Early Childhood Practitioners Strategies for Working with Aggressive Children Part 4

 

The dissertation journey on “Early Childhood Practitioners Strategies for Working with Aggressive

Children” series comes to an end with educational knowledge Inference towards application with the

discussion and conclusion sections of the informative mixed method (qualitative and quantitative)

study. As you are facilitating learning with children of preschool age share techniques and/or strategies

embedded toward the reduction and/or elimination of suspending or expelling them from inclusive

educational settings building upon cultural strength-based model for them to have productive successful

lives into adulthood. 

Discussion

            The results of this investigation advance the knowledge associations between early childhood practitioners perception of aggression, classroom management skills, and implementation of early intervention plan to reduce or eliminate aggressive acts.  The study extended limited studies by focusing on children who are “at-risk” for school failure without an early intervention program. 

            Previous studies defining teacher’s definition and perception of aggressive acts have documented the behavior as some types of physical act done by the child on someone else or on himself or herself (Kostelnik, Whiren, Stoderman, Stein, & Gregory, 2000).  The teacher’s definition and perceptions of aggressive acts were from personal observations and other experiences with children.  Teachers cited children’s lack of social skills, the proliferation of violent television programs that children view and children residing in violent communities is why they see high levels of aggression acts in their classrooms other possibilities for increased aggression may be related to teacher’s unrealistic expectations of children’s domain skills (social, cognitive, language) levels, too structured learning environment, and so forth.

            A second issue addressed is the relationship between the teacher’s perceptions of their classroom management skills in implementing strategies written on the A-B-C behavior plan.  The Teacher Control of Behavior Scale (Hammarberg & Hagekull, 2002), Signs of Aggressive Behavior Questionnaire, observations throughout the study and personal communications were used.  A study conducted by Parkay and Stanford (2004) revealed that teachers who lack appropriate classroom management skills have children with high levels of aggression.  On the Teacher Control of Child Behavior Scale 4 of the 5 teachers high positive self-perceptions of their abilities to manage classroom behavior.  The teacher who scored the lowest had the highest number of participants (8) in the study.  However, a study conducted by Mavropoulous and Padeliado (2002) found teachers with high perceptions of classroom management skills have children who exhibit low levels of aggressive behaviors.  The two teachers who scored the highest of The Teacher Control Behavior Scale had 2 and 3 children that behavior plans were written to modify current behaviors.  However, it should be noted that the one teacher who rated herself high on the scale behaviors did not correlate to classroom observations conducted by the researcher.  It was later revealed through conversation that the teacher know, the appropriate actions but the director would not let her implement needed changes for aggressive acts.  This reply was taken under consideration that not only does the classroom teacher wants change, but the administrative staff must be supportive of changes not to convey to the child that the teacher is powerless and disrespected for the job s/he does on a day-to-day basis.  Also, co-workers and administrators conversed with teachers on specific techniques used to reduce study children’s behavior to be implemented with other children at different settings.  The teachers willingness to accept feedback and implementation of strategies showed their dedication to the profession and supports the role of teacher satisfaction in successful classroom management (Caprara, Barbaranelli, Borgoni, & Stecca, 2003).

            This study also examined the strategies written on the A-B-C behavior plan and teacher implementation in a consistent basis for changes or if modifications were needed to reduce or eliminate aggressive acts.  A comparison of the study was conducted of pre- and post-scores of the PBP 12-Aggression Scale (Kupersmidst, 1997) observations, and personal communications to document changes, if any.  Twenty children (16 boys and 4 girls) were identified to participate in the study.  Studies conducted by Crick, Casas, and Ku (1999) and Fields and Boessen (2002) that found boys exhibit physical aggression; whereas, girl tend to exhibit expressive (verbal) aggression.  From the pre- to post scores, each of the 20 children showed a decrease in the number of specific aggressive acts during the study.  The findings are consistent with Bandura (1976), Binder, Dixon and Ghezzi (2000), Boyajian et al., (2001), Burke, Hagan-Burke, and Sugai (2003), Frey (2000), Huff, Ervin, and Friman (2005), Kolis and Dunlap (2004), Slaby et al., (1995), and Wardle (2003) reported that an early intervention plan that is followed through and implementation will reduce the number of aggressive acts presented by the child. Teachers shared that the following resources would be helpful in implementing A-B-C behavior plan would be to have an on-site behavioral specialist/consultant once a week or twice a month.  Studies conducted by Adams and Baronberg (2003), Bell et al., (2004), Frey (2000), Richardson (2000), Slaby et al., (1995) and Stormont (2000) revealed that having on-site consultants help reduce aggressive acts by the children.

Practical Implications and Suggestions for Future Research

The findings of this study are limited to the number of participants researching perception of aggression, classroom management skills, and implementation of A-B-C behavior early intervention plan.  Early intervention for children who exhibit mid to high levels of aggressive acts, such as hitting may help stem the development of aggressive acts that makes it difficult for children to have academic success in school. 

In future research it is suggested a longitudinal study is recommended with a larger sample size that follows the ECPs the entire school year to include directors and parents. Including more ethnically/culturally diverse participants is also recommended to allow the results to be generalized beyond the county served by this study. Different measurement tools to assess new predictor variables, such as parental involvement in implementing an A-B-C behavior plan at home, parental workshops on positive ways to discipline children, behavioral specialists for children who are identified with mid to high levels of aggression (on a weekly basis), teacher assistants, and other center staff, may add to the body of knowledge on the relationship between A-B-C behavior plans and its effectiveness in reducing or eliminating aggression in preschool-age children. In addition, to research directors involvement with degreed teachers to meet employment requirements but teachers lack of classroom management skills and strategies/techniques to reduce aggressive behaviors.

Limitations of this study and some caveats must be noted.  First, five teachers’ perceptions of aggressive behavior and on-site observations provided information or insight, which may not be representative of the population of the study.   Second, the results are limited by the instruments’ reliability and early childhood practitioners’ verbal comments.  Third, the sample centers and teachers were generated by a random procedure; therefore, it cannot be generalized to a larger population. The sample, however, was described in as much detail as possible so that generalizations may be appropriate for other groups resembling the sample group.  Fourth, the subjective nature of the interviewing procedure with early childhood practitioners’ limited the study, but this data collection procedure allowed the researcher to probe for greater meaning and understanding of perceptions of aggressive behaviors.  Fifth, the time of year that the study was conducted could have an adverse effect on the number of children participants.  Sixth, the researcher works with this population and may therefore be biased. The researcher is an instructor in the Early Childhood Education departments at the 2- year and 4- year institutions of higher learning and has instructed the sample population. This will be managed as carefully as possible by delegating the delivery of the A-B-C behavior plan to the early childhood practitioners and double-checking the information gathered. Using member checking research will present more valid data for interpretation (Hatch, 2002).  Seven, the size of the sample and the fact that this case study was be done in a county in the southeastern part of the United States limits generalizing results.  Eight, this study did not focus on the parent’s view of their child’s aggressive acts at home and implementation of strategies to reduce the number and intensity of unacceptable behaviors. Nine, early childhood practitioners were asked to recall attitudes or events from the past.  The self-reported data might be difficult to verify. Ten, the data interpretation was subjective. The researcher attempted to consistently identify themes in the raw data. Triangulation of interpreted results helped verify the meanings of participants’ responses (Hatch, 2002).  Eleven, the instruments used to assess the dependent and independent variables limited the study. It is possible that instruments may not have measured all relevant aspects of aggressive behaviors. It may also be valid to have rephrased some questions on the SABQ to reduce redundancy among questions, change the order of question, or add additional questions that may be relevant to measurements. It is also possible that other instruments may have provided a more accurate measure of aggressive behavior modification following implementation of the A-B-C behavior plan.  Twelve, the center that was the locale for this case study was populated by children with mid- to high levels of aggressive behaviors. Therefore, specific strategies on the A-B-C behavior plan varied from child to child in the center under study. The early childhood practitioner applied the findings, considered these variations, and applied the modifications consistent with the specific setting. Thirteen, the number of participants was limited to 20. Restricting the study to only 20 participants was a significant limitation; the decision to include quantitative as well as qualitative measurements placed restrictions on the number of case study subjects a single investigator could consider.  Finally, the results were limited by the reliability of the study instruments used.  Nevertheless, the present results indicate that future research is needed on teachers perception of aggression and implementation of early intervention plans to outline specific strategies for acts.

Conclusion

The main contribution of this study to the body of knowledge in early childhood education is the unique perspective of early childhood practitioners regarding aggressive behaviors and the implementation of the early intervention (A-B-C behavioral plan) to reduce or eliminate aggressive acts. While existing literature addresses certain perceptions and early intervention programs, clearly more research is needed from the point of view of early childhood practitioners and preschool-age children.

The findings provide insight into the points of view and perceptions of early childhood practitioners and the implementation of an A-B-C behavior plan for children enrolled in programs serving “at-risk” preschoolers. This study’s findings may encourage early childhood policy and decision makers to build programs that offer consultations with behavioral specialists and more courses for educators on behavior management. At the same time, it is hoped that the study’s findings underlined the importance of advocating for early intervention in the lives of young children, given the positive contributions of early intervention. Further, despite the level of training and education participants had, major difficulties in both identifying and utilizing age-appropriate strategies for assisting children with modifying aggression were found.  Even among what today would be termed as “highly qualified” early childhood teachers, there is evidence that much more needs to be done to help them to develop specific behaviors to respond to the increasing challenging behaviors young children exhibit.  Although all of the participants in this study had recent course work on behavior or classroom management, they were unsure specify strategies to implement for reduction of aggressive behavior.

References

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