Andrew J. Stremmel

Communication, satisfaction, and emotional exhaustion among child care center staff: Directors, teachers, and assistant teachers

This study examined emotional exhaustion in relation to job satisfaction, communication within the center, and background variables among child care directors, teachers, and assistant teachers. A total of 544 child care center staff, including 108 directors, 316 teachers, and 120 assistant teachers participated. Results of regression analyses indicated that satisfactions with working conditions and the work itself were related to lower emotional exhaustion in directors, teachers, and teaching assistants. Staff meetings focusing on child guidance and staff development issues were related to increased job satisfaction for all three groups. The findings of this study suggest that staff meetings, which provide opportunities for communication centering on child guidance and staff development, foster satisfaction and indirectly buffer against emotional exhaustion.

Predictors of intention to leave child care work

Abstract Conceptual models of the turnover process have proposed that work attitudes lead to withdrawal intentions, and that these intentions govern actual turnover behavior. This study tested several propositions derived from current conceptualizations of the turnover process, focusing primarily on the relation of organizational commitment, job facet satisfaction, and perceived availability of alternative employment to intentions to leave or remain in child care work. A nonprobability sample of 223 child care workers employed in licensed center-based programs in four metropolitan areas of Indiana completed and returned questionnaires designed to gather information on work attitudes. Hierarchical multiple-regression analyses indicated that commitment, satisfaction with pay and opportunities for promotion, and perceived availability of job alternatives contributed significantly to explained variance in intention to leave. Implications for understanding the withdrawal process and improving the work attitudes of child care workers are discussed, along with directions for future research.

Teaching in the zone of proximal development: Implications for responsive teaching practice

This article draws upon current conceptual and empirical understanding of Vygotskys sociocultural theory of development in suggesting implications for early childhood teaching within the zone of proximal development (or responsive teaching). Discussion centers on the following key Vygotskian ideas: teaching-learning as a profoundly social process that enables children to exceed the reaches of their current developmental level; intersubjectivity or shared understanding as a basis for collaborative activity; and activity settings as social contexts for dynamic teaching and assessment. Examples of responsive teaching practice in early childhood classrooms are provided.

A Sociocultural Investigation of the Effects of Peer Interaction on Play

Abstract This study examined Vygotskys theoretical notion that play creates the zone of proximal development by investigating the effects of peer interaction within the context of constructive play with blocks. The authors used the Play Observation Scale (Rubin, 1989) to observe 100 four-year-olds in naturalistic settings. Forty-eight children were selected from the original sample for participation in play sessions in a laboratory setting. Sample selection was based on gender, unfamiliarity, and play level displayed during the sample selection process. Data collected were examined in terms of block play, communication, and peer collaboration. Results of an overall MANOVA conducted for boys and girls found a significant interaction between treatment (play level) and gender. Follow-up MANOVAs were significant for girls, but not for boys. Subsequent univariate tests found significant differences in block play for girls in treatment groups. A pairwise MANOVA found that girls who display fewer play skills engage in more complex play when paired with more skilled or mature peers. Results of a second pairwise MANOVA established that girls who have more complex play skills display even more complex play behavior during play with less-skilled playmates. In addition, they assume a leadership role. Results of this study indicate that the play skills of peers affect the play of preschool girls but not that of preschool boys. These findings have implications for practice for both boys and girls.

CHILD AND ADULT DAY CARE PROFESSIONS CONVERGING IN THE 1990s?: IMPLICATIONS FOR TRAINING AND RESEARCH

Intergenerational day care is one of the innovative corporate responses to the current dependent care crisis gripping the United States labor force. If successful, this new service type could have important training and research implications for Gerontology and Child Development/Early Childhood Education programs around the country. This paper presents the historical roots and the nature of child and adult day care, and discusses selected intergenerational day care training and research issues.

Organizational climate and job satisfaction among child care teachers

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between measures of organizational climate and job satisfaction. Ninety-four child care teachers from 27 licensed child care centers were surveyed. The results suggested that organizational climate, when operationalized as aggregate center climate, and job satisfaction may be dynamically related, yet provide distinct sources of information about the work environment.

The relationship of classroom-focused information and self-perceived effectiveness to job satisfaction among child care workers

This study investigated the relation of classroom-focused information and self-perceived effectiveness to job satisfaction among child care workers. Questionnaire data from 399 child care center workers indicated that classroom-focused information provided directly or indirectly by the center director and self-assessments of job effectiveness were significant predictors of job satisfaction. Specifically, 40% of the variance in job satisfaction was explained by the following four variables: helpfulness of center director in providing classroom-focused information; helpfulness of staff meetings in providing classroom-focused information; self-assessment of overall effectiveness; and the perceived importance of the center director as a source for evaluating ones effectiveness. Self-assessment of overall effectiveness was not related to any of the information variables. Implications of the research for practices regarding the provision of supervisor information and support are discussed.

Development of the Intergenerational Exchanges Attitude Scale.

The psychometric adequacy of the Intergenerational Exchanges Attitude Scale (IEAS), a five‐subscale (24‐item) measure of attitudes toward intergenerational exchanges between young children and dependent older adults, is described. Tests for internal consistency and validity, including correlational analyses indicating a significant positive relationship between attitudes toward intergenerational exchanges and the likelihood of providing intergenerational activities, provided viable evidence for the reliability and validity of the IEAS.

AN INSIDE PERSPECTIVE OF PARADIGM SHIFTS IN CHILD DEVELOPMENT LABORATORY PROGRAMS: BRIDGING THEORY AND PROFESSIONAL PREPARATION

Child development lab schools have long played a significant role in contributing to our understanding of child development and new and innovative educational practice. In this chapter, we argue that lab schools need to be continually reinvented and reconstructed to meet changing societal and institutional demands. As models for the early childhood community, lab schools should be on the leading edge of what theory and research informs us are best practices in early childhood education and child development. Here we tell the story of the Virginia Tech Child Development Lab School’s efforts to reconsider and reconstruct our philosophical approach, practices, and policies and move closer to bridging theory and practice as a family-centered, teacher-inquiry based, community of learners. It demonstrates a paradigmatic shift in thinking about children, families, early childhood teacher education, and the role of lab schools in general.

ATTITUDES TOWARD INTERGENERATIONAL EXCHANGES AMONG ADMINISTRATORS IN CHILD AND ADULT DAY CARE CENTERS

Previous attitudinal research regarding age has focused solely on adults’ attitudes toward children or, more commonly, societal attitudes toward older adults. This study examines a new area of attitudinal research, factors that affect attitudes toward intergenerational exchanges (events) involving young children and older adults. Child and adult daycare professionals were selected as the study group because their practice settings are increasingly popular, contemporary environments for intergenerational exchanges between these two intergenerational partners. The results of regression analyses demonstrate that administrators’ attitudes are positively affected by contact with existing intergenerational programming and suggest that future administrators’ attitudes may be positively influenced by exposure to intergenerational programs while in graduate and undergraduate programs.