Professionalism, Family and Community

Question 1

Summarize the origins of the IDEA law (the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act), stating its year. Identify the six main principles of the IDEA law.

Answer 1

Before reacting to young children’s behaviors, adults should make sure children understand the situation. They should state rules simply and clearly; repeat them frequently for a long time for young children to remember and follow them; and state and enforce rules very consistently to avoid confusion. Adults should tell children clearly what they expect of them. They should never assume they need do nothing when children follow rules; they should consistently give rewards for compliance. Adults should also explain to young children why they are/are not receiving rewards by citing the rule they did/did not follow. Adults can arrange the environment to promote success. For example, if a child throws things that break windows, adults can remove such objects and substitute softer /more lightweight items. Organization is also important. Adults should begin with a simple, easy-to-implement plan and adhere to it. They should record children’s progress; analyzing the records shows what does/does not work and why, enabling
new /revised plans.

Question 2

Identify and summarize purposes and key points of the legislation for Section 504, Education for the Handicapped Act (EHA), EHA amendments, and ADA, including their years and public law numbers.

Answer 2

In 1973, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, also called Public Law 93-112, was enacted to ensure individuals with disabilities equal access to federally financed programs and to promote their participation in them. A child must have a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits a major life activity to be eligible for a free, appropriate public education (FAPE) under Section 504. This law stimulated motivation to educate students with disabilities, contributing to the passage of the Education for All Handicapped Children Act, also called Public Law 94-142, in 1975. This law provides that all children with disabilities must receive a FAPE provided in the least restrictive environment possible and individualized. Its procedural safeguards mandate due process. The 1986’s EHA amendments, or Public Law 99-457 extended special education to disabled preschoolers aged 3 to 5 years; services to infants and toddlers are at each U.S. state’s discretion. And 1990’s Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires access for disabled people to public buildings and facilities, transportation, and communication but does not cover educational services.

Question 3

Identify and summarize some key elements of U.S. federal legislation passed in 1997, 2001, and 2004 that importantly affected the education of young children with and without disabilities.

Answer 3

The 1990 Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) was reauthorized in 1997 and numbered Public Law 108-446. It provided more access for children with disabilities to the general education curriculum and extended collaborative opportunities for teachers, other professionals, and families of children with disabilities. No Child Left Behind (NCLB, 2001, now the Every Student Succeeds Act, ESSA 2015), the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act
(ESEA), stressed accountability for outcomes by identifying schools and districts needing improvement and assuring teacher quality. It required school performance data to include disabled students’ standardized test scores. NCLB emphasized giving teachers and administrators better research information and schools more resources, parents more information about their children’s progress and the school’s performance, and more local flexibility and control in utilizing federal education funds and in improving teacher qualifications, for example, through alternative certifications. And, 2004’s IDEA reauthorization, Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEIA), covers better alignment of NCLB with IDEA, appropriately identifying students needing special education, ensuring reasonable discipline while protecting special needs students defining highly qualified teachers, reducing paperwork, and increasing cooperation to decrease litigation.

Question 4

Summarize some recent (2009) legal changes to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) affecting the classification of disabilities for young children’s educations.

Answer 4

The ADA Amendments Act (ADAAA, 2009) overrules prior Supreme Court decisions narrowly interpreting the ADA. This qualifies many more conditions as disabilities.
(1) Physical or mental impairments substantially limiting one or more life activities now include immune system functioning; normal cell growth; brain, and neurological, respiratory, circulatory, endocrine, reproductive, digestive, bowel, and bladder functions, added to the existing activities of eating, sleeping, thinking, communicating, concentrating, lifting, and bending.
(2) Impairments include physical (deaf, blind, or wheelchair-bound); conditions (AIDS, diabetes, or epilepsy); mental illnesses and ADHD; record of impairment, for example, cancer in remission and regarded as impaired.
(3) Reasonable accommodations mean adaptations or modifications enabling persons with disabilities to have equal opportunities. The ADA describes this regarding equal employment opportunities, but it could also be interpreted relative to equal educational opportunities.
( 4) Reasonable accommodations that would cause undue hardship, for example, financial, are not required.

Question 5

Give some general examples of the legal
responsibilities of EC professionals that they should
know and fulfill. Give one hypothetical example of a situation illustrating EC professionals’ interaction with other adults, like parents, and legal
responsibilities in the face of other considerations.

Answer 5

Historically, special education was introduced with the purpose of separating special-needs children from their normally developing peers. However, since 1991, the IDEA legislation has established the necessity of inclusion in normal care and educational environments, including EC settings, for children with disabilities. EC professionals know excluding any child is illegal. Another example of legal responsibilities is the “mandated reporter” status of caregivers/teachers/other adults working with children and families. They are legally required to report suspected child abuse and neglect; the law penalizes them for not reporting. For example, an EC teacher sees injuries to a child. S/he knows the mother has a new boyfriend, displays a fearful attitude, and responds evasively to teacher questions. Later, the child tells the teacher the boyfriend hurt him/her. The teacher pities the mother, realizing she needs the boyfriend financially and emotionally, and reporting suspected abuse could make the mother lose her children or their home. Regardless, the teacher must report suspicions by law, which was enacted for stopping violence against children.

Question 6

Summarize some general attributes of EC educators that indicate their professionalism and professional responsibility.

Answer 6

While care and instruction of young children are delivered through a variety of program types, EC educators share common general goals. They appreciate EC as a unique period in life. They work to educate holistically, considering the mind, feelings, and body of the whole child. The educational goals they develop are designed to support each child’s fulfilling his/her individual potential within relationship contexts. EC professionals realize children are inseparable from their social milieus of family, society, and culture; they work to relate to and understand children in these contexts, while also appreciating and supporting family ties. They apply their knowledge of child development, teaching according to how children learn and what they need, and apply research in the field to differentiating common assumptions and myths from valid scientific findings. They have appropriate behavioral expectations for children at each developmental stage. EC professionals realize the significance of confidentiality: they never gossip or tell families personal information about other families. Lifelong learners, they set their own professional goals, pursuing ongoing professional development.

Question 7

Comment on some general considerations regarding EC educators’ interactions with other adults in the learning environment.

Answer 7

Regarding teachers’ roles, much of the focus is on observing children and their behaviors, helping children manage peer interactions, and giving children opportunities for developing peer-group social skills. Too often a similar emphasis is not accorded to teachers’ reflecting on their interactions and behaviors with other adults; learning to collaborate with other adults; and developing skills for conflict resolution and managing disagreements with other adults. Some experts say teachers should work diligently and deliberately to make adult interactions integral parts of daily classroom activity. For group ECE settings to attain their goals, adults must make and implement plans collaboratively. However, mandatory staff meetings are commonly occupied with curricular and administrative requirements; beyond these, little or no attention or time is applied to nurturing adult-adult relationships. Adults interact during in-service trainings and professional development experiences, but outside of daily classroom settings. Nevertheless, these experiences can be used as foundations for better adult-adult communication within ECE contexts. Conscious efforts to develop adult-adult relationships benefiting children’s growth, development, and learning are necessary.

Question 8

Relate several conditions that enable and support positive interactions among adults within the ECE setting.

Answer 8

Adults engage in positive interactions with each other within ECE programs when they make time to share their anecdotal records and observations of their young students, and collaboratively plan instruction based on their collective contributions. When adults share information and communicate with one another about the children and their families with whom they work, they interact positively together. When EC educators engage in problem-solving activities and dialogues, these help them identify which learning goals and experiences they can make more effective for the children and how they can do this. Adults within ECE settings should engage in reciprocal exchanging of ideas about the EC learning environment and about how to share responsibilities for performing instructional tasks, rearranging classrooms as needed, setting up class projects, taking care of class pets and plants, and other such daily duties.

Question 9

Explain how the concept of “quality time” can be applied to EC educators’ interactions with other adults in the learning community as well as to adult-child interactions.

Answer 9

Educators have noted that attitudes and things we commonly say to children, e.g. “Your actions speak louder than your words” would equally benefit us addressing our own behaviors as adults. Applying the same principles, we teach children to interactions among adults in the learning community can positively influence those interactions, which in turn affects adult-child/teacher-student interactions and overall classroom atmospheres. Without such atmospheres conducive to trust and honesty in adult relationships, educators can fall prey to misunderstandings and internalizing negative attitudes, which influence not only coworker interactions but moreover classroom climates. One solution is for adults in ECE to establish occasions affording “quality adult time.” Psychotherapist and psychological theorist Virginia Satir, pioneer of family therapy, found interpersonal dynamics influenced by positive adult-adult communication. Trust-building, mutual colleague support, and sharing experiences/feelings-related or unrelated to classrooms-promote adult relationships that benefit teacher-learner relationships and thus enhance young children’s development and learning.

Question 10

Comment on some legal regulations regarding the confidentiality of records in EC settings, including an exception.

Answer 10

In EC settings, records kept about children and their families must be treated with strict confidentiality. EC
centers/programs/preschools/agencies should limit access to student records to children’s immediate family members; only those employees authorized; and agencies having legal authority to access records. Confidentiality of records and restricted access to them in all centers/programs/preschools/agencies that receive federal funding are mandated by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). Moreover, with the ongoing trend toward educational inclusion, many EC settings serve children with disabilities, whose student records are additionally subject to regulations under the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), and also to the special education laws of their respective U.S. states. An exception to the laws regarding records confidentiality is mandated reporting by EC personnel of suspected child abuse and neglect. Laws applying to child abuse and neglect supersede FERPA regulations. Legally, EC employees are both required to report suspected abuse and neglect of children, and immune from liability for releasing child records information relevant to their reporting.

Question 11

Discuss where adult-adult interactions within EC settings are or are not addressed in research and theoretical literature and professional development, and how EC educators can generally promote adult-­adult interactions supporting children’s positive development.

Answer 11

ECE research contains little work addressing adults’ cooperation and collaborative expertise with each other and the influences of these on children. However, the High/Scope curriculum model, The Creative Curriculum, and similar curriculum models and approaches do address adult-adult interactions by stressing how important teamwork is in planning lessons and sharing responsibilities and information. In addition, some educational experts have written about power struggles and other interactional dynamics in adult-adult relationships that can impede employee performance in a variety of settings. Professional development and training programs rarely include adult conflict ­resolution techniques, instruction in working collaboratively, or adult learning principles. Hence educators must consider how their adult-­adult interactions can support children’s development of competence, capability, and confidence. Sharing instructional goals, planning learning experiences that support goals, and sharing responsibilities as a team for implementing projects establishes climates of safety and trust for children.

Question 12

Identify a legal issue relative to economic considerations in providing EC care and services. Identify several elements of quality care found through consensus among EC professionals.

Answer 12

To furnish and sustain quality care in EC settings is always challenging to care providers. It is even more so during difficult economic times. Many EC centers must face decisions whether to downsize the services they offer or to go out of business. When administrators choose to remain in operation, they encounter equally difficult decisions regarding how to reduce services, but not at the expense of quality. A legal issue related to such economic considerations is that EC personnel are often placed at legal risk when service quality is compromised. While EC employers, employees, young children’s parents, and educational researchers are all interested in and pursue a definition of quality care, no single operational definition has been attained. However, EC professionals with ample work experience in EC centers have contributed various definitions. The consensus of their contributions includes the following common elements: a nurturing environment; employees trained in EC development and methods; age-appropriate curricula; sufficient space, equipment, and materials; safety and good maintenance of physical environments; and good parent-teacher communication.

Question 13

Identify four areas of medical care and treatment that
are emphasized in the legal regulation of EC settings.
Note the importance of medical policies and procedures in EC settings relative to protecting
children physically and staff legally.

Answer 13

The child care licensing regulations of each U.S: state government mostly govern children’s medical care and treatment in EC settings. Overall, state regulations emphasize four areas of medical care and treatment: (1) Health requirements for all employees, such as having no communicable diseases; passing a TB test; having no health conditions preventing active child care; and maintaining accurate employee as well as child health records; (2) Administration by staff of medication to children being served in EC settings; (3) Management by EC staff of emergencies due to illness, injury, and accidents; and ( 4) Treatment of nonemergency minor illnesses, injuries, and accidents occurring to children in EC settings. To protect children’s health and safety, EC programs/schools/centers must maintain written policies and procedures for emergency and nonemergency care. To protect personnel from litigation, they must adhere scrupulously to written policies and procedures. Litigation for damages/injury is likely when not following procedures. Not reporting suspected/observed child
abuse/neglect and not completing accident reports also invite lawsuits.

Question 14

Describe some guidelines for EC personnel regarding the administration of medication to children while they are in EC care and educational settings.

Answer 14

The administration of medication to children in EC settings has been subject to much controversy due to obvious issues of dangers and liability. EC centers/programs must write their policies and procedures to include their state government’s licensing requirements for medical care and treatment, which they must follow closely. Experts recommend that parent and doctor permission be required for administering any prescription and nonprescription medications to children. EC settings should keep on file written parental consent for each medication, and review these records regularly for changes. They should also post separate charts, easily accessible to staff, with each child’s name, medication, dosage, administration time, and teacher initials. These provide documentation of teachers following parent directions and can prevent mistakes. Staff should label all medications with the drug name, child’s name, doctor’s name and contact information, and administration instructions. EC centers seasonally and frequently contain many children simultaneously recovering from a variety of illnesses; labeling prevents giving children the wrong medication. Empty drug containers should be returned to parents.

Question 15

Describe some considerations regarding transportation from EC locations for child medical emergencies, and emergency medical treatment by EC employees, including coverage of liability.

Answer 15

For a child’s non-life-threatening medical emergencies, EC personnel should request transportation by the child’s parents. However, if parents cannot transport the child, or in a more severe emergency, EC administrators should call an ambulance. In life-threatening emergencies that preclude waiting for an ambulance, EC administrators must designate the vehicle and responsible employee for transporting the child to the hospital; this information should be posted in the facility’s emergency procedures. Administrators should keep the number of staff involved in emergency medical treatment to a minimum. Those employees they designate for involvement should be willing to take on the responsibility and should have current first aid training. The administrators can include a clause in these employees’ job descriptions providing for their transporting children in the event of an emergency. The EC facility may also pay for additional or separate liability insurance coverage of the employees they designate as responsible for providing necessary emergency medical treatment.

Question 16

Identify two types of legal child custody issues involving EC facilities. Define and differentiate two types of child custody.

Answer 16

EC facilities are affected by two types of issues involving child custody: (1) Parents are pursuing legal and/or physical custody of the child but. they are not living together; and (2) State authorities have removed a child from the parents’ legal and physical custody. Parents frequently demand the right to visit with and/or take the child home on occasion. Two types of custody are: legal custody, defined as an individual’s or agency’s right to make decisions on a child’s behalf regarding the child’s place of residence, medical treatment, and education; and physical custody, defined as an individual’s or agency’s right and responsibility to provide a child with immediate care, and a household or care facility for the present and immediate future. Physical custody does not include all of the rights of full legal custody. It is serious for a child to be in the middle of a custody battle between divorcing parents or between parents and foster parents; therefore, EC facilities need the most concise, clear-cut guidelines possible.

Question 17

Identify some recommendations for procedures in EC settings regarding emergency medical treatment and first aid for the children they serve.

Answer 17

EC programs and preschools must write specific, detailed procedures regarding emergency treatment and keep these on file. Children’s parents, EC administrators, and EC staff need to be informed regarding what will occur in the event of a child’s serious illness or injury. EC settings must also keep written, signed parental consent forms on file, as well as parent contact information, parental physician and hospital preferences, and health insurance information. EC staff should have current, regularly updated first aid training. First aid equipment should be stored in locations accessible to personnel, who should be frequently reminded of these locations. Lists of each staff member’s first aid responsibilities and training should be posted, also accessibly. Licensing regulations require EC facilities to notify parents of emergencies; not doing so is subject to legal action. In non-life-threatening emergencies, staff should ask parents to furnish transportation and medical treatment. For grave emergencies, parental consent forms should be filed and updated semi-annually, including physician and hospital names, ambulance service, and other transportation procedures.

Question 18

Discuss some recommendations for EC programs to
follow regarding children’s non-emergency medical
illnesses; reporting, notification, transportation,
waiting locations; and information on chronic medical conditions and possible emergencies

Answer 18

EC programs must keep procedures for, and reports on, non-emergency medical treatment of children on file just as they do for emergency procedures and reporting. Staff must contact and notify a sick child’s parents, who decide if the child should leave the center /preschool. If so, parents should transport their child. Parental consent forms should authorize a doctor or nurse to provide routine medical treatment. EC centers/preschools should have sick children wait to be picked up in a location that is separate from other children and activities, but closely supervised by staff. For children with allergies, diabetes, and other chronic medical conditions, EC centers/preschools should not only keep this information on file in records, but also post it accessibly at all times for staff reference. Instructions for any special treatment should be included. For any health impairment(s) a child has that could potentially involve emergency treatment, directions for staff should be visibly posted, including specific employees designated to administer treatment. This protects children from harm and caregivers/educators from legal liability.

Question 19

Relate some expert recommendations for EC locations to follow pertaining to custody of the children they serve.

Answer 19

It is recommended that during a child’s enrollment, EC programs procure a signed, dated document clarifying the child’s custody status, including names, contact information, and relationships of all individuals authorized to pick up the child. Copies of any separation agreement/court decree should also be filed. Any time EC staff do not recognize an individual coming to pick up a child, they should ask the person to produce photo identification, which they should closely inspect. EC program administrators cannot make decisions regarding who has legal or physical custody of a child they serve. When a parent or other adult enrolls a child in an EC program, that adult is asked to list other persons to be contacted in the event of an emergency. EC administrators are advised to present all parents/guardians with a statement that the EC center will only release their child to someone the enrolling parent/adult listed on the emergency form as authorized to pick up the child.

Question 20

Describe some recommended procedures for EC facilities to use in the event of non-custodial or non­authorized adults attempting to pick up children served there.

Answer 20

EC centers should always have up-to-date documentation on file of a child’s custodial arrangements, signed and dated by the enrolling adult. If an adult not authorized to pick up the child attempts to do so, an EC administrator should inform that adult of the center’s policies and procedures regarding custody. They may even show the unauthorized adult their copy of the custodial court order if needed. If the unauthorized adult then departs, the administrator must notify the enrolling adult of the incident; file a written report of it; meet with the custodial adult to clarify custody arrangements anew; document this meeting, including its date and signatures; and file the document in the child’s record. If the unauthorized adult refuses to leave and makes a scene or threatens/displays violence, the EC administrator should call the police if needed. The EC center’s having a procedure in place for protecting children against emotionally upsetting scenes and/or violent adult behavior is crucial to the children’s safety and well-being.

Question 21

Briefly discuss the legal responsibilities of EC centers when children they serve are not picked up timely by parents/designated others.

Answer 21

If a child is not picked up on time from an EC center at the end of its defined day, the EC center has the legal responsibility for the child’s welfare as long as the child is on the premises. In the event that a child is left at the EC center for a long time and the parent/authorized adult has not notified the center why and/or when the child will be picked up, EC personnel are advised that keeping the child at the center is less likely to incur legal liability than for the child to stay at an EC staff member’s home, for example. If the child has to be removed, it is important for EC staff to inform the police of this and where they are taking the child. If parents are chronically tardy picking up children, EC staff should review the child’s information and/or inquire further of parents to ascertain reasons and possible solutions because they are legally responsible for reporting suspected child neglect.

Question 22

Generally describe some research-supported
observations about genetic and biological influences
on children relative to addictive behaviors, and how environmental influences can mediate these
physiological effects.

Answer 22

Adopted children with one or both biological parents having histories of alcohol abuse, criminal records, and/or major psychiatric illness are at double the risk for drug abuse as those having biological parents without such histories. While this risk is genetic, differential environmental influences can exacerbate or mitigate children’s biological risk for engaging in addictive behaviors. For example, adopted children who experience difficulties in their adopted families, such as deaths or divorce, are at higher risk of developing drug abuse problems. Conversely, children whose biological parents’ histories put them at higher genetic risk for abusing drugs-but who were adopted into loving, stable families-are less at risk for developing addictions. Researchers conclude that children with higher genetic risks for addiction are more vulnerable to adverse environmental influences in their adopted families than children with lower genetic risks. Also, genetic risks become less powerful in adoptive families having lower environmental risk factors.

Question 23

Summarize some characteristics described by Alfred Adler regarding how birth order affects the respective attitudes and behaviors of the second and middle child.

Answer 23

Psychoanalyst and theorist Adler included birth order as one factor in his study of influences on personality development. He identified general tendencies associated with each family birth position. For example, the second-born child was described by Adler as having a “pacemaker” in that there is always an older sibling ahead of this child. Adler found that the results of this position include the child’s becoming more competitive out of attempts to overtake the elder sibling. He noted that competition could devolve into sibling rivalry. A second child might develop into a rebellious sort or might develop a habit of always trying to “top” or exceed everybody else’s accomplishments. Adler described the middle child in a family as being “sandwiched” between older and younger siblings, so that s/he can feel “squeezed out” of any privileged or significant position. Some middle children may grow up to fight against injustice or unfairness; others may encounter difficulty establishing places for themselves. Some middle children develop even­-tempered dispositions, with no extreme opinions and “take-it-or-leave-­it” attitudes.

Question 24

Explain in summary Alfred Adler’s theoretical concepts of the effects of birth order on the personalities and behavior of the “ghost child” and the adopted child.

Answer 24

Adlerian psychoanalytic theory includes family birth order as an influence on personality development and behavior. For example, Adler described a child who is born after an older child has died as having a “ghost” ahead of him/her. Such a child, called a “ghost child,” is likely to be subject to overprotection by the mother, who fears losing him/her after losing a child previously. The child may respond to parental overprotectiveness by taking advantage of the parent to get what s/he wants. Alternatively, some “ghost” children resent feeling parental comparisons to the deceased child, whose memory parents have idealized; in this case, the child may rebel. Adler said adoptive parents can be so grateful to have a child and so anxious to make up for the child’s loss of biological parents, that they may spoil him/her; thus, the adopted child is more liable to develop very demanding, spoiled behaviors. The adopted child may ultimately either resent his/her biological parents for rejecting/leaving him/her or idealize them, negatively comparing the adoptive parents.

Question 25

Summarize some of Alfred Adler's theoretical principles regarding the effects of birth order upon children, specifically for the only child and the oldest child.

Answer 25

Neo-Freudian psychologist Alfred Adler proposed that a child's birth order relative to other children in a family is associated with corresponding influences on the child's personality and behaviors. For example, Adler found that the only child is regarded as a miracle of birth by parents with no prior experience of having a baby. This child receives the undivided attention of both parents, who may be overprotective of the child and/or spoil him/her. Some general characteristics of only children include preferring adults' company, using adult language, enjoying being the center of attention from adults, and finding it difficult to share with other children. Adler said the oldest/older child has been "dethroned" /displaced by a younger sibling and must learn to share. Parents often have very high expectations of the oldest/older child, give him/her much responsibility, and expect him/her to set an example for younger siblings. Older /oldest children may turn to fathers once a sibling is born. They may feel entitled to power, developing strict/authoritarian attitudes/behaviors. Given encouragement, they can develop helpful attitudes/behaviors.

Question 26

Give a summary of some predominant characteristics Alfred Adler associated with birth order relative to the youngest child in a family and to twin children.

Answer 26

In his psychoanalytic theory, Alfred Adler included birth order as one family influence on child personality development. For example, he found that the youngest child in a family, like an only child, is never "dethroned" or displaced by a new sibling. However, unlike an only child, the youngest sibling has many "parents" in the form of older siblings who help to raise, instruct, and influence him/her. Youngest siblings are often spoiled by the attentions of parents plus older siblings. Some youngest children continue to feel and behave like the "baby" of the family indefinitely. Many youngest children, always being littlest, wish to be bigger than siblings. As they grow, youngest siblings may make grandiose plans that never succeed. Adler found with twins, one is usually more active or stronger, and is often perceived by the parents as older-s/he may have been born a minute earlier and/or they perceive him/her as more mature. The stronger twin may develop as the leader; the other may develop problems with identity.

Question 27

Regarding Alfred Adler's psychoanalytic theory, summarize his ideas about how familial birth order can influence the personalities and behaviors, respectively, of the only boy among girl siblings; the only girl among boy siblings; a boy with all boy siblings; and a girl with all girl siblings.

Answer 27

Adler found that the ways children are perceived and treated by parents and siblings relative to their birth order contribute to their personality formation and behavior. For example, Adler stated the only boy with girl siblings, surrounded by females when the father is not there, can develop either of opposite extremes: he may engage excessively in behaviors to prove he is the "man of the family" or develop effeminate behaviors through identifying with surrounding females. Adler found when a child is the only girl among male siblings, her older brothers can behave protectively toward her. An only girl among boys may make efforts to please the father and develop either of two opposing extremes: becoming a tomboy to compete with brothers or developing very feminine behaviors to differentiate from them. In families with all-male or all-female children, Adler noted parents who wanted a child of the other sex might dress one child as the opposite sex. The child may either exploit this role reassignment or strongly object to it.

Question 28

According to Murray Bowen's Family Systems Theory, summarize one way a child's development is affected by a basic parent-child relationship pattern.

Answer 28

Dr. Bowen identified four basic family relationship patterns within what he called the Nuclear Family Emotional System. These patterns dictate where problems develop when the family system is under tension. Bowen labeled these patterns Marital Conflict; Dysfunction in One Spouse; Impairment of One or More Children; and Emotional Distance, which latter is associated with the first three. In Impairment of One or More Children, the parents focus their anxieties on one or more of their children. Their perception of the child(ren) is either negative or idealized. The more the parents focus on one child, the more that child reciprocally focuses on them, becoming more reactive to parental expectations, needs, and attitudes than siblings are. This process undermines the child's differentiation of self, a key factor in healthy individual development according to Bowen. The child becomes more susceptible to internalizing or externalizing family tensions, affecting his/her social relationships, school performance, and physical and mental health.

Question 29

Identify some characteristics of parents' and children's perceptions and behaviors related to the Family Projection Process, according to Bowen's Family Systems Theory, including how the intensity of the process differentially affects children and parents .

Answer 29

In the Family Projection Process, Dr. Murray Bowen found that parents can project their anxieties onto their children. When parents worry overly that something is wrong with one child, they may see everything the child does as proof of that worry. Their excessive efforts to remedy the child's "problem" can actually cause the child to develop the problem in reality, as the child's self-image becomes aligned with parental perceptions. While parents with such worries usually feel guilty of not giving the "problem" child enough attention, they have in fact directed more attention to this child than his/her siblings. Bowen found that children less engaged in this process have more realistic, mature relationships with parents and develop into more goal-oriented, less reactive, and less emotionally needy individuals. Both parents participate equally in the process in different ways; both are insecure relative to the child, but Bowen said typically one parent pretends to feel secure with the other's complicity.

Question 30

Summarize how the Family Projection Process accounts for parents' passing their emotional issues on to their children, according to Bowen's Family Systems Theory.

Answer 30

In his theory, Bowen referred to the way parents transmit their emotional issues to children as the Family Projection Process, which involves three steps: (1) A parent focuses on a child, fearing something is wrong with that child. (2) The parent perceives the child's behavior as confirmation of this fear. (3) The parent then treats the child as though something really is wrong. When parents try to "fix" what they perceive is a problem in the child, their perception can become a self-fulfilling prophecy as the child eventually embodies that perception. For example, if parents perceive a child as helpless and are always helping her excessively, the child's self-image comes to mirror the parents' perception; the child becomes de facto helpless and dependent even though she may not have been so initially. The more intense this process is, the greater relationship sensitivities children develop, beyond those of their parents.

Question 31

Discuss some general aspects of aggression relative to early childhood, including definitions of two basic types and two subtypes of aggression.

Answer 31

Preschoolers typically demonstrate some aggressive behavior, which tends to peak around age 4. Instrumental Aggression is one basic type: younger preschoolers frequently shout, hit, or kick others to get concrete objects they want. Middle preschoolers are more likely to exhibit Hostile Aggression, i.e. getting even for wrongs or injuries they feel others have done to them. Hostile Aggression occurs in two subtypes: Overt and Relational. Overt Aggression involves physically harming others or threatening to do so, while Relational Aggression involves emotional/social harm, e.g. rejecting/excluding another from a group of friends or spreading malicious rumors about another. Young boys are more likely to engage in Overt Aggression, while young girls are more likely to engage in Relational Aggression. These gender preferences in aggressive behaviors tend to remain the same at all ages if aggression exists. While most young children eventually phase out aggression as they learn other ways of resolving social conflicts, some persist in verbally and/or physically aggressive behavior, causing problems.

Question 32

Define how prejudice and discrimination are related. Explain briefly how children learn discriminatory behaviors from adults, and what adults must do in general to combat this process.

Answer 32

Prejudice literally means prejudging, i.e. judging someone/something negatively before/without knowing anything about who/what one is judging. Prejudice gives rise to discrimination in that prejudiced ideas motivate unfair, i.e. discriminatory, behaviors toward others. Psychologist Albert Bandura, who developed social learning theory, identified the process whereby children acquire attitudes and behaviors they observe in others, which he named vicarious learning. Children commonly pick up beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors from adults around them, without applying any critical thinking to these. They are often not even aware of the attitudes and beliefs they assume in this way. Thus, they will engage in prejudicial attitudes and discriminatory behaviors without thinking through what they are doing. Though such behavior is not justified, children simply assume it is because of adults' examples. Thus, adults must carefully inspect their own beliefs and attitudes, as well as what they do and say, because these are what children will imitate.

Question 33

Discuss some general conclusions of psychologists, across differential theories, regarding children's sex/ gender-role development.

Answer 33

Various theories of development, such as psychoanalytic, behaviorist, cognitive, and social learning, have differing views of why and how children develop sexual/gender identities. To address these differences, psychologists have endeavored to produce some general conclusions about young children's self-concepts of gender. They find that during preschool ages, children gradually develop concepts of what being a girl or a boy in their culture means. These concepts become clearly articulated and shape their behaviors. Between the ages of 2 and 6, children are in the process of putting together the pieces of these gender concepts. Developing sex-appropriate behaviors and developing categories of gender roles both appear to be influenced by a combination and interaction of biological and sociological variables. Psychologists additionally conclude that children perform some mental matching process enabling them to isolate features they share in common with others, and that young children's abilities to observe, imitate, and categorize influence their later concepts of sex-appropriate behaviors. By ages 5-6, most children clearly identify with one sex or the other.

Question 34

Describe some things adults should and should not do to minimize aggressive behavior in young children.

Answer 34

While it is normal for preschoolers to exhibit some physical and verbal aggression until they have learned more mature ways of expressing feelings, getting what they want, and settling disputes, there are things adults can do to influence them such that aggressive behavior does not develop into a predominant method of social interaction. Adults set examples for children, and children learn by observing and imitating those examples. Therefore, parents, caregivers, and teachers should not model verbally and/or physically aggressive behaviors such as calling others names, yelling at others, or punishing others' undesirable behaviors using physical force. Not only should adults avoid disciplining children physically, they should also avoid physically and/or verbally violent interactions with other adults. Social learning theorist Albert Bandura proved that children who viewed violent videos imitated what they observed and engaged in more aggressive behavior, so adults should also prevent young children's exposure to violent TV programming and video games.

Question 35

Discuss some general sources of prejudicial thinking and some actions that adults can take to help young children avoid or counteract such thinking.

Answer 35

Prejudicial thinking about certain groups of people is uninformed and/or misinformed thinking. It is typically based on fear of the unknown due to lack of knowledge and/or fear due to erroneous beliefs about people. Thus, the best way to dispel prejudice is to provide information where there was none and/or to correct wrong information. When unfamiliar groups become more familiar and when wrong assumptions are corrected, people's misconceptions are replaced by reality and they become less afraid. For example, children having no experience with people from other racial, ethnic, or socioeconomic groups are likely to fear these people (as are many adults). Adults can help young children by furnishing them with many opportunities-not just isolated ones-to interact with people from diverse cultural and socioeconomic milieus. For children to experience true learning, which will supersede negative, uninformed first impressions, they must have multiple such social opportunities. School, outside classes, sports, and camp are activities affording such opportunities.

Question 36

Discuss some of the predominant effects on children of prejudice and discrimination in the form of bullying and what steps adults should take to address these.

Answer 36

Children who are bullied by others are victims of prejudicial thinking and discriminatory actions. Common negative effects of bullying include rage, feelings of hopelessness, anxiety, and depression. Left untreated, children with these feelings can develop suicidal ideations and actions as they grow older if bullying persists. When young, children have the additional problem of not yet knowing how to manage their negative feelings caused by others' aggression or even how to express them. Adults can give them much-needed help by assisting them in articulating their emotions openly but nonviolently. Adults must realize that young children, especially those who have experienced others' violent treatment, may not recognize that anger can be expressed in any ways other than violent ones. Based on their experience, children may internalize assumptions that they can only act out their anger through self-destructive behaviors. When adults consistently model positive, proactive ways of discussing negative emotions, children observe that more constructive behaviors are possible and learn to adopt these as more effective coping strategies.

Question 37

Discuss generally why and how adults can use extended discussions and behavioral methods to combat cultural stereotypes and discrimination that children may experience or exercise.

Answer 37

When children experience stereotyping of and discrimination against their cultural group, adults can counter these negative reflections on the group by correcting erroneous opinions they have heard. By giving children plenty of examples of positive accomplishments by members of their group, they convey cultural pride, affording children a sense of empowerment. Adults should consistently model positive, constructive, and no-violent methods of addressing prejudice for children. If prejudice proves ongoing, caregivers and teachers must assertively advocate on behalf of children and their cultures to shut down prejudicial sources. If they hear young children furthering cultural stereotypes they have absorbed, adults should immediately correct their statements and behaviors, explaining why certain words and actions harm others and are unacceptable. Extended discussions with young children are important for putting prejudice into perspective and context to help them understand it. Adults can also apply behavioral methods, such as associating prejudicial behaviors with consequences (e.g. losing a privilege or gaining work) and providing related learning activities to prevent repeated instances.

Question 38

Discuss some genetic influences on some early childhood behaviors, some environmental influences on these, and how the two interact.

Answer 38

Young children are subject to both genetic and environmental influences upon their relative risk of displaying antisocial behaviors. Research into factors influencing early childhood behavior identifies both genetic variables and environmental ones, like corporal punishment, affecting young children's propensities toward antisocial behavior. Children experiencing more corporal punishment display greater behavior problems; children at greater genetic risk also do. However, boys at higher genetic risk for behavior problems who also experience more corporal punishment exhibit the most ant-isocial behavior. Therefore, both genetic risk factors and corporal punishment significantly predict preschoolers' antisocial behavior. Additionally, the nature-nurture interaction of genetic risk factors and environmental punishment is statistically significant for young boys but not young girls. Such evidence shows that environmental learning is not wholly responsible for antisocial behavior: genetic variables predispose some young children to antisocial behaviors more than others.

Question 39

Explain generally how adults can use historical contexts, correction, and real-life examples with young children to address the effects of prejudicial attitudes they may learn.

Answer 39

Because many prejudicial attitudes exist in our society on both individualized and institutionalized levels, it is all too easy for children to absorb and emulate them. When children who have been victims of prejudice learn they were attacked not as individuals, but members of a group, this does not eliminate negative effects, but can help them see it in a different perspective. Adults can place prejudice and discrimination in their historical contexts so children realize they are not lone victims but part of a larger group. Correcting false beliefs, as in Albert Eilis's Rational-Emotive Behavior Therapy and other forms of cognitive-­behavioral therapy, can be applied by adults' pointing out the irrational, flawed thinking involved and supplying examples contradicting that thinking. For example, if children have been influenced to think certain groups are less intelligent or lazier than others, adults can show them examples of many members of those groups with outstanding achievements in society. They can do this through book/video biographies, personal anecdotes, and introductions to living people.

Question 40

Give a brief history of influences on behaviorism and describe some major fundamental principles of behaviorist learning theories.

Answer 40

Ivan Pavlov's experiments with dogs proved that when a stimulus evoking a reflexive response-drooling at the taste of meat-was repeatedly paired with an unrelated/"neutral" stimulus-a bell ringing-dogs came to associate the unrelated stimulus with the original response and drooled on hearing the bell without tasting meat. This proved generalizable to humans. Edward L. Thorndike's experiments with cats also applied to humans. Thorndike introduced the Law of Effect: we are more likely to repeat behaviors receiving desirable consequences. This set the stage for B. F. Skinner's later work. John B. Watson maintained that because inner states cannot be observed or measured, only observable outer behaviors should be used in psychology and learning. Skinner experimented with operant conditioning, wherein behaviors are trained and shaped through manipulating their antecedents/preceding stimuli and consequences/following stimuli. He expanded behaviorism into a comprehensive theory, including detailed rules for teaching new behaviors and modifying behavior (behavior modification).

Question 41

Give some early childhood education examples of applying the behavioral techniques of positive and negative reinforcement and positive and negative punishment, including definitions.

Answer 41

In behaviorism, reinforcement means strengthening the probability a behavior will be repeated. Skinner used the terms positive vs. negative to mean introducing vs. removing, not good vs. bad. Therefore, positive reinforcement is introducing something rewarding immediately after a behavior. When a child's behavior is rewarded, s/he will repeat it to obtain repeated rewards: Johnny gets a treat or praise for putting away his toys; he will do it again. Negative reinforcement is rewarding by removing something unwanted: Johnny dislikes noisy crowds at preschool. One day he wakes up earlier, is taken to preschool earlier, finds it quieter and less crowded; he will want to get up and arrive earlier again. Positive punishment is introducing an aversive consequence for a behavior: Johnny refuses to put toys away; his parents then make him clean up the entire room; he is less likely to repeat the refusal. Negative punishment is removing a desirable stimulus: Johnny refuses to put away toys; his parents prohibit watching TV; he is less likely to keep refusing.

Question 42

Among positive and negative reinforcement and punishment, identify which research has been found most effective and explain some reasons for this, including general examples for early childhood.

Answer 42

Behavioral techniques include positive reinforcement, introducing rewarding stimuli for emitting desired behaviors; negative reinforcement, removing unwanted stimuli for emitting desired behaviors; positive punishment, introducing aversive stimuli for unwanted behaviors; and negative punishment, removing desired stimuli for unwanted behaviors. Research has found positive reinforcement the most powerful of all these. One reason is that people are highly motivated by rewards. Another is that all behaviors meet needs; punishment suppresses certain behaviors, but then other behaviors must emerge to fill the same need. If a child misbehaves to get attention, even scolding/other punishment can constitute attention. But if rewarded for more appropriate behavior to get attention, like asking an available adult or peer for interaction, the child meets the attention need while replacing a maladaptive behavior with an adaptive one. Another reason is punishment's limitations: preschoolers may stop misbehaving after one teacher's punishment, but not with another teacher; punishment not applied consistently loses its effect. Also, punishment can cause resentment, anger, defiance, or fearfulness in young children.