Infants, Toddlers, and Their Caregivers: Current Research on Interactions and Implications for Professional Preparation

• In Event: Creating Respectful Caring Cultures From Birth to Three: Moving From Research to Policy

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is twofold: 1. to present the results of a comprehensive review of the recent caregiver-child interactions research literature conducted through the lens of PPCT theory; and 2. To discuss implications of these findings for teacher education and professional development for teachers in settings for our youngest children.

Proximal processes, such as ongoing, daily interactions between children and their caregivers, are the engines that drive children’s development according to the tenets of Process-Person-Context-Time (PPCT) theory (Bronfenbrenner & Morris, 2006). “By engaging in these activities and interactions individuals . . . make sense of their world, understand their place in it, and both play their part in changing the prevailing order while fitting into the existing one” (Tudge, Mokrova, Hatfiled, & Karnik, 2009, p. 5). The nature of these proximal processes is particularly salient for the infants, toddlers, and twos enrolled in early care and education settings. Within PPCT theory characteristics of children, caregivers, classrooms, and centers at the microsystem level are expected to influence proximal processes. While at the exosystem level, institutions providing professional development and teacher education can serve as mechanisms for improving the quality of caregiver-child interactions.

A systematic search of multiple databases as well as citation searching identified nearly 40 articles representing both qualitative and quantitative orientations published since 2000. Samples, methods, and results from these articles were summarized in tables to assist in the evaluation of the research base. This presentation will include a summary of the highlights of this research base, including a discussion of the strengths and gaps of the research base as well as implications of the research findings for professional development.

For example, three broad categories of caregiver-child interactions have been discussed in this literature—building relationships with adults and between children; fostering cognitive development and learning in the context of play; as well as encouraging language and literacy development. In all three types, the nature of the interactions (sensitive/responsive versus intrusive) has been associated with child outcomes in a variety of school readiness domains. In light of this finding, teacher education programs need to employ strategies that will help teachers become sensitive, reflective practitioners. These strategies could include conducting focused observations teacher-child interactions in classrooms or videotaping their own interactions for a thoughtful review. The saliency of caregivers’ beliefs about children, caregiving, and the role of the teacher was repeatedly substantiated in the literature (e.g., Degotardi & Sweller, 2012; Goouch & Powell, 2012; McMullen, 2010). This strong connection between caregiver beliefs and interactions as well as child outcomes presents a particular challenge for professional development efforts as changing beliefs is not easy.

With the President’s proposal to increase federal investments in high quality infant and toddler care (www.ed.gov/budget14) developing a stronger understanding of the research base that informs the proximal processes of caregiver interactions is particularly timely. Implications of findings for professional development mechanisms provide direction for the field that will impact the lives of children, families, as well as early care and education professionals.

Authors

• Deborah J. Norris, University of Oklahoma

• Diane M. Horm, University of Oklahoma