Children’s Mental Resilience – What Do Parents and Teachers Know About It?
Abstract
Children’s development and achievements are of great interest to their adult significant others, notably parents and teachers. The aim of the presented research was to investigate what parents and teachers of preschool children know (and fail to know) about the children’s psychological resiliency – defined via the protective factors of initiative, self-control and attachment, as well as risk factors in the form of behavioral concerns. The research was conducted among the parents and teachers of 335 preschool children aged 2-6 years. The study used the observational Devereux Early Assessment Scale, suitable for children aged 2 years 0 months – 5 years 11 months. The scale consists of 37 items and is filled in by the children’s parents and preschool teachers. Significant differences were obtained in how parents and teachers assess children’s protective factors and behavioral concerns. Mothers provided the highest scores of children’s initiative, as compared to fathers and teachers. Fathers had higher expectations of a child’s self-control than mothers and teachers. Attachment was scored higher by parents than teachers, who, on the other hand, reported more behavioral concerns in children than their parents. Moreover, teachers had a tendency to stereotypically perceive boys as demonstrating more behavioral concerns than girls – which was not observed in parents. The results indicate that the knowledge and perception of children’s resiliency demonstrated by their teachers, mothers and fathers significantly varies, suggesting that these observers apply different judgment standards, and/or that children demonstrate different levels of protective factors and behavioral concerns at home vs. at preschool, due to the social-psychological factors.
References
Ahnert L. (2010). Wieviel Mutter braucht ein Kind? Bindung- Bildung- Betreuung: öffentlich und privat, Heidelberg: Spektrum, Akademischer Verlag.
Ansari A., Winsler A. (2014). Montessori Public School Pre-K Programs and the School Readiness Low Income Black and Latino Children, „Journal of Educational Psychology”, nr 4(106), s. 1066-1079.
Birch S., Ladd G. (1997). The Teacher – Child Relationship and Children’s Early School Adjustment, „Journal of School Psychology”, nr 35, s. 61-69.
Buchanan C., Eccles J., Flanagan C., Midgley C., Feldlaufer H., Harold R. (1990). Parents’ and Teacher’sBeliefs about Adolescents: Effects of Sex and Experience, „Journal of Youth and Adolescence”, nr 19, s. 363-394.
Constantine N., Benard B., Diaz M. (1999). Measuring Protective Factors and Resilience Traits in Youth: The Healthy Kids Resilience Assessment, „ American Psychologist”, nr 55, s. 647-654.
Daniels D.H., Kalkman D., McCombs B. (2001). Young Children’s Perspectives on Learning and Teacher Practices in Different Classroom Contexts, „Early Education and Development”, nr 12, s. 253-273.
Daniels D.H., Shumow L. (2003). Child Development and Classroom Teaching: a Review of the Literature and Implications for Educating Teachers, „Applied Developmental Psychology”, nr 23, s. 495-526.
Fefer S., Lauterbach A. (2017). Supporting Diverse Learners through Family-School Partnership: Perspectives from Parents and Educators. Sixth ENSEC (European Network for Social and Emotional Competence) Conference, Theme: Diversity, 7-9 June 2017. Stockholm, Sweden.
Fergus S., Zimmerman M.A. (2005). Adolescent Resilience: A Framework for Understanding Healthy Development in the Face of Risk, „Annual Review of Public Health”, nr 26, s. 399-419.
Fröhlich-Gildhoff K., Dörner T., Rönnau M. (2007/12). Prävention und Resilienzförderung in Kindertagseinrichtungen, München, Basel: Ernst Reinhardt.
Garbula J.M. (2009). Dzieci wobec stereotypów płci, „Forum Oświatowe”, nr 1(40), s. 53-89.
Garmezy N. (1971). Vulnerability Research and the Issue of Primary Prevention, „American Journal of Orthopsychiatry”, nr 41, s. 101-116.
Garmezy N. (1983). Stressors of childhood, [w:] N. Garmezy, M. Rutter (red.) i Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, Inc., Stress, Coping, and Development In Children, Baltimore, MD, US: Johns Hopkins University Press, s. 43-84.
Grotberg E. (2000). Zwiększanie odporności psychicznej, wzmacnianie sił duchowych, tłum. M. Karwowska-Struczyk, Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Akademickie „Żak”.
Heszen I., Sęk H. (2007). Psychologia zdrowia, Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN.
Junik W. (red.). (2011). Resilience: teoria – badania – praktyka, Warszawa: Parpamedia.
Kaczmarek Ł. (2011). Skala Sprężystości Psychicznej – polska adaptacja Ego Resiliency Scale, „Czasopismo Psychologiczne”, nr 17, s. 263-265.
Kärkkäinen R. (2011). Doing Better? Children’s and Their Parents’ and Teachers’ Perceptions of the Malleability of the Child’s Academic Competences. Dissertations in Education, „Humanities and Theology”, nr 14, Joensuu: University of Eastern Finland.
Katz L. (1997). Child Development Knowledge and Teachers of Young Children, Champaign IL: ERIC Publications.
Kawecki I. (2013). Wiedza i umiejętności początkującego nauczyciela w świetle poglądów Lindy Darling-Hammond, „Debata Edukacyjna”, nr 6, s. 88-96.
Kielar-Turska M. (1997). Orientacja dorosłych w rozwoju dziecka, [w:] W. Pilecka, M. Kliś (red.), Funkcje psychologii w dobie przemian społeczno-kulturowych w Polsce, Kraków: Wydawnictwo Naukowe WSP, s. 9-20.
Knap-Stefaniuk A. (2017). Wyzwania we współczesnej edukacji – znaczenie wiedzy z zakresu psychologii rozwojowej, nowe role nauczyciela i kształcenie dorosłych, „Kwartalnik Naukowy Uczelni Vistula”, nr 2(55), s. 197-213.
Kristoffersen J.H.G., Smith N. (2015). Gender Differences in Behavioral Problems and School Outcomes, „Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization”, nr 115, s. 75-93.
LeBuffe, P.A., Naglieri, J.A. (1999). The Devereux Early Childhood Assessment (DECA): Ameasure of Within-child Protective Factors in Preschool Children, „National Head Start Association Dialog”, 3, 75-80.
LeBuffe P.A., Shapiro V.B. (2004). Lending “strength” to the Assessment of Preschool Social-emotional Health, „The California School Psychologist”, nr 9, s. 51-61.
Luthar S.S. (1991). Vulnerability and Resilience: A Study of High-risk Adolescents, „Child Development”, nr 62, s. 600-616.
Masten A. (2001). Ordinary Magic. Resilience Process in Development, „American Psychologist”, nr 56(3), s. 227-238.
Masten A., Obradović J. (2006). Competence and Resilience in Development, „Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences”, nr 1094, s. 13-27.
Ogg J.A., Brinkman T.M., Dedrick R.F., Carlson J.S. (2010). Factor Structure and Invariance Across Gender of the Devereux Early Childhood Assessment Protective Factor Scale, „School Psychology Quarterly”, nr 25(2), d. 107-118.
Ogińska-Bulik N., Juczyński Z. (2011). Prężność u dzieci i młodzieży: charakterystyka i pomiar – polska skala SPP-18, „Polskie Forum Psychologiczne”, nr 16(1), s. 7-28.
Okagaki L., Sternberg R.J. (1993). Parental Beliefs and Children’s School Performance, „Child Development”, nr 64(1), s. 36-56.
Oliva A., Palacios J. (1992). Ideas de los Profesores sobre la Education y el Desarrollo [Teacher’s Ideas onEeducation and Development], Sevilla: Universida de Sevilla. Psicologia.
Olsson C.A., Bond L., Burns J.M., Vella-Brodrick D.A., Sawyer S.M. (2003). Adolescent Resilience: a Concept Analysis, „Journal of Adolescence”, nr 26, s. 1-11.
Pianta R., Sternberg M. (1992). Teacher – Child Relationship and the Process of Adjusting to School, [w:] W. Damon, R. Pianta (red.), Beyond the Parent: the Rrole of other Adults in Children’s Lives: Vol. 57. New Directions for Child Development, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, s. 61-79.
Rahmawati A., Tarias M.M.W., Nawangsari N.A.F. (2018). Children’s School Readiness Based on Teachers’ and Parents’ Perceptions, „International Journal of Pedagogy and Teacher Education”, nr 2(1), s. 201-212.
Rutter M. (2006). Implications of Resilience Concepts for Scientific Understanding, „Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences”, nr 1094, s. 1-12.
Sawyer A.C.P, Miller-Lewis L.R., Searle A.K., Sawyer M.G., Lynch J.W. (2015). Is Greater Improvement in Self-regulation Associated with Fewer Behavioral Problems Later in Childhood?, „Developmental Psychology”, nr 51(12), s. 1740-1755.
Sikorska I. (2016). Odporność psychiczna w okresie dzieciństwa, Kraków: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego.
Sikorska I., Sajdera J., Paluch-Chrabąszcz M. (2017). Dzielne Dzieci! Jak wspierać odporność psychiczną dziecka w wieku przedszkolnym, Kraków: Wydawnictwo Edukacyjne.
Szada-Borzyszkowska J. (2008). Sytuacja dziecka zdolnego w szkole, [w:] M. Wróblewska (red.), Kształcenie i promowanie uczniów zdolnych, Białystok: Trans Humana Wydawnictwo Uniwersyteckie, s. 90-99.
Werner E.E., Smith R.S. (1992). Overcoming the Odds: High Risk Children from Birth to Adulthood, Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
Werner E.E., Smith R.S. (2001). Journeys from Childhood to Midlife: Risk, Resilience, and Recovery, Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
Wustmann C. (2004). Resilienz: Widerstandsfähigkeit von Kindern in Tageseinrichtungen fördern, Weinheim, Basel: Beltz.
Copyright (c) 2019 Elementary Education in Theory and Practice
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
- When submitting a text, the author declares that he/she is the Author of the article (hereinafter referred to as the “Work”) and:
- he/she owns the exclusive and unlimited copyright to the Work,
- is entitled to dispose of the copyright to the Work.
Declares that it does not infringe any third party copyrights or legal rights.
Declares that there is no conflict of interest.
2. At the same time, the Author grants the Ignatianum University in Cracowa royalty-free, non-exclusive and territorially unlimited licence to use the Work in the following fields of exploitation:
- recording the Work in a hard copy, as well as on a digital or magnetic medium;
- reproduction of the Work using any technique, without limitation of the number of editions or copies;
- distribution of the Work and its copies on any medium, including marketing, sale, lending, and rental;
- introduction of the Work into a computer memory;
- disseminating the Work in information networks, including in the Internet;
- public performance, exhibition, display, reproduction, broadcasting and re-broadcasting, as well as making the Work available to the public in such a way that everyone can have access to it at a time and place of their own choosing;
- within the scope of dependent rights to the Work, including in particular the right to make necessary changes to the Work resulting from editorial and methodical development, as well as to translate the Work into foreign languages;
The licence is granted from the moment of the transfer of the Work to the Ignatianum University in Cracow. The Ignatianum University in Cracow is entitled to grant further sub-licences to the Work within the scope of the right granted. The licence is time-limited and it is granted for a period of 15 years, starting from the date of its granting.
Authors are permitted and encouraged to publish their text online (e.g. in their institution’s repository or on the institution’s website) before or during the submission process as this may lead to beneficial exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of the published text (See The Effect of Open Access). We recommend using any of the following portals of research associations:
- ResearchGate
- SSRN
- Academia.edu
- Selected Works
- Academic Search
