trabajo está viviendo un renacimiento y un reconocimiento en muy diversas partes del mundo. Sin duda no es una causa menor el hecho de que se haya introducido en el ámbito anglosajón que, como es sabido, domina buena parte de los circuitos mundiales de distribución de la producción académica en lengua inglesa. La extensión de la pedagogía social a Norteamérica y a algunas zonas de Asia puede, quizás, explicarse por este efecto. Pero este hecho no explica por sí solo esta emergencia, dado que también se está extendiendo por Latinoamérica donde las lenguas mayoritarias son el español y el portugués. Creo que su actualidad obedece más a características propias de la pedagogía social en tanto que acción teórico-práctica compleja. Me parece que es precisamente este atributo de complejidad el que le otorga una tan gran capacidad y versatilidad de respuesta ante las situaciones y problemáticas socioculturales actuales.
- A experiência do bebé na creche: Perceções de mães e de educadoras no período de transição do contexto familiar para a crechePublication . Grande, Catarina Rodrigues; Nunes, Inês Brandão; Coelho, Vera; Cadima, Joana; Barros, SílviaA transição do bebé para a creche constitui um processo crítico e complexo para os profissionais das creches, as famílias e as crianças, que experienciam a separação dos pais e a adaptação a um novo espaço, a novas rotinas e a novas pessoas com quem passam a interagir (Datler, Ereky-Stevens, Hover-Reisner, & LarsErik Malmberg, 2012). Assim, uma transição cuidadosamente planificada deve ser integrada no funcionamento global da creche procurando identificar fatores que influenciam a adaptação do bebé ao novo contexto e fatores que promovam a continuidade de práticas e rotinas entre o contexto de creche e o contexto familiar (Peixoto, Coelho, Pinto, Cadima, Barros, & Pessanha, 2014). Este estudo visa contribuir para a compreensão da experiência do bebé no período de transição do ambiente familiar para a creche, analisando a perceção das mães e das educadoras acerca do estado emocional do bebé, da manutenção das rotinas e da comunicação família-creche nesse período. Mães e educadoras de 90 bebés da Grande Área Metropolitana do Porto responderam ao Questionário de Experiência na Creche (Skouteris & Dissanayake, 2001), na primeira e na quarta semana de frequência da creche. A perceção das mães e educadoras acerca do estado emocional dos bebés, da manutenção das rotinas e comunicação família-creche foi positiva, verificando-se perceções mais positivas das educadoras relativamente ao estado emocional e à comunicação família-creche. Da primeira para a quarta semana registou-se (a) uma avaliação mais positiva do estado emocional dos bebés, percebido pelas mães e educadoras; e (b) uma diminuição da frequência da comunicação. Adicionalmente, os resultados indicam que um estado emocional dos bebés mais positivo parece estar associado a uma maior frequência de comunicação entre a família e creche, relatada pelas educadoras. Foi ainda verificado que as crianças que permanecem menos tempo na creche na primeira semana são as que apresentam um estado emocional mais positivo na quarta semana, de acordo com a perceção das educadoras. Este estudo parece sublinhar o cuidado das famílias e educadores na transição dos bebés para a creche e destacar a importância do envolvimento das famílias e profissionais para um melhor ajustamento do bebé.
- A focus group study on participatory practices in Early Childhood Education and Care across four european countriesPublication . Barros, Sílvia; Coelho, Vera; Wysłowska, Olga; Penderi, Efthymia; Taelman, Helena; Araújo, Sara Barros; Correia, Nadine; Markowska-Manista, Urszula; Petrogiannis, Konstantinos; Boderé, Anneleen; Pessanha, Manuela; Guimarães, Cristiana; Aguiar, CecíliaParticipation in educational settings is a universal right of every child, consigned by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. This right encompasses the need to protect and encourage young children´s active participation and decision-making in early childhood education and care. Research Findings: This qualitative study, inspired by the Lundy model (2007), examined ECEC teachers’ (n = 25) and coordinators’ (n = 25) perceptions about participation practices, collected through focus groups conducted in Belgium, Greece, Poland, and Portugal. Participants were previously referred as implementing participatory practices. Results showed that the four dimensions of the Lundy model emerged in teachers’ and coordinators’ group discussions: Participative space, Children’s voice, Audience of children’s perspectives, and Influence. Furthermore, a number of subcategories in each dimension reflected different orientations toward participatory pedagogy. Practice or Policy: This study contributes to informing and inspiring participation practices in ECEC across Europe and to enriching policy discussions regarding children´s participation rights, particularly in the early years. Promising participatory practices were identified in the various dimensions of participation, though some challenges remain, requiring in-depth knowledge about pedagogical practices and the promotion of initiatives to empower professionals to enhance children’s right to participate, particularly at the center-level.