Do educators matter? Associations between caregivers’ mentalization and preschoolers’ attachment, social emotional development and theory of mind

Mata, Cecil; Santelices, María Pía; Vergés, Álvaro

doi:10.1080/03004430.2020.1755664

Cited by 7 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 56 publications

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“…Estimating statistical power was difficult, given the paucity of previous studies on associations between educator mental state language and children's ToM. Mata López et al (2020) reported such associations with β values of −.16 and .47 (controlling for family and educator variables), and Tompkins et al's (2018) meta‐analysis of the association between parents' mental state language and false belief understanding reported an overall effect size of d = 0.22 (controlling for children's age and verbal ability). We, therefore, conducted post hoc power analyses in GPower 3.1.9.4, based on either linear multiple regression (by converting the β values into f 2 values) or one‐sample t ‐tests (for the d value).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Rather, dyadic care‐based interactions are more characteristic of children's experience with assistant educators. Mata López et al (2020) proposed that this interactional difference may explain their findings of a significant relation between child ToM and assistant educators', but not lead educators', level of mentalising. The present study did not measure the MSL of assistant educators.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Only one published study has investigated the relationship between ECEs' naturalistic MSL and child ToM performance (Mata López et al, 2020). The study was conducted in Chile and included nine educators and nine classroom assistants, along with 146 3‐ to 4‐year‐old preschool children and their primary caregivers.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Early childhood educators' mental state language and children's theory of mind in the preschool setting

Mulvihill

Armstrong

Casey

et al. 2023

British J of Dev Psycho

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The study examined the presence and nature of a relationship between 13 early childhood educators' mental state language (MSL) and 77 preschool children's (3‐ to 5 years) Theory of Mind (ToM). Educator language samples were elicited during two naturalistic group‐time contexts, wordless picture book storytelling and an instructional building task. MSL was coded according to a comprehensive scheme that captures facets of MSL content and quality. To account for well‐established determinants of ToM, a range of child‐ and family‐level factors were also measured. Results indicated no significant relationship between educator MSL during group level instruction and children's ToM in the preschool setting. Although these findings challenge the assumption that educators' MSL is important for children's ToM development, important future directions are discussed.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Early childhood educators' mental state language and children's theory of mind in the preschool setting

Mulvihill

Armstrong

Casey

et al. 2023

British J of Dev Psycho

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“…Näin lapsi oppii, että vaikka aikuinen ei koe samaa kuin hän, aikuinen voi antaa apua ja ymmärtää. (Fonagy, Bateman & Luyten 2012;Kalland 2011;Mata, Santelices & Vergés 2022. ) Varhaiskasvatuksessa toimivien aikuisten on pyrittävä ymmärtämään lapsen toiminnan taustalla vaikuttavia tekijöitä sekä lapsen omaa kokemusta eri tilanteissa.…”

Section: Mentalisaatio Reflektion Rinnallaunclassified

Reflektiivisyys varhaiskasvatuksessa

Köngäs

Ruohola

Sintonen

2023

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Varhaiskasvatuksen opettajan asiantuntijuuteen on nähty kuuluvan kiinteänä osana reflektiivinen työote. Reflektiodiskurssissa painottuu aikuislähtöisyys, jolloin reflektio voi näyttäytyä yksisuuntaisena aikuisesta lapseen suuntautuvana toiminnan tulkintana. Tässä kolmen varhaiskasvatuksen tutkijan pohtivassa puheenvuorossa kysymme, miten reflektiodiskurssia olisi syytä kehittää ja onko lapsen äänellä sijaa reflektioprosessissa. Erityisen tarkastelun kohteena ovat reflektio ilmiönä varhaiskasvatuksessa sekä reflektion suhde mentalisaatioon ja lapsikäsitykseen. Artikkelissa pohdimme reflektiota mahdollisuutena rakentaa laajempaa ymmärrystä. Jos reflektiota käytettäisiin lapsen ja aikuisen välisen yhteyden luomiseen ja vahvistamiseen, muuttuisi reflektio enemmän lapsen oman äänen tavoittamisen suuntaan. Laajempi ymmärrys reflektiivisyydestä muuttaisi täten reflektion vain binäärisestä lapsi–aikuinen-kahtiajaosta dialogiseksi vuorovaikutussuhteeksi kohti sosiaalisempia käytäntöjä, joissa lapset ymmärretään aikuisiin verrattavina sosiaalisen todellisuuden tulkitsijoina.

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“…What is agreed upon is that ECEC quality can also have a long-term impact on children’s development and well-being [ 8 , 9 ] and that this quality concerns both structural variables (like the number of peers in the group and the ratio of adults to children) and process variables, which are instead related to the quality of relational exchanges [ 10 ]. Educators offer a more supportive, sensitive quality of caregiving when there are favorable structural variables, such as being able to work in small groups [ 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 ]; however, a significant quantity of research suggests that it is not only a high-quality organization that facilitates the development of good relationships, but rather that the quality of the child-educator relationship is itself a key aspect of the quality of the educational service [ 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 ]. An in-depth analysis of the impact of the relationship with a professional caregiver on infant development is therefore essential, in order to offer all children a solid start in life, through quality care and education.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Emotional Competence of Early Childhood Educators and Child Socio-Emotional Wellbeing

Arace

Prino

Scarzello

2021

IJERPH

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Background: Early childhood educators are attachment figures for babies and play an important role in emotion socialization. This study aims to analyze the role of educators as emotional socializers and its relationship with infants’ social competence and attachment security, considering various characteristics of educators (age, years of experience, level of knowledge of development and parenting) and the context (day-care center–family communication). Methods: 563 infants attending day-care centers (age: M = 25.98 months SD = 5.41) and their 223 early childhood educators (age: M = 42.61 SD = 11.02) took part in this study. The educators completed: CEESQ—Crèche Educator Emotional Style Questionnaire, Information Sources Questionnaire, two sub-scales of KIDI—Knowledge of Infant Development Inventory, QRS-F—Questionnaire on the Relationship between Services and Families, QPI—Questionnaire on Peer Interactions, and AQS—Attachment-Q-Sort. Results: Results showed that the educator’s coaching style has a relationship with attachment security and social skills and is positively correlated with the educators’ emotional self-efficacy and with the level of communication between day-care centers and families, while the correlation with knowledge of parenting is weak. Conclusions: These findings highlight the importance of enhancing not only educators’ knowledge about educative strategies, but above all their emotional competence to promote children adaptation to day-care centers.

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Do educators matter? Associations between caregivers’ mentalization and preschoolers’ attachment, social emotional development and theory of mind

Cited by 7 publications

References 56 publications

Early childhood educators' mental state language and children's theory of mind in the preschool setting

Early childhood educators' mental state language and children's theory of mind in the preschool setting

Reflektiivisyys varhaiskasvatuksessa

Emotional Competence of Early Childhood Educators and Child Socio-Emotional Wellbeing

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