Birth to three matters - Communities and Local Government
Birth to three matters - Communities and Local Government
Birth to three matters - Communities and Local Government
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main fac<strong>to</strong>rs enabling such self-assura n ce<strong>to</strong> develop re l ate <strong>to</strong> being valued by <strong>and</strong>h aving secure at t a c h m e nts <strong>to</strong> at least ones i g n i f i ca nt pe r s o n . Both pare nts <strong>and</strong>p ra ctitioners can co nt ri b u te <strong>to</strong> deve l o p i n ga child’s self-assura n ce. As At h ey (1990: 207 )s u g g e s t s, ‘The time is ri g ht for pare nt s,g ra n d p a re nts <strong>and</strong> pro fessionals <strong>to</strong> wo rk<strong>to</strong>gether in order <strong>to</strong> increase the qualityof mind in young childre n .’We should be concerned that somechildren do not become self-assured,nor acquire social confidence <strong>and</strong>competence. Later in life it tends <strong>to</strong> bethese children who are rated by theirteachers <strong>and</strong> by their peers astroublesome <strong>and</strong> disruptive. They seekattention <strong>and</strong> emotional support insocially unacceptable ways <strong>and</strong> are unable<strong>to</strong> settle down calmly <strong>to</strong> learning inschool. Their teenage <strong>and</strong> early adult livesare said <strong>to</strong> be punctuated by problemssuch as drug <strong>and</strong> alcohol abuse, accidents,violence, adolescent pregnancy, psychiatricdisorders, family disruption <strong>and</strong>environmental risks.By reviewing a number of studies, Clarke<strong>and</strong> Clarke (2000) claim that the basis oftheir difficulties often lies in theirirritability (which the Clarkes link <strong>to</strong>temperament <strong>and</strong> their often chaotic livesat home), poor cognitive skills, <strong>and</strong> in theirlack of emotional security or strongaffectional ties <strong>to</strong> anyone. The High/Scopeearly childhood education programmeclaims <strong>to</strong> prevent numerous anti-socialbehaviours in later life (Berrueta-Clementet al 1984). Two of the key aspects of theHigh/Scope programme are the fact thatparents are involved as well as thepre-schoolers themselves, <strong>and</strong> that theprogramme aims <strong>to</strong> promote the children’s(<strong>and</strong> the parents’) sense of agency. Oneaspect of a sense of agency is the ability<strong>to</strong> regulate oneself – managing one’semotions (this does not mean repressingthem – see Goleman 1996), gaining controlof one’s actions <strong>and</strong> having strategies forcoping with heightened arousal.Self regulation was the main focus ofa study by Kochanska et al (2001). Theyassessed 108 children at 14,22, 33 <strong>and</strong>45 months of age in ‘do’ (keep doing aboring/ unpleasant task) <strong>and</strong> ‘don’t’ (don’tdo something enjoyable) tasks <strong>to</strong> find outhow compliant the children were. Theyfound that girls were generally morecompliant than boys <strong>and</strong> when childrenshowed eagerness <strong>to</strong> comply with theirmothers’ requests (committed compliance)this was found <strong>to</strong> relate <strong>to</strong> theirinternalisation of maternal rules.Ak<strong>and</strong>e’s research (1992) provides ideasfor helping parents <strong>to</strong> promote children’sviews of themselves as valuable,responsible <strong>and</strong> capable of learning <strong>and</strong>in research on mothers’ approaches <strong>to</strong>controlling young children’s socialinteraction <strong>and</strong> expressions of au<strong>to</strong>nomy,Donovan et al (2000) found that motherswho adopted either high power-assertionstrategies, using negative control,<strong>and</strong> those who had earlier demonstratedlow rates of intervention in children’scrying, had young children whosebehaviour would be more likely <strong>to</strong> escalate55