Transcript Slide 1

Introducing the Incredible Years
Teacher and Classroom Dinosaur
Programmes in Jamaican
Preschools:
Results from a pilot study
Helen Baker-Henningham
Department of Educational Studies, University of the
West Indies, Jamaica
Prevalence
 The prevalence of externalising behaviour
disorders in 5-6 year old Jamaican children is
12%.
Likely to be higher in inner-city areas.
 Few children access appropriate services.
 There is a paucity of prevention services for
young children with social and emotional
problems.
Need for social-emotional training
in early childhood
Children’s emotional self regulation and social
competence are powerful predictors of school
success, even after controlling for variation in
cognitive abilities.
Children with emotional and behavioural
difficulties are at high risk for a range of negative
outcomes – e.g. underachievement, school drop
out, and continuing aggression and substance
abuse.
Risk Factors
Child Risk Factors
 Hyperactivity / attention problems
 Social skills, problem solving deficits
 Academic / learning problems
Parent / Family Risk Factors
 Ineffective parenting skills
 High levels of stressors – poverty
 Personal and interpersonal problems / lack of support
School risk Factors
 Low or poor home-school communication
 Low student bonding to school (e.g. poor relationships)
 Poor classroom management & harsh discipline policies
What works?
Early intervention
 Conduct disorder in later childhood & adolescence is
very difficult to treat.
 Interventions in early childhood (prior to age 8) are
recommended.
Target multiple risk and protective factors
 Decrease risk factors
 Increase protective factors
Most proximal risk factors for young children are:
 Ineffective parenting
 Poor teacher-child relationships
 Poor home-school bonding
 Peer rejection
What type of intervention
Clinical interventions:
Child with diagnosis of disorder is
targeted for intervention
Targeted interventions:
Children considered high risk for
developing the disorder are targeted
Universal interventions:
all children / families receive the intervention
School Based Interventions
 School based, preventative interventions,
implemented during the early childhood years,
have been effective in reducing child conduct
problems and promoting child social and
emotional competence in developed countries.
No reports of such interventions from developing
countries – urgent need to implement and
evaluate feasible interventions in different cultural
and economic contexts where access to
childhood mental health services is extremely
limited.
Jamaican Preschools
 Cater to children aged 3-6 years (and 2 year olds)
 High child-teacher ratio (1:25 children)
 Untrained teachers
 Few resources
 Overcrowding
 High noise levels
 Strong focus on academics and little emphasis on other
aspects of development.
 Few opportunities for play & exploration
 Mostly teacher-directed activities
 English as a second language in school setting
 Corporal punishment is common (a recent Act bans the
use of corporal punishment in preschools but it is not
enforced)
Most feasible approach?
Parent Training
 Greatest evidence base
 But costly: need child care, transportation, refreshments,
gifts etc.
 May be more feasible as a targeted program for children
at higher risk.
Teacher Training
 Less costly and more feasible
 One trained teacher can result in benefits to a number of
high risk children
 Teachers can be trained to teach social / emotional skills
to children and to reach out to parents
 Children’s behaviour at school is key to their school
success
Incredible Years Training Series
 Range of training programmes:
 Parent Training
 Teacher Training
 Child Training
 Validated in different settings and with people from
diverse cultures.
 Manualised, training and supervision available.
 Designed for implementation during the early childhood
years.
The Study
Preliminary Work
 5 focus groups with parents of basic school children (47
parents)
 4 focus groups with basic school teachers (42 teachers)
 7 key informant interviews with basic school principals
 Extensive unstructured observations in basic school
classrooms
 Identify common behaviour problems
 Investigate parents’ and teachers’ perceptions of why
these behaviours occur
 Investigate behaviour management strategies used
 Identify how the IY programmes can be effectively used
in the Jamaican early childhood setting
Study Design
5 Basic Schools
Stratified,
Randomised
Intervention Group: n = 3
IY Teacher Training (October –
May) and IY Dina Classroom
Training (January – May)
15 classrooms
Control Group: n = 2
Additional educational materials
12 classrooms
Children screened for behaviour and / or attentional
problems through teacher report: approx 5-6 children
/ class selected
69 children
65 children
5
lost
5
lost
64 children
60 children
Teacher Program Content
 Building positive relationships with children
 Building parent-teacher collaborations
 Importance of teacher attention, encouragement
and praise
 Preventing problems: proactive teaching
 Decreasing inappropriate behaviour
 Promoting positive social skills, emotional
literacy and problem solving in the classroom.
Teacher Program Methods
 Building a positive relationship with each teacher
 Use of videotape modelling to promote discussion
 Collaborative process: teachers learn by identifying
principles through guided discussion and solving their
own and each others problems
 Role play and rehearsal to reinforce and practice skills
 Group support: other teachers are experts
 Monthly classroom assignments to promote application of
skills in the classroom
 Individual behaviour plans for children with behaviour
problems
Adaptations for Ja Context




More time
More practical activities & role plays
Monthly classroom assignments more explicit
Monitoring checklist designed to encourage
teachers to monitor themselves
 1 page handout of key concepts to accompany
each workshop
 Additional items added to assessment checklists
 Behaviour planning forms more explicit
 Less emphasis on written assignments & more
individual sessions to allow for verbal feedback
Child Program Content
How to do your best in school (4 weeks)
 Understand classroom rules
 Follow instructions
 Ignore distractions
 Persistence: keep trying when the task is difficult
Understanding and detecting feelings (4 weeks)
 Learning words for different feelings
 Learning to recognise different feelings
 Understanding why different feelings occur
 Discussing what we can do to make ourselves and
others feel better
Child Program Content
Anger management (2 weeks)
 Learning to recognise when they are getting angry
 Practicing anger management steps – “doing turtle”
 Learning appropriate ways of expressing anger
Friendship skills (4 weeks)
 Learning and practicing friendship skills (e.g. sharing,
taking turns, swapping, working together, praising,
asking & listening)
 Discussing and practicing different contexts in which
these skills can be learnt
Child Program Methods
Child size puppets, colourful cue cards to engage
children and make concepts more meaningful
Use of rituals and routines to enhance
participation and learning
Modeling of concepts followed by children
rehearsing skill
Small group practice activities to reinforce skills
Promoting skills taught throughout the day
Adaptations for Ja Context
 Puppet is used to role play scenarios rather than
basing lessons on discussion and / or videos
 More visual aids & materials are used to
promote children’s understanding and
participation
 Feasibility is paramount
 materials must be available or easily accessible
 all activities must be suitable for use by the teacher
without additional assistance
 limited use of handouts & homework assignments
Measurements: Pre and Post
Teacher Behaviour
4 x 15 minute observations of teacher behaviour (2
‘teaching’ sessions & 2 ‘activity’ sessions).
Event recording of:
 Negative behaviours: critical comments, physical negative,
intrusion, warnings, negative commands
 Positive / nurturing behaviours: labelled & unlabelled praise,
incentives/ rewards, descriptive commenting, physical
positive, grandma’s rule
 Commands: direct commands, indirect commands
 Teaching social and emotional competence: talking about
feelings, encouraging friendship skills, reminding children of
rules.
All behaviours have clear descriptors documented in an
observation manual with examples and non-examples of each
Adapted from: DIPCS (Robinson & Eyeberg, 1981) & T-POT (Martin, 2005)
Measurements: Pre and Post
Classroom atmosphere
Four 5 point rating scales completed after each 15 min
observation
 Level of appropriate behaviour
 Opportunities to share and help each other
 Level of interest and enthusiasm
 Teacher warmth
Clear descriptors provided for each point on each scale
Adapted from Conduct Problems Prevention Research Group Rating Scales
Measurements: Selecting children who
are at risk
Screening instrument
Teacher rated each child in her class: yes or no.
Definition
Child has some difficulties with:
 Behaviour (for example, fighting, disrupting the class) &/or
 Paying attention (including often out of seat, not doing their
work, not listening to teacher)
Measurements: Pre and Post
Child Behaviour:
Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire: hyperactivity,
emotional problems, peer problems, conduct problems
and prosocial behaviour
Teacher-Parent Contacts:
 Number and content of teacher-parent contacts during
the previous week (by teacher report): rated by
interviewer as positive, negative or neutral
Results of Screen
594 children (292 boys and 302 girls)
27.8% (165) identified as having a behavioural difficulty
 33.9 % (99) boys
21.9% (66) girls
Change in teacher positives in
intervened and control classrooms
205
185
165
145
Intervened
Control
125
105
85
65
45
Baseline
Final
p < .001; Values are median scores / hour of observation
Change in teacher negatives in
intervened and control classrooms
130
120
110
100
90
Intervened
Control
80
70
60
50
40
Baseline
Final
p < .001; Values are median scores / hour of observation
Change in teacher commands in
intervened and control classrooms
310
300
290
280
270
Intervened
Control
260
250
240
230
220
210
Baseline
Final
p < . 05; Values are median scores / hour of observation.
Intervention effect no longer significant when control for the school effect.
Change in promoting social &
emotional skills in intervened and
control classrooms
50
45
40
35
30
Intervened
Control
25
20
15
10
5
0
Baseline
Final
p < .001; Values are median scores / hour of observation
Change in classroom ratings in
intervened and control classrooms
2
1.5
**
***
**
1
***
0.5
Intervened
Control
0
-0.5
-1
Appropriate
Behaviour
Sharing /
Helping
Interest /
Enthusiasm
Teacher
Warmth
***p < .001, **p < .01; Values are mean change (final – baseline) scores
Change in children’s prosocial skills
6.5
5.5
Intervened
Control
4.5
Final
Baseline
p = .09, controlling for child sex and initial score; if control for school effect,
no longer significant: ES = 0.38.
Mean scores are presented.
Change in children’s total difficulties
score on SDQ
20
18
16
14
Intervened
Control
12
10
Final
Baseline
p < .01, controlling for child sex and initial score. If control for school effect, no
longer significant: ES: 0.56).
Mean scores are presented.
Change in parent-teacher contacts in
intervened and control classrooms
Regression
coefficient
(Standard error)
Change in positive parent contacts***
0.96 (0.19)
Change in negative parent contacts*
-0.29 (0.12)
***p < .001, *p < .05
Results of Qualitative Inquiry
 Interviews with 15 teachers who had
participated in the intervention.
 All interviews were conducted by a researcher
who was not involved in the intervention.
 Interviews were taped and transcribed.
 Framework analysis was used.
Understanding Children
“They are three year olds and I now get to understand that,
hey they are three and they won’t sit all the time, just give
them a little wiggle space.”
(teacher of 3 year olds)
“It open my eyes, it make me see different, stop looking only
at the ones that are bright but look at the other ones who
aren’t and make them feel important just like the other
ones, not to feel left out but them feel appreciated.”
(teacher of 5 year olds)
Playing with / spending time with children
“I would just sit and observe the free activity area but now
from what I learned, I get up and go around and listen to
what they are saying and encourage them. Normally, I
would sit at my desk, now I get up and meet them at the
door, rap with them a little so they start to open up.”
(teacher of 5 year olds)
“When they are in the corners playing, I’ll go into the corners
and sit with them and be more interested in what they are
doing and sometimes I even role play along with them
and they love that. You see them smile and it makes you
feel good. To see the fun that they have when I play with
them, they laugh and say ‘Look at teacher’.”
(teacher of 4 year olds)
Reducing corporal punishment
“Changing my whole outlook on the punishment and hitting and stuff
because most of the time the slapping don’t really work anyways,
and now we find the new stuff, it’s less stressful for you because
you don’t have to be saying the same thing over and over and
doing the same stuff over and over and not getting a result.”
(teacher of 3 year olds)
“With the difficult children, some of the time, when they misbehave I
would respond by either giving them a little slap or maybe shouting
at them but instead now I find myself looking for times I can praise
them and that really works. It works far better than shouting. I am
less stressed and it has helped me be more patient and tolerant.”
(teacher of 4 year olds)
Children’s emotional development
“If they are sitting in the areas you hear them talking to each
other, they are playing with the teddy and they ask ‘How
are you feeling today? Are you feeling sad?’
(teacher of 3 year olds)
“At first the children in the classroom, they are so angry like
they use their pencils to stab each other. When they feel a
child is not giving them …they just angry. Now they are
more calm. They have been controlling anger by taking a
deep breath and calm down themselves and using their
ignore muscles. ”
(teacher of 5 year olds)
Children have better social skills
“Sometimes another child will come in and they
just give the child a compliment and if a child
come and helps somebody, they will come and
say, ‘That was very good, very kind.’ They love to
do the compliments.”
(teacher of 4 year olds)
“They ask for something when they need it, they
don’t just pull it from the other person, the sharing
– children keep coming to me to tell me that they
are sharing.”
(teacher of 4 year olds)
Children have better social skills
“ She would just bite and she can’t sit by nobody and Tenice
can’t agree with nobody and now I can put her to sit
beside anybody. I used to put her at just one spot that I
can see her and say ‘TENICE’ … and now she is helpful
and she is just in her class, do her work and things. And I
tell her mummy about the improvement and she stand up
there and she say ‘I can’t believe this is Tenice’ and I say
‘Yes, it’s the same Tenice’ and the next day they bring me
mango, they so happy.”
(teacher of 3 year olds)
Improved relationships with parents
“I have a better relationship with the parents. Cause at first
you tend to want to give the negative, ‘He’s not behaving
well’ and now you say ‘Tajay did this today, he sat at his
table and completed his task.’ The parents know that
‘Hey, my child is doing something in school and he is
great.’ It’s working. Parents are interested to come.”
(teacher of 5 year olds)
“Say for instance the child shares or helps a child outside
who falls, we send a happygram home to the parents.
The parents they respond very nicely, they come in and
they say they like the way the child has been sharing in
class.”
(teacher of 5 year olds)
Transfer of skills to home
“Parents are telling us that they are using those same skills
at home, waiting turns, asking, complimenting. A parent
told me that she had dressed for somewhere and the
child complimented her and she went somewhere and
she was pushing and the child told her to wait her turn”
(teacher of 5 year olds)
“It’s helping, not just in the school but in the home. It is
rubbing off because their cousins and everybody is
talking about the rules when they are playing at home.
The parents say they hear the children saying ‘Keep your
hands to yourself’.”
(teacher of 5 year olds)
Other benefits in school
“It helps the shy ones just open up and respond and they start to
interact with each other better and they feel more confident so they
started to talk and participate in the activities.”
(teacher of 5 year olds)
“The children learn to listen, they learn to participate, they learn to
answer questions, they learn to observe things that are in the setting,
they learn to obey rules and they relate to what is being taught. They
answer questions, they cooperate and that’s a whole lot ……..
(teacher of 4 year olds)
“With the creativity that the programme offers for the teacher, it makes
the classroom more exciting, more interesting and interactive for the
children because some persons perceive children as empty
containers waiting to be poured into. The children have so much to
offer.”
(teacher of 5 year olds)
Recommendations
“I want it to continue and I would recommend it to any teacher
and any school and I am really glad for it. When I go in and I
sit down, I don’t come out till when it’s over. I don’t put anything
on my agenda to say this Friday, if I have something come up,
I change it, just to be at the workshop. ”
(teacher of 3 year olds)
“Every month we have the workshop, we get different ideas which
helps, so I’m looking forward to the end of the month so we
can get ideas, strategies we can use, so we can go straight
ahead and work on it. If we have a problem with it, they
patiently listen to us and we tell them and they help us and we
go back to the room and we try it again and it works and they
come in sometimes and they help us to deal with them and it
works.”
(teacher of 5 year olds)
Recommendations
“It’s very good and I love it very much and I know you gonna
get other schools, when they get this programme, they
gonna love it also, this thing gonna big man, trust me,
when you finish from this school and go to other schools
them gonna love it, trust me.
(teacher of 5 year olds)
Next Steps
Implement the programme in a greater number
and more representative sample of schools and
evaluate the programme for:
Its impact on child behaviour through direct
observation and teacher and parent report)
 Its impact on teacher behaviour and classroom
atmosphere
 Its impact on parent-teacher relationships.
Next Steps
Pay close attention to:
 The mechanism through which the intervention
achieves its effects
 For whom and under what conditions does the
intervention work best
 Amount of technical assistance required
 Cost- effectiveness of the programme
 How to integrate the training into the early childhood
network in a sustainable and effective way.
The project was funded by:
Environmental Foundation of Jamaica
Office of the Principal, UWI, Mona
UNICEF, Jamaica