An observational assessment of parent–teacher cocaring relationships in infant–toddler classrooms

Abstract

ABSTRACTCocaring encompasses how parents and teachers work together to coordinate caregiving. Two critical components of cocaring have demonstrated importance for child and parent well-being: support and undermining. Although parent–teacher relationships have been studied via qualitative interviews and through self-administered questionnaires, little observational research has been conducted. This study sought to develop an observational approach to measure the quality of cocaring relationships by recording and coding parent–teacher interactions. Eighteen mother–teacher dyads of 6- to 36-month-old children from six childcare centers were video recorded during morning drop-off and evening pick-up times. Fifty-eight videos were coded for eight dimensions of cocaring quality, representing observed support and undermining. Results indicated strong inter-rater reliability and associations amongst the individual dimensions consistent with theory, thus supporting initial construct validity. This study offers a new observational tool to assess cocaring relationships and provides practical information about the kinds of behaviors that convey support and undermining in everyday interactions.