Degree Name

MA (Master of Arts)

Program

Early Childhood Education

Date of Award

5-2003

Committee Chair or Co-Chairs

Laurelle Phillips

Committee Members

Amy Malkus, Pamela Evanshen, Rebecca Isbell

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship of positive adult-to-child physical interactions and negative toddler behaviors in the classroom. Twenty-one licensed childcare centers participated in this study. One center was used to field-test the researcher-created tally instruments. The 20 centers remaining were observed to identify the number of positive adult-to-child physical interactions. They were then ranked from the classroom having the highest amount of adult-to-child interactions to that having the lowest. Three classrooms were then randomly selected from both the top and bottom thirds, providing six classrooms for the final study. Negative toddler behaviors were then observed in each of the six classrooms. No significant relationship was found between the amount of positive adult-to-child interactions and the amount of negative toddler behaviors. Results included the identification of high positive adult-to-child interactions occurring in the manipulative and the gross motor areas and involved touching and holding.

Document Type

Thesis - unrestricted

Copyright

Copyright by the authors.

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