Early Childhood Services Research Articles

Pattern of Community Participation in Holistic-Integrative Early Childhood Services in Garut District

This study aims to analyze the forms and levels of community participation in holistic-integrative early childhood services at Tk Al-Mukhlis, Tarogong Kaler District, Garut Regency, West Java Province. With a quantitative approach, this research is descriptive. The data obtained on an ex post facto basis are expected to accurately describe individual characteristics, circumstances, symptoms, or certain groups or find the spread (frequency) of a symptom and other symptoms in the community in Dukuh Village, Pananjung Village, Tarogong Kaler District, Garut Regency, in particular who came from elements: the precise foundation, educators and education staff Al Mukhlis, and guardian parents, which were then determined as a sample of 89 people. The research results show that: 1) Al Mukhlis Kindergarten has organized a holistic-integrative early childhood service program systematically 2) forms of community participation provided in holistic-integrative aged childhood services at all three stages, which are very varied and experiencing changes. The most dominant form of participation given by the community is in the form of contributions of ideas or thoughts; 3) the level of community participation provided in holistic-integrative aged child services at the three stages tends to increase at each stage. The results of the analysis show that from the initial stage of activity implementation in the form of planning, which is then followed by the implementation stage, up to program evaluation, the level of participation provided by the community is slowly increasing, from the lower ladder, namely consultation at the planning stage. The author conducted a different study and had not been carried out by previous research, where the context of the research carried out was community participation in holistic-integrative early childhood development services, using different indicators from previous research, namely participation of ideas, the participation of labor, the participation of property, participation of skills, and social participation. Keywords: community participation, holistic-integrative early childhood, services. https://doi.org/10.55463/issn.1674-2974.50.3.17

ANALISIS YURIDIS TERHADAP PERAN DESA DALAM PENCEGAHAN DAN PENURUNAN STUNTING TERINTEGRASI DESA TOPORE

The purpose of this study was to understand the role of the village in preventing and reducing integrated stunting in Topore Village, Papalan District, Mamuju Regency and to find out the obstacles encountered in preventing and reducing integrated stunting in Topore Village, Papalan District, Mamuju Maya Regency. The results of this study indicate that the role of the village in preventing and reducing stunting is integrated in Topore Village, Papalan District, Mamuju Regency based on Presidential Regulation Number 72 of 2021 concerning the Acceleration of Stunting Reduction and Mamuju District Regent Regulation Number 31 concerning Prevention and Reduction of Stunting integrated with carrying out convergence prevention of stunting through a work plan for the implementation of stunting prevention which includes maternal and child health intervention services; integrated nutritional counseling, provision of clean water and sanitation; social protection and early childhood services. Furthermore, related to the obstacles faced in preventing and reducing stunting in Topore village, including regarding the implementation of programs such as socialization that is not optimal regarding the different understanding of the community in responding to the problem of stunting, provision of food and vitamin supplements as part of supporting intervention activities that cannot be fulfilled properly as well as the culture and beliefs of society that considers a short child's body is often seen as a result of inheritance from their parents.

A Bibliometric Study on the Social Validity of Telepractice in Autism Spectrum Disorder.

The field of telepractice is generating increasing interest in recent years. In recent years, early childhood services have used resources such as support for interventions in families with children with autism spectrum disorder. Due to this situation, the social validity of such resources has emerged in this sector, receiving individual attention from academics and practitioners. However, a further deepening of such analyses is needed. Therefore, the main objective of this work is to analyze papers published in the Web of Science on social validity and telepractice in autism spectrum disorders. Bibliometric analysis allows us to discover the current state of a research field, to identify the main authors, articles, and topics, and to propose future lines of research to develop it further. Articles published between 2000 and 2021 were analyzed quantitatively, and by co-occurrence of words and authors. Subsequently, through bibliographic linking, the articles were grouped into different clusters. Five central themes were found, with social skills and the effectiveness of intervention programs being the most developed areas of research. Furthermore, studies focusing on evidence-based practices are necessary for the development of this research field. Thus, the analysis of social validity in the field of telepractice in children with autism spectrum disorders is a developing field within the early childhood sector.

Estimating complier average causal effects for clustered RCTs when the treatment affects the service population

Abstract Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) sometimes test interventions that aim to improve existing services targeted to a subset of individuals identified after randomization. Accordingly, the treatment could affect the composition of service recipients and the offered services. With such bias, intention-to-treat estimates using data on service recipients and nonrecipients may be difficult to interpret. This article develops causal estimands and inverse probability weighting (IPW) estimators for complier populations in these settings, using a generalized estimating equation approach that adjusts the standard errors for estimation error in the IPW weights. While our focus is on more general clustered RCTs, the methods also apply (reduce) to nonclustered RCTs. Simulations show that the estimators achieve nominal confidence interval coverage under the assumed identification conditions. An empirical application demonstrates the methods using data from a large-scale RCT testing the effects of early childhood services on children’s cognitive development scores. An R program for estimation is available for download.

Using professional development resources to support the inclusion of gender equity in early childhood teaching and curriculum planning

ABSTRACT Gender-based violence (GBV) is a global health issue that affects significant proportions of women and girls. Despite research showing that children understand and perform stereotypical gender norms from as young as 3 years, addressing gender with young children is controversial. Programs that aim to teach gender fairness and respectful relationships in early childhood settings are uncommon. This article reports on an evaluation of a trial of a whole of service approach to the teaching of gender equity with a group of early childhood services in Melbourne, Australia. The project resulted in many changes in professional practice including applying a gender lens to planning practices and making changes to the resources provided in children’s learning spaces. This research has important implications for how gender equity might be taught with young children and the support that early childhood educators need to implement these changes.

Inclusive education in New Zealand: voices from early childhood teachers

This study reports data on early childhood teachers' perspectives of early childhood inclusive education in New Zealand. A qualitative method was employed for this research. The process included an internet survey questionnaire which was sent out to early childhood teachers across New Zealand. The results indicated that though early childhood teachers believed that in general, early childhood programmes in New Zealand were flexible and welcoming, they found that their programmes did not effectively respond to children with special needs. Teachers also reported the strategies they used and the difficulties that must be overcome for the successful inclusion of young children with disabilities. Implications and suggestions for the implementation of effective inclusive early childhood services are included.

Re‐Imagining Inclusion Through the Lens of Disabled Childhoods

The purpose of this article is to contribute new insights to critical disability and disabled children’s childhood studies that center on the valuing of disabled children’s lives—a guiding purpose in the disability justice movement. We use published findings from the Inclusive Early Childhood Service System project, a longitudinal, institutional ethnography of the ways that families and children are organized around categories of disability, which show social inclusions and exclusions before and during the pandemic. These findings illuminate: (a) institutional flexibility for the purpose of social inclusion and isolation during the pandemic as a result of institutional organization; (b) the impact of institutional decisions around closures, remote programs, and support on families’ choices and self‐determination; and (3) the ways safety is differently applied and rationalized for disabled children allowing institutions to exclude disabled children and families. We use critical disability studies and disabled children’s childhood studies to interpret these findings and position the valuing of disabled children’s lives with a call for disability justice actions.

Weaving a new blanket together: lessons on compassionate leadership and engagement from a virtual regional summit on early childhood wellness in northern communities of British Columbia, Canada

BackgroundEarly childhood is a critical period of development for infants, young children, and their families. An array of services, programs, and interventions exist to support families during this life stage, often delivered by a diverse range of professionals. Overlap in early years services exists between healthcare, social care, childcare, education, and not-for-profit organizations. Such diversity in services has the potential to add a rich experience to early childhood development, or without collaboration, widen service gaps, risking providers’ ability to meet the needs of families.MethodsIn northern British Columbia (BC), Canada, a group of individuals came together to approach building relationships and engagement across sectors in early years services using compassionate systems leadership (CSL). A virtual summit was hosted with early childhood service providers including peer support workers and parents/caregivers using a hybrid model of pre-recorded asynchronous sessions combined with a live workshop. The purpose of the event was to find common ground, celebrate local success, and build understanding of how to work collaboratively across the region to identify and address early years priorities.ResultsThe event was successful in engaging 121 providers across early years services from a broad geographic region. Applying CSL principles for engagement allowed the team to examine how all partners could address silos in early years services across northern BC. Using a reflexive thematic approach, four key themes were identified at the Summit: (1) early years services are a patchwork but there are dreams of weaving a new blanket together, (2) an ideal model of service is family-centred and inclusive, (3) all sectors are needed at the table, and (4) compassion is the thread that weaves this work together.ConclusionsThe application of CSL principles can be used to guide engagement and develop supportive spaces for open conversation about creating systems change. In facilitating a space that allowed for vulnerability and relational ways of engaging across sectors we discovered commitment and a willingness for those present to consider new ideas and partnerships that would allow for greater integration of early years services in northern BC.

Kindergarten teachers' experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh

ABSTRACT Across the world COVID-19 has impacted teachers’ lives both professionally and personally. In many parts of the world kindergarten teachers have been able to adapt practices to ensure that children’s education and care is provided. However some countries have not responded adequately to support kindergarten teachers’ ongoing employment. Bangladesh is one such country. The aim of this study was to understand the experiences of 16 Bangaldeshi kindergarten teachers during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study used an interpretive social constructionist approach, with semi-structured interviews of the 16 kindergarten teachers. Findings revealed the 16 participants experienced significant disruption to their professional and personal lives during COVID-19. With the long-term closures of schools and early childhood services, the teachers were found to be significantly impacted resulting in hardship to their personal, physical, human and social lives. Governments are called on to demonstrate value and support kindergarten teachers at all times, not only during the pandemic. Such support will sustain the early childhood profession, and ensure the rights of young children to access consistent education and care are met.

The potential of ‘leading identity’ as an analytic concept for understanding Educational Leadership development in early childhood education

ABSTRACT This paper responds to pressing calls to better theorise the development of Educational Leadership in early childhood education. Specifically, we examine the usefulness of) the concept of leading identity for understanding shifts in Educational Leaders’ accounts of their leadership practices. Twenty Educational Leaders, recruited from Australian early childhood services, were interviewed before and after a developmental intervention using Change Laboratory approach. Our analysis of these interviews illustrates how leading identity can be used to trace shifts in the dynamic interplay of persons and practices in Educational Leadership work. We conclude by reflecting on how our argument might inform theorisation of leadership in early childhood education, the design of professional learning programmes for leadership development, and the methodological potential of leading identity for evaluating such programmes.

Addressing Barriers to Accessing Head Start Programs via the Medical Home: A Qualitative Study.

High quality early childhood education and childcare programs, such as Early Head Start and Head Start (EHS/HS), play a critical role in early childhood development, learning, and quality of life. This study was designed to determine barriers to applying and enrolling in EHS/HS in an urban community and the potential role of the medical home in overcoming these barriers. Four 90-minute focus groups were conducted with 41 various stakeholders, including EHS/HS coordinators, personnel from early childhood policy organizations, medical personnel, and families who have previously applied to EHS/HS. Participants were recruited from an academic clinic and early childhood organizations in Chicago. Researchers transcribed the focus groups and independently analyzed data using open and focused coding to identify common themes. Results demonstrate that medical personnel and families have a limited understanding of EHS/HS as a resource. Participants describe a multitude of difficulties navigating the EHS/HS application, misalignment of requirements and poor communication between EHS/HS programs and the medical home. Multiple barriers exist for families enrolling children into EHS/HS. We recommend several interventions based in the medical home that may improve the enrollment process, allowing more eligible families to access high-quality early childhood services, such as EHS/HS.

Process mining the trajectories for adolescent-to-mother violence from longitudinal police and health service data.

The aim was to discover longitudinal trajectories and patterns of events preceding adolescent-to-mother family violence in a geographic locale in Australia. This was a retrospective case series. Routinely collected administrative data were sourced and linked from police and health service electronic records for adolescents born between 1994 and 2006 who had been issued a legal action for a family violence-related offence (n=775). A time-stamped log of events from birth (where available) was created. Process mining was employed to discover dominant events and trajectories in the log from birth until adolescents' first recorded offence against their mother. Most adolescents in the case series offended against mothers (63%, n=486). Trajectory analysis confirmed dominant early childhood events were repeated exposure to parental intimate partner violence (P-IPV), parental drug and/or alcohol use and neglect. During early adolescence, pathways towards adolescent-to-mother violence involved other offending, drug and/or alcohol use and mental health service contact. The trajectories evidenced provide a complex picture of the emergence of adolescent-to-mother violence. From an early intervention perspective, it was found that many children and mothers were identifiable from police records in early childhood, at an average age of 35months. Responses to adolescent family violence need to acknowledge the impact of childhood trauma and emerging mental health problems, along with strategies to mitigate the effect of P-IPV on mother-to-child relationships. This is the first large-scale study to specifically examine trajectories from birth for adolescents who engage in violence towards mothers. The findings have important implications for the design and delivery of early intervention childhood services and interagency collaboration in nursing and midwifery services. In early adolescence, contact with mental health services represents an opportunity for screening and support interventions. This is an important preventive timepoint for family violence, adolescent drug and alcohol use and other offences.

National Guidelines for Trauma-Aware Education in Australia

The National Guidelines for Trauma-Aware Education in Australia were developed in response to a rapidly growing interest in trauma-aware education across the country and to address the lack of site- and system-level guidance for application of trauma-aware practices in schools and early childhood services. Although research into trauma-aware education was increasing and resources and training and support programs were being developed across Australia, there were no nationally agreed upon guidelines providing consistency to thinking, policy, and practice. Drawing from public health and health promotion models for establishing guidelines for trauma-aware policy and practice, the Guidelines were developed through a thorough process of incorporating research evidence and expert and end-user input. The Guidelines were developed across 2017–2019 and were finalized in 2021 and provide an important first step in a national response to trauma-aware education in Australia. This article will describe the “story” behind the development of the Guidelines. It is hoped that this “story” will help others considering development of systemic resources to inform the establishment and enhancement of trauma-aware policy and practice in schools and early childhood education services.

Implementation Drivers as Practical Measures of Data-Driven Decision-Making: An Initial Validation Study in Early Childhood Programs

Leveraging data to demonstrate program effectiveness, inform decision making, and support program implementation is an ongoing need for social and human service organizations, and is especially true in early childhood service settings. Unfortunately, early childhood service organizations often lack capacity and processes for harnessing data to these ends. While existing literature suggests the Active Implementation Drivers Framework (AIF Drivers) provides a theoretical basis for data-driven decision-making (DDDM), there are no practical applications or measurement tools which support an understanding of readiness or capacity for DDDM in early childhood settings. This study sought to address this gap through the development and initial validation of the Data-Driven Decision-Making Questionnaire (DDDM-Q) based on the nine core factors in the AIF Drivers. The study piloted the 54-item questionnaire with 173 early childhood program administrators. Findings from this study suggest using the AIF Drivers as a theoretical basis for examining DDDM supports three of five categories of validity evidence proposed by Goodwin (2002), including (1) evidence based on test content, (2) evidence based on internal structure, and (3) evidence based on relationships to other variables. This study may inform future research seeking to develop theoretically based instruments, particularly as it pertains to expanding use of the AIF Drivers. Practice-wise, the study findings could enhance and complement early childhood programs as well as other social and humans service implementations by presenting the DDDM-Q as a platform for understanding organizational readiness for DDDM and identifying strengths as well as areas for improvement.

A Model of Transformational Learning for Early Childhood Community-based Workers: Sajag Training for Responsive Caregiving

A global goal for early childhood education and care is to ensure universal, “quality” provision that reaches all children. Achieving this goal requires a well-prepared workforce that is equipped to adapt to and deliver early childhood programs across the vastly diverse contexts and communities where children are growing up around the world. Yet currently there is a severe shortage of early childhood workers, particularly in “low resource” and complex communities. Evidence to support appropriate training for such workers is also lacking. In response, this paper presents findings from a case study of a large-scale training program for community-based early childhood workers in central-east India. A total of 650 community-based Village Communicators were trained to deliver a responsive caregiving package to parents of young children. Data collected over 3 months highlight how the unique contextually grounded, caring and reflexive approach to training resulted in profound personal and professional change among training participants. The findings are of significance in informing policy and practice associated with global goals for early childhood. First, they challenge the technical, programmatic approaches to training that are commonly adopted for preparing this workforce. Second, they evidence the potentially transformative, long-term impact of person-centered approaches to training that facilitate knowledge-sharing to understand local needs and attitudes. Third, they provide insight into ways in which training programs can support enhanced local relevance and effectiveness of early childhood services implemented for children and families across diverse contexts.

Policymakers on social cohesion: contradictory expectations for child and family social work

ABSTRACT Promoting social cohesion through early childhood services has become a priority on the political agenda as a result of societal developments. Despite joint academic and political attention, there nevertheless remains no agreement on what social cohesion is. This leads to the paradoxical situation in which early childhood services are characterised as ideal to foster social cohesion, while there is little research on what this may mean. The aim of the current study is to analyse a diversity of interpretations of social cohesion by policy-makers in Flanders (Belgium), and to reflect on the role of early childhood services. The study was led by the following research questions: How is social cohesion interpreted by policy-makers? What do they consider as challenges to and opportunities for social cohesion? What role do they assign to early childhood services in contributing to social cohesion? The study uses a multi-method design, combining a thematic analysis of policy documents (N = 44) and semi-structured interviews with policy-makers (N = 14). The results suggest that political interpretations of social cohesion can be placed on a continuum from a minimal to a maximal interpretation, in which historical continuity becomes visible. Reflecting on the possible role of early childhood services leads to contradictory expectations from policy-makers for child and family social work.

Elucidating the level of developmental risk in a busy paediatric practice clinic from a middle-income country.

Identifying young children with serious developmental concerns is a common challenge in paediatric settings around the world. Elucidating parental concerns about their children's development is a useful predictor of developmental status. The aim of this study is to elucidate the level of developmental risk in a busy outpatient paediatric clinic using the Parents' Evaluation of Developmental Status (PEDS) and observe the associated factors in a middle-income country. Parents attending a medical appointment for their children in a paediatric outpatient clinic were asked to complete the PEDS and a questionnaire pertaining to sociodemographic details. A total of 151 parents were eligible to participate in the study. Parents also rated the ease of completion of the test with the response options being 'difficult, a little difficult, easy, very easy'. In our total sample, 9.3% (n = 14) were at high risk, 16.6% (n = 25) were at moderate risk and the remainder were at low/no risk. Being at high or moderate risk (25.8%, n = 39) was higher in male gender (p = 0.046) and older age children (p = 0.004). Hospitalization in a neonatal intensive care unit longer than 3days, maternal employment status/housewife, long duration of screen viewing were independent risk factors significantly associated with high or moderate risk in multivariable analyses. Among the participants, 98.7% of parents reported that the PEDS was easy or very easy to complete in the clinical setting. In this study, in a cosmopolitan city of a middle-income country, a quarter of children were observed to be at high or moderate risk. The findings highlight the importance of elucidating the prevalence of developmental concerns among the population to enable families to access universal high-quality early childhood services.

Application of Dohsa-hou Therapy to Develop Social Interaction Skills in Autistic Vietnamese Children

ABSTRACT Children with developmental problems such as autism, Asperger’s syndrome, Rett syndrome, language, cognition, and behaviour issues are referred to as “developmental diseases”. To support and educate children with developmental disorders and autism, a variety of methods are available, including ABA (Applied Behaviour Analysis), RDI (Relationship Development Intervention), TEACCH (Division for the Treatment and Education of Autistic and Children with Communication Handicaps), and PECS (Patient-Centred Early Childhood Services). When it comes to supporting youngsters in Da Nang, Vietnam, the researchers have chosen Dohsa-hou therapy (Japan), which has shown promising outcomes. In addition to assisting children in being safe and courteous, the Dohsa-hou approach also assists both children and teachers (Dohsa-hou practitioners) feel genuinely calm. Case study, observation, and assessment by a group of three special exercises before and after Dohsa-hou therapy were used to demonstrate that this is an effective way for assisting children with developmental difficulties in Vietnam

Use of administrative record linkage to examine patterns of universal early childhood health and education service use from birth to Kindergarten (age 4 years) and developmental vulnerability in the Preparatory Year (age 5 years) in Tasmania, Australia.

BackgroundIn Australia, the health and education sectors provide universal early childhood services for the same population of children. Therefore, there is a strong imperative to view service use and outcomes through a cross-sectoral lens to better understand and address the service needs of young children and their families. ObjectivesTo investigate patterns of health and education service use from birth through Kindergarten (age four years), the associations with cumulative risks, and developmental vulnerability in the first year of full-time school (age five years). MethodsA retrospective cohort study that used population-wide linkage of health and education administrative data records for 5,440 children with a Tasmanian 2015 Australian Early Development Census (AEDC) record who were born in Tasmania (2008-2010). ResultsFour service use patterns were identified: Regular (46% of children), Declining (24%); Low (18%); and Selective service use (12%). Regular service use (aOR 0.8, 95% CI 0.7 to 0.9), adjusted for cumulative risks, was associated with decreased odds of developmental vulnerability, compared to the other service use groups. Low (OR 6.1, 95% CI 4.5 to 8.2) and Declining service use (OR 2.5 95% CI 1.9 to 3.4) were more likely for children with the highest levels of cumulative risks. Low and Declining service use, adjusted for cumulative risks were associated with increased odds of developmental vulnerability, compared to the Regular service use group. ConclusionThis study provides a whole population view of the differential use of universal services and the complex risk circumstances that influence service use. The association between patterns of multiple risk and service use points to barriers to service use, and the varying level of developmental vulnerability within each service use group draws attention to children who may benefit from higher sustained participation in core health and education services across the whole of early childhood.

The impact of COVID-19 on the continuum of integrated perinatal, infant, and early childhood behavioral health services.

This is a brief introduction to four papers examining the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the continuum of integrated infant and early childhood mental health services offered across hospital and community settings. The COVID-19 pandemic profoundly impacted the delivery of perinatal, infant, and early childhood behavioral health services. Perinatal and early childhood integrated behavioral health services ensured access to early childhood and family mental health services, adapted service delivery to meet the needs of the populations being served and comply with public health guidelines, and promoted appropriate utilization of preventive, primary care, and hospital services for populations with and without medical complexity during the COVID-19 pandemic.