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Young Children in Foster Care: A Phenomenological Study of Early Childhood Teachers Experiences

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Date Issued:
2018
Summary:
The purpose of this phenomenological study was to understand, describe, and make meaning of the experiences of early childhood educators of young foster care students. The researcher examined the experiences of teachers regarding the attachment behaviors of their foster care students. This study also sought to explore how early childhood teachers implement their curriculum and how they design their classroom environment to meet the needs of young foster care children. Data collection and analysis included 20 questionnaires and 20 face-to-face semistructured interviews. Data analysis consisted of a three step process. The first step began by reading interviews through a holistic approach. During this step, the researcher read the entire transcript as a whole before digging deeper. The second step in coding was a selective reading. In this step, the researcher read through each transcript by finding key words and/or phrases. The third step in the coding process was a detailed reading. The researcher read the text word-by-word. This step aided the researcher in finding those words that captured the phenomenon of the teachers. The researcher found three major overarching themes: social and emotional behaviors, triad relationship, and classroom accommodations. This study revealed three main themes: attachment-related behaviors of social and emotional development, teacher relationship strategies with student and caregiver, and classroom curricular and environmental adjustments. Within all three of these themes was an underlying theme of a teacher-as-mother perceived attachment from the teachers. The teacher-as-mother perceived attachment was embedded in the experiences of the teachers. It is recommended that this main theme be explored in future research. The experiences of the teachers were completely based on their experiences in this study. The way they intervened on behalf of their foster care students did not appear to relate to any professional development or training; it was entirely based on their experiences. It is recommended that the arena of early childhood would benefit immensely with a course, training, or professional development in learning about the foster care system and dealing with young children in foster care.
Title: Young Children in Foster Care: A Phenomenological Study of Early Childhood Teachers Experiences.
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Name(s): Rushing, Jacqueline Marie, author
Bhagwanji, Yashwant, Thesis advisor
Florida Atlantic University, Degree grantor
College of Education
Department of Curriculum, Culture, and Educational Inquiry
Type of Resource: text
Genre: Electronic Thesis Or Dissertation
Date Created: 2018
Date Issued: 2018
Publisher: Florida Atlantic University
Place of Publication: Boca Raton, Fla.
Physical Form: application/pdf
Extent: 144 p.
Language(s): English
Summary: The purpose of this phenomenological study was to understand, describe, and make meaning of the experiences of early childhood educators of young foster care students. The researcher examined the experiences of teachers regarding the attachment behaviors of their foster care students. This study also sought to explore how early childhood teachers implement their curriculum and how they design their classroom environment to meet the needs of young foster care children. Data collection and analysis included 20 questionnaires and 20 face-to-face semistructured interviews. Data analysis consisted of a three step process. The first step began by reading interviews through a holistic approach. During this step, the researcher read the entire transcript as a whole before digging deeper. The second step in coding was a selective reading. In this step, the researcher read through each transcript by finding key words and/or phrases. The third step in the coding process was a detailed reading. The researcher read the text word-by-word. This step aided the researcher in finding those words that captured the phenomenon of the teachers. The researcher found three major overarching themes: social and emotional behaviors, triad relationship, and classroom accommodations. This study revealed three main themes: attachment-related behaviors of social and emotional development, teacher relationship strategies with student and caregiver, and classroom curricular and environmental adjustments. Within all three of these themes was an underlying theme of a teacher-as-mother perceived attachment from the teachers. The teacher-as-mother perceived attachment was embedded in the experiences of the teachers. It is recommended that this main theme be explored in future research. The experiences of the teachers were completely based on their experiences in this study. The way they intervened on behalf of their foster care students did not appear to relate to any professional development or training; it was entirely based on their experiences. It is recommended that the arena of early childhood would benefit immensely with a course, training, or professional development in learning about the foster care system and dealing with young children in foster care.
Identifier: FA00005968 (IID)
Degree granted: Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2018.
Collection: FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection
Note(s): Includes bibliography.
Subject(s): Children--Institutional care
Phenomenology
Early childhood teachers
Held by: Florida Atlantic University Libraries
Sublocation: Digital Library
Persistent Link to This Record: http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00005968
Use and Reproduction: Copyright © is held by the author, with permission granted to Florida Atlantic University to digitize, archive and distribute this item for non-profit research and educational purposes. Any reuse of this item in excess of fair use or other copyright exemptions requires permission of the copyright holder.
Use and Reproduction: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
Host Institution: FAU
Is Part of Series: Florida Atlantic University Digital Library Collections.