Handling hard-to-manage behaviours in pre-school provision: a systems approach

Hugh Foot, Lisa Woolfson, Melody Terras, Claire Norfolk

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    2 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    The perceptions and experiences of hard-to-manage behaviours were
    explored among 32 staff working in a variety of local authority and private
    nurseries and playgroups. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to
    ascertain what behaviours in children staff find most challenging, how they
    were managed and concerns communicated to parents.
    Results showed
    that aggression, inability to share and refusal were perceived as the most
    prevalent and worrying. Exclusion, explanation and distraction were the
    most frequently used strategies for handling such behaviours. Staff who
    were prepared to raise with parents their concerns about problematic
    behaviours that endangered the child’s safety were out-of-character or
    persistent.
    A systems approach, based upon the ecological congruence
    model, was adopted to explain the links between staff perceptions and their
    tolerance for discrepancies from social norms. Staff–parent communication
    effectiveness was interpreted in terms of the home–pre-school relationship.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)115-138
    Number of pages24
    JournalJournal of Early Childhood Research
    Volume2
    Issue number2
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2004

    Keywords

    • behaviour management
    • ecological congruence model
    • social inclusion
    • staff-parent communication
    • staff perception
    • systems approach

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