HBEC2903 Behaviour Management For Young Children - V Jan18 (Bookmark)

HBEC2903
Behaviour Management
for Young Children
Copyright © Open University Malaysia (OUM)

HBEC2903
BEHAVIOUR
MANAGEMENT FOR
YOUNG CHILDREN
Wirawani Kamarulzaman
Sarah Waheeda Muhammad Hafidz

Project Director: Prof Dato’ Dr Mansor Fadzil
Open University Malaysia
Module Writers: Wirawani Kamarulzaman

Sarah Waheeda Muhammad Hafidz
Moderators: Assoc Prof Dr Fatimah Yusoff

Dr Aliza Ali
Dr Nurul Aliah Mustafa
Developed by: Centre for Instructional Design and Technology

First Edition, December 2017

Copyright © Open University Malaysia, December 2017, HBEC2903
All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced in any form or by any means without
the written permission of the President, Open University Malaysia (OUM).

Table of Contents
Course Guide xiăxv
Topic 1 Research and Theories that Influence Practice 1

1.1 Discipline Models and Plans 2
1.1.1 Positive Forms of Discipline 2
1.1.2 Negative Forms of Discipline 2
1.2 Theories Focusing on the Systems in Which Children Develop 3
1.2.1 Ecological Systems Theory ă Urie Bronfenbrenner 3
1.2.2 Family Systems Theory 6
1.3 Theories Focusing on How Children Construct Knowledge 7
1.3.1 Pragmatic Theory/Pragmatism ă John Dewey 8
(1859ă1952)
1.3.2 Cognitive Theory ă Jean Piaget (1896ă1980) 8
1.3.3 Sociocultural Cognitive Theory ă Lev Vygotsky 10
(1896ă1934)
1.4 Theories Focusing on Psychological, Emotional and Social 11
Learning Needs
1.4.1 Theory of Psychosocial Development ă Erik Erikson 11
(1902ă1994)
1.4.2 Hierarchy of Needs ă Abraham Maslow (1908ă1970) 13
1.4.3 Adlerian Theory (Individual Psychology) ă Alfred 14
Adler (1870ă1937)
1.4.4 Rogerian Theory (Personal Theory) ă Carl Rogers 15
(1902ă1987)
1.4.5 Social Learning Theory ă Albert Bandura 16
(1925ăPresent)
Summary 17
Key Terms 17
References 18

iv  TABLE OF CONTENTS
Topic 2 Understanding a Child's Development: A Key to Managing 19

ChildrenÊs Behaviour Effectively
2.1 Dynamics of Classroom Behaviour 20
2.2 Perception and Memory 22
2.2.1 Perception 22
2.2.2 Memory 23
2.3 Social Cognition: How Children Think about Others 25
2.3.1 Preoperational Thinkers: 2 to 6-Years Old 25
2.3.2 Concrete Operational Thinkers: 6 to 11/12 Years Old 26
2.4 Self-control and Prosocial Behaviour 27
2.4.1 Self-control 27
2.4.2 Prosocial Behaviour 28
Summary 30
Key Terms 30
References 31
Topic 3 Communication Management 32

3.1 Principles of Positive Communication 33
3.2 Shaping ChildrenÊs Feelings 35
3.3 Characteristics of Communication 39
3.3.1 Safeguarding Children 40
3.3.2 Satisfying ChildrenÊs Need for Autonomy 41
3.3.3 Fostering Competence 43
Summary 45
Key Terms 46
References 46
Topic 4 Beyond the Classroom 47

4.1 Collaborating with Parents 48
4.1.1 The Evolvement of Parent-Teacher Relationship 48
4.1.2 Goals of Parent-Teacher Collaboration 49
4.2 Collaborative Practices 50
4.3 Parental Participation 51
4.4 Formulating a Discipline Policy 52
Summary 57
Key Terms 58
References 58

TABLE OF CONTENTS  v
Topic 5 Using Observation in ChildrenÊs Behaviour Management 59

5.1 Rationale of Assessment in Early Childhood Education 60
5.2 Reasons for Observing ChildrenÊs Behaviour 61
5.3 Practical Methods for Observing ChildrenÊs Behaviour 63
Summary 69
Key Terms 69
References 69
Topic 6 Positive Guidance and Disciplinary Strategies: A Direct Guidance 70

6.1 The Concept of Guidance and Discipline 71
6.2 Positive Guidance and Strategies: Descriptions 72
and Explanations 93
6.3 Beliefs about Discipline that Influence Choices 77
of Disciplinary Strategies
6.4 Penalties 77
Summary 78
Key Terms 78
References 78
Topic 7 Adjustment and Learning Environment 79

7.1 Situations 80
7.1.1 New Place 80
7.1.2 Staff and Adults 80
7.1.3 Age Peers 81
7.2 Routines and Transition 82
7.2.1 Schedule 82
7.2.2 Transition 84
7.3 Parental Action 86
7.4 Rules and Consequences 88
7.5 Connecting Behaviour to Outcome 94
7.5.1 Indirect Guidance 95
7.5.2 Building Relationships 96
7.5.3 Physically Guiding Children 96
7.5.4 Verbal Guidance 97
7.6 Developmentally Appropriate Practice (DAP) to Managing 98
ChildrenÊs Behaviour
Summary 99
Key Terms 100
References 100

vi  TABLE OF CONTENTS
Topic 8 Decision-making Model on Managing ChildrenÊs Behaviour 101

8.1 Decision-making Model of Child Guidance 102
8.1.1 Knowledge, Skills and Respect: The Basis of 102
Decision-making Model
8.2 Steps in the Decision-making Model 104
8.3 Using the Decision-making Model in Everyday Discipline 106
Encounters
8.4 Using the Decision-making Model with Challenging 108
Behaviour
8.5 Using the Decision-making Model to Make Contextual 111
Changes
Summary 114
Key Terms 115
References 115
Topic 9 Social Learning 116

9.1 Play and Social Learning 117
9.1.1 Importance of Play 117
9.1.2 Categories and Types of Play 118
9.2 Values of Play and Social Competence 120
9.2.1 Values of Play 120
9.2.2 Sharing 121
9.2.3 Friendship 122
Summary 123
Key Terms 124
References 124

COURSE GUIDE

COURSE GUIDE  ix
COURSE GUIDE DESCRIPTION

You must read this Course Guide carefully from the beginning to the end. It tells
you briefly what the course is about and how you can work your way through the
course material. It also suggests the amount of time you are likely to spend in order
to complete the course successfully. Please keep on referring to Course Guide as
you go through the course material as it will help you to clarify important study
components or points that you might miss or overlook.
INTRODUCTION
HBEC2903 Behaviour Management for Young Children is one of the courses
offered at Open University Malaysia (OUM). This course is worth 3 credit hours
and should be covered over 8 to 15 weeks.
COURSE AUDIENCE
This course is offered to all learners taking the Bachelor of Early Childhood
Education programme. This module introduces learners to the knowledge of
behaviour management for young children. Learners are exposed to important
aspects such as knowledge and skills to be able to manage children behaviour and
for learning to occur, which needed in the field of early childhood education.
As an open and distance learner, you should be acquainted with learning

independently and being able to optimise the learning modes and environment
available to you. Before you begin this course, please confirm the course material,
the course requirements and how the course is conducted.
STUDY SCHEDULE
It is a standard OUM practice that learners accumulate 40 study hours for every
credit hour. As such, for a three-credit hour course, you are expected to spend
120 study hours. Table 1 gives an estimation of how the 120 study hours could be
accumulated.

x  COURSE GUIDE
Table 1: Estimation of Time Accumulation of Study Hours
Study
Study Activities
Hours
Briefly go through the course content and participate in initial discussions 5
Study the module 60
Attend 4 tutorial sessions 8
Online participation 12
Revision 15
Assignment(s) and Examination(s) 20
TOTAL STUDY HOURS ACCUMULATED 120
COURSE OUTCOMES
By the end of this course, you should be able to:
1. Discuss the different issues of children behaviour and the strategies used to
manage them;
2. Apply knowledge of childÊs development and theories as a principle to guide
childrenÊs behaviour;
3. Demonstrate positive guidance and disciplinary techniques and strategies;
4. Analyse the different discipline models used on managing childrenÊs
behaviour; and
5. Develop a guidance plan based on the decision-making models of managing
childrenÊs behaviour.

COURSE GUIDE  xi
COURSE SYNOPSIS
This course is divided into nine topics. The synopsis for each topic is listed as
follows:
Topic 1 elaborates the theories that govern child development. You will learn how
each of the theory guides you to understand childrenÊs behaviours. It also explains
the theories that focus on how children construct knowledge and how children
develop emotionally, physically as well as in learning.
Topic 2 discusses the importance for teachers to recognise perceptual and memory
development in young children. You will learn the difference between
preoperational and concrete operational thinkers where these are relevant
elements to young childrenÊs cognitive development. You will also discuss how
self-control evolves in children.
Topic 3 explains the principles of positive communication and how you, as

teachers, could recognise the basics of human needs that underlie in every request
for help requested by children. This topic elaborates how you can communicate
better with children to shape their feelings and communication skills.
Topic 4 covers the goals and means for teachers and parents to collaborate and
participate in experiencing school in the modern era. It also covers the practices
that the teachers and parents can exercise together collaboratively in school. You
will also learn the importance of discipline policy in schools for young children.
Topic 5 describes the process of observation and assessment in guiding children.

You will have a clearer picture of the reasons for child observation and the
appropriate methods to observe childrenÊs behaviours. Before any attempt in
guiding any children, their behaviour should be observed as to have a better idea
on how you can plan your guiding strategies.
Topic 6 elaborates the definition of guidance and counselling as well as suggesting

guidance strategies that teachers can apply in managing childrenÊs behaviour. You
will also examine your beliefs on discipline in order to become better guardians.
Topic 7 examines the daily routines and schedules of children in school and how
parentsÊ actions influence these routines. It also explains the rules and
consequences to children when they do not follow rules. The topic also elaborates
on how behaviours can lead to certain outcomes which are sometimes not
pleasant.

xii  COURSE GUIDE
Topic 8 introduces the decision-making model on managing childrenÊs

behaviours. It explains the steps to practice the model that can be applied and
practiced by teachers. It also elaborates on how the model can be applied to
manage childrenÊs challenging behaviour.
Topic 9 covers the definition, categories and types of children play that change as
they grow up. This topic also explores the values of play such as children learn to
become more competent and they will be able to develop socially. Apart from that,
the topic explains the several methods how a teacher can promote sharing to
children and the levels of friendships based on age.
TEXT ARRANGEMENT GUIDE

Before you go through this module, it is important that you note the text
arrangement. Understanding the text arrangement will help you to organise your
study of this course more objectively and effectively. Generally, the text
arrangement for each topic is as follows:
Learning Outcomes: This section refers to what you should achieve after you have
completely covered a topic. As you go through each topic, you should frequently
refer to these learning outcomes. By doing this, you can continuously gauge your
understanding of the topic.
Self-Check: This component of the module is inserted at strategic locations

throughout the module. It may be inserted after one sub-section or a few sub-
sections. It usually comes in the form of a question. When you come across this
component, try to reflect on what you have already learnt thus far. By attempting
to answer the question, you should be able to gauge how well you have
understood the sub-section(s). Most of the time, the answers to the questions can
be found directly from the module itself.
Activity: Like Self-Check, the Activity component is also placed at various locations
or junctures throughout the module. This component may require you to solve
questions, explore short case studies, or conduct an observation or research. It may
even require you to evaluate a given scenario. When you come across an Activity,
you should try to reflect on what you have gathered from the module and apply it
to real situations. You should, at the same time, engage yourself in higher order
thinking where you might be required to analyse, synthesise and evaluate instead
of only having to recall and define.

COURSE GUIDE  xiii
Summary: You will find this component at the end of each topic. This component
helps you to recap the whole topic. By going through the summary, you should be
able to gauge your knowledge retention level. Should you find points in the
summary that you do not fully understand, it would be a good idea for you to
revisit the details in the module.
Key Terms: This component can be found at the end of each topic. You should go
through this component to remind yourself of important terms or jargon used
throughout the module. Should you find terms here that you are not able to
explain, you should look for the terms in the module.
References: The References section is where a list of relevant and useful textbooks,
journals, articles, electronic contents or sources can be found. The list can appear
in a few locations such as in the Course Guide (at the References section), at the
end of every topic or at the back of the module. You are encouraged to read or
refer to the suggested sources to obtain the additional information needed and to
enhance your overall understanding of the course.
PRIOR KNOWLEDGE
This is an introductory course. There is no prior knowledge needed.
ASSESSMENT METHOD
Please refer to myINSPIRE.
REFERENCES
Bandura, A. (1977). Social learning theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Beaver, M., Booty, M., Brewster, J., Neaum, S., Sheppard, H., & Tallack, J. (2005).
ChildrenÊs care, learning and development. United Kingdom: Nelson
Thomes Ltd.
Christian, L. G. (2006). Applying family systems theory to early childhood

practice. Beyond the Journal: Young Children on the Web.
Council of Chief State School Officers (2008). Accountability systems. Retrieved

from www.ccsso.org/projects/accountability_systems/.
Driscoll, A., & Nagel, N. G. (2008). Early childhood education: Birth - 8: The world
of children, families and educators. Boston: Pearson Education Inc.
xiv  COURSE GUIDE
Edwards, C. H., & Watts, V. (2004). Classroom discipline and management: An

Australasian perspective. Milton, QLD: John Wiley & Sons.
Essa, E. L. (2011). Introduction to early childhood education. Belmont, CA:

Wadsworth Cengage Learning.
Gartrell, D. (2003). A guidance approach for the encouraging classroom (4th ed.).
Clifton Park, NY: Thomson Delmar.
Gonzalez-Mena, J. (2008). Foundation of early childhood education: Teaching

children in a diverse society (4th ed.) Boston: McGraw-Hill.
Grace K., & Stiles, D. (2015). Why, is parent involvement important for ECE?
Gender Equity in Early Childhood Education. Retrieved from
http://scalar.usc.edu/works/gender-equity-in-early-childhood-education/why-is-
parent-involvement-important-for-ecce.
Henniger, M. L. (2012). Teaching young children: An introduction (5th ed.).

Boston: Pearson.
Marion, C. M. (2014). Guidance of young children (9th ed.). Boston: Pearson.
Marzano, R. J., Marzano, J. S., & Pickering, D. J. (2008). Classroom management

that works: Research.
Maxwell, G. (2001). Teacher observation in student assessment. Discussion papers

on assessment and reporting. No. 2, Brisbane: Queensland School
Curriculum Council.
Miller, D. F. (2010). Positive child guidance (6th ed.). United Kingdom: Thomson
Delmar Learning.
Morrison, G. S. (2012). Early childhood education today (12th ed). Pearson

Education, Inc.
Porter, L. (2006). Student behaviour: Theory and practice for teachers (3rd ed.). St
Leonards, NSW: Allen & Unwin.
Rogers, B. (2006). Classroom behaviour: A practical guide to effective teaching,

behaviour management and colleague support (2nd ed.). London: Paul
Chapman Publishing.
Rogers, B. (2007). Behaviour management: A whole-school approach (2nd ed.).

London: Paul Chapman Publishing.

COURSE GUIDE  xv
Santrock, J. W. (2011). Child development. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Smith, A. B. (2006). The state of research on the effects of physical punishment.

Social Policy Journal of New Zealand, 27, 114-127.
Volpe, R., DiPerna, J., Hintze, J., & Shapiro, E. (2005). Observing student in
classroom settings: A review of seven coding schemes. School of Psychology
Review, 24, 454-474.
Williams-Browne, K., & Gordon, A. M. (2014). Beginnings & beyond (9th ed.).
Delmar Thomson Learning.
TAN SRI DR ABDULLAH SANUSI (TSDAS)

DIGITAL LIBRARY
The TSDAS Digital Library has a wide range of print and online resources for the
use of its learners. This comprehensive digital library, which is accessible through
the OUM portal, provides access to more than 30 online databases comprising e-
journals, e-theses, e-books and more. Examples of databases available are
EBSCOhost, ProQuest, SpringerLink, Books247, InfoSci Books, Emerald
Management Plus and Ebrary Electronic Books. As an OUM learner, you are
encouraged to make full use of the resources available through this library.

xxvi X COURSE ASSIGNMENT GUIDE

Topic  Research and
Theories that
1 Influence
Practice
LEARNING OUTCOMES
By the end of this topic, you should be able to:
1. Define discipline and the types of discipline;
2. Discuss theories on children development;
3. Compare between Piaget and VygotskyÊs theories; and
4. Explain theories that focus on psychological, emotional and social
learning needs.
 INTRODUCTION
Behaviour management has been studied across different target groups. This is
because different groups would need different ways of handling and managing
challenging behaviour. Think about it for a minute: would you handle an adult
worker throwing a tantrum at the office the same way as handling a seven-year-
old child throwing a tantrum at school? This course as a whole look at behaviour
management in young children. This topic will explain the theories and models
used in behaviour management in young children. There are various groups of
theories that help us to understand and apply the best approach in managing
young children's behaviour.
ACTIVITY 1.1

2  TOPIC 1 RESEARCH AND THEORIES THAT INFLUENCE PRACTICE
1.1 DISCIPLINE MODELS AND PLANS

What does discipline mean? The word discipline has it roots from the Latin words
disciplina which means „teaching, learning‰ and discipulus which means „a pupil‰.
Hoover and Kindsvatter (1997) have put forth the idea that discipline can be viewed
as both a noun and a verb. As a noun, discipline can be defined as rules or
regulations that were set to maintain the order in a classroom. As a verb, discipline
can be defined as what educators do to ensure that students behave acceptably in a
classroom. From the various definitions provided, we can conclude that discipline
means teaching a child how to behave.
In teaching a child on how to behave, we can use either one of the following ways:
(a) Positive forms of discipline or a negative forms of discipline; and

(b) Combination of both.
Positive and negative forms of discipline will be explained in following subtopics.
1.1.1 Positive Forms of Discipline

Positive discipline is beneficial as it helps a child to develop a conscience that is
guided by his own internal discipline as well as compassion for other people
around him/her. Positive discipline teaches the child to have self-control, self-
discipline and ultimately helps a child to develop positive and realistic self-esteem.
In positive discipline, the child has control over his/her own behaviour, guided
by an authority figure.
Some examples of positive discipline include the setting of limits and maintaining
it, teaching appropriate behaviour, encouraging childrenÊs positive efforts and
redirecting negative behaviour.
1.1.2 Negative Forms of Discipline

Negative discipline does not physically hurt a child, but it can be irritating for the
child and in the long run, it can hurt the child in many ways (physically and
mentally). In using negative discipline, control over the behaviour comes from the
figure of authority (e.g. parents or teachers) and not the child him/herself.

TOPIC 1 RESEARCH AND THEORIES THAT INFLUENCE PRACTICE  3
Negative discipline may stop a childÊs misbehaviour for a little while, but it is more
than likely to return because it does not help a child learn that his/her action was
wrong and why it was wrong.
Some examples of negative discipline include nagging, giving time-outs, refusing

to talk to the child and also hitting.
ACTIVITY 1.1
Reminisce on your childhood. What did your parents do when you
misbehaved? What did you feel then and how do you feel about it now? Do
you think that it helped you be the person that you are today?
Share your answers with others during the tutorial session.
1.2 THEORIES FOCUSING ON THE SYSTEMS IN

WHICH CHILDREN DEVELOP
One of the elements in a group of theories that can be used to explain child
development are the systems in which a child develops. It sees children as a
component of a larger system. The two well-known theories in this bracket are the
Ecological Systems Theory and the Family Systems Theory. These theories explain
how a child does not exist in solidarity but rather is very much influenced by other
people and things surrounding them, be it directly or indirectly.
1.2.1 Ecological Systems Theory – Urie Bronfenbrenner

Urie Bronfenbrenner (1917ă2005) spent his career studying human development
at Cornell. He put forth ideas that have fresh perspectives on how human
development can be viewed.
The ecological systems theory suggests that a child exists in several environmental
systems that are nested within each other. What this means is that how a child
develops are influenced by a variety of things for example family, home, school,
community and society (systems closest to the child). Indirectly, this theory also
suggests that environmental elements such as economy, politics and geography
(among others) influence children through its influence on a childÊs family and the
society surrounding them. In simple terms, the development and growth of a child
are affected by the child's nature and also the environment.

As shown in Figure 1.1, the environmental systems that were suggested by

Bronfenbrenner are categorised from the most intimate level to the broadest. This
model organises contexts of development into five levels of environmental
systems:
Figure 1.1: BronfenbrennerÊs ecological theory

Source: https://sites.google.com/site/dsmktylenda/content/bronfenbrenner-s-
ecological-theory
Now, let us examine each layer of BronfenbrennerÊs ecological theory in detail.
(a) Microsystem
The microsystem is at the centre of the system, and it is the smallest
component. It comprises of the immediate environment in which a child
lives. It involve the daily home (which includes the childÊs immediate family
and extended family), school or day-care facility, peers, groups or
community around the child.
Interactions that take place in the microsystem typically involve personal

relationships with the said individuals, in which influences go back and
forth. However, two siblings who experience the same microsystem might
develop into individuals with very different manners. Thus, this finding
supports this theory that other factors (environmental systems) are
responsible for a childÊs development.

(b) Mesosystem
The mesosystem (the second layer of the system) encompasses of the
network of the different microsystems which the child finds him/herself in.
It consists of home-school, peer group-family or between families-
neighbours.
As an example, the relationship between the childÊs family and their school
teachers would have an impact on the childÊs development. If the
relationship is good, the child will be affected positively by a harmonious
relationship and like-mindedness. On the other hand, a not-so-friendly
relationship will result in the child experiencing disequilibrium and
conflicting emotions (which is a reflection of the family-teacher relationship),
which would affect his development negatively.
(c) Exosystem
The exosystem is the third layer. It contains elements of the microsystem
which does not affect the child directly but through the individuals around
the child. This may include people from the parentsÊ workplace, the larger
neighbourhood and extended family members. As an example, if a parent
were to lose their job, this would not affect a child directly, but it will
indirectly affect a child due to financial constraint or increased stress
experienced by the parent.
(d) Macrosystem
The macrosystem is the largest and most distant collection of people and
places to a child that still significantly influences a child. It is composed of
the childÊs cultural and societal patterns and values, specifically the childÊs
dominant beliefs and ideas. Other than that, political and economic systems
in the country would also influence the child. Examples of systems included
in the macrosystem are gender norms or religious influence.
(e) Chronosystem
This system focuses on the dimension of time. Time will show how both
change (which are inconsistencies) and consistency in a childÊs environment
would impact on the childÊs development. The chronosystem may, thus,
include changes in the family structure (e.g. when the parents separate or
when a parent passes on), parentÊs employment status (e.g. losing their jobs,
going back to work after staying at home and looking after the child), as well
as societal changes (e.g. economic cycles and political wars).

1.2.2 Family Systems Theory

The family systems theory was introduced by Dr Murray Bowen (1913-1990). This
theory suggests that individuals (be it a child or an adult) cannot exist and be seen
in isolation from one another in a family unit, but rather should be seen and
understood as a part of a family, as a family is an emotional unit and so everyone
is affected by one another.
It is only natural that every person or unit in a family to be strongly connected to

each other emotionally. The action of one family member would profoundly affect
other membersÊ thoughts, feelings and actions. It is normal for all members to want
and need other family memberÊs attention, approval and support, react to their
needs, expectations as well as upsets. It is this connectedness and reactivity that
makes the functioning of family members interdependent. We can call this as the
domino effect îwhere the change in one individual would result in a change other
members of the family unit (chain reaction).
The behaviour of the child at school will reflect what goes on at the childÊs home.
This is where the family systems theory plays a vital role in behaviour
management of young children. Christian (2006) has identified the following
factors to be particularly relevant to the management of young children:
(a) Boundaries
This relates to the limits, togetherness and separateness of the family. Some
families with loose boundaries are open to letting new people, information
and ideas into the group, tend to be fairly independent and are normally able
to make decisions by themselves. This type of family values autonomy and
independence over a sense of belonging and neediness.
On the other hand, there are families whose boundaries tend to be more close
and restrictive. This type of families place importance on togetherness,
belongingness, emotional connectedness and at times, seeks for conformity
by its members. They may, however, control rather than monitor their
childrenÊs friends and activities; which can be harmful to the familial
relationship in the long run.
(b) Rules
It is a set of standards, laws or traditions that tell us how we should live with
other. Rules do not have to be specifically stated (it can also be unspoken),
but it helps to guide us on how to behave. Rules established at home will also
be reflected in a childÊs behaviour at school. Therefore, teachers should be
aware of this in dealing with the children.

(c) Roles
Roles or responsibilities (as a whole or by the parent) are assigned to
different members of the family. The child that you see at school is likely to
behave according to the role that they have at home.
(d) Hierarchy
This is related to having the power and control, and decision-making in the
family. In typical families, parents sit on top of the pyramid. The parents
share family responsibilities. One parent may deflect an issue/problem to
the other parent based on a specific situation or individual strength, but there
is a need to maintain a fair balancing and trading back and forth of power
and control.
(e) Climate
It is the environment that a child grows up in. A climate is not only about the
physical environment (the house, the area they live in), but also includes the
emotional environment around the home. A teacher should be able to gauge
the climate that the child is in and use this to help them in managing the
child.
(f) Equilibrium
This is all about balance. Every family have some balance that tells members
what to expect. However, sometimes things and circumstances change, and
when this happens, it impacts the balance of the family. Change can be
positive or negative, but other aspects of the family can help to balance the
outcome of the change.
THEORIES FOCUSING ON HOW CHILDREN

1.3
CONSTRUCT KNOWLEDGE
One of the other group of theories that can be used to explain child development
looks at how children construct or build knowledge. Theories of this type
emphasise on learning through activities. Therefore, the interaction between a
child and other individuals is considered to be very important. To a certain extent,
these theories can be considered as cognitive theories in child development. The
theories that are included in this course are the theories of Dewey, Piaget and
Vygotsky.

1.3.1 Pragmatic Theory/Pragmatism − John Dewey

(1859–1952)
John Dewey is considered to be one of the fathers of functional psychology. One
of his main aims is to foster the type of thinking that helps democracy flourish.
Dewey suggested that children are interested in the following:
(a) The desire to investigate and discover things;
(b) The need to communicate;
(c) The joy in construction; and
(d) Artistic expression.
1.3.2 Cognitive Theory − Jean Piaget (1896−1980)

Piaget discovered that children go through a „biologically determined sequence
of stages‰ in the process of growing and learning. The four cognitive development
stages are shown in Figure 1.2.
Figure 1.2: The four cognitive development stages

Source: https://sites.google.com/site/hookappsychology2a/developmental-
psychology-by-brittany-june/piaget-s-stages-of-development

Piaget believes that processes of thinking and intellectual development should be

regarded as an extension of the biological process of the evolution of the species.
He stresses that the three following processes are essential in understanding how
children learn.
(a) Schemas
Schemas are actions or mental representations that organise knowledge.
Think of it as a "folder" on the computer; each folder consisting of files related
to it. For example, to drive a car, one must have the knowledge and know-
how that are related to driving a car (e.g. car parts, what to do etc.).
(b) Assimilation
Assimilation happens when a child takes in new information and stores it in
the existing repository of the same type of knowledge. For example, when a
child sees a donkey and calls it a cow. This is because the child assimilates
the properties of a donkey to a cow;î four legs, a tail and hairy skin î into his
schemata.
(c) Accommodation
Accommodation happens when a child changes or modifies an existing
knowledge or even forming an entirely new knowledge to deal with a new
object or event. When a child accommodates new information, he/she
takes into consideration the different properties of a donkey compared to a
cow, perhaps calling a donkey a four-legged animal. When he/she
eventually learns that the animal is called "donkey", he/she has
accommodated this information.
Heuwinkel (1996) thus suggested that these are some things to do when
teaching children:
(i) Take on a constructivist approach;
(ii) Facilitate rather than direct learning;
(iii) Consider the childÊs knowledge and level of thinking;
(iv) Use ongoing assessment;
(v) Promote the studentÊs intellectual health; and
(vi) Turn the classroom into a setting for exploration and discovery.

1.3.3 Sociocultural Cognitive Theory – Lev Vygotsky

(1896−1934)
Vygotsky conducted his studies on child development at about the same time as
Piaget, but unfortunately did not live a long life. Similar to Piaget, Vygotsky also
believed that children actively construct their knowledge, but he emphasised on
the roles of culture as well as social interaction in cognitive development.
However, Piaget's theory suggests that children's development must happen

before their learning. Vygotsky, on the other hand, argues that social learning
tends to come before the development of a child. One of the key concepts here is
the zone of proximal development (ZPD). ZPD is a range of tasks that can be too
difficult for a child to master alone but can be learned with some sort of guidance
and assistance from adults or more-skilled children. On the lower level are tasks
that a child can work on alone, and on the higher level are tasks that a child can
complete with guidance from a skilled individual (an adult or another child).
Another concept that is linked to ZPD is scaffolding. Scaffolding is providing

support to the child and adjusting the level of support based on the childÊs
progress in completing the task. For scaffolding to happen, the adult-child
interaction would normally be engaged in a dialogue. This interaction can help a
child in understanding a concept he/she does not understand.
SELF-CHECK 1.1
1. What are the four stages in PiagetÊs developmental theory? Which

stage is most relevant to this module? Why?
2. Identify the main concepts in VygotskyÊs theory and compare it with

that of PiagetÊs theory.
Share your answers with your coursemates in myINSPIRE online

forum.

1.4 THEORIES FOCUSING ON PSYCHOLOGICAL,

EMOTIONAL AND SOCIAL LEARNING
NEEDS
The last group of theories that can be used to explain child development looks at
a childÊs psychological, emotional and social learning needs. The theories that are
included in this course are the theories of Erik Erikson, Abraham Maslow, Alfred
Adler and Carl Rogers.
1.4.1 Theory of Psychosocial Development – Erik

Erikson (1902–1994)
Erik Erikson was a German-born American developmental psychologist and
psychoanalyst. He is well known for his theory on psychosocial development of
human beings which describes human psychological growth from birth through
death by taking on a life-span perspective (consists of eight distinct stages).
Erikson claims that ego develops as it manages to resolve crises that are distinctly
social. These would involve establishing a sense of trust of other individuals
surrounding you, developing your own sense of identity in society and helping
the next generation prepare for the future (https://www.simplypsychology.org/
Erik-Erikson.html, 2017). Erikson extends on the work by Sigmund Freud by
focusing on the adaptive and creative character of the ego and expanding the
notion of the stages of personality development to include the entire lifespan.
Erikson (like Freud and many others) maintained that personality develops in a
specific predetermined order and builds upon each previous stage. It is necessary
to fulfil the development in one stage before moving on to the other, and the
outcome of each stage will influence the outcome of the next stage. EriksonÊs eight
stages of psychosocial development are shown in Table 1.1. It is important to note
that a personÊs interactions with the social environment affect whether he resolves
the challenge of each stage positively or negatively.

Table 1.1: EriksonÊs Eight Stages of Psychosocial Development
EriksonÊs Stage Theory in its Final Version

Resolution or
Age Conflict Culmination in old age
„Virtue‰
Infancy Basic trust vs. Mistrust Hope Appreciation of
(0-1year) interdependence and
relatedness
Early childhood Autonomy vs. Shame Will Acceptance of the cycle
(1-3 years) of lige, from integration
to disintegration
Play age Initiative vs. Guilt Purpose Humour, empathy,
(3-6years) resilience
School age Industry vs. Inferiority Competence Humility acceptance of
(6-12 years) the course of oneÊs life
and unfulfilled hopes
Adolescence Identity vs. Confusion Fidelity Sense of complexity of
(12-19years) life, merging of sensory,
logical and aesthetic
perception
Early adulthood Intimacy vs. Isolation Love Sense of the complexity
(20-25 years)
Adulthood Generativity vs. Care Caritas, caring for others
(26-64 years) Stagnation and agape, empathy and
concern
Old age Integrity vs. Despair Wisdom Existential identity a
(65-death) sense of integrity strong
enough to withstand
physical disintegration
Source: http://www.intropsych.com/ch11_personality/
eriksons_psychosocial_stages.html
This theory can be used to guide an adultÊs relationship with children at their
various stages. This theory can be used to guide parents and it is also beneficial
to early childhood educators.

1.4.2 Hierarchy of Needs − Abraham Maslow

(1908−1970)
Maslow is very well known for his work on human needs. He came up with the
idea of a hierarchy of human needs (refer to Figure 1.3). This theory can be applied
to many different stages in a personÊs life, but it will be discussed here regarding
the hierarchy in children's life.
Figure 1.3: The hierarchy of human needs
The hierarchy of needs shows that a childÊs needs have to be fulfilled based on the
hierarchy. For example a childÊs physiological needs have first of all to be fulfilled
before the child can progress to fulfil his/her security needs and so forth.
Regarding behaviour management, this theory can help us to realise how we can
try to understand why children behave as they do and what techniques we can
use to help to manage their behaviour.

1.4.3 Adlerian Theory (Individual Psychology) −

Alfred Adler (1870−1937)
Alfred Adler was born in 1870 in Vienna. A physician by trade, he took an interest
in psychiatry in the middle of his career. Adler was a contemporary of Freud but
moved away to form his own society for individual psychology. Adler addressed
contemporary but crucial issues such as equality, level of education of parents, the
influence of birth order, lifestyle (socio-economic status) and the holism of
individuals. Adler believed that we all have only one desire and goal: to belong
and to feel significant.
According to Adler, when we feel encouraged, we would feel that we are capable
and appreciated by others consequently leading to us cooperating with others.
However, when we are discouraged, we may engage in unhealthy ways by
competing (which can become unreasonable), withdrawing or even giving up. For
us to feel fulfilled and optimistic, we need to find ways of express and accept
encouragement, respect and social interest from others around us.
Adlerian theory and practice have proven to be effective in the application on

growth and development of children. Adlerians believe that "a misbehaving child
is a discouraged child" and that helping children to have a feeling of value,
significance and competence is often the most effective strategy in coping with
difficult behaviours.
Adlerians are very much taken up with the concern of understanding unique and
private beliefs and strategies (one's lifestyle) that each creates in their childhood.
This cognitive schema and lifestyle serves as the individual's reference point for
attitudes, behaviours and reflects one's private view of their own self, of others
around them, and of the world surrounding them. When we have looked at our
early life experiences, examined the patterns of behaviour that repeat themselves
in our lives, and the methods by which we go about trying to gain significance and
belonging; only then can healing, growth and change occur.

1.4.4 Rogerian Theory (Personal Theory) − Carl

Rogers (1902−1987)
Carl Rogers is a well-known educational psychologist. Rogers suggested that
every one of us have the power to ourselves to solve our own problems. One of
the central tenets of RogersÊs idea is that an individual can direct their own, and
this can also be applied to the management of behaviour of young children. A
child will be/should be able to control his/her behaviour as they get older.
However, he might still need some support to do better (and the support can come
from his parent or teachers).
Rogers came up with the term of self-actualisation, which is the belief that humans
are born with a desire to be the best they can. Self-actualisation is the motivating
force for an individual to achieve their full potential. He also coined the term of
self-concept, which is how a person's perception of themselves is shaped by how
others see them. The self is the central construct in Rogerian theory. The self is
based very much on life experiences, social evaluation and the attitude of the
individual's significant other. For example, if a child experiences conditional
positive regard from his/her parents, he/she inadvertently adopts and develops
his/her parents' values and conditions of worth. Thus, if self-concept is based on
the values of significant others (e.g. parent and teachers), this can give rise to
incongruence between self and experience.
The need for self-regard or approval in children is enormous. Children are influenced
by their parents and strive for their parentÊs approval by doing things to please them.
However, if their behaviour does not meet with their parentÊs approval, they feel less
loved. The children may then experience incongruence between self and experience,
and this may lead to psychological problems later on in their life that can hinder them
from achieving self-actualisation (refer to Figure 1.4).

Figure 1.4: Incongruent and congruent between self and experience
1.4.5 Social Learning Theory – Albert Bandura

(1925−Present)
BanduraÊs social learning theory (1977) suggests that children learn from one
another, via various methods: imitation, modelling and observation. The social
learning theory has often been called a bridge between behaviourists and
cognitivists because it looks at attention, memory and motivation. Thus, the social
learning theory explains human behaviour regarding continuous interactions
between cognitive, behavioural and environmental influences.
Children observe the people around them behaving in various ways. The
individuals being observed are called models. In society, it is quite normal for the
children to be surrounded by many influential models, such as parents within the
family, characters on childrenÊs TV, friends within their peer group and teachers
at school. These models provide examples of behaviour to observe and imitate,
e.g. racist behaviours and aggression.
Children pay attention to some of these people (models) and encode their
behaviour. At a later time they may imitate (i.e., copy) the behaviour that they
observed earlier on. However, not all behaviours will be imitated. There are
several conditions in which imitation will occur, which are:
(a) A child is more likely to pay attention to and imitate people whom he
perceives to be quite similar to him. Consequently, a child is more likely to
imitate behaviours modelled by individuals of the same gender.

(b) Individuals around the child will respond to the imitated behaviour with
either reinforcement or punishment. If a child imitates a behaviour and the
consequences are rewarding to him, then, the child is likely to continue
performing the behaviour.
If a teacher sees a little girl consoling her friend who had had just fallen and
said „What a kind girl you are‰, this is rewarding for the child and makes it
more likely that she will repeat the behaviour. This is called reinforced or
strengthened behaviour.
(c) The child also takes into account what happens to other people when
deciding whether or not to copy someoneÊs actions. This is learnt by
observing the consequences of another personÊs behaviour. For example, a
younger sister observing an older sister being rewarded for a tidying up her
room is more likely to repeat that behaviour herself. This is known as
vicarious reinforcement.
• The different theories that influence how we deal with young children; many
aspects need to be considered as well.
Ć There are three main groups of theories: one group that focuses on how young
children develop and learn, one group that focuses on how children construct
knowledge and one group that focuses on childrenÊs emotional and social
learning needs.
Accommodation Schemas
Assimilation Scaffolding
Discipline Self-concept
Imitation Psychosocial development
Modelling Zone of proximal development (ZPD)
Observation

Bandura, A. (1977). Social learning theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Christian, L. G. (2006). Applying family systems theory to early childhood practice.

Beyond the Journal: Young Children on the Web.
Erikson's Psychosocial Stages of Development. (2017). Retrieved from

https://www.simplypsychology.org/Erik-Erikson.html
Hoover, R. L., & Kindsvatter, R. (1997). Democratic discipline: Foundation and

practice. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill.
Marion, M. (2015). Guidance of young children. Boston: Pearson Education.

Topic  Understanding
a ChildÊs
2 Development:
A Key to
Managing
ChildrenÊs
Behaviour
Effectively
LEARNING OUTCOMES
1. Describe the appropriate development stage for children based on age;
2. Discuss how perception and memory affects effective management of
young childrenÊs behaviour; and
3. Explain how social cognition affects childrenÊs thinking.

20  TOPIC 2 UNDERSTANDING CHILD’S DEVELOPMENT: A KEY TO MANAGING
CHILDREN’S BEHAVIOUR EFFECTIVELY
 INTRODUCTION
In a classroom, a teacher will be managing not just one child, but rather will be
handling perhaps 20-30 children at one time. In each class, the children will be of
the same age, which means that the level of their development would though to
be the same. However, this does not mean that every child will be at the same
stage, there can be little variation in their development. Thus, teachers need to
understand the fundamentals of child development to be able to manage and
guide these children effectively. Knowledge about the stages of development by
itself is not enough. Teachers also need to have the right skills and attitude to
perform this task effectively. This topic will talk about perception and memory,
social cognition, and self-control and prosocial behaviour.
2.1 DYNAMICS OF CLASSROOM BEHAVIOUR

For us to be able to understand the dynamics of classroom behaviour, we need to
first look at the social-emotional development in children. The social-emotional
development in children will be divided based on the different age groups. They
are:
(a) From Birth to 8 Months

A baby tends to get startled a lot, but learns to self-soothe and is relatively
responsive to their caregiver. At six months old, an infant can recognise
familiar faces. Therefore, it might be visible that they upset when being with
a stranger. They use different cries to communicate their needs to their
caregiver.
(b) 8 to 18 Months
The child is now much more responsive and enjoys their interactions with
their caregiver. A child at this age does not yet understand sharing, which
results in lots of fights when playing with other children of the same age. A
child at this stage can understand what is said to them, although they might
not be able to talk back.
(c) 18 to 36 Months
Children at this age will try to exert their independence, but in reality, they
are still very much dependent on their parents and teachers. They are now
able to "feel" the emotion of others and learn how to care about others using
imitating how they are cared for. They are also improving the expression of
emotions, but still not able to put a word to the emotion that they are feeling.

TOPIC 2 UNDERSTANDING CHILD’S DEVELOPMENT: A KEY TO MANAGING  21
(d) 3 to 4 Years
Children at this stage have a relatively good repertoire of words and can be
quite chatty. They are now able to play better with other children and can
solve conflicts with some help from an adult.
(e) 4 to 5 Years
Children at this stage are now able to use sentences with more than five
words. At this stage, friends become quite important to them, and they find
ways to please their friends. They are better at controlling their emotions,
provided that they are taught how to express their emotions appropriately.
(f) 6 to 8 Years
Children at this stage are considered to have advanced quite well in their
cognitive and language skills. This enables the child to think about other
people, time and their place in the world differently from when they were
younger. Again, at this stage, friendship is essential to them and they can get
quite upset when they have a conflict with their friends.
Now that we understand the differences in the social and emotional

development of a child, we will move on to other aspects of child
development that can help us in managing childrenÊs behaviour.
SELF-CHECK 2.1
Observe a 5-year old child that you know. Do the descriptions in subtopic
2.1 fit with the child? If no, why do you think it is so?
Share your answers with others in the myINSPIRE online forum.

2.2 PERCEPTION AND MEMORY

For teachers to be able to plan the best approach and method to teach children,
they need to understand how a child perceives the world around them and also
how children's memory works. Managing children's behaviour does not only
mean that we are managing bad behaviours but also ways to encourage good
behaviour towards children as well as guiding them especially in a classroom
environment.
2.2.1 Perception
In managing children's behaviour and guiding them, teachers need the children to
take in and comprehend what was really taught. They also need the children to
pay attention to other cues in their environment. These are all considered as a
stimulus, and children need to be able to understand the stimuli.
Stimuli are our senses: what we see, what we hear, what we smell, what we taste,
and what we touch. However, this stimulus on their own (e.g. a sound that we
hear or something that we see) does not tell us anything more. To make sense of
stimulus, perception needs to take place. If we are not able to perceive the stimuli,
then we will not be able to comprehend the stimuli obtained from the senses.
Perception is a process that children use to understand a stimulus. This is achieved

through organising information that they obtain from their five senses. Perception
is one part of cognitive development. Perception starts at a very early stage, and
this is evident in even in a month-old baby. Babies as young as this can perceive
the discomfort of a dirty diaper (by feeling cold and wet) and are also able to
perceive the comfort of being cuddled and hugged by their parents or caretakers.
Children continue to develop their perceptual skills as they grow older. However,
they have still not mastered this fully and so you should expect to have still some
problems in getting children to pay attention to what you are teaching in class.
Some of the problems are as follows:
(a) Children are not able to scan or search very well due to their inability to do
things systematically;
(b) Children are unable to filter all the stimulus (not able to only take in
important stimuli and ignore the others);
(c) Children tend to focus only one thing at a time;

(d) Children tend to be more impulsive as they yet to be able to be reflective and
this would affect their perception; and
(e) Children with some types of disabilities might not be able to perceive things
correctly.
Older children (above six years old) can perceive better due to more efficient
memory skills, more mature language skills and more experiences to make
inferences on. Teachers should remember that as children get older, they become
better at selecting what to ignore and what they should pay attention to. As an
example, if a four-year-old child sees a colourful kite outside his/her class
window, he might get distracted by it and not be able to pay attention to the
teacher in class anymore. On the other hand, a nine-year-old boy would just shrug
it off after acknowledging the existence of the kite outside the window.
Older children are also able to spend more time on tasks given to them. This is also
due to their ability to redirect their attention as well as prioritising.
2.2.2 Memory
Memory is another aspect of cognitive development that is very important to be
understood to manage the behaviour of young children better. Memory is the
process in which information is encoded, stored and retrieved. There are various
types of memory as tabulated in Table 2.1.
Table 2.1: Types of Memory
Memory Type Explanation

Sensory memory Refers to an initial process that receives and holds
environmental information in its raw form for a brief period,
from an instant to several seconds.
Short-term memory Refers to a process that can hold only a limited amount of
information; with an average of about seven items for up to
30 seconds. Also knows as working memory.
Long-term memory Refers to the process of storing almost unlimited amount of
information over long periods of time.

Long-term memory can be further broken down as shown in Figure 2.1.
Figure 2.1: Types of long-term memory

Source: https://images.flatworldknowledge.com/stangor/stangor-fig08_003.jpg
Dramatic improvements in memory retention happen in children between the

ages of 3 to 12 years old. There are various reasons for the dramatic improvements
and explained as follows:
(a) Changes in Basic Capacities

Older children can process information more quickly and able to manipulate
information better as compared to younger children. This is because they
have a bigger capacity/space for short-term (working) memory in their
brains.
(b) Changes in the Strategies Used for Remembering Things

Older children would have learnt of better ways of storing information in
their long-term memory and for retrieving the information later. One of the
techniques that can be used is repetition (rehearsing something repeatedly),
but generally this is not a technique that is known to a three-year-old child.
Another example is an organisation, where the child would group similar
things together when trying to memorise a list of words. This, however, is
related to the idea of schemas which younger children might not have
developed yet.
(c) Changes in the Knowledge about Memory

A three-year-old would not know much about memory and not really be able
to comprehend how to remember things better. On the other hand, a ten-
year-old child would have used a few strategies and found the one strategy
that worked best for him, and so he would use the same strategy repeatedly.
This works to the advantage of the child, but this does not happen in younger
children.
(d) Changes in the Knowledge about the World

Older children are exposed to more things as compared to younger children.
Older children are blessed with a greater amount of knowledge and simply
have more things to remember.
2.3 SOCIAL COGNITION: HOW CHILDREN

THINK ABOUT OTHERS
Social cognition refers to how children think about the behaviour, motives,
feelings or intention of others. In Topic 1, you were introduced to a few theories
that looked at childrenÊs cognitive development. Namely, the theories put forth by
Piaget and Vygotsky. Collectively, both theories outlined childrenÊs cognitive
development and how culture affects childrenÊs thinking.
Here, we will look at social cognition in children at two different stages. It is

essential to know about cognitive development, as it will affect many other
aspects. For example how a child views and describes other peopleÊs behaviour,
how he views friendship etc.
2.3.1 Preoperational Thinkers: 2 to 6-Years Old

The preoperational stage is the second stage in Piaget's theory of cognitive
development. This stage begins around the age of 2 years old and will last
approximately at the age of seven. During this stage, the child learns to use the
symbols of language. Now let us examine further.
(a) Describing Others

At this stage, children tend to describe other people around him/her by the
personÊs physical appearance, e.g. „My mother is fat‰. A child at this stage
would not describe a person using abstract qualities, as this is not something
that we can physically see. Thus, whatever the child sees will be the quality
the child would talk about.
(b) Understanding Accidents or Intentional Behaviour

Until they are about four years old, children are not able to comprehend the
concept of intentionality. At this age, children are still not able to see the
views of another person. Because of this, they think only the best of everyone
around them. They would never think that another child will purposely do
something to hurt them.

(c) Viewing Friendship

Children at this stage view another child as just another individual that he
plays with. This is a normal way to explain friendship. This is due to them
being egocentric, seeing the world only through their eyes and expecting
others to see things the same way too.
2.3.2 Concrete Operational Thinkers: 6 to 11/12

Years Old
The Concrete Operations Stage is Piaget's third stage of cognitive development in
children. This stage lasts around seven to eleven years of age and is characterised
by the development of organised and rational thinking.
Piaget considered the concrete stage as a major turning point in the child's
cognitive development because it marks the beginning of logical or operational
thought McLeod (2010).
(a) Describing Others

At this stage, children are starting to use less concrete terms and are starting
to use broad psychological terms to describe other people. At the earlier
stage, they would compare their friends and only, later on, would they use a
specific description of their friends. As an example, a seven-year-old child
would say that his friend Emily is prettier than Jane but an eleven-year-old
child would say that Emily is very pretty.
(a) Understanding Accidents or Intentional Behaviour

At this stage, egocentricity is slowly diminishing and now able to understand
the intentional behaviour of other people around them. They hone in on their
skills to detect whether a behaviour was done intentionally or if it was an
accident.
(c) Viewing Friendship

As children grow older, their sense of moral obligation is more developed.
Hence they understand that they are responsible for themselves. They learn
to share and now able to bond with other children better. At this stage
friendships are not just based on „having someone to play with‰ but having
a deeper relationship with another person.

2.4 SELF-CONTROL AND PROSOCIAL

BEHAVIOUR
Children, like adults, do not exist in isolation. Other people constantly surround
us, so we need to know how to behave appropriately when with other people.
Similarly, children also need to develop self-control and hopefully develop
prosocial behaviour (being compassionate and caring towards other people).
Advancement in cognitive skills (i.e. memory and perception) enables this type of
behaviour.
2.4.1 Self-control
Self-control is the voluntary, internal regulation of behaviour. It is one of the most
significant changes during early childhood. Self-control is sometimes known as
self-regulation. Self-control is fundamental in preserving social and moral order.
How do we know if a child has self-control or otherwise? The following are some
things they are able to do if they have self-control:
(a) Children are Able to Control Their Impulses, Wait and Postpone Their
Action
As an example, Adam does not hit his sister Alya when she snatched away
the toy car he was playing with. Rather, he waited for a bit and simply asked
Alya to return the car to him.
(b) Children are Able to Tolerate Frustration

As an example, MikailÊs father had promised him that they would go to the
playground later that day, but MikailÊs father was called away for work due
to an emergency. Rather than throwing a tantrum and making a scene, he
can understand the reason behind the whole scenario and so can take it in
his stride.
(c) Children are Able to Set a Plan in Motion and Carry It Out
As an example, siblings Lana and Dina planned to cook breakfast for their
mother on MotherÊs Day and did as planned. The kitchen might have gotten
a bit messy in the process, but the plan went on as they had hoped.

We, as adults who will be guiding children, need to understand that self-control
does not just appear overnight. Its progress is gradual and dependent on many
other factors. The following shows how self-control develops:
(a) It Develops from the "Outside" to the "Inside"

At a very early stage, a child is not able to exercise self-control and that
depends very much on adults to regulate their behaviour. This is what is
meant by the control being "outside" of the child. However, as children grow,
they can and should take more responsibility for their own behaviour. The
child would learn from the behaviour of adults around him. This is similar
to the concept of scaffolding that we learnt in Topic 1. Children would need
some guidance in order for them to develop self-control.
(b) It Develops Slowly Over Time

The development of self-control starts when the child is about two years old,
but it would be several years more before it is fully developed. One of the
reasons why self-control is better as children get older is due to better-
developed systems (cognitive, perceptual and linguistics).
(c) It Can Appear and Then Disappear

Self-control has to be practised. If not, it might disappear altogether.
2.4.2 Prosocial Behaviour

Prosocial behaviour can be defined as any action that is beneficial for another
individual, for example helping and sharing of toys. Prosocial behaviour is also
sometimes termed as altruism. Marion (2015) suggested that there are three major
categories of prosocial behaviour and this is shown in Table 2.2.

Table 2.2: Type of Prosocial Behaviour
Type of Prosocial
Explanation
Behaviour
Sharing/Donating Sharing refers to the act of giving. For example, a child giving
someone his favourite toy car. Younger children are generally
more possessive and do not easily share his/her things with
another child. However, as a child grows older, he/she would
be more willing to share and this should be fostered in
children.
Cooperation Cooperation refers to the act of working together to complete
a task. Children are able to work on a task together with other
children.
Helping Helping refers to the act of assisting someone and performing
an act of kindness. A child is generally quite helpful, but
research by Eisenberg, Fabes, Carlo, Troyer, Speer, Karbon and
Switzer (1992) found that the helping behaviour is heavily
influenced by how adults are surrounding them value
prosocial behaviour.
As much as we have stated that children can engage in prosocial behaviours, it is

compulsory for a child to have certain competencies to result in prosocial
behaviour (refer to Figure 2.2). Children can only show prosocial behaviour when
he has all three competencies.
Figure 2.2: Competencies contributing to prosocial behaviour

ACTIVITY 2.1
How can you help a child develop the helping behaviour? Share your
answers with your coursemates in the myINSPIRE online forum.
• Knowledge on memory and perception can help us manage behaviour better

as we understand the way children think.
Ć Self-control is very important in children, but adults (parents and teachers)
need to know how to encourage this in children. A child who does not have
self-control would be more difficult to manage and so makes things
uncomfortable for everyone.
 We cannot force a child to "grow" before their years. Hence it is important to

know about their development stages in various areas.
Concrete operational stage Pre-operational stage

Egocentrism Prosocial behaviour
Long-term memory Self-control
Perception Short-term memory

Eisenberg, N., Fabes, R. A., Carlo, G., Troyer, D., Speer, A. L., Karbon, M., &
Switzer, G. (1992). The relations of maternal practices and characteristics to
childrenÊs vicarious emotional responsiveness. Child Development, 63,
583ă602.
McLeod, S. A. (2010). Concrete operational stage. Retrieved from

www.simplypsychology.org/concrete-operational.html

Topic  Communication
Management
3
LEARNING OUTCOMES
1. Discuss the principles of positive communication;
2. Explain the basic human need which underlie childrenÊs requests for
help;
3. Describe the ways of shaping childrenÊs feelings;
4. Discuss the characteristics of communication in accordance with the
childÊs age;
5. Describe the ways to motivate children through proper
communication.
 INTRODUCTION
Positive communication is like a dance - expressive and responsive, involving give
and take. Even though children begin this interactive dance early in life, effective
communication skills are acquired gradually over the years. Children can learn to
communicate effectively by imitating and interacting with adults who provide
good role models through their engagement with children in conventional roles,
speaking and listening, leading and following. Having positive communication
skills is important and can impact how children function at home, school and in
the community.

TOPIC 3 COMMUNICATION MANAGEMENT  33
3.1 PRINCIPLES OF POSITIVE

COMMUNICATION
How do you ensure that positive communication takes place in your environment
and in your relationships? The following is a list of the principles of positive
communication:
(a) Communication Begins before Birth

Communication begins when the foetus starts to hear the muffled tones of its
motherÊs voice. The auditory physiology of a newborn baby is relatively well
developed.
(b) Development of InfantsÊ Early Communication Skills Depends on AdultsÊ

Guidance
Adults should take the lead and respond accordingly when communicating
with children, even from infancy. An infant participates in the interaction by
watching and responding as the adult speaks. When the interaction becomes
too intense, the infant will look away while grimacing or yawning as a sign of
fatigue and a timeout is needed.
(c) Mutual Communication is Important

As children develop and grow their communication style changes from stage
to stage. Adults must recognise and adapt to the various limitations of children
in order to guide them towards effective communication. Effective child
guidance hinges on mutual communication. The ultimate goal of positive
discipline is not only to control or manipulate children but rather to stimulate
and control them based on an understanding of the needs and expectations of
oneself and others through open and honest dialogue.
(d) Three Basic Human Needs Which Underlie ChildrenÊs Requests for Help
There are three basic needs that are at the heart of communication, indicating
a desire for response or help. Adults and children have the same basic human
urge to meet their social, emotional, intellectual and physical needs. There are
many complicated ways in which people of all ages use in order to approach
others to get help but at the bottom of all the complexities are three simple
human needs. These needs are expressed as a request for:
(i) Action or Information
For example, „Please do⁄‰ or „Please tell me⁄‰
(ii) Understanding and Attention

For example, „Please listen and show some concern for me⁄‰.

34  TOPIC 3 COMMUNICATION MANAGEMENT
(iii) Inappropriate Interaction

For example, „Please let me cling to, whine, complain, undermine and
so on⁄‰
(e) Attentive Listening can Nurture the ChildÊs Sense of Self Development
Children have very strong needs for attention, recognition and a sense of
belonging. If a child is routinely ignored, he or she may begin to feel as though
she is invisible. Much of what is called misbehaviour is simply an attempt by
a child to become visible one way or another. To avoid such a situation, adults
need to practise attentive listening. Attentive listening includes:
(i) Maintaining eye contact;
(ii) Giving relevant non-verbal gestures such as nodding, smiling and
appropriate touch;
(iii) Giving relevant verbal responses to draw out and encourage the child
to continue expressing himself or herself; and
(iv) Waiting patiently for the child to complete what he or she is saying
without rushing the child or trying to finish the childÊs sentence.
This polite, attentive listening not only gives children the confidence that what they
have to say is important enough for adults to listen to but also teaches children how
they should listen to others. Setting a good example for children to model after is
important. Moreover, careful listening will help the adults to hear, interpret and
respond more appropriately to childrenÊs needs.
ACTIVITY 3.1
What is your opinion on the importance of positive communication to
children? Share your thoughts in myINSPIRE online forum.
SELF-CHECK 3.1
1. Evaluate the principles of positive communication.
2. Elaborate how attentive listening can nurture childrenÊs sense of

self.

3.2 SHAPING CHILDREN’S FEELINGS

When we talk about childrenÊs feelings, we are referring to their ability to identify,
understand and manage their own feelings, and shape the way they behave.
Understanding feelings is an important part of a childÊs emotional development.
Children experience many of the same feelings as adults do. They can feel angry,
surprise, silly, happy, worry, sad and shy. Figure 3.1 illustrates some of the
childrenÊs feelings.
Figure 3.1 ChildrenÊs feelings

Source: www.kidssoup.com/activity/emotions-and-feelings-preschool-activities-games-
and-lessons
Do you agree that providing childcare and early childhood education are
emotionally draining occupations? Young children often experience emotional
roller coaster. They can switch from laughter to tears in the blink of an eye. As a
result, responsive adults who are closely involved in the lives of young children
are often pulled along the wave of their emotions. Table 3.1 shows the stages of a
childÊs social and emotional development.

Table 3.1: Stages of a ChildÊs Social and Emotional Development
Age Level of Communication Skills

First year From the day of birth, the infant enjoys exploring his surroundings
and interacting with other people.
Birth ă 3 months Spends a lot of time learning about his body:
 Sucks fingers;
 Looks at his own hands;
 Looks at and touches body parts; and
 Discovers body parts such as arms and legs.
The infant shows interests in other people and learns to identify his
primary caretaker:
 Prefers familiar adults;
 Reacts positively to touch;
 Interacts well when given attention;
 Smiles and shows excitement in response to social stimulations;
and
 Communicates strong emotions through sounds and actions.
3 ă 6 months Begins to interact socially:
 Plays „peek-a-boo‰;
 Understands own name;
 Smiles spontaneously; and
 Laughs a lot.
6 ă 9 months The infant exhibits his emotions and refers to familiar people:
 Expresses different emotions clearly;
 Recognises familiar faces and strangers;
 Responds to language and body movements; and
 Expresses sadness or anger when losing his toy.
9 ă 12 months When a child is almost one year old, imitating others and trying to
do things for himself become more important:
 Feeds himself, using hands;
 Holds cup using both hands and able to drink by himself with
some assistance;
 Cooperates when dressing such as extending his arms and legs;
and
 Imitates simple actions.

1 ă 2 years A child is more sensitive towards himself and able to complete

simple tasks. The child expresses his feelings deeply and enjoys
interacting with other people:
 Recognises himself in pictures or seeing his own reflection in
the mirror and smiles;
 Shows intense feelings for parents and shows affection for other
familiar people;
 Plays alone;
 Expresses negative feelings;
 Shows pride in accomplishments;
 Imitates the adultÊs actions during play;
 Acts independently and is „bossy‰; and
 Enjoys „helping‰ with household chores such as cleaning.
2 ă 3 years The child becomes more independent and creative. He enjoys
exploring, acts more independently and expands his skills:
 Exhibits sensitivity towards different genders;
 Indicates the need to go to the toilet;
 Tries to dress and undress himself; and
 Puts self-interest first and says „no‰ to adultÊs request.
Begins to make self-evaluation and tries to be the best and the most
interesting person:
 Shows sensitivity towards his feelings and that of others;
 Talks about feelings;
 Experiences mood changes and shows fear; and
 Exhibits feelings and aggressive actions.
The child enjoys parallel play and focus on solitary activity when he
is near other children:
 Observes other children play. Plays with them for a while;
 Is possessive of his toys;
 Plays „house‰;
 Uses objects as symbols during play;
 Participates in simple group activities such as singing; and
 Identifies gender easily.

3 ă 4 years The child aged three to four years old is more independent:
 Can follow a series of simple instructions;
 Completes simple tasks such as eating without assistance and
pouring water into a cup;
 Washes hands and blows nose;
 Enjoys playing with other children;
 Shares toys and takes turn with guidance;
 Participates in group play; and
 Begins acting (drama) and role play.
4 ă 5 years The child begins to be more aware of his individuality:
 Exhibits understanding of moral purposes (explores the idea of
fairness or misbehaviour);
 Compares own behaviour with that of others;
 At the age of four, the child shows more interest in relationships
with other children;
 Builds relationships;
 Is sensitive towards the feelings of others;
 Shows interest in exploring differences in gender;
 Enjoys imaginary play with other children; and
 Dramatic play is more realistic and pays attention to time and
space.
Supporting childrenÊs feelings is just as important as supporting their other

developments. There are many ways that we can help children learn about and
shape their feelings. Some of the ways to support and shape the positive feeling of
children are as follows:
(a) Stay close to children in order to build strong bonds and respond to the them
in a warm and responsive manner;
(b) Accept and acknowledge childrenÊs feelings and emotions;
(c) Read stories to children and talk about the different feelings of the characters
in the story to help them understand their feelings better;
(d) Encourage children to express their feelings or describe feelings with words;
(e) Encourage children to talk about personal experiences that make them feel
happy, angry or sad;
(f) Always praise children for staying calm and not losing their control;

(g) Help them to separate their feelings from behaviour;
(h) Offer choices to them because choices give children a sense of control and
can help them cope with disappointments;
(i) Provide support and encouragement during times of stress; and
(j) Be considerate towards childrenÊs feelings, needs and wants.
ACTIVITY 3.2
1. How do you teach children to recognise their feelings?
2. Discuss some ways which can shape childrenÊs feelings. Share your
findings in myINSPIRE online forum.
SELF-CHECK 3.2
Discuss the stages of a childÊs social and emotional development.
3.3 CHARACTERISTICS OF COMMUNICATION

Communication is the transfer of information from one person to another. Do you
think children can survive without communicating with one other?
Communication is aimed at conveying a message. According to Maslow (1970),
the capability to satisfy oneÊs personal needs arises mainly from the ability to
communicate.
A child responds to other people according to the childÊs age and developmental
level. The following are several stages and characteristics of a childÊs
communication according to his age:
(a) Birth to Two Years

At this level, a child builds a close relationship with his caregiver such as his
parents and close family members. The child learns to trust adults and knows
that they will be with him when he needs them. For example, a child will cry
if he is left alone for a long period of time.

(b) Two to Six Years

At this level, the child begins to socialise and communicate with his peers.
The child takes the initiative to touch, knead and mix objects together
without asking too many questions. The child also tries to be independent of
his caregiver.
(c) Six to Twelve Years

Children at this level are able to understand information and their self-
control increases. They communicate to help improve their self-appearance
and self-confidence.
3.3.1 Safeguarding Children

One of the purposes of communication is to motivate. As a teacher, you interact
with children in order to improve their behaviour. Before children can be
motivated, they need to feel secure first in their environment. There are several
aspects that need to be taken into account in order to safeguard the children.
(a) The Physical Environment

The physical environment factors include:
(i) Comfortable Setting

Basic physical needs include the requirements for food, drink, rest and
protection. It encompasses physical safety, activity, adequate lighting,
limited background noise, safe touch, sufficient space to move, visually
attractive, comfortable and warm environment, easy pace as well as the
time to relax and reflect.
(ii) Sufficient Activity

Children need to be given enough activity in their daily routine so as to
avoid any destructive behaviour. Adults will need to note how much
activities a school day offers children and supply enough activities for
them to be able to operate quietly when necessary.
(iii) Physical Activity

To promote the safety of children, adults need to be present to
supervise the children at all times so that they are not physically at risks
from injuries or abuses (including bullying).
(iv) Safe Touch

Children need warmth and affection, and physical comfort from their
parents, caregivers and teachers.

(b) The Emotional Environment

A positive early childhood setting reflects the way adults organise the
environment to maximise childrenÊs emotional development and learning. A
positive early childhood setting should have the following dimensions:
(i) Affiliation  How well do the children feel and know each other and
how willing are they to cooperate with each other;
(ii) Involvement  How interested are the children in academic learning

and how much do they participate;
(iii) Adult support  How much help and personal involvement do you
give to the children and how much do you trust the children; and
(iv) Control  Do adults monopolise, control or work together with the

children to shape productive and healthy behaviours?
3.3.2 Satisfying Child’s Need for Autonomy

Do you know that children need to feel that they are in control of themselves in
order to be able to communicate effectively? As a caregiver or teacher, you have
the responsibility to help the children under your care feel that they have control
over their choices and the decisions they make. Caregivers or teachers who give a
lot of support to their children and know what to expect from them will be able to
build and satisfy their little onesÊ autonomy. It is important for adults to help the
children control their own learning and behaviour so that they will not become
hostile when their basic needs to be self-determining are violated.
Following are some ways for satisfying a childÊs need for autonomy:
(a) Promote Independence

Being able to be independent is a basic need and the achievement of
independence will enhance self-esteem. When you allow children to work
alone and to attempt tasks independently as well as encourage emotional
self-control, you are helping them to achieve a sense of competence and pride
in their accomplishments.
(b) Provide Choice

Children will become helpless if you do not give them enough activities to
do. Moreover, children should be given some choices about their activities
during lesson time. Not only will this allow them to be occupied and it will
also reduce any disruptive behaviour. Even if they do not have any choice
about the designated activity, you can still give them a choice on how to go
about it.

(c) Model Self-control

Adults need to demonstrate how to remain calm and be in control of
themselves so that the children will learn from the adults on how they can
exercise self-control over their emotions.
(d) Teach Self-management

If you want children to develop the skills that they will need later on in
adulthood, you will have to teach them how to use those skills at the present
moment (that is, right from young). They will need to be aware of their own
behaviour and the reactions of others in response to their behaviour.
Children have to learn to regulate their emotions since many of the
disruptive behaviours originated from the lack of self-control. Thus, as a
caregiver or teacher, you need to support and teach children how to manage
their emotions when they are under stress. Adults should not punish them
for being overwhelmed when they are unable to control their emotions.
(e) What About Consequences?

Rather than telling children what will happen to them if they violate a rule,
it is more important to teach children the effects of their actions on other
people. This will help the children to think about their behaviour and to
avoid any thoughtless behaviour. Some possible steps which can encourage
children to be aware of the consequences of their behaviour are as follow:
(i) Look for a solution rather than the culprit. In doing so, listen to what
the children are telling you about what is going on. Avoid insisting to
know whose fault it was;
(ii) Develop a warm relationship with the children so that they are willing
to work with you to solve any problems;
(iii) Avoid telling children about their mistakes and negotiate how to calm
things down by apologising, cleaning up or otherwise restoring any
damages; and
(iv) Once a solution has been negotiated, check back later or follow through
to see if it is working well.

3.3.3 Fostering Competence

Children should also develop competency to be able to communicate effectively.
Healthy self-esteem is built through competency. Self-esteem relates to how much
a child values his or her qualities and achievements.
(a) Promote Competence

Children will become more confident if they are competent. On the other
hand, repeated failures will cause children to alternate their attention
between the task at hand and their worries about failing and being criticised.
The following are some means to promote competency in children:
(i) Provide Sufficient Structure

Structure in early childhood setting provides clarity and predictability
for children and will maximise their chances of being successful. Thus,
how the adults organise, monitor and communicate their lesson
activities as well as having an effective childcare centre and classroom
management techniques will help to provide a good learning
environment for the children.
(ii) Relevant Curriculum

Children are more motivated to learn when what they have learnt have
relevance to their lives. Hence, when developing the curriculum,
remember that children should be given activities which are relevant
to their daily lives.
(iii) Match Your Teaching to ChildrenÊs Level of Ability and Skill

Children will be motivated to attempt a task when they believe (from
previous experience) that they can be successful at it. However, adults
cannot fool the children by making tasks too easy for them. Adults need
to teach a skill that is appropriate to childrenÊs level of development.
(iv) Give Specific Feedback

When children receive little positive feedback, they will be less
interested to do any tasks that you would like them to do. They may
also dislike going to school. Feedback must be authentic, specific,
immediate, genuine and constructive.

(b) Expand ChildrenÊs Self-concept

The second method in which children can develop low self-esteem is when
they have the qualities they desire but are not aware of them. Thus, you need
to help them expand their self-awareness. The following are some of the
ways:
(i) Facilitate Self-acknowledgement

Children can expand their self-concept by noticing their own successes
through immediate self-acknowledgement. Diaries or pictures of their
accomplishments can be pasted in a certain area to help them become
aware of their successes.
(ii) Incorporate Activities that Increases ChildrenÊs Self-knowledge

Adult can incorporate activities that will enable children to be aware of
their qualities such as drawing or tell their classmates about their skills.
Such activities will not improve self-esteem directly but with an
expanded self-concept, children may realise that they have many of the
ideal qualities and will learn to appreciate them.
(iii) Allow Children to Share their Feelings

Children may experience a number of feelings that are real and genuine
at school. Some may develop negative views of themselves because
they believe that what they feel is wrong. When you accept childrenÊs
feelings and experiences, you are telling them that feelings do not have
to be judged and they can express their feelings with each other.
(c) Promote Realistic Ideals

The third method to enhance childrenÊs self-esteem is to help them have
realistic ideals for themselves.
(i) Positive Expectations

When you expect children to be capable, they are more likely to behave
capably. Thus, you will need to communicate to the children that you
trust their ability to improve, grow and develop, and expect everyone
to achieve high standards of work.
(ii) Encourage Risk-taking

It is crucial that you encourage children to take risks, set their own
goals, organise their own activities and negotiate learning contracts.
Fostering creativity is essential for positive learning and will give
children the encouragement to strive for their ideals.

(iii) Accept Mistakes

Mistakes are not always bad. Children learn many things when they
make mistakes. Mistakes signify that they are learning something new.
Therefore, it is a sign that they need to keep working on it.
ACTIVITY 3.3
1. Why do you think communication between children and adults is

important?
2. What will happen in a long run if a child is not given a choice at all
in life? Discuss with your coursemate in myINSPIRE online forum.
SELF-CHECK 3.3
1. What is the difference between physical environment and

emotional environment?
2. Suggest some examples of the effects of childrenÊs behaviour on

adults.
Ć Positive communication helps children improve their social development.
Ć Teachers have to be aware of the basic human needs that underlie childrenÊs
requests for help.
Ć Children learn to express their feelings with the help of adults.
Ć In order to motivate children, teachers have to safeguard their childrenÊs

physical and emotional environments, satisfy their needs for autonomy and
foster their competency.

Attentive listening Physical environment

ChildrenÊs autonomy Positive communication
Emotional environment Realistic ideals
Miller, D. F. (2010). Positive child guidance (6th ed.) United Kingdom: Thomson
Delmar Learning.


Topic  Beyond The
Classroom
4
LEARNING OUTCOMES
1. Identify the goals of parent-teacher collaboration;
2. Analyse the various aspects of enhancing the parent-teacher
collaboration;
3. Discuss the rationale of parentsÊ participation in school;
4. Discuss the importance of a discipline (or disciplinary) policy in the
centre for young children; and
5. Elaborate the goals of the discipline policy in child care and preschools.
 INTRODUCTION
Teaching children involves more than just spending time with and guiding
children within the four walls of the classroom. Parent groups and colleagues are
also important resources for teachers especially when problem arises. It is not
natural nor is it easy for teachers to collaborate with parents and colleagues in the
centre. Thus, teachers need the support of the centre administration in order to
engage in a truly collaborative way with their childrenÊs parents and with their
colleagues. Teachers need to feel that their role is valued and that they have the
support from beyond the classroom to motivate them to provide high-quality
education to their children.

48  TOPIC 4 BEYOND THE CLASSROOM
4.1 COLLABORATING WITH PARENTS

We all know that parentsÊ involvement can greatly enhance childrenÊs development
and learning. However, it is not easy to work collaboratively with parents because
not all teachers are trained to do so. The skills that facilitate teachersÊ consultations
with parents are not the same as those that make them successful with children.
Fortunately, those skills can be learned.
A second limitation to successful parent-teacher collaboration is the lack of or

constraint of parentsÊ availability to participate actively in the centre. Moreover,
some parents do not want to be involved, they prefer to leave educational decisions
to educators. Having said that, not only is it important to have high parent
involvement but parent-teacher collaboration is crucial.
4.1.1 The Evolvement of Parent-Teacher Relationship

In the past, the notion of professional expertise implied that centres should correct
the deficiencies in childrenÊs home experience. Thus, many teachers felt that they
had to „rescue or save‰ children from „inadequate‰ parents.
The next stage involved teachers having limited responsibility to communicate

with parents about their childrenÊs education. Teachers are seen to „know what is
best‰ for children and regarded parents as passive recipients of their advice.
The next stage in the relationship with parents is to involve them in their childrenÊs
programmes if they are available. This cooperative relationship is more reciprocal
than the one-way flow of information from the centre to home. However, it does
not imply a high level of participation and might comprise only token involvement
such as helping to raise funds or participating in committees.
The more recent emphasis is on collaboration whereby teachers jointly determine

the goals and plan strategies along with the childrenÊs parents. ParentsÊ
participation at this level does not necessarily mean the day-to-day assistance at
school but rather it is about the shared responsibility of the childrenÊs education.
Its success relies on being open to the familyÊs needs, values, aspirations and skills.

TOPIC 4 BEYOND THE CLASSROOM  49
4.1.2 Goals of Parent-Teacher Collaboration

The goal of collaborating with parents is to empower both the teacher and the
parents to act in the interest of the children according to their separate roles. This
collaboration is the most powerful tool in helping a child to be successful at centre.
It gives parents and teachers the opportunity to enhance their communication
regarding the childrenÊs progress as well as to jointly develop the strategies and
plans for the childrenÊs future.
The following are the advantages of collaboration between teachers and parents at
early childhood centre:
(a) Parents will feel empowered when they believe in their own ability to plan,
select and enact their own choices for their childÊs services;
(b) Teachers will feel empowered when they know how to meet their childrenÊs
needs, either directly or in collaboration with parents and colleagues; and
(c) Children can also be empowered in this process when adults listen to their
preferences and suggestions for ways to solve their difficulties.
Mutual empowerment can result from the parent-teacher collaboration. In order

for parents to participate as equal-valued partners, parents need to feel that they
have something valuable to contribute, thus, they need:
(a) The recognition of their skills;
(b) The encouragement to contribute to their childÊs education;
(c) Information about their options;
(d) A sense of control over their options; and
(e) Time and other resources such as energy.
ACTIVITY 4.1
What is the difference between parent-teacher relationship in the past and
now?

SELF-CHECK 4.1
1. Discuss the advantages of parent-teacher collaboration for preschool
children.
2. Identify ways to enhance parentsÊ participation in early childhood

centre.
4.2 COLLABORATIVE PRACTICES

As a teacher, would you recommend a collaborative practice between parents and
teachers? How would you go about it?
You will need to find a way to convey the message that you intend to work
alongside parents, not to be dominant in the relationship but by acknowledging
their strengths and skills. This will require good communication skills as well as
confidence on your part especially with regard to your skills. In other words, it
means you have to be less possessive about your professional knowledge. Table 4.1
gives some ideas on how to enhance the collaborative practice.
Table 4.1: How to Enhance the Collaborative Practice
Aspect Description
As a teacher, you need to be pleasant with parents and relate to
Be approachable
them in much the same way as you do with your students.
Respect your childrenÊs parents regardless of their different
backgrounds by recognising their values and perspectives. A
Respect parents
collaborative approach requires that you understand the
differences in family experiences.
Every family has a natural hierarchy in which the role of parents
is to observe the functions of the family. The father as his own
role and the mother has her own role as well as other members
Maintain parental
of the family. Thus, you need to ensure that you follow the
control
hierarchy and have the confidence that parents are competent
enough to manage and overcome the difficulties of their
children.

When you ask the parents to act on their childÊs school-based

difficulties, you will need to balance what you expect them to do
Balance individual in light of their overall commitments. As a teacher, your focus is
and family needs not only on the individual child also to parents as they need to
address the entire family. Thus, they may need time to relax or
adjust and to meet the needs of the whole family.
Although it is important to be sensitive and responsive to the
Limit your needs of the parents, you will have to limit what you can do to be
responsibilities supportive and not allow parents to be dependent on your
advice.
SELF-CHECK 4.2
Elaborate your opinion, as a teacher, on the importance of collaborating

with parents to enhance their childrenÊs school experience. Share your
thoughts in myINSPIRE online forum.
ACTIVITY 4.2
Evaluate the aspects of enhancing the collaborative practice between

parents and teachers in preschool activities.
4.3 PARENTAL PARTICIPATION

Children who cope best at school are those whose home experiences are similar to
their school experiences. They thrive best when their teachers and parents make
the effort to understand and respect each other. The rationale for parental
participation is based on a number of assumptions:
(a) Parents have the most important and enduring relationship with their
children;
(b) Children learn more from their home environment than from any other
setting;
(c) ParentsÊ involvement in their childÊs education contributes to the childÊs
learning attitude and behaviour as a learner;

(d) Parental involvement in their childÊs education promotes mutual respect and
understanding between the home and school; and
(e) Parents can make positive contributions to the school.
ACTIVITY 4.3
1. What are some contributions that parents can give to their childrenÊs
school?
2. What are the benefits that children can get from the collaboration
between their parents and their teachers? Discuss and share your
findings in myINSPIRE online forum.
SELF-CHECK 4.3
1. Analyse the rationale of parental participation.
2. How does the involvement of parents in their childÊs education

contribute to the learning and development of their child?
4.4 FORMULATING A DISCIPLINE POLICY

Discipline is a process of helping children learn and gain personal skills  it is not
an end in itself. Thus, policy statements about student behaviour should include
more than just a direct focus on disruptive behaviours. The following are some of
the elements that need to be included in a discipline or disciplinary policy:
(a) Mandate
You need to take into account the higher policies that govern your
discipline policy. Schools might be subjected to an overarching policy that
is prepared by a governing body or the local education authority. In
Malaysia, schools are governed by policies formed by the Ministry of
Education.
(b) Philosophy
A philosophical statement is a positive place to start a discipline policy as
it can help you to focus on what you want to achieve. When your
philosophical statement is in place, it can be used to guide your practices
so that they are consistent and in line with your philosophy on education.

(c) Personal Needs

The policy should take into account your personal needs which include:
(i) A pleasant physical environment in which to work;
(ii) A measure of order in the classroom;
(iii) Courteous behaviour between all members of the class;
(iv) Job satisfaction; and
(v) Parental and school support.
(d) Educational Goals

The main focus of your discipline policy is meeting the goals that you want
your children to achieve as members of your learning centre and of the wider
society. Your goals might include:
(i) Establishing a safe and caring physical environment as well as
emotional environment which support and protect the rights of all
children to be able to learn and grow personally, and to safeguard your
right to teach;
(ii) Facilitating the childrenÊs success through offering a worthwhile and
enjoyable curriculum;
(iii) Recognising the childrenÊs achievement which involves making a
judgement on informative and evaluative feedback;
(iv) Empowering children to participate in decisions that affect them;
(v) Promoting prosocial behaviour through proactive means;
(vi) Providing children with strategies to cope with stress; and
(vii) Maintaining collaborative relationships with parents.
(e) Theory
Your chosen theory must be consistent with your philosophy. The theory
must also be consistent with your views about education and child
development, and whether it is known to be effective and ethical.
(f) Practices
You need to detail some efficient rules and procedures towards achieving
your goals which should also include students in formulating and managing
the rules and procedures. The procedures should focus on how you can
manage your school or the classrooms so that most behavioural problems
can be prevented. The following are some of the procedures:

(i) Intervention
Rogers (1998, as cited in Porter, 2006) believed that the Four Rs (4Rs)
should be adopted in every schoolÊs discipline policy. These are rights,
rules and responsibilities which relate to the quality of relationships
(see Figure 4.1).
Figure 4.1: Policy framework for rights, rules, responsibilities and relationships (4Rs)
Source: Porter (2006)
In order to ensure that intervention is in place to help children in their

attitude and behavioural change, you have to be aware of their rights
and the rules that apply to them. All the four Rs are related to one
another.
(ii) Student Participation

Your policy needs to be detailed, stating how to empower the studentsÊ
participation in decision-making about their behaviour and learning.
You should also specify their rights and responsibilities.
(iii) Collaboration with Parents

Your plan should include a systematic procedure which involves the
parentsÊ advice and support on academic and behavioural issues. It
should be more than just informing parents about the school and their
childÊs conduct in school but also as a two-way exchange of
information.

(iv) Specific Issues

It may be useful for the school policy to mention specific issues such as
bullying, sexual harassment procedures and child abuse. Teachers are
legally required to report any suspicions of child abuse to the local child
welfare agency. Advising parents that teachers are responsible to
report any suspicious acts of abuse and providing information about
child abuse will raise awareness of the issue which, in turn, might
prevent further abuse. It can also set a foundation for some constructive
intervention by school staff on occasions when you suspect that an
abuse has taken place.
(g) Evaluation of the PolicyÊs Plan

Any plans will need some modifications once you have become familiar with
the specific needs of your children or when the plan seems to be ineffective.
In such case, you may ask yourself the following questions:
(i) Is your discipline plan consistent with the theory?
(ii) Are the procedures well achieved?
(iii) Are the outcomes congruent with what you have set out to accomplish?
(iv) Are the students becoming more or less successful?
(v) What additional resources are necessary to make the policy more
effective?
(h) Constraints on the Discipline Plan
The policy may have some constraints or limitations that you should be
aware of. There are a few constraint factors that you have to continuously
monitor and protect the teaching and learning from distractions, intrusions
and unpredictable events. The constraint factors include:
(i) Contextual Factors

As a teacher, your response to a disruption will be influenced by
contextual factors such as the timing when the behaviour occurs as well
as who is present at that time. For example, you may ask the children
not to be too excited during a science experiment while the same
behaviour could be tolerated in another class.

(ii) TeacherÊs Personality

Teachers vary in many aspects - the amount of movement and noise
that they tolerate, the type of activities that they allow the students to
do without asking for prior permission, their emphasis on
interpersonal skills development and knowledge acquisition, the type
of instructions that they use, the extent in which they allow the students
to participate in the development of classroom rules, their status with
respect to the students, their emphasis on intrinsic versus extrinsic
motivation as well as their emphasis on cooperation versus
competition.
However, your expectations of the students or children need to be

realistic, taking into account their abilities and demands of the task at
hand.
(iii) TeacherÊs Stress Level

Many teachers find that while they believe in fostering children
autonomy, they sometimes find themselves to be controlling and
demanding. New teachers generally begin their teaching career with
having more concerns about their own needs and their suitability for
the role of teacher. As they gained more experience, they become more
focused on the teaching process. As this progress, they will finally be
able to meet the studentsÊ needs.
Teaching young children can be very stressful at times. To avoid being

stressed, you can develop a plan that offers some guidelines to reduce
your stress level. You can seek out colleagues who will be able to
discuss the issues with you and find solutions to manage your stress
and improve your teaching.
(iv) StudentsÊ Frame of Mind

There is no guarantee that you will be able to positively influence all
your students. There will be times when certain children just do not
respond to even the best planned, most sophisticated and best executed
approach. Some factors of non-compliance may be because of their lack
of nutrition, health or safety issues which hinders their social and
cognitive development. Some may also lack the interest to work hard
at school.

A formal school-wide policy has the advantage of ensuring the

teachersÊ disciplinary actions are not unpredictable while allowing
some autonomy in execution. Another advantage is that the process of
developing a policy allows you to plan how to act rather than having
to make hasty decisions in response to a problem that has already
happened.
ACTIVITY 4.4
1. Discuss the effectiveness of one of the early childhood centres that
you know with regards to its discipline policy.
2. Discuss some of the constraints or limitations of the discipline policy

in your chosen centre in no.1.
SELF-CHECK 4.4
1. How do you ensure that you have developed a good discipline

policy?
2. Suggest ways to overcome the constraints of executing your

schoolÊs discipline policy. Share your findings in myINSPIRE
online forum.
Ć Parental involvement in school is important and can empower children

learning.
Ć There are several aspects that can enhance parent-teacher collaborative

practice such as being friendly or approachable, respect the parents, maintain
parental control, balance individual and family needs, and limit the teacherÊs
responsibility.
Ć The process of formulating a discipline policy allows all the participants

(teacher, school, parents and students) the opportunity to clarify their values,
roles and responsibilities.
Ć The various elements of developing a discipline policy should be taken into

account in order to develop a sustainable policy.

Collaborative practice Parental involvement

Discipline policy / Disciplinary policy Policy constraints
Educational goals
Miller, D. F. (2010). Positive child guidance (6th ed.). United Kingdom: Thomson
Delmar Learning.


Topic  Using
Observation in
5 ChildrenÊs
Behaviour
Management
LEARNING OUTCOMES
1. Explain the rationale of assessment in behaviour management;
2. Discuss the reasons for observing childrenÊs behaviour;
3. Evaluate the various practical methods used for observing childrenÊs
behaviour; and
4. Contrast narrative and non-narrative methods of observing the
behaviour of children.
 INTRODUCTION
In order for us to fully understand why children behave the way they do, we need
to look at their behaviour. One of the best ways to do that is by observation. We
need to know how we can conduct an observation without risking the children
changing their behaviour because they know that they are being watched. This
topic will outline what observation entails and how best to conduct an observation
in order to obtain optimal results.

60  TOPIC 5 USING OBSERVATION IN CHILDREN’S BEHAVIOUR MANAGEMENT
5.1 RATIONALE OF ASSESSMENT IN EARLY

CHILDHOOD EDUCATION
Assessment is essential in classroom learning. Assessment can be defined as „a
systematic procedure of obtaining information from observations, interviews,
portfolios, projects, tests and other sources that can be used to make judgements
about the characteristics of children or the programmes‰ (Council of Chief State
School Officers, 2008). In our case, the object of interest is young children, therefore,
we are referring to obtaining information to make judgements and conclusions
about young children. Assessment is not something that is done when teachers have
the time to do so but rather it is a necessity. Assessments act as a guide for
everything that we do with or for the children. Curriculum development, classroom
arrangements and activities are all conducted based on the results of earlier
assessments. Teachers tend to use assessments as a basis in which they make key
decisions because assessments take into account the current standing of the child in
the areas that he is being assessed on.
The overall goal of an assessment is to identify and build on the childÊs strength and
tailor his learning based on the information obtained. For example, the development
of a child must take into account the various domains of development and not just
one single domain independently. This is because the different domains are often
interrelated as well as related to or affects certain outcomes, for example, the social
and emotional skills of a child have a bearing on his academic success. It should also
be noted that this type of assessment can provide a complete picture of the childÊs
development and learning.
The assessment of young children allows teachers to plan by incorporating all of the
childÊs developmental and learning needs. A good assessment will be able to
identify those who might need special programmes or special education
interventions. Assessments will benefit not only the teacher but more so for the child
as well as his parents. The children will benefit from a well-planned learning
environment and curriculum while the teachers and the administrators will benefit
from being able to do their job well because they would know how to plan and
execute the programmes according to the appropriate developmental and learning
needs of the children.
In short, the purposes of assessments are:

(a) To promote childrenÊs learning and development;
(b) To identify childrenÊs needs for health and special services;
(c) To evaluate programmes and services; and

TOPIC 5 USING OBSERVATION IN CHILDREN’S BEHAVIOUR MANAGEMENT  61
(d) To hold individual children, teachers and the school accountable for the
success of childrenÊs education.
There are many methods in which an assessment can be conducted. One of them is
authentic assessment in which children are required to apply their skills and
knowledge in the real-world setting. The ways in which authentic assessment is
done is by looking at the childrenÊs work, conducting interviews with the children
and by observing the children. Authentic assessment is a comprehensive approach
that uses multiple methods to take into account the whole child as it can focus on all
areas of child development.
ACTIVITY 5.1
Besides observation, what other methods do you think can be used as an

assessment tool to assess a childÊs various developmental domains?
Share your answers with others in myINSPIRE online forum.
5.2 REASONS FOR OBSERVING CHILDREN’S

BEHAVIOUR
As stated in subtopic 5.1, observation is one of the methods of assessment that are
widely used in early childhood education. In fact, observation is one of the
primary methods used to gain insights into the various facets of a childÊs
development. Observation is the systematic study of watching, recording and
reflecting upon the behaviours of children. Volpe, DiPerna, Hintze and Shapiro
(2005) stated that the „systematic observation of student behaviour is the most
common assessment methodology and is viewed as one of the most objective and
direct measurement tools available for assessing a childÊs behaviour‰. But why
must we observe children? Why do we not use other methods? Is observation
really a more superior way of looking at a childÊs development? The answers to
these questions are explained in the following:

(a) Children Communicate through Their Behaviour

Everything that we do conveys something. Similarly, the behaviour that is
shown by young children has meaning. Even the cries of babies have been
said to convey different meanings. In other words, if we are tuned in to their
cries, we will be able to understand what it is that they are trying to convey
to us. In young children, even though they are already able to speak, they
will still use behaviour as a means of communication. Widening their eyes,
scratching their heads, tears falling down their faces – all these are signals to
us as to what the child is feeling even without him having to verbalise it.
Teachers or caretakers can use the five „Ws‰ to try to understand the
underlying issue behind the behaviour. To do so, teachers or caretakers can
ask the following questions:
(i) Who was involved?

(ii) What happened?
(iii) When did it happen?
(iv) Where did it happen?
(v) Why did the child behave in that manner?
Thus, observation of children especially when they are playing or interacting

with others in the classroom would give us a good indication of how they are
feeling and/or developing.
(b) We Can Discover and Build on the ChildÊs Strengths

Professionals use the observation of behaviour to discover childrenÊs
preferences and what they can do successfully. Observation is a logical step
in helping children with challenging behaviours and to identify the childÊs
strengths and weaknesses. When we are aware of a childÊs strengths and
weaknesses, we will be able to guide him better. Beaty (1997) suggested that
the systematic observation and recording of the development of young
children is based on the following reasons:
(i) To make an initial assessment of a childÊs ability;

(ii) To determine a childÊs areas of strength and areas that need enhancing;
(iii) To make individual plans based on the childÊs observed needs;
(iv) To enable ongoing assessment on a childÊs progress;
(v) To understand more about a childÊs development in a particular area;

(vi) To resolve a particular issue about the child;

(vii) To follow-up with parents and professionals to help the child; and
(viii) To keep a record of all the necessary information in relation to the child
for future use (guidance and placement).
(c) We Can Observe Individual Needs for Further Screening and Diagnosis
During intentional or unintentional observation, we can sometimes identify
behaviours that are out of the ordinary. For example, while observing the
play session of a group of four-year olds, we would be able to detect if one
of the childrenÊs patterns of development is out of the normal range. If we
think that perhaps there is an underlying issue, then we can inform the
parents and conduct further screening and diagnosis.
ACTIVITY 5.2
Work in groups of four. One person will act out a scene that is typical of
young children. The other members will try to get to the bottom of the
matter (uncover the real underlying reasons) by using the five „Ws‰
method.
5.3 PRACTICAL METHODS FOR OBSERVING

CHILDREN’S BEHAVIOUR
This subtopic outlines the various practical methods that can be used for observing
young childrenÊs behaviour. There is no best method - it would very much depend
on your needs. It is also recommended to combine two different methods to obtain
the best results.
It should be noted that one of the most important thing to remember when
conducting an assessment is objectivity. Objectivity in observing (and assessing)
means being able to conduct the observation and assessment impartially and being
fair to the child being observed. If the teacher or caretaker (or observer) has a
preconceived bias which can cloud his judgement and subsequently lead to wrong
conclusion, then there is no objectivity in the observation.

Another issue that is normally associated with observation is selective perception.

Selective perception can be defined as „seeing and hearing what we are
predisposed to see and hear‰ (Maxwell, 2001). Selective perception can cloud an
observerÊs judgement because the observer only sees what he wants to see and as
a result it could lead to a judgement that is congruent with his views. In reality,
this could be totally different from the perspective of the child.
Observations should also include non-verbal cues. Look at the body language of
the child as well as his intonation and vocal inflections.
Generally, observation methods can be divided into the following categories:
(a) Narrative Methods

Narrative methods are observation methods that tell a story. It should be
noted that in narrative methods, the observer does not interact with the child
being observed but merely observes the behaviour of the child and his
interactions with other children.
(i) Anecdotal Records

Anecdotal records are brief written notes or descriptions taken by the
observer about an event or behaviour. It serves as a snapshot of the
event or behaviour. The observer should note down all the relevant
details to help him recall the event or behaviour later on. This type of
observation can be planned or conducted spontaneously.
Anecdotal records do not necessarily have to be in written notes. It can

also be done by using a voice recorder or even a video camera.
Anecdotal records should only come from direct observation, are
written promptly and accurately (factual), describes the context of the
behaviour and focus on either the typical or unusual aspects of a childÊs
behaviour.
Some advantages of anecdotal records are as follows:
• It can be conducted while the teacher is teaching, hence, it does not

take time away from teaching the other children;
• The children are observed in their environment. Therefore, there is

less risk of false behaviour;
• Anecdotal records are relatively easy to conduct (does not need

specific extra training); and
• It can be done as a sub-task while doing your main tasks.

However, it does have some disadvantages as well:
• Anecdotal records can have too little information and might not be
helpful for the observer to remember the whole event well;
• It can be time consuming in the initial development stage; and
• There is the issue of subjectivity whereby the observer might end

up with conclusions that are not based on the notes taken.
(ii) Running Records

Running records are similar to anecdotal records but it is a slightly
more advanced in terms of the available information. Running records
have more details on the significant incident and this will enable the
observer to understand the behaviour better. Running records take
about five to ten minutes to process. Therefore, the observer should use
short but objective and descriptive phrases.
A useful approach that can be used to write a running record is the

ABC analysis. The ABC acronym stands for the three columns in your
worksheet to help you record the following information:
A – Antecedent event or behaviour

B – Behaviour (occurring)
C – Consequence(s) of the behaviour
The ABC analysis can help you to focus not only on the childÊs
behaviour but it also serves to help you figure out the reason(s) behind
the occurring behaviour.
Running records are advantageous as they are adaptable to different

purposes and can be used by other members of the staff (teachers or
counsellors at the school) to understand the child better. However, it is
time designated and can be quite difficult to manage.

(b) Non-narrative Methods

Non-narrative methods are observation methods that do not tell a story.
(i) Checklist
A checklist is an inventory or list of characteristics or behaviour that
can be checked as they are observed in a child. The observer can use a
checklist to observe the behaviours of a number of children at the same
time. If a behaviour that is listed in the checklist is observed, the
observer would put a „tick‰ in the box and if the behaviour is not
observed, then the box will be left blank. You should use this method
if you are only interested in knowing which child can perform a certain
task or if you want to know the progress of the tasks that a child can
perform based on his developmental milestones.
One of the advantages of using a checklist is that the observation can

be conducted for a group of children at any one time and it takes very
little time and effort. Checklists are also very easy to use and prior
training is not required in order to use it.
One of the disadvantages of using a checklist is that it lacks important

and in-depth information about a child or an incident. However, this
can be easily rectified by adding another column in the checklist which
would enable the observer to write comments or notes relating to the
behaviour or incident being observed.
(ii) Rating Scale

Rating scale is a summary of the observations made and it is used to
make a summary of judgement about a child. It lists down activities or
characteristics of a child in order to make a conclusion. The rating scale
method assumes that the observer had already used a different method
to observe the child. A rating scale can be considered as a
supplementary method to enhance and simplify other observation
methods.
A rating scale can be developed by the observer. It is quite a common

practice to develop the rating scale based on a checklist. Thus, the
advantages of using a rating scale are similar to those of a checklist.
Observers, however, should refrain from using the middle scale. This
is because the middle scale could render the whole assessment useless
as you would not be able to make a conclusion about the child.

As an example, a few anecdotal reports can first be conducted. After

that, the anecdotal reports can be used as a guide to develop a rating
scale so that a summary judgement about the child being observed can
be made. Without the anecdotal records, it would not be possible to
have the rating scale. This rating scale is shown in Figure 5.1.
Figure 5.1: Example of a rating scale questionnaire

Source: http://agesandstages.com
(c) Sampling Format

Sampling format refers to written samples of certain behaviours in an
effort to discover how often, how long or when a particular behaviour
occurs.

(i) Event Sampling

Event sampling is a formal method that is used to identify specific
categories of behaviour. More specifically, it can focus on one aspect
of a childÊs development. The observer can first identify what he
would like to focus on, for example, the verbal communication with
other children. The observer would then have to clearly define what
he considers as „verbal communication‰. It is only after the
definition is made clear that the observer can start to observe the
child. If there is no clear and precise definition of what is being
observed, there is a danger that the observer might end up looking
at or observing different developmental aspects of the child.
Event sampling should be used when you want to observe a

behaviour that does not happen so frequently. The ABC analysis
method can also be used in event sampling in order to know what is
the cause and consequence of the observed behaviour.
(ii) Time Sampling

Time sampling is a method in which a child is being observed for a
specified time period. This method allows the observer to observe a
small sample of a childÊs behaviour. Time sampling does not record
every instance of the behaviour being observed but it records a
sample of the behaviour being observed.
In time sampling, the observer can decide how long he wants to

observe the child. The time range is then divided into a few equal
length intervals and the behaviour being observed will be noted
down during each interval. As an example, you can count how many
times a specific behaviour occurs in the timeframe that you have set
and do the same over the next few days.
Time sampling is easier to record down as compared to anecdotal or

running records. However, bear in mind that there is also a risk that
the behaviour will occur outside the time range of the observation.
SELF-CHECK 5.1
Imagine that you are a preschool teacher for six-year old children. You
have noticed that one of the children have angry outbursts quite
frequently but you do not know why. Which of the methods discussed
in subtopic 5.3 would you use to observe his behaviour? Explain why
you chose that method. Share your answer in myINSPIRE online forum.

• There are various observation methods to observe the behaviours in young

children.
• No one method is better than the other. Often times it is best to use a
combination of methods.
• It is important to be objective when conducting an observation as subjectivity

can lead to biasness and unfair assumptions made about the child.
Anecdotal records Objectivity

Assessment Observation
Checklist Rating scale
Event sampling Running records
Narrative methods Subjectivity
Non-narrative methods Time sampling
Council of Chief State School Officers. (2008). Accountability systems. Retrieved

from www.ccsso.org/projects/accountability_systems/.
Essa, E. L. (2011). Introduction to early childhood education. Belmont, CA:

Wadsworth Cengage Learning.
Maxwell, G. (2001). Teacher observation in student assessment. Discussion papers

on assessment and reporting, No 2. Brisbane: Queensland School Curriculum
Council.
Volpe, R., DiPerna, J., Hintze, J., & Shapiro, E. (2005). Observing students in
classroom setting: A review of seven coding schemes. School of Psychology
Review, 24, 454-474.
Topic  Positive
Guidance and
6 Disciplinary
Strategies:
A Direct
Guidance
LEARNING OUTCOMES
1. Define positive discipline;
2. Describe various positive guidance strategies; and
3. Evaluate why positive discipline is better for young children.
 INTRODUCTION
Teachers are one of the key persons in a young childÊs life, other than the childÊs
parents. A child spends much of their time being at day-care facility or preschool
centre. Hence, the teachers or caretakers are one of the important figures which
guide the child. It is important to have children who are compassionate and
competent when they grow up. For that to happen, it is very crucial that a child
receive proper guidance at a young age.

TOPIC 6 POSITIVE GUIDANCE AND DISCIPLINARY STRATEGIES:  71
A DIRECT GUIDANCE
One of the ways to help nurture children is by using positive guidance strategies.
Positive guidance strategies are methods that rely on teaching based on the childÊs
stages of development and also taking into account the childÊs capabilities and
limitations. This topic describes various positive guidance strategies that can be
used with young children.
6.1 THE CONCEPT OF GUIDANCE AND

DISCIPLINE
Before we move on to talk about guidance and discipline in more depth, it is
essential for us to understand the concepts of guidance and discipline. Other than
guidance and discipline, punishment is also very much related to behaviour
management. So, we will first look at the definition of these three concepts to fully
understand whether they are the same or different, and in what ways it is so.
Referring back to Topic 1, discipline means teaching a child how to behave. To

instil discipline in a child would mean that as adults, we first need to understand
the definition of discipline and the methods in doing so. In Topic 1, we have briefly
touched on positive discipline and negative discipline. As a reminder, positive
discipline helps children to learn from firm but kind adults who teach the children
about self-control and helps to develop positive and realistic self-esteem.
On the other hand, negative discipline (e.g. nagging, scolding) can be extremely
irritating for the child even though it does not hurt the child physically. However,
research has found that negative discipline will have a negative impact on a child
emotionally (Smith, 2006). Moreover, when negative discipline does not work, we
will need to exercise a more extreme measure of negative discipline in the hope
that it will have the desired effect on the child. In a way, negative discipline can be
considered as a punishment for the child.
Thus, we come down to the concept of guidance. Guidance refers to showing the
way or leading the way. By looking at the meaning of the word, we can already
see that guidance brings about a positive connotation; as the opposite of
punishment. Guidance can really help the child to understand the "why" behind
their behaviour, but guidance takes a lot of thought and energy (and also
patience!).
Because guidance works much better at managing behaviour of young children,

this topic will present the various strategies that can be used by teachers or
caretakers with their young children.

72  TOPIC 6 POSITIVE GUIDANCE AND DISCIPLINARY STRATEGIES:
A DIRECT GUIDANCE
ACTIVITY 6.1
Give an example of a form of discipline that you have used before, and reflect
on whether the method used achieved the outcome you wanted or not.
Share your view with your coursemates in myINSPIRE online forum.
6.2 POSITIVE GUIDANCE AND STRATEGIES:

DESCRIPTIONS AND EXPLANATIONS
Guidance strategies are specific positive actions that are used by adults in
managing encounters with young children and are a way to manage behaviour.
Marion (2015) suggested 17 positive guidance strategies that can be used. Some
strategies allow teachers to be in direct control and teach, whereas others involve
less teacher control and teaching.
The 17 major strategies are described as follows:
(a) Help Children Saving their Face as well as Preserve their Dignity
In guiding a child, one of the first things that we need to do is treat the child
as for how we would like to be treated. Imagine being reprimanded or told
to in front of your friends; wouldnÊt it be embarrassing? Just like us, the
adults, children should also be treated with respect. We should always try to
see their point of view and if it is not right, then explain it to the child
carefully. You should not keep on harping on the issue, but should just let it
go. After which, go back doing something that will help the child to move
on.
(b) Set Limits Well

Children sometimes do not know what is acceptable and what is not. It is our
duty as adults to guide them to right and wrong. We also need to set limits
and boundaries and to ensure that we convey the message to the child. The
limits that we set should be clear and should be appropriate to the childÊs
age. Some tips to help set limits that are effective are as follows:
(i) Involve the child in setting the limit, let them have a say as well;
(ii) Use concrete words, keep the instructions short and straightforward;
(iii) Tell the child exactly what is expected of them;

A DIRECT GUIDANCE
(iv) Be as positive as possible;

(v) Explain why you have set the limits;
(vi) Restate the limits when necessary;
(vii) Give the child choices if it is possible to do; and
(viii) State the limits in a positive form.
(c) Teach More Helpful Behaviour

We should always teach a child helpful behaviours. One of the most efficient
ways to teach helpful behaviour to young children is by modelling. The
saying „Children see children do‰ very much reflects this. For us to teach the
child helpful behaviour, we must first do it ourselves. Children are like
sponges and easily absorb everything that goes on around them. To our
advantage, we can use this method to teach them about helpful behaviours.
(d) Set up Practice Sessions and Give On-the-spot Guidance

After we have taught a child a new behaviour, we would like the child to
retain the behaviour. One of the ways to help to retain the behaviour is to
give the child a chance to practice his/her newly learned behaviour under
the supervision and guidance of an adult. After the child has had the chance
to practice, we need to give feedback to the child. At least, he/she will know
if he/she is doing it right or otherwise. This can be done a few times, and
after which you would observe this new behaviour when the child interacts
with other children. Remind the child of the behaviour that should be
practised if you see that he/she starts to revert back to the old behaviour.
(e) Give Signals or Cues for Newly Constructed Behaviour

This is another strategy to help the child remember to use the newly learned
appropriate behaviour. First, you would need to decide on how you would
cue the child (e.g. hand signal or clearing your throat). You should cue the
child just before the behaviour should occur and not after the child has
forgotten to do it.
(f) Change Something about a Context or Setting

This strategy is intended to help the child to be safe or to enable the child to
use more desirable behaviours. You can try to change the physical
environment or schedule or even try to increase or decrease options that are
available to the child.

A DIRECT GUIDANCE
(g) Identify Problem Ownership

Sometimes, a child acts out as a response to what the adults around him do.
Thus, in order to guide the child to engage in positive behaviour, we would
need to ascertain the cause of the problem. Is there a problem with the child
or is there a problem with the adults around him? The approach that you
take will depend on this. If the problem is with the adult, you can try to help
by talking to the adult using I-messages and being diplomatic about the
issue. On the other hand, if the problem is with the child, you would need to
use active listening to understand the cause of the childÊs behaviour most
likely due to their needs not being fulfilled.
(h) Give Meaningful Feedback to Children

As with adults, feedback is critical in our efforts to guide a child positively.
When we give feedbacks, we are actually reinforcing what was taught as well
as giving the child the room to improve. Without feedback, the child would
not know their current stand and so would not know what they should be
doing. In giving feedback, we can take note of the following:
(i) Do not use empty praise as feedback for example „Good job!‰;
(ii) Give positive feedback and suggest how things can be done better; and
(iii) Be very specific about what behaviour was done well and vice versa.
(i) Identify Mistaken Goals and Use Encouragement

Often, how a child behaves relate to what they feel they are lacking. As an
example, sometimes a child becomes very naughty at school (pulls other
kidÊs hair) because their teacher has never taken note of him. If he does this,
the teacher will reprimand him; but at least he/she is now paying attention
to him/her. We need to be able to identify if a child has the wrong perception
and we can then explain to the child and perhaps even share with them how
an adult would deal with the matter.
Imagine a child who seems not to be able to do things for him/herself, even
though he/she should be able to do so based on his/her age. We need to
identify if he/she is doing that for attention or is he/she really having
difficulty in doing it. If he/she is doing it on purpose, we must refrain from
doing the task for him/her but encourage him/her to attempt the task
him/herself. Provide lots of encouragement and perhaps show her how it
can be done.

A DIRECT GUIDANCE
(j) Ignore Behaviour (Only When It is Appropriate to Do So)

This is more to change an adultÊs behaviour rather than the child. We want
to stop the adult from paying attention to the negative behaviour of the child.
However, this does not mean that you should ignore the child altogether, but
you would need to assess if it is safe to do so.
In trying to ignore the childÊs behaviour, we can tell the child that we do not
condone their behaviour, and we will ignore them if they keep doing it. Be
prepared to be faced with even more severe episodes as the child might
amplify the negative behaviour in order to get your attention. Stay firm and
stay strong. Along the way, when they have settled down you can encourage
the child to act out the correct behaviour.
(k) Redirect Children: Divert and Distract (Very Young Children) and Use
Substitution (Older Children)
Younger and older children are quite different regarding what they can
understand. This means that the approaches used should also differ. For
younger children, we can try to divert their attention from a forbidden or
dangerous activity to a safer activity. For older children, we can use
substitution ă showing the child how to perform the same activity acceptably
and safely.
(l) Listen Actively

As much as we always think that adults are always right, young children
also have feelings, and they are valid just like an adultÊs feelings. We should
always listen to what a child wants to say and should never discredit their
feelings. We need to listen actively and listen without being judgemental.
(m) Deliver I-messages

I-messages are messages that focuses on the person delivering the message
(hence the name). I-messages are used when the adult owns the problem.
I-messages allow information to flow respectfully and it gives the child a
chance to change his behaviour because you do not put the blame on the
child. In I-messages, you tell the child what behaviour of his/hers is causing
the problem and how the behaviour affects you. You are not blaming the
child, but rather sharing your thoughts about his/her behaviour. I-messages
provide feedback safely, as they avoid putdowns, judgement or assigning
blame; which is what we want when dealing with young children.

A DIRECT GUIDANCE
(n) Teach Conflict Resolution (Problem Solving)

This strategy is aimed at reaching an agreement on how to solve the issue at
hand. Even though, you, as the adult have the power to solve the issue, you
would try to avoid using it to win the conflict. As an example, Arya and
Hanna are arguing at who gets a go on the swing. Aria has been on the swing
for the past 10 minutes but refuses to let Hanna have a go. Instead of telling
Arya to get off the swing for Hanna, you can facilitate the discussion on how
best to solve the issue. Get the children to think of the solutions and together
with the children decide on the best solution. Give feedback on how the
solution went.
(o) Recognise Signs of Stress, Anxiety or Strong Emotions; Prevent

Overstimulation and Teach Calming Techniques
As the adult, we should be able to recognise or detect the underlying cause
of the behaviour. Sometimes, the tantrums shown by children are simply
because they are over stimulated and tired. If this is the case, then you can
take appropriate steps to help calm the child.
(p) Manage Strong Emotions Responsibly

This strategy helps in getting the child to recognise and learn responsible
ways to manage strong emotions. Children when angry do not know how to
handle it, and so may act unfavourably. Not because they want to, but
sometimes because they do not know how to deal with it. As adults, we can
guide children on how to deal with their emotions, especially the emotions
that cause them much distress.
SELF-CHECK 6.1
What strategy would you use in these situations?

(a) Samad who is constantly snatching toys away from other children.
(b) Ali who always eats his breakfast straight away without washing his
hands.
(c) Qayl who always talks and disturbs other children during nap time.
Share your answers with your coursemates in myINSPIRE online forum.

A DIRECT GUIDANCE
6.3 BELIEFS ABOUT DISCIPLINE THAT

INFLUENCE CHOICES OF DISCIPLINARY
STRATEGIES
In the previous subtopic, we have already outlined various positive guidance
strategies that can be used to help manage the behaviour of young children. There
are about 17 different strategies to be exact. It is not possible to use all 17 strategies
rather they serve as a body of knowledge of the various steps that can be taken by
adults and teachers when dealing with young children. Which strategy to use will
very much depend on the beliefs that the adult has on discipline.
It is likely that the teacher would have in her mind the few strategies that seem to
work for her students in the past. Hence, even if she is taught about more
appropriate positive guidance strategies, she might still be reluctant to use the new
strategies as in her mind, the strategies she is using works well, and so there is no
need to change. If the teacher believes this, then it would be difficult to change the
strategies used by the teacher. For a teacher to make the change, she must first of
all ÂbelieveÊ in the advantages of the new strategies.
6.4 PENALTIES
The penalty is a type of punishment that that is normally imposed on someone for
breaking the law, rule or contract. In whichever context, at the end penalty is a
type of punishment that is given to a person who has done something wrong. In
psychology and early childhood development, the term that is normally used is
punishment.
The word punishment comes from the Latin word punire, which means rough
treatment, or to mete out something unpleasant to the child. If we punish a child,
it would mean that we are doing something unpleasant to the child. One example
of the type of punishment is making a child stand at a corner in the classroom after
she did something wrong. Another example would be refusing to talk to the child
after they have done something wrong. Moreover, of course, hitting a child is also
considered as a form of punishment.
Punishment has a negative effect on the child, and most often it does not even
achieve the desired outcome. Punishment simply tells a child that if they break the
rules, then they will suffer negative consequences. Punishment does not teach the
child why it is wrong to break the rule, why the rule is important, or how to behave
or act so that the rule is not broken. Most importantly, a child needs to understand
the "why" behind the behaviour not being approved.

A DIRECT GUIDANCE
• There is a myriad of ways to deal with inappropriate behaviour in young

children. Positive guidance is one of the best ways to help guide young
children.
Ć Many positive guidance strategies can be used in combination, and each must
be assessed to ensure it is suitable to be used for a particular child/incident.
 We should try to lessen the use of punishment as it can become detrimental to

the child.
Discipline Punishment
Guidance Positive guidance
Penalties
Smith, A. B. (2006). The state of research on the effects of physical punishment.

Social Policy Journal of New Zealand, 27.

Topic  Adjustment
and Learning
7 Environment
LEARNING OUTCOMES
1. Explain the concept of learning adjustment;
2. Describe situations that require learning adjustment;
3. Discuss the routines and daily practices of children in early childhood
setting;
4. Identify the parental actions that influence childrenÊs learning;
5. Analyse how children and adult behaviour influence children
behavioural outcome; and
6. Evaluate appropriate practices in managing early childhood setting.
 INTRODUCTION
Adjustment is necessary for any new situation. Each child adjusts to a new
situation differently. As a caregiver or preschool teacher, you need to assist
children in making adjustments. There are several practices that can help children
make self-adjustments in a new situation. Environment factors also influence self-
adjustment. Conducive environment will help encourage childrenÊs learning and
development.

80  TOPIC 7 ADJUSTMENT AND LEARNING ENVIRONMENT
7.1 SITUATIONS
Depending upon the familyÊs situation, children may not have trouble at all getting
used to a new situation. Now, let us learn what we can do to help them adjust to
the different setting.
7.1.1 New Place

New places are foreign to children. They have a problem with being temporarily
away from their family. This will disturb their emotions and behaviour. For
children attending nursery, being separated from their family is considered as a
new experience.
Parents should explain about the new place that the child will be going to. Before
sending the child to the nursery or preschool, parents should visit the nursery or
preschool with the child. It is important that the child gets a clear picture of the
place as early as possible so that he or she is more prepared to enter the new
environment.
7.1.2 Staff and Adults

Staff and caregivers the core to any nurseries or preschools. You should have a
strong background knowledge in providing early childhood education services in
nurseries and preschools. In the nursery, staff comprise of mostly caregivers and
their assistants.
Meanwhile, in the preschool, staff are made up of the caregivers, teachers or their
assistants. Other adults who are a part of the nurseries and preschools include
those who clean the washrooms, the indoor and outdoor space and those who cook
and wash the equipment.
The role of staff at nurseries and preschools is to assist children in learning. The
staff are responsible for ensuring that the children are ready to adapt themselves
to the nursery or preschool environment. Therefore, staff should be sensitive
towards children, loving, caring, open-minded, flexible and honest.

TOPIC 7 ADJUSTMENT AND LEARNING ENVIRONMENT  81
7.1.3 Age Peers

Children will begin to take care of each other, help solve problems, feel more
empowered and make the early childhood setting their own little community. At
this stage, you should just monitor what is happening from time to time. This
allows the children to communicate openly among themselves and this is more
effective than learning individually. But for some children who have less
opportunity to communicate, they may face long-term relationship problems in
the future.
You must encourage relationships amongst peers of all ages in and outside the
early childhood setting. At the same time, you must also identify those who are
just beginning to make friends. These children may not be fully prepared to work
together and to adapt to the learning environment. Introduce them to their age
peers and encourage their friends to assist the former. Encourage teamwork
among the children and instil leadership characteristics by forming small groups
that comprise different members so that they are more aware of their abilities.
ACTIVITY 7.1
Go to the following website and describe how you could relate to the
children in your school.
https://www.thespruce.com/help-your-kid-adjust-new-school-2435862
Share your answer with your coursemates in myINSPIRE online forum.
SELF-CHECK 7.1
Differentiate how adults and peers can help a child to adjust to a new
situation.

7.2 ROUTINES AND TRANSITION

A routine is regularly occurring, everyday part of the school day such as arrival,
group time or departure. A transition refers to moving from one activity to another
which may be organised in a different location of the facility. As a caregiver or
preschool teacher, you need to play a role in making sure that the childrenÊs
routines and transition time are well organised to avoid any problematic
behaviours. Here are some fundamentals that a child may need during arrival and
departure:
(a) Steps in the Routines

Children need to know the arrival and departure routines, the order of event
and where things are located. For example, hang backpack, go into the room,
sign in, greet a caregiver or preschool teacher, say hello to my friends, pick a
centre, and start to play and work. Knowing what to expect during arrival or
departure contributes to a feeling of security.
(b) Expectations
Children need to know your expectations on their behaviour during the
routines. For example, a child needs the answer to the following questions:
„Can I go to another centre after I have done in one centre?‰ „Can I ask for
something I need?‰
(c) Acknowledgement
When arriving at the facility, all children need to know that the caregiver or
teacher recognises that they have arrived and that they exist. They need their
caregiver or teacher to greet them warmly and a low-key tone. They need the
opportunity to greet others upon arrival. They need a soft introduction to the
day, even if when the arrival is used for instructions. Each child also needs
to hear the caregiver or teacher says goodbye to them at departure.
7.2.1 Schedule
At the child care centre or preschool, children face a different environment
compared to their homes. They study according to the daily schedule, either
individually or in a group. The daily schedule for a child care centre or preschool
is different. Normally, the schedule includes times for arrival, gatherings, free
activities, breakfast or tea, outdoor play, storytelling, lunch, naps, tea, closing and
going home. If it is a half-day programme, the going home time is either before or
after lunch. A summary of scheduled activities are:

(a) Arrival
It is the beginning of a childÊs day at early childhood setting. For many
children, leaving the security of their families for the early childhood setting
can be a frightening experience. Greeting children at the door and guiding
the less secure ones through consistent routine help make the arrival time
more positive.
(b) Assembly
A gathering where the children and staff sing welcome songs, the national
anthem etc. This is usually done as a large group activity.
(c) Free Activity

There should be at least three free activities of the childrenÊs choice carried
out with adult supervision. The activities should contain hidden teaching
and learning elements.
(d) Snack/Titbit Time

In big groups or individually as deemed appropriate by the caregivers or
preschool teachers and staffs; enough to refresh the children and as a way to
get the children to regroup after completing an activity together. Snack time
should foster independent student behaviour and create a relaxed
atmosphere for eating and visiting with others.
(e) Outdoor Play

Depending on childrenÊs needs, playing in the playground is necessary to
achieve a harmonious lifestyle without having too many instructions for the
children to follow.
(f) Storytelling
It is important for children to rest before having their meals. Also, it helps
increase the childrenÊs listening skills, either in a small or big group.
Storytelling can be done by reading a book or simply an impromptu
storytelling.
(g) Meal Time

Should be fun and relaxing. This is considered a together-time, just like in a
family; it is good if caregivers or teachers, assistants and adults sit and eat
together with the children. Caregivers or teachers must work carefully with
families to understand each childÊs eating schedule, food preferences and
routines. Preschool children need nutritious snack both mid-morning and
mid-afternoon to ensure high energy levels.

(h) Nap Time

The purpose is to allow the body to rest after a meal and activities that the
children have carried out. Each child will be different, with routines learned
at home and differing sleep needs. Generally, it is best to have all children
spend some quiet time on a mat or cot. Caregivers or teachers must work
hard to create an atmosphere in which sleep is possible for those who need
it and rest time is pleasant for others. Back rubs, soft singing, reading a book
and quiet conversations may help children during this time.
(i) Toileting
As children begin the toilet-training process, caregivers or teachers must
work carefully with families to consistently use similar toileting procedure
and communicate issues and problems as they arise. After toilet training has
ended, some children will occasionally have „accidents‰. How you react to
these situations will make a big difference in how children feel about
themselves. A casual and calm approach will help minimise the
embarrassment the child will likely feel.
(j) Closing
The purpose is to refresh the childrenÊs attention on what was carried out
throughout the day and evaluate accomplishments. It also gives the children
a chance to choose and share the activity they enjoyed most. It can end with
a song, music and storytelling to a big group. At the end of the day, it is
important to routinely take time to summarise what has taken place that day
and bring closure to the many things children have accomplished in a
predictable and recognisable way.
(k) Departure
Ending a good day in a good way so that the children will feel satisfied with
what they have done. This makes them excited about what they will be doing
tomorrow. Saying „see you tomorrow‰ will create a feeling of satisfaction
and happiness among the children. Helping children with a good feeling
about a day also increases the chance of beginning the next class session on
a positive note.
7.2.2 Transition
Transition is a necessary part of any early childhood programme. At first glance,
the times between the activities of the child care centre or preschool day may seem
unimportant. However, they can be the prime time for problem behaviours if you
fail to plan for them.

Children need clear directions and procedures for transitioning from one event to
the next. If expectations are not clearly explained, these transitions times can be
very confusing and frustrating to both children and adults. Some examples of
transitions include the following:
(a) Changing from large group to the next activity;

(b) Moving into large group;
(c) Moving from small group back to centre time;
(d) Moving from one centre to another.
(e) Arriving or departing from school;
(f) Going from the learning area to work with a specialist; and
(g) Moving from a learning area to the gym, lunchroom or playground.
You need to plan the transition well to avoid great stress in children. Well-planned
and wisely used transitions are comforting to children, helping them to
understand how to end one activity and start another. Here are some guidelines
of what children need during transition.
(a) As Few Transitions as Possible

A clear sign of developmentally inappropriate early childhood centre is an
excessive number of transitions. While some transitions are necessary, others
are not. Children need you to reflect on the schedule, making sure that any
transition is necessary. As caregiver or preschool teachers, you need to
eliminate unnecessary transitions. For example, five transitions ă going from
one centre to the other after 10 minutes in an hour is unnecessary.
(b) Transitions that have been Planned

Caregivers or teachers who are thoughtful, reflective and effective will think
through every aspect of teaching, including transitions. Children need you
to identify necessary transitions and plan them.
(c) Transitions that Contribute to Development and Learning

Consider the amount of time given to transitions. Here is an example. A
caregiver or preschool teacher uses 1 minute to move children from morning
meeting (large group) to the next activity. This happens two times each day,
for a total of over 6 ó hours per school year moving from group to another
activity. And this is one transition. If you combine all the transitions in a
school day, it quickly becomes apparent that they consume much time.

ACTIVITY 7.2
1. Discuss how can children benefit from transitions?
2. What are some activities that you can conduct during transitions?
SELF-CHECK 7.2
1. Analyse what do children need in routines as well as transitions?
2. Describe children schedule in their routines.
7.3 PARENTAL ACTION

Parental involvement in childrenÊs programmes can have a positive effect on the
children. Among the effects are changes in their behaviour and an increase in
experience skills. At the same time, the parents themselves can increase their own
skills. Parents who are directly involved tend to encourage their children to learn
at home. This can help increase self-appreciation and reduce disciplinary problems
either at the nursery, preschool or home. A positive outcome can be obtained from
parentsÊ imitative to be involved in their childÊs activities at home and at the child
care centre or preschool as simplified in Figure 7.1.

Figure 7.1: Parental action and children outcome

Source: Grace and Stiles (2015)
Parental participation does not happen automatically. As a caregiver or preschool

teacher, you must take the initiative to inform parents that their assistance is
welcomed. Parents will then feel comfortable and find ways to contribute to the
welfare of their childrenÊs programmes. Parents are the childrenÊs closest role
models. The learning experience will be reinforced if the parents give more
attention to their children. Therefore, parents must be aware of what their children
are learning.
Meetings held between parents or guardians with caregivers or teachers are

mutually beneficial. Allow parents to help carry out certain activities which are
suitable for the nursery or preschool. This will further strengthen the relationship
between the family and the learning institution.

ACTIVITY 7.3
1. As a preschool teacher, how do you invite parents to be involved

in school activities?
2. Discuss the harm that children will get for non-participating
parents.
Share your answer with your coursemates in myINSPIRE online
forum.
SELF-CHECK 7.3
1. Evaluate the positive outcome of parentsÊ involvement.

2. What are the three aspects of parental actions that contribute to
positive outcomes of children?
7.4 RULES AND CONSEQUENCES

Rules are created to encourage childrenÊs development of self-control through
positive guidance. Rules not only manage misbehaviour but also increase self-
appreciation. The rules help guide children to be less dependent on adults while
punishment encourages good behaviour. In fact, feelings of anger and shame are
prevented if children are punished when they break the rules. To guide children
to obey rules, the following issues must be emphasised:
(a) Learning Environment

In the early childhood setting, layout and positioning will have an impact on
children. A space that is too big or empty provides space for the children to
run about whereas a narrow space can easily cause injury and lead to fighting
among the children.
(b) New Materials

Introduction to new materials/equipment is important especially during
circle time. These material or equipments should be properly labelled.
Instructions must be given to the children on how to use the new material
and they must take turns to use them.

(c) Arrangement of Activities According to Events

This is to provide stability and to ensure that activities are carried out
according to the daily schedule. Children will feel safe and calm, and this
will then affect their behaviour. Putting up a daily activity schedule can also
make children feel comfortable. The arrangement of activities should be
balanced. For example, energetic activities should be alternated with silent
ones.
(d) Minimising Waiting Time

Children have a short attention span and cannot focus on lengthy
explanations on the use of equipment and materials. Instructions must be
given in the form of questions and answers with the children agreeing on
their own answers.
(e) Determining Limits

Set limits to childrenÊs behaviour in the early childhood setting. For example,
they are not allowed to hurt themselves, other people and damage things and
equipment. Children should also be taught to take turns and share materials.
However, in many cases, childrenÊs problematic behaviours are unavoidable.

Thus, you have to be prepared to apply some discipline strategies as the
consequences of childrenÊs problem behaviour. Discipline does not need to be
heavy-handed, punitive or mean. The emphasis of good discipline is on changing
children behaviours from less desirable to more desirable. The appropriate options
depend not only on the situation and the children involved but also the adultÊs
personality. The strategies as explained in Table 7.1.

Table 7.1: Discipline Strategies for Children
Discipline Strategies Descriptions
I-Message These communication statements are statements starting with ÂIÊ

tended to be less provocative than those starting with ÂyouÊ. I-
messages focus on what you feel about someoneÊs behaviour
and simply state a problem, without blaming someone for it.
This makes it easier for the other person (the child) to help solve
the problem, without having to admit that they were wrong. I-
messages usually contain four elements:
 How I feel about the behaviour and its effects;
 A description of the behaviour, what actually happened;
 The actual, concrete, tangible effects of that behaviour on

you; and
 The behaviour you would prefer.

Rather than criticising a child for an undesirable behaviour, I-
message identifies the feelings of the adult and helps the child
see how his behaviour influences others.
If the relationship between the caregiver or teacher and child is
strong, often the child will voluntarily change his or her
behaviour and act more responsibly.
I-message can be rewarding in several ways:
 Has a high chance of changing the behaviour of another

person when you find that behaviour is unacceptable.
 Protects the self-esteem of the other person.
 Preserves the quality of the relationship between you and

the other person.
 Helps the other person to understand what goes on between
you better and improve their performance.
Natural This is a naturally occurring result of a childÊs behaviour. It is a

consequences natural consequence that occurs when caregiver or preschool
teachers or parents do not intervene in a situation but allow the
situation to teach the child.
The technique is based on the proverb: „Every generation must
learn that the stove is hot.‰

For example:
 If ice cream is left on a counter, it melts. When children

refuse to eat, they become hungry.
 If people stay awake too late at night, they will be tired the
next day.
 If, despite warnings from the lifeguard, a child runs beside

the pool, he may fall and skin his knees.
 When children forget to take their lunch money to school,

they will have nothing to eat.
In each of the cases mentioned, the child learns from the natural
consequences of his behaviour. The experience becomes the
caregiver or preschool teacher. You as the caregiver or preschool
teacher do not need to intervene.
On the contrary, you should refrain from saying anything,
particularly variations on the „I told you so‰ theme.
If you or the parents intervene by lecturing or by dispensing

additional punishment, they risk destroying the natural learning
situation by creating power struggles.
A major drawback to natural consequences is that many times

they either do not occur or are potentially dangerous to the child.
Natural consequences always work, but at times, they can be too
severe or the natural consequence can be too delayed to be
effective. In these cases, logical consequences should be used.
For example, the natural consequence of running into the street
is obviously unacceptable.

Logical You as the caregivers or preschool teacher establish

consequences consequences that have a logical link to the childÊs behaviour.
The secret of a good consequence is its logical connection to the
misbehaviour. If a child breaks a window, it is not logical for him
or her to lose television rights, endures a speech or receives a
spanking. None of these responses is related to the „crime.‰
Paying for a new window, however, is both logical and
educational.
For example, after a four-year-old child rushes into the street,

logic dictates that the child loses the right to play outside for a
period of time. Then, when the child is allowed outside play
again, you need to encourage him or her for playing within the
rules quickly. Other alternatives can be less educational and lead
to more difficulties. Consequences work best when they are
made and agreed upon in advance.
Consequences need to be logically connected to the

misbehaviour or mistake. Do not warn, threaten or moralise.
Children need to trust you.
When they misbehave, young people must know that

consequences will follow as predictably and naturally as the sun
sets in the evening.
Positive It is anything that follows behaviour and increases the likelihood

reinforcement that it will occur more often in the future. For example smiles,
high fives and positive comments are all considered positive
reinforces for children when they increase behaviours that
precede them. A stern verbal response by caregiver or preschool
teachers may be reinforcing to certain children who really need
to get any kind of attention from adults.

Punishment It is a strategy associated with behaviour modification and is

defined as any event or action that follows behaviour and
decreases the likelihood that the behaviour will occur again. A
common punishment used is called restitution.
Restitution is about „making it right.‰ It is an approach to
discipline which recognises that young people will make
mistakes and that these situations provide opportunities for
students to take responsibility, choose effective behaviours and
create positive solutions. The goal of restitution is to right the
wrong. For example, if a child chooses to colour on the walls, the
payback is cleaning the wall. If stealing occurs, the child should
repay the stolen money.
Ignoring Often when children misbehave, they are actually seeking

attention from adults. Ignoring can be a powerful strategy for
attention-seeking children if the adult can refrain from giving
any verbal or nonverbal feedback for the inappropriate
behaviour.
When both adults, you and parents as well as other children
consistently ignore attention-seeking behaviour that are not too
disruptive to the rest of the class, attention-seeking children
quickly learn that these inappropriate strategies are no longer
effective.
Rules are important to minimise problem and misbehaviour among children.

Nonetheless, you have to be prepared for the consequences if any misbehaviour
happens in your early childhood setting.
ACTIVITY 7.4
1. How do you impose rules in your early childhood setting. Discuss.
2. Do you think by giving „time-out‰ to children will behave them?
Discuss.
Share your answers with your coursemates in myINSPIRE online forum.
SELF-CHECK 7.4
1. Explain the ways to maximise children following school rules.

2. Evaluate the best discipline strategies to be used as consequences
for misbehaviours in early childhood setting.
7.5 CONNECTING BEHAVIOUR TO OUTCOME

Adjustment to new learning environment can sometimes be a challenge to
children. Children usually want to adjust well, yet, there are some causes for their
problem behaviour. The causes are as follow:
(a) Inappropriate Expectations

ChildrenÊs behaviour is the direct result of inappropriate expectation on the
parts of adults. You may expect children to be able to do things that they
simply are not capable of doing.
(b) Misunderstanding Expectation

Children misunderstand what is expected of them.
(c) Immature Self-control

Sometimes children really want to abide by adultsÊ request but somehow
cannot seem to manage self-control needed to accomplish what the adult
expects.
(d) Gleeful Abandon, Group Contagion

Children knew that they would get punishment from their parents, but
sometimes the action makes children feel so good that they could not stop.
(e) Boredom
Especially when coupled with lax supervision is an open invitation to errant
behaviour as well as extraordinary bursts of creativity.
(f) Fatigue and Discomfort

This can cause children to lose control and act aggressively, defy rules or
behave inappropriately.
(g) Desire for Recognition

All human beings need to feel a sense of belonging, to feel that they are
wanted and needed.
(h) Discouragement
Being overwhelmed by discouragement can cause anyone to feel depressed
and angry.

(i) Rebellion
Children reach such a point of discouragement that they feel they are in so
much trouble that nothing else they do can make things any worse for them.
Hence, you should be able to utilise guidance to children for them to act in a more
desirable outcome. The components of guidance are summarised in Figure 7.2.
Figure 7.2: Components of guidance
7.5.1 Indirect Guidance

Much of what caregiver or preschool teachers do to influence childrenÊs
behaviours is indirect. By managing the space, equipment, materials and people
in the childÊs environment, adults can eliminate many potential conflicts. There are
three types of indirect guidance:
(a) Forming Appropriate Expectations Based on an Understanding of Children

You need to take courses about child development and read what others
have identified as typical children at different ages as one way to form
appropriate expectations for children. You also need to observe children
carefully that allow you to see the specific skills and understandings of
individual children. You may talk to the family members to gain an
understanding of children thus appropriate expectations could be built.

(b) Managing Space and Time to Create an Environment that Supports Positive
Behaviour
Arrange activities in interesting ways that invite children to participate.
Prepare materials so that children can use them safely and with a minimum
of help from adults. Rotate toys and equipment in and out of early childhood
setting so that they remain new and interesting. Plan the length of time set
aside for different activities. Singing or movement activities between
listening and responding times.
(c) Planning Indoor and Outdoor Curriculum that Engages the Whole Child
When activities are of high interest, children are much more likely to spend
their time actively engaged with the materials presented and positively
interacting with their peers. When activities are poorly chosen or planned,
children are much quicker to engage in problem behaviours.
7.5.2 Building Relationships

Effective interactions among all those who work with young children (families,
other colleagues and administrators) will greatly influence healthy growth and
learning. For example, a pat on the back for a job well done an engaging smile
when greeting each child in the morning and words of encouragement. Strong
family partnership programme such as potluck socials would make guidance
easier to implement. Good communication is the key to strong home-school
relationships. Several ways to create welcoming space for family partnership are:
(a) Make your room visually appealing to families;

(b) Be personally welcoming to families;
(c) Create a space for families;
(d) Multi-use area; and
(e) Bulletin board with welcoming signs.
7.5.3 Physically Guiding Children

Physical touch, body language and proximity are additional components of
effective guidance for children. Adults and children vary in their comfort with
physical touch. However, a gentle pat on the shoulder, high fives and handshakes
all communicate to children that we care.

Caregivers and teachers must be sensitive to the variance and respond

accordingly. The physical proximity of the adults often calms and redirects
children to more positive behaviour. Gesturing and body language such as smile,
raising of eyebrow or point with a finger and turning children gently at the
shoulder and redirecting them towards the desired activity also works well for
many children.
7.5.4 Verbal Guidance

The words you use as adults strongly influence the behaviour of young children.
An excellent verbal communication is the ability to be a good listener. Active
listening is a technique that helps early childhood professionals to be more
effective in the communication process.
You may begin the verbal guidance by being open and approachable as well as
listening carefully to what the child is saying and doing. Then in your own words,
you repeat what you heard the child said. When adults use active listening, they
let children know they are trying hard to help the children identify feelings and
respond to those emotions in appropriate ways.
Another form of verbal guidance is called redirection. For the youngest children,
redirection becomes a way to divert or distract the child from an undesirable
behaviour into a more appropriate activity. For older children, adults can verbalise
a substitute for the problem behaviour.
Verbal messages should be used in positive directions, telling the child what to do
rather than what not to do. You may strengthen verbal communication by making
it clear when children have choices. Many times choices are appropriate and useful
in developing independence and decision-making skills.
A few suggestions for making verbal guidance more effective are as follows:
(a) Get down on the childÊs level and speak quietly and directly as you make eye
contact;
(b) Place the action part of your guidance statement at the beginning. For
example hold tight or you might fall;
(c) Give logical and accurate reasons for your requests; and
(d) Give directions at the time and place you want the behaviour to occur.

ACTIVITY 7.5
1. What do you think of outdoor activities for children? Can they

learn much?
2. How do you attract family members to visit your school?
SELF-CHECK 7.5
1. Discuss the elements of indirect guidance.

2. Elaborate how to increase appropriate practice to manege
childrenÊs behaviour.
7.6 DEVELOPMENTALLY APPROPRIATE

PRACTICE (DAP) TO MANAGING
CHILDREN’S BEHAVIOUR
Common inappropriate practices ă long periods of sitting and „listening‰,
prescribed activities done to exact standards, critical assessment of childrenÊs
work-invite school anxiety and mistaken behaviour. Children become less able to
meet caregiver or teacher expectations when they are to practice inappropriate
development activities.
In encouraging developmentally appropriate practice (DAP) in the early

childhood setting, you work to maximise childrenÊs engagement in the learning
process. Such methods as learning centres, thematic instructions, integrated
curriculum, creative art, diverse small-group experiences and active concise large-
group sessions allow children to find meaning and success in learning experiences.
You need to increase appropriate practice to reduce mistaken behaviour as
explained in Table 7.2.

Table 7.2: Increasing DAP to Reduce Mistaken Behaviour
Moving from To Appropriate Practice Reduce these Mistaken

Inappropriate Practice Behaviours
Prolonged sitting and Active, large concise Restless, bothering

listening in large group groups; increased of small neighbours, confrontation
groups with adults
Prescribed activities are Creative, flexible-outcome Acting out feelings of

done to exacting standards activities for varying failure, frustration,
developmental levels and inferiority, boredom
diverse background
Critical evaluation of Supportive evaluation of Mix of reactions to

childrenÊs work childrenÊs work frustrations, stress and
lowering of self-esteem
Punishment of some Acceptable of all children Acting out feelings of

children due to mistaken as welcome group rejection, alienation and
behaviour members hostility
As a caregiver or preschool teacher, you need to have the knowledge and skills of
developmentally appropriate practice so that children will feel they are not
burdened with activities or expectations which are not suitable for their
development.
Ć Routines and transitions are a necessary part of an early childhood setting day.
They are not an end in themselves, but they are part of the fabric of a childÊs
day.
Ć Parental actions that link to involvement in children activities in or out of
school are crucial for positive child outcomes.
Ć Caregivers or teachers have to be aware of several issues in childrenÊs activities
and learning environment to safeguard they will obey early childhood setting.
Ć Caregivers or teachers must be prepared to apply strategies of discipline to
children who are misbehaved.
Ć Behaviours of adults around children can lead to either positive or negative
outcome of childrenÊs behaviour.

Ć Caregivers or teachers will be able to manage early childhood setting better

when they emphasise on components of guidance in early childhood setting.
Ć Developmentally appropriate practice (DAP) is important to help children to
adjust and learn well.
Developmentally appropriate practice Redirection

(DAP)
Reinstitution
I-Message
Routine
Indirect guidance
Transition
Logical consequences
Verbal guidance
Natural consequences
Physical guidance
Grace K., & Stiles, D. (2015). Why is parent involvement important for ECE?
Gender equity in early childhood education. Retrieved from
http://scalar.usc.edu/works/gender-equity-in-early-childhood-education
/why-is-parent-involvement-important-for-ecce
Marion, C. M. (2014). Guidance of young children (9th ed.) Boston: Pearson.
Morrison, G. S. (2012). Early childhood education today (12th ed.). Pearson.

Education, Inc.

Topic  Decision-
making Model
8 on Managing
ChildrenÊs
Behaviour
LEARNING OUTCOMES
1. Describe the decision-making model of child guidance;
2. Identify the steps in decision-making model;
3. Apply the decision-making model in everyday discipline encounters;
4. Apply the decision-making model with challenge behaviour; and
5. Apply the decision-making model to make contextual changes.
 INTRODUCTION
ChildrenÊs misbehaviours are inevitable in the early childhood setting. Caregivers
or teachers have to equip themselves with relevant skills and knowledge to guide
childrenÊs behaviour. The decision-making model for managing childrenÊs
behaviour is one of the tools that can be applied in guiding process.

102  TOPIC 8 DECISION-MAKING MODEL ON MANAGING CHILDREN’S BEHAVIOUR
8.1 DECISION-MAKING MODEL OF CHILD

GUIDANCE
The decision-making model of child guidance is a four-step process for making
choices about dealing with many different types of guidance issues. We use to
construct decisions about how to handle a variety of guidance issues with children.
This model focuses exclusively on arriving at a developmentally appropriate
solution in a logical and clearheaded way. You will avoid being caught up in
emotion when faced with a discipline encounter.
8.1.1 Knowledge, Skills and Respect: The Basis of

Decision-making Model
Making good decisions about discipline or guidance is more than just common
sense. It is not something that people do automatically. Early childhood
professionals realise that they have to learn how to make good decisions about
guidance, to learn and practice the strategies. There are three essential basis of the
decision-making model:
(a) Knowledge Base about Guidance

A strong foundation on guidance helps you to use the decision-making
model effectively. The most important knowledge needed is information
about how children grow and develop. When you can understand what
children are like at different ages, you will have appropriate expectations of
children. You also need to know how a childÊs family and culture affect
his/her development. For example:
(i) Is it reasonable to expect a 6-month old infant to stop crying just

because someone tells him/her to stop?
(ii) How empathic can you expect an abused toddler to be?
(iii) How difficult is it for 3-year old children to wait in line for the next
activity?

TOPIC 8 DECISION-MAKING MODEL ON MANAGING CHILDREN’S BEHAVIOUR  103
(b) Have Specific Child Guidance Skills

A professional who uses the decision-making model also possesses specific
skills. You can use any one of the varieties of developmentally appropriate
child guidance strategies. You need to have the skills to manage the layout
of the early childhood setting well and to manage the schedule, curriculum,
activities and materials. You need to also understand current special topics
in child guidance, such as self-esteem, bullying or stress and have the skills
to help children deal with these issues.
(c) Respect All Children and All Families

Professionals who have a deep-rooted respect for children and families are
most likely to use decision-making model well. A person who does not
respect children and families and is not culturally competent will have a
great deal of difficulty with child guidance.
As caregivers or an early childhood professional, you need to understand

that you have a greater responsibility for any interaction between you and
children at all ages to recognise signals that children of different ages send.
For instance, a child who interrupts would undoubtedly annoy many adults,
but it is up to you to figure out whether this child needs social skills training,
limit setting and/or a different way of getting adult attention. You have to
understand that is your responsibility to ponder the problem and think it
through.
Decision-making requires a great deal of active involvement. Which includes

being active, conscious making responsible choice about how to help a child to
behave most appropriately.
ACTIVITY 8.1
Discuss with your coursemates how you make decisions to guide children
in your early childhood setting. Share your findings in myINSPIRE online
forum.
SELF-CHECK 8.1
1. What is the decision-making model of child guidance?
2. Discuss the basis of decision-making model?

8.2 STEPS IN THE DECISION-MAKING MODEL

There are four steps in the decision-making model. They are:
(a) Observing
Now let us look what we need to observe:
(i) Observe the ChildÊs Behaviour
You need to observe the child in and outside classroom to recognise
any issues or problems that the child has.
(ii) Focus on the Encounter as a Problem to be Solved
Identify the problem. Decide whether the child or the adult „own‰ the
problem.‰ Focus on solving the problem, not on blaming the child.
(iii) Examine the „Context‰ of the Problem
Ask how the childÊs age might be affecting her behaviour. Ask how the
childÊs family, culture or the physical environment, activities or
materials have contributed to the problem. The purpose is not to place
blame, but simply to get a better picture of the context in which the
behaviour developed.
(b) Deciding
Your observation will tell you what to change. For example, you might need
to:
(i) Choose a Guidance Strategy
Use only developmentally appropriate strategies, not punishment. You
would choose a strategy and state why the chosen strategy is
appropriate for this child at this time.
(ii) Change the Context

You might decide that you have to change the early childhood setting
physical environment or the schedule. You might decide that you
should choose more developmentally appropriate activities or that
materials need to be better organised.
(iii) Change your Practice

You might decide that you should change something that you are
doing. For instance, you might decide to talk with children about
playground rules after you realise that you have never set the limit. Do
you need to restate the limit? Do you need to lower your voice when
talking to a child who has done something inappropriate? Do you need
to ignore a childÊs arguing or sulking about a limit instead of getting
angry and fighting with the child?

(c) Taking Action
(i) Carry Out the Guidance Strategy

There are 17 guidance strategies discussed in Topic 6. To carry out the
strategies, you need to adopt the following verbal guidance:
 Active listening is a technique that helps early childhood

professionals be more effective on the communication process.
 Another form of verbal guidance is called redirection. For the

youngest children, redirection becomes a way to divert or distract
the child from an undesirable behaviour into a more appropriate
activity. For older children, adults can verbalise a substitute for the
problem behaviour.
 Clear verbal messages should be used in positive directions, telling

the child what to do rather than what „not‰ to do.
(ii) Make the Contextual Change

As discussed in Topic 7, you can change the environment as to guide
children better. You need to manage the space in the learning centres,
prepare appropriate equipment and materials, and ensure the teachers
are qualified to teach.
(iii) Change the Practice that you want to Change

In some cases, you need to also change the way you prepare your
activities and curriculum to better suits children current needs. For
example, more technology-based learning approach could be added in
your curriculum.
(d) Reflecting
Think about how things went after you made a change. Specify what went
well. State why you think events turned out well. Are there some factors that
you still need to change? Why? If you want to make another change, go
through this four-step process again to refine your approach.

ACTIVITY 8.2
Discuss the guidance strategies that you usually employ in your early
childhood setting.
SELF-CHECK 8.2
Elaborate the steps in decision-making model of child guidance.
8.3 USING THE DECISION-MAKING MODEL IN

EVERYDAY DISCIPLINE ENCOUNTERS
Figure 8.1: Children playing trucks

Source: http://hmongbuy.net/video/SOGo82QrPoI
Look at Figure 8.1. This is an example of a usual, everyday discipline encounter. It

is time for your children to go inside for story time, and you notice that Adam and
Aziz have left the trucks on the path again instead of putting them in the spot
designated for trucks. You and the staff have stated the limits clearly and
positively. You have also prepared an easy-accessible parking spot for the trucks.
AdamÊs parents are permissive by choice and do not set limits. Aziz follows
AdamÊs lead.

The following is how you may use the model in this case:
(a) Observe:
(i) What is the problem?
(ii) Whose problem is it: AdamÊs, AzizÊs, AdamÊs and AzizÊs or yours?
(iii) Examine the context of the problem. What is it about AdamÊs
background that is probably contributing heavily to this encounter?
How does AzizÊs personality contribute to the encounter?
(b) Decide
Your observation will tell you what to change and you may choose from
carrying out the guidance practice or making the contextual change or,
change the practice that you want to change.
(c) Plan on Taking Action

In this case, you do not have to change the context. You have set up the truck
parking very well. You also do not have to change your practices very much.
The encounter calls for choosing a guidance strategy that will help both
Adam and Aziz. Several guidance strategies will help you deal with this
encounter effectively. Here are some ideas to get you started.
(i) You have effectively stated the limit. Explain why restating the limit is
individually appropriate, especially for Adam, who has never had to
follow limits and for Aziz, who follows AdamÊs lead. Write the exact
words you would use to restate the limit.
(ii) Explain how you could use an I-message to help Adam and Aziz
understand your position. Write the I-message.
(iii) Explain how you can give helpful feedback to encourage the boys when
they do cooperate. Write out the exact statements that you would use.
Try to avoid mindless praise such as only „Good job!‰, instead, express
genuine appreciation for their effort.
(iv) Explain how you use scaffolding, to help Adam and Aziz. Write a brief
statement outlining your plan from scaffolding their understanding of
the need to put items away.
(v) Explain why punishment, such as time or response cost, is not an
appropriate choice in this case.
(vi) Explain why ignoring this problem is also not appropriate in this case.

(d) Reflect
(i) Which strategy do you feel most comfortable using?

(ii) From my experience, the most effective strategy would
be________________.
(iii) I deliberately chose not to ____________________(name the rejected
strategy) because __________________________.
ACTIVITY 8.3
1. What are the common misbehaviours that you encounter every day
in your early childhood setting? Discuss.
2. When do you apply the „time-out‰ method with children in your

early childhood setting?
Share your answers in the myINSPIRE online forum.
SELF-CHECK 8.3
Relate an everyday discipline encounter to the use of decision-making

model.
8.4 USING THE DECISION-MAKING MODEL

WITH CHALLENGING BEHAVIOUR
This is an example of how to use the decision-making model when you confront
what you perceive as challenging behaviour. You are a preschool teacher for six
year-olds. Some of the class, including Kobe and Murphy, are working on a project
about pumpkins, the interest having arisen after they read a newspaper story
about a farmer growing a very large pumpkin. Both Kobe and Murphy are famous
for their temper outbursts as you can see in Figure 8.2 and you keep a close watch
on them.

Figure 8.2: Kobe and Murphy
They were working together writing a „newspaper story‰ about their decoration
pumpkins when you heard them start to yell at each other. You were on your way
to their workstation when Murphy picked up KobeÊs pumpkin and slammed it to
the floor, jumped on it, and smashed it to bits. Kobe responded by grabbing the
pumpkin that Murphy had decorated.
You said firmly but quietly, „Put the pumpkin down, Kobe. Do it now.‰ Kobe
glared at you and said nothing, threw the pumpkin at the wall, smashing it into a
slimy mess.
This is an anger-management issue. Many people would consider this challenging

and/or difficult behaviour because of the aggressive throwing of the pumpkin and
the glaring at the teacher, seemingly defiantly. The following are the way to use
the model on challenging behaviour.
(a) Observe:
(ii) Whose problem is it: KobeÊs, MurphyÊs, KobeÊs and MurphyÊs or
yours?
(iii) Examine the context of the problem. These are 6-year-old children
whose families use harsh discipline and whose lives are chaotic. Kobe
is a neglected child and the human services department is working
with his parents. You have been focusing on anger management with
both boys, but occasionally they forget your lessons, like today.

(b) Decide
carrying out the guidance practice or making the contextual change or

In this case, you will need to make decisions about two issues. Firstly, how
will you deal with your own anger about this incident? Secondly, which
guidance strategies will enable you to help Kobe and Murphy with their
anger?
(i) You will probably be angry or at least surprised, immediately after this
encounter. How do you get your emotions in check before dealing
directly with Kobe and Murphy? State exactly what you would do for
yourself?
(ii) You realise that this a hot time, with anger flaring. It is not the time to
preach or admonish. This is the time to talk, firmly of course but also
kindly, with the boys. You need to be firm, but this does not mean that
you should be harsh. Your teacher-directed conversation fits in with
VygotskyÊs theory by using teacher-child conversation and scaffolding.
Before you start, decide whether you should separate the children
before you talk to them. Why or why not?
(iii) What will you say to each child? What will you say if one of them tries
to deflect the topic by accusing the other boy? How will you get him to
focus only on his own behaviour and reaction to the situation?
(iv) How do you think you might follow-up this incident; for example, the
next day, when the boys have both cooled down a bit? This might be a
good time to carry out another anger management activity by
scaffolding. Describe at least two things that you can do.
(v) Why is it highly inappropriate to force the boys to apologise to each
other?
(vi) Why is it inappropriate to use punishment, such as time-out or taking
away recess?
(vii) Why is it so inappropriate to ignore this incident?

(d) Reflect
(i) Which strategy do you feel most comfortable using?
(ii) From my perspective, the most effective strategy would be
__________________.
(iii) I deliberately chose not to use ________________(name the rejected
strategy) because __________________.
ACTIVITY 8.4
Discuss any problematic behaviour that you encounter in your early

childhood setting. How do you handle those problems?
SELF-CHECK 8.4
Analyse how do you put into practice the decision-making model to
overcome childrenÊs challenging behaviour?
8.5 USING THE DECISION-MAKING MODEL TO

MAKE CONTEXTUAL CHANGES
You are the teacher of a group of 4-year-old. They are interested in writing, and
you provide many materials for their use. Today, in addition to all the usual
writing materials, you have placed two shallow cookie sheets (in half-inch sides)
of dry sand on the table in the writing centre as shown in Figure 8.3. The table is
in the carpeted area, and when any sand falls onto the floor, it sinks into the carpet.

Figure 8.3: Cookie sheets with dry sand

Source: http://www.spcdc.org/philosophy.html
This was an appropriate activity, with almost all the children using the sand trays
to print their names or to print other letters. However, you are getting frustrated
with having to restate the limit so often, reminding the children; „Please keep the
sand on the tray‰. The children unintentionally knocked sand out of the trays and
onto the table and floor, which you have to vacuum. The description of using the
model to make contextual changes is as follow:
(a) Observe
(ii) Whose problem is it: the childrenÊs or yours?
(iii) Examine the context, the setting, of the problem. You see sand spilling
out the tray. How might a 4-year-old childÊs monitor development
affect how she uses and moves dry sand around in a large tray the size
of a cookie sheet? How has your setup of this activity affected the
amount of sand flipped out of the tray (trays are very low sides are on
the table, the table is on the carpet)?
(b) Decide
carrying out the guidance practice or making the contextual change or


You have used a good guidance strategy already by stating and then
restating the limit of „Keep sand in the pan.‰ Therefore, the solution seems
to lies elsewhere, meaning that you do not necessarily need to choose another
guidance strategy. You could do so, of course, but there is a better solution.
Simply restating the limit, „Keep the sand in the tray, please,‰ does not seem
to be enough. Consider the benefit of changing something about the setting
(the context) to be effective.
You are using dry sand. How can you safely make sure the sand itself more
stable and less prone to flying up and over the edge of the pan?
(i) You decide to continue flipping the dry sand, fully realising that your
4-year-olds will probably continue flipping it out of the pans. Consider
changing the situation by moving the table aside for a moment and
placing a large sheet under the table. Then, replace the table; gently
flick any sand that spills to the centre, under the table. At a clean-up,
gather the edges of the sheet and pick up the spilled sand. How do you
think that this simple change in context would affect the situation?
(ii) What else can you do to the pans themselves?
(iii) Do you have to use the pans at all? Can you think of a different place
or piece of equipment for this writing activity? What limits would you
still need?
(d) Reflect
(i) Which strategy would you feel most comfortable using?
(ii) The contextual change that I think would work best
is_________________.
(iii) I do not think that _______________________ would be effective. My
reason is ______________.
ACTIVITY 8.5
Discuss how learning activity environment in you school can help

children development. Share your answer with your coursemates in the
myINSPIRE online froum.

SELF-CHECK 8.5
Elaborate the use of decision-making model in managing contextual

change in your early childhood setting.
Ć You can use the decision-making model of child guidance to get information
and to make deliberate decisions aimed at supporting children.
Ć The building block or the bases of the model are:

 Knowledge base about guidance;
 Specific child guidance skills; and
 Respect for families and children.
Ć The four steps in the decision-making model include observing, deciding,

taking action and reflecting.
Ć Caregivers or teachers can use this process for a variety of guidance or

discipline encounters including everyday discipline encounters, challenging
behaviour and contextual issue, which are matters related to the setting.

Contextual issues Observe

Decision-making model Plan or taking action
Decide Reflect
Everyday discipline encounter
Grace K., & Stiles, D. (2015). Why is parent involvement important for ECE?
Gender equity in early childhood education. Retrieved from
http://scalar.usc.edu/works/gender-equity-in-early-childhood-education/why-
is-parent-involvement-important-for-ecce
Marion, C. M. (2014). Guidance of young children (9th ed.). Boston: Pearson.

Topic  Social
Learning
9
LEARNING OUTCOMES
1. Define play;
2. Explain the importance of play;
3. Discuss the categories and types of play;
4. Evaluate the values of play for young children; and
5. Elaborate the developments of social competence of children though
play.
 INTRODUCTION
Most of the time, children learn to socialise through play as shown in Figure 9.1.
Play is the most appropriate medium to provide for all aspects of childrenÊs
learning and development. It is a varied and rich medium for learning.

TOPIC 9 SOCIAL LEARNING  117
Figure 9.1: Children learn to socialise through play

Source: https://mckayschooleducators.wordpress.com
9.1 PLAY AND SOCIAL LEARNING

Piaget (1962) defined play as the assimilation or the child's efforts to make
environmental stimuli match his or her own concepts. To Piaget, new cognitive
structures are not necessarily formed through play. He then added that children
do not necessarily learn new things through play, but play allows children to
practice activities what they have learned previously and play is just for pleasure.
Vygotsky (1978), on the other hand, believes that play actually facilitates cognitive
development. Children not only practice what they have already known, but they
also learn new things. In VygotskyÊs theory, he elaborated that play does create
thoughts and not only practising what children have known previously as claimed
by Piaget.
9.1.1 Importance of Play

Play is one of the main ways in which children learn. It is essential to the social,
emotional, cognitive and physical well-being of children in early childhood. It is a
natural tool for children to learn how to cooperate and negotiate with others. Now
let us look at the importance of play to children.
(a) Play occurs naturally in children. It is a way for children to gain and practice
knowledge, skills and concepts in situations that are open-ended and
enjoyable;
118  TOPIC 9 SOCIAL LEARNING
(b) Play cannot be wrong. It, therefore, provides a safe situation for the child to
try out new things without the fear of failure. This is important in promoting
positive self-esteem;
(c) Play provides the opportunity for repetitions. One of the important ways is
that learning takes place is through repetition;
(d) Play provides an opportunity to extend learning. A carefully structured play

environment allows for learning a wide ability range. For example, exploring
sand may provide a soothing sensory experience, but it can also provide an
opportunity to learn about capacity and volume; and
(e) Play is always at the childÊs own level, so the needs of all children within the
group can be met.
9.1.2 Categories and Types of Play

There are three categories of play. They are:
(a) Sensorimotor Play

A form of play that involves exploring, manipulating, using movement and
experiencing the senses. It is sometimes called „practice play‰ or „functional
play‰. In the sensorimotor play, the child interacts with his/her environment
using both objects and people around them.
(b) Symbolic Play

A form of play that uses one thing to stand for another and shows the
personÊs ability to create mental images. Three types of symbolic play are:
(i) Dramatic Play

Children pretend a role, and usually, a theme is used for any drama.
(ii) Constructive Play

This involves building structures with blocks, toothpicks, play dough
and so on.
(iii) Playing Games with Rules

This requires an understanding of predetermined structures and the
ability to use strategy.

(c) Social Play

The play that helps children learn and develop social skills. It comes in
several types of different stages which are:
(i) Unoccupied Play

It refers to the activity when a child actually is not playing at all. The
child may be engaged in random movements, with no objective.
Through this play, it sets the stage for future play exploration although
it may seem as not organised.
(ii) Solitary Play

This is an early stage of play. It is a form of play which a child plays
alone even though other children may be present.
(iii) Onlooker Play

It is when a child simply observes other children playing, but he or she
does not take part in the action. It is quite common for younger children
who are making progress in developing their vocabulary.
(iv) Parallel Play

It is a form of play in which two or more children are playing by
themselves but stay close to each other. They may share space, possibly
equipment but their play remains individually. Each childÊs play may
be influenced by what another child' actions or words, but there is no
communication or acknowledgement of another child.
(v) Associative Play

It is a form of play in which children use the same play materials,
mingle with each other and carry on conversations. Children make
random interactions and/or are involved in the same activity although
their play remains personal.
(vi) Cooperative Play

It is a form of play that needs children to organise. Children can adopt
a role within the group and respond to othersÊ needs and actions. At
this stage, they will begin to understand and keep to simple rules.
Play offers so many benefits. One major benefit of play is that it increases childrenÊs
ability to deal with the world on a symbolic level. Through the use of symbols,
children eventually become proficient users of logic and reasoning as well.

ACTIVITY 9.1
Play has been associated with learning. Explain to your coursemates what
does it mean by learning through play. Share your answer in myINSPIRE
online forum.
SELF-CHECK 9.1
1. Elaborate the importance of play.
2. What are the categories and types of children play?
9.2 VALUES OF PLAY AND SOCIAL

COMPETENCE
Have you heard of the expression "Play is a child's work"? But what does it really
mean? To adults, we have our occupations, and that is our work, but to children,
they play all the time as that is their work. Children learn to understand the world
by using all their senses touching, tasting, smelling, hearing and seeing as they
play. For example, when children learn to mix batter, dig holes, explore a new
texture, climb stairs, listen to classical music, crawl in tight spaces and pour their
own milk is key to child's development they are using all their senses. Children
also learn about how their body works as they push and pull, stir and swirl, roll
and stand very still, or jump and stretch. They use the world as their "laboratory"
to engage their whole bodies in exploration and discovery.
9.2.1 Values of Play

Now, let us look at the values of play. They are:
(a) Develop Sense of Competence

Children develop a sense of competence. Children have the control to choose
their materials when they play, which indirectly make them experience that
they have some control over their world. This makes them feel the
competency of choosing what they like and interested in. When their play
experiences are successful, their confidence is enhanced.

(b) Practice Skills

Children are able to practice skills. When children keep on repeating the
same play, their skills will be improved. Almost every skill is new to a child,
so the repetition is an enjoyable experience. More elaborated skills can be
seen in each practice. Thus the interest remains high for children.
(c) Socially Develop

Children are able to develop socially. Although in the first few years, young
children do not play with peers, their early play is often with adults and
materials, and usually near other children. Children need the opportunity to
play with others, as this would build the experiences they need to build social
concepts and skills.
(d) Decide and Solve Problems

Children are able to make decisions and solve problems in a safe situation.
In play, children have the freedom to pretend to be or do anything which
provides them the context for pretending to be adult and taking their roles,
making decisions and solving problems, without any real consequences.
Thus it's safe to take risks. Children have the chance to explore different roles
and experience diverse situations in the comfortable and safe situations, and
they can develop the skills needed when they feel safe.
(e) Express Emotions

Children are able to express emotions, release tension and explore anxiety-
producing situation as they play. Children are able to let adults know what
they are feeling through dynamic physical play and sometimes through
pretend play. Young children have difficulty in labelling their feelings or to
tell us about their fear or sadness, but they can pretend play to let us
understand their feelings.
9.2.2 Sharing
It is vital for children to learn to share as it is useful to make and keep friends and
to play cooperatively, especially at school age. Sharing is an important life skill as
it teaches children to compromise, to take turns and negotiate as well as learn how
to cope with disappointment. Children learn that when they give a little to others,
they can get some of what their peers have as well.
The skill of sharing should be practised as you may encourage children to share in
several ways:
(a) Alert the child when others are sharing. For example, you may say „Your
friend was sharing her toys with you. That was very kind of him‰.
(b) Give children a lot of praises and acknowledgement when you see them
share or take turns. For instance, „I liked the way you let John play with your
puzzle. That was a great sharing, Lucas!‰
(c) Include sharing and taking turns in playing games with children in your
classrooms. Inform them the steps of sharing by saying like, „ÂNow itÊs my
turn to use the car, then itÊs your turn.‰
(d) Let children know about sharing before they play with other children. For
example, you could say, „When Cindy comes over, you will need to share
some of your toys‰.
(e) Some toys might be special to some children that they might not want to
share. So it will be good if you put away these toys to avoid problems with
sharing.
9.2.3 Friendship
Children make friends as they play together. Friendships contribute extensively to
the progress of social skills. Children learn to be sensitive to otherÊs viewpoints,
the rules of conversation and age-appropriate behaviours through interactions
with friends. Children with no friends are usually reported to have emotional,
behavioural problems or find it difficult in interacting with peers.
Friends also influence self-esteem and self-confidence of a child. Children who

have a lot of friends are found to have higher self-esteem, act more socially than
those with no or very fewer friends. They also can cope with life stresses and
transitions and are less victimised by peers. This shows that friends also have a
powerful influence on a childÊs positive and negative school performance and may
also affect whether or not a child will have problem behaviours.
There are four levels of friendships:
(a) Level 1: Age 3 to 6

Friendship is very basic where it is often described by proximity. At this age,
children believe that a friend is someone who wants to play with them or
who wants to give them something.
(b) Level 2: Age 6 to 9

At this level, children are more likely to understand mutual, and reciprocity
and they are more likely to understand their own thoughts, motives,
emotions and feelings.

(c) Level 3: Age 9 to 13

At this level, friendship is described as having common interests and
experiences. Children are more aware of other peopleÊs feelings and
opinions, and it is built more for helping than playing. Children are more
involved in games with rules at this age.
(d) Level 4: Age Adolescence through Adulthood

At this level, peer acceptance and belonging are more important than family
acceptance. Individuals at this level realise that not every person is going to
be a good friend or a good person.
ACTIVITY 9.2
Discuss why children need to have friends? What kind of person would
you recommend as a friend to your child? Share your view in my INSPIRE
online forum.
SELF-CHECK 9.2
Analyse the differences of friendship in each of the level of friends.
 Children learn to socialise through play.
 There are three categories of play, which are sensorimotor play, symbolic play
and social play.
 There are six types of social play, namely unoccupied play, solitary play,
onlooker play, parallel play, associative and cooperative play.
 Children also learn social values from playing, such as developing a sense of
competence, practice skills, developing socially, able to make a decision and
solve problems, as well as expressing emotions.
 Through play, children also learn to share and build friendships with their
peer.

Associative play Social play

Cooperative play Solitary play
Onlooker play Symbolic play
Parallel play Unoccupied play
Sensorimotor play
Beaver, M., Booty, M., Brewster, J., Neaum, S., Sheppard, H., & Tallack, J. (2005).
ChildrenÊs care, learning and development. United Kingdom: Nelson
Thomes Ltd.
Driscoll, A., & Nagel, N. G. (2008). Early childhood education: Birth - 8: The world
of children, families, and educators. Boston: Pearson Education Inc.
Gonzalez-Mena, J. (2008). Foundation of early childhood education: Teaching

children in a diverse society (4th ed.). Boston: McGraw-Hill.

MODULE FEEDBACK
MAKLUM BALAS MODUL
If you have any comment or feedback, you are welcome to:
1. E-mail your comment or feedback to modulefeedback@oum.edu.my
OR
2. Fill in the Print Module online evaluation form available on myINSPIRE.
Thank you.
Centre for Instructional Design and Technology

(Pusat Reka Bentuk Pengajaran dan Teknologi )
Tel No.: 03-27732578
Fax No.: 03-26978702


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HBEC2903

Copyright © Open University Malaysia (OUM)

Copyright © Open University Malaysia (OUM)

Module Writers: Wirawani Kamarulzaman

Moderators: Assoc Prof Dr Fatimah Yusoff

Developed by: Centre for Instructional Design and Technology

First Edition, December 2017

Copyright © Open University Malaysia (OUM)

Topic 1 Research and Theories that Influence Practice 1

Copyright © Open University Malaysia (OUM)

Topic 2 Understanding a Child's Development: A Key to Managing 19

Topic 3 Communication Management 32

Topic 4 Beyond the Classroom 47

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Topic 5 Using Observation in ChildrenÊs Behaviour Management 59

Topic 6 Positive Guidance and Disciplinary Strategies: A Direct Guidance 70

Topic 7 Adjustment and Learning Environment 79

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Topic 8 Decision-making Model on Managing ChildrenÊs Behaviour 101

Topic 9 Social Learning 116

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Copyright © Open University Malaysia (OUM)

COURSE GUIDE DESCRIPTION

As an open and distance learner, you should be acquainted with learning

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Table 1: Estimation of Time Accumulation of Study Hours

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Topic 3 explains the principles of positive communication and how you, as

Topic 5 describes the process of observation and assessment in guiding children.

Topic 6 elaborates the definition of guidance and counselling as well as suggesting

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Topic 8 introduces the decision-making model on managing childrenÊs

TEXT ARRANGEMENT GUIDE

Self-Check: This component of the module is inserted at strategic locations

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Christian, L. G. (2006). Applying family systems theory to early childhood

Council of Chief State School Officers (2008). Accountability systems. Retrieved

Edwards, C. H., & Watts, V. (2004). Classroom discipline and management: An

Essa, E. L. (2011). Introduction to early childhood education. Belmont, CA:

Gonzalez-Mena, J. (2008). Foundation of early childhood education: Teaching

Henniger, M. L. (2012). Teaching young children: An introduction (5th ed.).

Marion, C. M. (2014). Guidance of young children (9th ed.). Boston: Pearson.

Marzano, R. J., Marzano, J. S., & Pickering, D. J. (2008). Classroom management

Maxwell, G. (2001). Teacher observation in student assessment. Discussion papers

Morrison, G. S. (2012). Early childhood education today (12th ed). Pearson

Rogers, B. (2006). Classroom behaviour: A practical guide to effective teaching,

Rogers, B. (2007). Behaviour management: A whole-school approach (2nd ed.).

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Santrock, J. W. (2011). Child development. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Smith, A. B. (2006). The state of research on the effects of physical punishment.

TAN SRI DR ABDULLAH SANUSI (TSDAS)

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1.1 DISCIPLINE MODELS AND PLANS

(a) Positive forms of discipline or a negative forms of discipline; and

Positive and negative forms of discipline will be explained in following subtopics.

1.1.1 Positive Forms of Discipline

1.1.2 Negative Forms of Discipline

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Some examples of negative discipline include nagging, giving time-outs, refusing

Share your answers with others during the tutorial session.

1.2 THEORIES FOCUSING ON THE SYSTEMS IN