Child Care Workers Research Articles

Barriers to collaboration between school teachers and child care workers: implications for HRM and school leadership

PurposeWhilst an urgent need for collaboration is increasingly seen in education to better respond to socio-educational challenges, in practice, collaboration between primary school teachers and their partners is hampered by barriers. The aim of this study is to shed light on these barriers from a human resource management (HRM) angle, using the ability, motivation and opportunity (AMO) framework.Design/methodology/approachQuantitative and qualitative data were collected amongst staff in 16 child centres offering joint pre-school, education and childcare.FindingsThe authors' findings suggest that in general, both teachers and childcare workers perceive themselves as skilled and motivated for collaboration. They perceive aspects of opportunity to perform as most important barriers.Practical implicationsBased on this research, school leaders are advised to organise opportunities for collaboration, especially by fostering an inclusive organisational climate and scheduling sufficient time for collaboration.Originality/valueThis paper contributes to the relatively scarce body of research on HRM within the education sector. Furthermore, it illustrates the applicability of the AMO model for gaining insight into how educational management can be utilised to foster increased collaboration between teachers and childcare workers.

Study on noise and vibration when the train passes for nursery schools located under the elevated railway

In Japan, as news about child-care, there is a problem of waiting-list children. Demand for nursery schools is high, but there are few vacant lots around Tokyo, and voices of children playing are complained as noise. Because of lots of vacant lots and convenient for pick-up, nursery schools located under the elevated railway increase in recent years. In 2022, There are 91 nursery schools located under the elevated railway in Tokyo, Kanagawa, Chiba, and Saitama. It will be these nursery schools are heavily influenced by noise and vibration when the train passes. But measures sufficient against noise and vibration are necessary for the growth and health of children in nursery schools. Therefore, we surveyed of questionnaire survey for child-care workers and noise and vibration when the train passes for some nursery schools located under the elevated railway. Based on the result of questionnaire survey for child-care workers, we consider differences between answer about noise and vibration by nursery schools. And we consider differences between measurement results about noise and vibration when the train passes for nursery schools.

Organizational changes in the public sector and employee presenteeism: does (change) leadership matter?

ABSTRACT This study investigates the effect of organizational changes on public employees’ choice of going to work, despite feeling ill (presenteeism). By the lens of change management theory and leadership literature, we explain how leaders mitigate presenteeism among their employees in an organizational change context. We explore this relationship by using a quantitative two-wave panel survey from 2011 to 2014, with the same 689 childcare workers in Denmark. Results suggest that individuals exhibit higher presenteeism in the context of organizational change, but that both change leadership and leadership quality help to mitigate the effect.

How New Mothers’ and Fathers’ Allocation of Tasks Relate to Their Coparenting Relationship

New parents must decide how to divide household, childcare, and financial responsibilities. These divisions can be difficult, especially when couples’ wants do not align. Interviewing ethnically and racially diverse new parents ( n = 198 couples), we explore how parents’ desired allocation of childcare, household, and financial tasks differ from perceived distribution and whether discrepancies relate to coparenting relationship quality. All parents perceived mothers doing more housework and childcare and fathers contributing more financially. When women reported doing more housework and childcare than wanted, coparenting relationship quality was lower. For women, discrepancies between what they and their partners report was associated with lower coparenting relationship quality. Findings reflect traditional gender roles among new parents and women’s desire for their partners to take on more household and childcare work. Such findings can help inform parenting interventions for new parents, encouraging communication between partners about the division of tasks to support their coparenting relationship.

NURSE EDUCATION YESTERDAY, TODAY, TOMORROW

The traditional orientation of the international organization of the Red Cross to support and raise nursing as a relevant factor in the achievement of goals and the transfer of work programs towards the protection and improvement of people's health, contributed to the Red Cross of Serbia developing its activity towards the increasingly complex training of health care personnel. The path was covered from lower schools for child care workers in republican centers, through a high school for nurses in Belgrade, to the eminent higher school for nurses - "College in Simina Street", the founder, together with the health service, planned to employ the first generations in key places in the teaching bases of the school and in schools for nurses, in order to ensure quality staff for raising the level of professional work and for inclusion in the processes of education and upbringing of generations of nurses to come. The Higher Medical School in Belgrade was founded in 1958 with two departments: the Department of Senior Nursing Technicians and the Department of Senior Sanitary Technicians. The education of senior nurses in Serbia until 1973 was carried out in two schools, namely the Higher School for Nurses of the Yugoslav Red Cross and the Higher Medical School in Belgrade. Already in 1971, the idea of integrating the Higher School for Nurses of the Yugoslav Red Cross with the Higher Medical School in Belgrade was initiated. Since 2007, the transformation of the school from higher to high has begun, and a study program of basic vocational studies for nurses has been created. This programme was accredited by the decision of the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Serbia dated April 30, 2007. The goal of the program is the higher education of nurses who should be qualified to work in the field of theoretical and practical nursing and to take on responsible tasks for the protection and improvement of health. The school's specialist study programs have a clearly defined role in the system of higher education of nurses, and they follow on from the basic professional studies. The new study program for Vocational master's nurse - clinical nursing lasts two school years and is realized through five modules within the framework of theoretical work, exercises, independent work of students, professional practice in health institutions, and the preparation of a master's thesis under the supervision of a mentor.

Institutional Barriers to Affording Managed Opportunities for Independence in Residential Care: Perceptions and Experiences of Child and Youth Care Workers

ABSTRACT The importance of preparing young people for independent adulthood is widely acknowledged in care-leaving literature. Within the residential care setting, child and youth care workers play a crucial role in preparing young people for life after care, by affording them managed opportunities for independence. However, preparation generally receives limited attention in residential care, due to institutional factors that hinder preparation. Research that focuses on the experiences of child and youth care workers who work with children in residential care is also limited, despite their contribution to preparing young people for independent functioning. This paper aims to describe institutional barriers experienced by child and youth care workers in their efforts to afford young people in care, managed opportunities for independence. A qualitative, grounded theory methodology was employed to collect and analyze data. Nine child and youth care workers were purposively sampled from several Child and Youth Care Centres in South Africa. Findings indicate that lack of professional credibility, inadequate mandate, possible negative consequences for child and youth care workers, and funding constraints are barriers to the practice of managed opportunities for independence in residential care. Implications for residential care program and child and youth care practice are set out.

HURTing: An Analysis of Service User and Carer Referrals to a UK Social Work Regulator

Abstract In the context of increasing regulation of social workers internationally, this study examines allegations made to a UK social work regulator, the Northern Ireland Social Care Council (NISCC), by service users and carers. A retrospective review of 134 records relating to such allegations during the ten-year period 2006–2015 was undertaken, representing just over one-third (36.4 per cent) of all allegations received. Allegations were made primarily about family and child-care social workers (91.0 per cent) and reflected the four inter-linking categories of concerns about the honesty of social workers, reports that service users/carers were treated unequally, allegations that social workers failed to demonstrate respect in their interactions with service users/carers, and concerns about technical aspects of social workers’ practice. The nature of these allegations forms the acronym HURT that describes both the experiences of service users/carers and the stressful context in which social workers practice. This article concludes that addressing the stress and HURT of both parties is important and makes suggestions regarding how the findings can strengthen the role of the regulator, influence social work practice and empower service users and carers.

Artificial Intelligence in Childcare: Assessing the Performance and Acceptance of ChatGPT Responses.

Purpose This study aimed to evaluate the performance and acceptance of responses generated by ChatGPT-3.5 and GPT-4 to Japanese childcare-related questions to assess their potential applicability and limitations in the childcare field, specifically focusing on the accuracy, usefulness, and empathy of the generated answers. Methods We evaluated answers in Japanese generated by GPT-3.5 and GPT-4 for two types of childcare-related questions. ① For the written examination questions of Japan's childcare worker national examination for 2023's fiscal year, we calculated the correct answer rates using official answers. ② We selected one question from each of the seven categories from the child-rearing questions posted on the Japanese National Childcare Workers Association's website and had GPT-3.5 and GPT-4 generate answers. These were evaluated alongside existing childcare worker answers by human professionals. Five childcare workers then blindly selected what they considered the best answer among the three and rated them on a five-point scale for 'accuracy,' 'usefulness,' and 'empathy.' Results In the examination consisting of 160 written questions, both GPT-3.5 and GPT-4 produced responses to all 155 questions, excluding four questions omitted due to copyright concerns and one question deemed invalid due to inherent flaws in the question itself, with correct answer rates of 30.3% for GPT-3.5 and 47.7% for GPT-4 (p<0.01). For the child-rearing Q&A questions, childcare worker answers by human professionals were chosen as the best answer most frequently (45.7%), followed by GPT-3.5 (31.4%) and GPT-4 (22.9%). While GPT-3.5 received the highest average rating for accuracy (3.69 points), childcare worker answers by human professionals received the highest average ratings for usefulness and empathy (both 3.57 points). Conclusions Both GPT-3.5 and GPT-4 failed to meet the passing criteria in Japan's childcare worker national examination, and for the child-rearing questions, GPT-3.5 was rated higher in accuracy despite lower correct answer rates. Over half of the childcare workers considered the ChatGPT-generated answers to be the best ones, yet concerns about accuracy were observed, highlighting the potential risk of incorrect information in the Japanese context.

Why childcare workers work when ill: organizational position matter

ABSTRACT Working despite being ill is a challenging behaviour in the childcare sector. Whereas previous research on presenteeism often ignores whether a subject is a leader or an employee, we examine herein how organizational position affects presenteeism and the reasons for presenteeism among childcare workers. By analysing data from a two wave panel of 827 employees and leaders from the occupational group of childcare workers, we find that presenteeism is higher among employees than among leaders, however, not when we control for absenteeism. Employees and leaders have different reasons for going to work despite being ill. For instance, leaders have a higher probability of going to work ill because they want to avoid creating a backlog of work tasks. In contrast, employees have a higher probability of presenteeism out of consideration for colleagues. Overall, the findings provide insights into how presenteeism is affected by different organizational positions in the childcare sector.

Religion and Spirituality among Child and Youth Care Workers in KwaZulu-Natal

There has been little empirical research on the salience of spirituality in a child and youth care context. In order to bridge this scholarly gap, this study sought to investigate the views of child and youth care practitioners in KwaZulu-Natal, with regard to the role of religion and spirituality in child and youth care. A cross-sectional survey design was used to gather data from 215 practitioners working in various child and youth care settings. The study found high levels of personal religiosity and spirituality among the sample and significant support for the role of religion and spirituality and the use of spiritually based interventions, despite little educational preparedness in this regard.

No nanny state: How ‘infrastructures of dissent’ can help disenfranchised childcare workers mobilise

No nanny state: How ‘infrastructures of dissent’ can help disenfranchised childcare workers mobilise

Gender, Ethnicity and Unpaid Domestic Work Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Malaysia

The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in mandatory work-from-home arrangements and the closure of schools and daycare centres, placing an additional burden on families. Using an online survey carried out during the second Movement Control Order in January 2021, this survey was about who is responsible for housework and childcare work and the subjective time pressure, spare time and satisfaction. Our results indicated that housework and childcare were shouldered by women rather than men during both periods, i.e., before and during the pandemic. In addition, housework and childcare were viewed by many women as either their sole or shared responsibilities with their partners. Contrarily, many men believed that housework and childcare should be shared or fully borne by their spouses. The gender differences in managing domestic responsibilities persist before and during the pandemic. Furthermore, the findings conclude that there is a significant association between gender and unpaid domestic work responsibilities for certain ethnic groups and not all ethnic groups within both periods. Our findings also revealed that during the pandemic, most women reported time pressure and dissatisfaction towards the division of housework and childcare among couples. Overall, reducing women’s burden of unpaid domestic work and improving their well-being is crucial.

Archival oddities: Rosalie Rayner's application to take graduate classes.

In the history of psychology, Rosalie Rayner is known as a research assistant to behaviorist John B. Watson in the study of a baby named Albert, coauthor of articles describing that research, and coauthor of Psychological Care of Infant and Child. Rayner also wrote two magazine articles about her experience as a mother and the wife of Watson (Harris, 2014). Thanks to archivist James Stimpert, the author discovered that she was never a candidate for a graduate degree. In fall of 1919, she applied to take graduate classes at Hopkins and was accepted (Figure 1). However, she applied 2 weeks after classes had begun and never registered for any courses in the fall or spring semesters. Even more interesting, her application was approved by Watson on the same day she applied, which was a Saturday. The current author agrees with Romano-Lax and suggest that we appreciate Rayner's life and work without claiming her as a psychologist. While she deserves credit for her contributions to the Albert study and coauthored book on child care, her own voice is best heard when she looked beyond the field of psychology. In her 1932 article, "what future has motherhood?" she addressed the broader question of how the family could be restructured, which was being debated by feminists and other social reformers. While not consistently feminist, her perspective was dramatically different from her husband's. In Rayner Watson's view of the future, child care and other domestic work would be collectivized, as was being tried in the Soviet Union, freeing women for any activities they choose (Harris, 2014; R. R. Watson, 1932). Clearly, she had long left the laboratory, and her contributions should not be reduced to the "study of behavioral psychology" (Smirle, 2013). (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

TIPE PARTISIPASI POLITIK PEREMPUAN PADA PEMILIHAN LEGISLATIF TAHUN 2019 DI KABUPATEN BOMBANA

The role of women in politics in almost all countries experiences obstacles, especially in developing countries, with both structural and cultural constraints. The structural constraints referred to are the level of education, economy, work of housewives, child care, and kitchen work. This work is identified as a second-class job that is difficult to balance with men when it comes to involvement in the public sector. While cultural constraints are cultural factors that place women in a private space where they have to live at home, women are always perceived as serving the family. Bombana District is one of the areas with a high level of female voter turnout and abstention for female voters. This study aims to determine the type of female voter participation in the 2019 legislative elections in Bombana District. The method used in this research is descriptive qualitative. The types and sources of data in this study are using primary data and secondary data with observation data collection techniques, interviews, and documentation. The results of this study indicate that the type of participation of female voters in the 2019 legislative elections in Bombana uses two types of participation, namely the type of passive participation and the type of golput participation.

Diversity, Economic Characteristics, and Retention of Early Learning and Child Care Workers in Canada

ABSTRACT Given Canada’s increasingly diverse population, a better understanding of the representation of different groups among Canadian workers and their economic characteristics is needed. This study analyzes the diversity, economic characteristics, and retention of workers in Canada’s early learning and child care (ELCC) sector. Using census data, diversity characteristics (e.g. sex, visible minority status such as race and ethnicity, language, and activity limitations) were compared between ELCC and non-ELCC workers. The study also examines whether ELCC workers’ economic characteristics, such as self-employment rate, full-time work status, employment income, and poverty rates, varied by diversity groups. It then investigates whether diversity characteristics were associated with workers’ retention in ELCC occupations. Findings showed an over-representation of women, visible minorities, and non-native speakers of Canadian official languages in the ELCC workforce. Generally, non-White ELCC workers were more likely than their White counterparts to be paid employees, work full-time, and earn less than $40,000 annually. Variations in ELCC workers’ economic characteristics and retention rates were also found across visible minority groups. Findings from this study provide greater insight into the representation and retention of different groups within ELCC occupations, which can contribute to higher quality early learning and child care for Canada’s multicultural population.

Awareness of children's developmental problems and sharing of concerns with parents by preschool teachers and childcare workers: The Japanese context.

This study aims to determine the extent to which preschool teachers and childcare workers are aware of the presence of developmental problems among children and to what extent they share information with parents about their concerns regarding a child's development or diagnosis of neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs). We wrote to all 924 preschools and childcare centres in Japan's Nagano and Yamanashi prefectures to request participants. We then sent survey forms to the preschools and childcare centres that agreed to cooperate for three grades comprising 3-, 4- and 5-year-olds in the school year 2020. We asked the staff member in charge of each child to complete the survey. The survey included questions about the teacher's concerns regarding the possibility of an NDD and whether the matter had been shared with the children's parents. We obtained data for 10 354 children from 206 preschools and childcare centres (response rate = 22.3%). Among these children, 457 (4.4%) had an NDD diagnosis that their parents shared with the teachers. However, the teachers of 1274 children (12.3%) had concerns regarding their development but were not informed by the parents about the diagnosis, if any. These 1274 children included 775 (60.8%) cases where the teachers failed to share their concerns with parents because (1) the teachers could not communicate with parents (n = 119), (2) the teachers were not sure if there was a neurodevelopmental problem (n = 360) and (3) the parents were not aware of the problem (n = 296). Preschool teachers and childcare workers had concerns about the development of a substantial proportion of children in their charge. However, teachers and childcare workers did not share their concerns regarding many children's developmental problems with their parents. The findings suggest that there are challenges in information-sharing between teachers/childcare workers and parents.

Understanding Healthy Food Access Among Childcare Workers: A Qualitative Analysis of Food Shopping Experiences

Understanding Healthy Food Access Among Childcare Workers: A Qualitative Analysis of Food Shopping Experiences

Childcare workers: Challenges faced during Covid-19

Childcare workers: Challenges faced during Covid-19

“We are that resilience”: Building cultural capital through family child care

Family child care professionals are a critical sector of the early care and education workforce. Utilizing critical race theory and Yosso’s Community Cultural Wealth model, the current study seeks to examine the strengths and assets that family child care professionals of color bring to their early care and education work and to the children and families in their programs. The authors identified evidence of four types of cultural capital (aspirational, familial, navigational, and resistant) in the focus group narratives of family child care professionals of color across four regions in the USA. Their narratives describe an orientation to caring for children and families that counters exclusionary and biased systems. The family child care professionals of color envision themselves as educators and supporters of community advancement in opposition to racialized stereotypes of home-based child care work as babysitting (aspirational capital); they leverage the home as a place for racial healing and sustain intergenerational connections with families through practices of othermothering and an ethic of love (familial capital). The family child care professionals of color describe the ways they enact navigational and resistant capital in their perseverance and participation in licensing and quality systems, despite inequities. The family child care professionals’ counternarratives of family child care work suggest their essential role in societal functioning and well-being. The study’s findings hold implications for (re)defining early care and education quality and (re)designing systems that celebrate and recognize the strengths, resilience, and capacity of family child care professionals of color to support equitable futures for children, families, and communities.

Care

Care