Inclusive and Supportive Education Congress International Special Education Conference Inclusion: Celebrating Diversity? 1st - 4th August 2005. Glasgow, Scotland

home about the conference programme registration accommodation contact

Developing responsiveness through competence-building with
early childhood special education interventionists

Michael Davies, PhD and Wendi Beamish, PhD
Centre for Learning Research
School of Cognition, Language, and Special Education
Griffith University, Nathan Q 4111
Australia
m.davies@griffith.edu.au
www.gu.edu.au

Contemporary research promotes the need for frequent responsive interactions among interventionists, children with special needs, family members, and staff in early childhood settings. This responsive approach to intervention requires Early Childhood Intervention (ECI) personnel to develop specific competencies. While most ECI preparation programs in North America continue to focus on competence-building in the areas of teaming and instruction, Griffith University has designed a postgraduate training program driven by a responsive intervention model. This model is adapted from a parent-mediated responsive teaching intervention model developed by Mahoney and Perales (2003).

Early childhood working environments are complex and multi-faceted. In these demanding environments, ECI professionals often take on roles and responsibilities that require skills rarely gained through initial disciplinary training. The Griffith program concentrates on some basic ABCs - a set of Attitudes, Beliefs, and Competencies. In order to be responsive, ECI professionals need to possess particular attitudes, be informed by a specific belief paradigm, and be equipped with a number of specific competencies. While “competence-building is a lifelong, developmental process” (Bennett & Watson, 1993, p. 309), Griffith postgraduates are assisted in developing intentional responsivity through a combination of an understanding of responsive theory and practice, self-awareness of ways of working responsively, and continued self-monitoring of practice across coursework activities.

This paper provides an opportunity to present an overview of the content and processes embedded within coursework that promote responsiveness competence-building in order to achieve best practice with families, children, professionals, and service systems. This emerging perspective to training and practice is aimed to provide graduating interventionists with the necessary theoretical frameworks and workplace competencies to effectively serve the diverse needs of young children with special needs and their families in Australia.

Introduction

Internationally, early childhood intervention (ECI) services embrace a broad range of educational, health, and welfare programs provided by Government authorities and non-government authorities to support families of under-school-age children with special needs. In recent years, the need for a responsive approach to ECI within and across services has been promoted. As cited by Beamish and Davies (2004, p. 3), this approach “emphasises interaction and communication; highlights the need for warmth, acceptance, and reflection; and acknowledges the interdependence among all involved (interventionist, child, family members, early childhood providers, and peers).”

To date, the literature has focused on “responsive” adult interactional behaviours with children. Some research has been conducted that identifies particular micro-behaviours involved in these adult-child interactions (e.g., de Kruif, McWilliam, Ridley, & Wakely, 2000; Rimm-Kaufman, Voorhees, Snell, & La Paro, 2003), and findings have increasingly paired responsiveness with sensitivity. “Sensitive and responsive teachers tend to show consistent expectations, a positive regard for children, and synchronized interactions with their students” (Rimm-Kaufman et al., 2003, p. 151).

The development of a specific ECI postgraduate program at Griffith University has provided the impetus to review contemporary approaches to training of ECI personnel. The subsequent adoption of a responsive model to intervention has led to elaborations on the conceptual framework guiding responsive practice. Moreover, program development has extended understandings of the micro-components embedded in responsive practice. This paper outlines literature supporting a responsive approach in the early years and provides an overview of the teaching and research program put in place by staff at Griffith University to develop attitudes, beliefs, and competencies related to responsive practice.

Research on adult-child interactions

Early research on practices recommended for educating young children has indicated the importance of sensitive and responsive interactions in facilitating the social-emotional development of children (Bredekamp, 1987). The developmentally appropriate teacher-child interactions that Bredekamp (1987) specified are those when the teacher responds quickly, directly, and warmly to children; when the teacher provides a variety of opportunities to participate in two-way interactions; and when the teacher is able to identify and elaborate on the feelings, interests, and activities of children. Further research on the mother-child dyad has considered the concepts of responsive (typically defined as elaborating and expanding, with warmth and sensitivity) and directive (defined as being directing and controlling, pacing and intrusive) styles of interaction (Marfo, 1992). These two interactional behaviour styles are now considered to be on separate continua (McWilliam, 1997). Yet they are not mutually exclusive (Crawley & Spiker, 1983), as the parent can be directive and responsive at the same time. Adult-child interaction research also supports this finding (Tannock, 1988). More recently, de Kruif et al. (2000) investigated child care teachers patterns of directive interaction behaviours (redirecting, introducing, following, and informing) and responsive interaction behaviours (elaborating, acknowledging, praising, and affect) in a range of situations. Results support the conceptualisation of directiveness and responsiveness as multivariate constructs, and identified four different interactional types: elaborators (directive and responsive), controlling (directive, not responsive), nonelaborative (not directive, but responsive) and a non-directive and non-responsive group. In line with quality measures of the learning environment, this study suggested that teachers need to be trained to be less redirective and more elaborative (both responsive and directive) in order to increase the quality of interactions and the percentage of children engaged in learning.

Contemporary research supports these findings. Rimm-Kaufman et al. (2003) indicate that within the teacher-child context, information exchanges with children need to be characterised by quick acknowledgment, a soft and calm tone of voice, open body language, and a range of reciprocal behaviours (e.g., listening, turn taking, talking). By extension, a responsive early interventionist is swift to attend to a child's perceived need at a particular point in time (e.g., to comfort, to engage, to encourage) within a proactive frame of expectations, respect, and relations.

Micro-components of responsive practice

Conceptually, individual facilitators of early childhood development (viz. early interventionists, parents, other professionals, and paraprofessionals) need to provide a responsive learning environment, through some basic ABCs. As presented in Figure 1., ABCs of a responsive approach comprise a set of Attitudes, Beliefs and Competencies. In order to be responsive, individual facilitators need to possess specific attitudes, be informed by a specific belief paradigm, and be equipped with a number of specific competencies.

Figure 1. Griffith’s ABCs for converting a responsive approach into responsive practice.

Responsive Attitudes

To develop responsive practice, an individual needs to hold particular attitudes towards children and others they interact with. Broadly humanistic attitudes, as outlined by Rogers (1980) and others, such as authenticity, sincerity and honesty, openness and flexibility, mutual respect, suspending critical judgement, valuing diversity, empathy, enjoying other people, wanting to understand, to help, and assist others to develop, learn, and grow are considered essential attitudes for responsive practitioners. While it is hoped that individual staff aspiring to work within early education and care environments would naturally have these attitudes, this may not always be the case. Individuals need to review their attitudes towards self and others, and through self-reflection and feedback, show a willingness to change their ways of thinking.

Responsive Beliefs

The beliefs and related cognitions that individuals hold significantly influence their interactional behaviours. According to cognitive behavioural theory (Ellis, 1980) an individual’s interactional behaviours are driven principally by cognitions (such as thoughts and internal dialogue, or self-talk), and are influenced by physiological responses and affective reactions. Beliefs develop and become internalised from life experiences, from information gathered through various media, and from self evaluations of these experiences and information gathering. During interactions, the way individuals organize their thoughts and respond with affect and particular behaviours is often influenced by beliefs about self and others. When these beliefs and cognitions become problematic in terms of responsiveness, individuals need to ascertain how rational their beliefs might be, and whether these beliefs need to be altered to become less problematic and more responsive.

Responsive Competencies

Early childhood working environments are characterized by complex and multi-faceted relationships. In these settings, individuals need to take on varied roles and responsibilities rarely gained through life experiences and training. Thorp and McCollum (1994) argue for a common set of knowledge and skills required by individuals regardless of their disciplinary training. By contrast, Sandall, McLean, and Smith (2000) identify a common list of recommended practices for early intervention settings. While the knowledge and skills have been clearly identified in the literature, the need for a common thread of responsive competence across multiple interactional settings has not been clearly delineated.

Responsive interactions occur among all individuals involved with the young child, but at different ecological levels or layers of influence and relationship (Bronfenbrenner, 1979). Responsive competence is built upon reflections of experiences between individual workers and children, parents and children (through encouragement of individual workers), individual workers and parents, and individual worker to worker. For all individual workers involved in these interactive settings, “competence-building is a lifelong, developmental process” (Bennett & Watson, 1993, p. 309). For individual workers, responsive competence develops through a combination of an understanding of responsive theory and practice, self-awareness of ways of working responsively, and continued self-monitoring of practice across coursework activities. The development of responsiveness requires a reconceptualized set of training approaches including self-analysis, competency development, and continued self-monitoring.

Professional Training

While most ECI preparation programs in North America continue to focus on competence-building in the areas of teaming and instruction, Griffith University has piloted a cutting-edge training program that embraces a responsive approach to intervention. Moreover, a responsive intervention model has driven the design and development of Griffith University courses in the ECI strand of the Master of Special Education (distance education mode).

This paper provides an opportunity to present an overview of the content and processes embedded within coursework that promote responsiveness competence-building to achieve best practice with families, children, professionals, and service systems. This evolving model is aimed to provide graduating interventionists with the necessary theoretical frameworks and workplace competencies to effectively serve the diverse needs of young children with special needs and their families in Australia.

Griffith’s professional training program is based on the premise that responsive practice can be developed through strategic application of a comprehensive and unified framework (see Figure 2). In this framework, a model for responsive intervention practice informs a program of professional training, which in turn drives action research activity. Over time, findings from research activity will inform both the model and the program and enable adjustments to be made to the framework.

                                             MODEL

RESEARCH                                                                  PROGRAM

Figure 2.   Griffith’s model-program-research framework for responsive practice.

Responsive Intervention Model

Griffith's responsive intervention model (see Figure 3) is an adaptation of the parent-mediated responsive teaching intervention model presented by Mahoney and Perales (2003). It emphasises the need for a high frequency of responsive interactions among all those involved in the intervention effort: between early interventionists and parents; between early interventionists and young children with special needs; among peers and young children with special needs; and between early interventionists and staff in early childhood centres.

Figure 3. Griffith’s responsive intervention model (adapted from Mahoney & Perales, 2003).

In the model, collaborative parent-interventionist-staff interactions are aimed to generate meaningful action plans that guide enhanced adult responsive interactions with the child. The intervention goals that target learning outcomes for the child are driven by a number of key theoretical perspectives and intervention strategies that particularly foster problem-solving, communication, and social-emotional competence. Periodically, relevant participatory action research (Beamish & Bryer, 1999; Turnbull, Friesen, & Ramirez, 1998) undertaken by the interventionist during postgraduate studies also feeds into the intervention process with some families.

All in all, this innovative framework has provided an overarching interactional emphasis for the postgraduate training program and a strong coherence across the six core courses in the program. It follows also that the model has provided an integrative element for systematic competence-building related to responsive practice.

The Griffith ECI program

The planning and development of Griffith's ECI coursework program have been extensive and dynamic. In general, program philosophy, content, and materials have been drawn from research and experience in the United States. Yet, local research and documented Australian practice have been acknowledged and embedded in coursework wherever possible.

A suite of six interconnected, core courses is presently being developed (see Table 1). In each course, content and self-directed learning activities enable progressive competence-building related to:

• the integration of research, practice, and thoughtful reflection (aimed to promote sustainable, evidence-based, reflective practice);
• the adoption of a flexible problem-solving and decision-making approach to intervention (aimed to promote solution-focused practice);
• the demonstration of critical interactional and teaming skills (aimed to promote family-based and team-oriented practice).

Table 1. Core Courses in the Griffith ECI Postgraduate Program

Program examples for building responsive practice

Two examples illustrate how the responsive intervention model has shaped coursework at Griffith. The first example shows how the model has driven content selection in a particular course on positive behavioural support. The second example shows how the model has influenced the adoption of reflection as a central strategy for promoting responsive practice and the subsequent setting of a common assessment item across courses.

As many young children with special needs exhibit problem behaviours that interfere significantly with learning, are disruptive to family life, and may be dangerous to the child or others, Positive Behavioural Support (PBS) was identified as an essential course in the ECI program. PBS is a well-established and proactive approach for addressing problem behaviour in the early years (see Fox, Dunlap, & Buschbacher, 2000). Initial course planning involved a comprehensive review of literature and preliminary searches for web-based resource material. Findings were then subjected to a match for “goodness of fit” with the responsive intervention model. For this course, early mapping activities yielded a set of training modules from the Centre on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning (CSEFEL). Training modules include (a) classroom preventative practices, (b) social-emotional teaching strategies, and (c) individualised intensive interventions. As signalled by Corso (2003), “the importance of positive, supportive relations between teachers and children as well as with families and other professionals” (p. 47) is the dominant theme throughout all modules. Not surprisingly, this web-based material (see http://csefel.uiuc.edu/modules.htm) was selected as core content for the PBS course (viz. 7199CLS in Table 1).

On the other hand, examination of the model and the need for postgraduates to integrate responsive theory with professional practice led to the insertion of thoughtful reflection into the training cycle. Personal reflection (Kolb, 1984) and guided self-analysis (McCollum, Rowan, & Thorp, 1994) have long been recognised as vital ingredients in the learning process. As a consequence, responsive practice was extended to responsive and reflective practice and this blending of practice has been progressively targeted across the program. In each course postgraduates are required to keep a reflective log of professional experiences in order to “analyse, discuss, evaluate and change their own practice” and to develop “their own ‘theory’ of educational practice” (Calderhead, 1993, p. 93). A locally developed instrument, the 5Rs Reflective Writing Scale ( Bain, Ballantyne, Mills, & Lester, 2002), was deliberately introduced as usage encourages rich reflection on descriptive (reporting), emotional (responding, relating), and cognitive (reasoning, reconstructing) aspects of experiences (see Table 2). This multiple focus for reflections parallels the ABCs of converting a responsive approach into responsive practice and was viewed as being instrumental in advancing the development of responsive practice . Action research will confirm the validity and the worth of this viewpoint.

Table 2. 5Rs Framework ( Bain, Ballantyne, Mills, & Lester, 2002, p. 13)

Research

Griffith’s ECI training program and model provide a focus of research, particularly in the development of responsive competencies. The program and individual courses encourage postgraduates to analyse their existing competencies, and through reflection to identify those needing further development. In this process of self-analysis, reflections are analysed qualitatively to understand the micro-components of ways of working with others. Hence, this process assists postgraduates to understand their unique ABC (i.e., Attitudes, Beliefs, Competencies) profile. In theory, it is proposed that ABC development will enhance more responsive and directive behaviours, and these behaviours will produce a responsive approach to early intervention. Over time, co-researching with postgraduates should confirm if responsive practice can developed in this way.

Current research on the micro-components involved in adult-child interactions has resulted in the development of checklists and scales to assist individual self-analysis. For example, Rimm-Kaufman et al. (2003) have developed a checklist that allows teacher behaviours to be observed on two levels. The first level features behavioural responses related to interacting with all children (viz., tone of voice, nonverbal communication, listening, turn taking and talking, noticing, and responsiveness). The second level examines how the teacher responds differentially to specific children who are “easy to teach,” “causing problems,” and are “less noticeable”. Another promising tool in the area of measuring aspects of responsive practice is the Teaching Styles Rating Scales (McWilliam, Zulli, & de Kruif, 1998). This tool examines the instructional and affective characteristics of early childhood teachers with children. Teaching behaviours include redirecting, introducing, elaborating, following, informing, acknowledging, and praising. The affect subscale evaluates 13 attributes including activity level, positive expression, negative expression, visual involvement, physical involvement, emotional responsiveness, consistency of interactions, responsiveness to child interests, child-directedness, tone, inclusion in activities, teaching specific skills, and developmental appropriateness.

Griffith’s ECI program provides opportunities for postgraduates to use these measures in order to unravel and build these adult-child oriented competencies. At the same time data resulting from these measures provide Griffith staff with opportunity to further understand the nature of responsive competencies for working with children and the micro-components embedded within these competencies. Griffith staff also are engaged in current research in this more general area of measuring and understanding the development of adult responsive competencies. For example, Davies and Bryer (2004) have reported on initial findings related to the measurement and development of emotional competencies as special educators complete a 4-year undergraduate program. Findings from this research correlate positively with initial data from the first cohort of ECI postgraduates.

Conclusion

Griffith is committed to developing responsiveness through competence-building with early childhood interventionists. To date, a strong model-program-research framework for responsive practice has been established, a range of self-rating tools and strategies have been identified, and postgraduate data relating to responsive practice are accumulating. These data are being analysed, and will immediately inform our understanding of responsiveness, the micro-components of responsive practice, and the tools for measuring responsive interactions.

References

Bain, J. D., Ballantyne, R., Mills, C., Lester, N. C. (2002). Reflecting on practice: Student teachers’ perspectives. Flaxton, Queensland, Australia: Post Pressed.

Beamish, W., & Bryer, F. (1999). Program quality in Australian early special education: An example of participatory action research. Child: Care, Health and Development, 25, 457-472.

Beamish, W. & Davies, M. (2004 , July) . Responsive intervention training for early interventionists: The Griffith model. In Proceedings of the Early Childhood Intervention Australia, Sixth Biennial Conference (CD, ISBN 0-646-44011-X). Melbourne, Australia: Early Childhood Intervention Australia.

Bennett, T. & Watson, A. L. (1993). A new perspective on training: Competence-building. Journal of Early Intervention, 17 , 309-321.

Bredekamp, S. (Ed.). (1987). Developmentally appropriate practice in early childhood programs serving children from birth to age 8 (exp. ed.). Washington, DC: National Association for the Education of Young Children.

Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979). The ecology of human development: Experiments by nature and design. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Calderhead, J. (1993). Dilemmas in developing reflective teaching. Teacher Education Quarterly, 20(1), 93-100.

Corso, R. (2003). The Center on the Social and Emotional Foundation for Early Learning. Young Children, 58(4), 46-47.

Crawley, S. B. & Spiker, D. (1983). Mother-child interactions involving two year olds with Down’s syndrome: A look at individual differences. Child Development, 52, 1312-1323.

Davies, M., & Bryer, F. (2004). Personal skills for teachers: Measuring and developing their emotional competencies. In B. Bartlett, F. Bryer, & D. Roebuck (Eds.), Educating: Weaving research into practice (Vol. 1, pp. 246-258). Brisbane, Australia: School of Cognition, Language, and Special Education, Griffith University.

de Kruif, R.E.L., McWilliam, R.A., Ridley, S.M., & Wakely, M.B. (2000). Classification of teachers’ interactional behaviours in early childhood classrooms. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 15, 2, 247-268.

Ellis, A. (1980). Overview of the clinical theory of rational-emotive therapy. In R. Grieger & J. Boyd (Eds.), Rational-emotive therapy: A skills based approach. (pp. 1-31). New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold.

Fox, L., Dunlap, G., & Buschbacher, P. (2000). Understanding and intervening with children's challenging behavior: A comprehensive approach. In A. Wetherby & B. Prizant (Eds.), Autism spectrum disorders: A transactional developmental perspective (pp. 307-331). Baltimore, MD: Paul H. Brookes.

Harms, T., Clifford, R. M. & Cryer, D. (1998). Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale- Revised (rev. ed.). New York: Teachers College Press.

Kolb, D.A. (1984). Experiential learning: Experience as the source of learning and development. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Mahoney, G., & Perales, F. (2003). Using relationship-focused intervention to enhance the social-emotional functioning of young children with autism spectrum disorders. Topics in Early Childhood Special Education, 23, 77-89.

Marfo, K. (1992). Correlates of maternal directiveness with children who are developmentally delayed. American Journal of Orthopsychiatric, 62, 219-233.

McCollum, J. A., Rowan, L. R., & Thorp, E. K. (1994). Philosophy as training in infancy personnel preparation. Journal of Early Intervention, 18 , 216-226.

McWilliam, R. A. (1997, November). Different “teaching” – different engagement. Paper presented at the International Early Childhood Conference on children with Special Needs (sponsored by the Division of Early Childhood, CEC), New Orleans, LA.

McWilliam, R. A., Zulli, R. A., & de Kruif, R. E. L. (1998). Teaching Styles Rating Scale manual. Chapel Hill, NC: Frank Porter Graham Child Development Center, University of Southern Carolina.

Rimm-Kaufman, S. E., Voorhees, M. D., Snell, M. E., & La Paro, K. M. (2003). Improving the sensitivity and responsivity of preservice teachers toward young children with disabilities. Topics in Early Childhood Special Education, 23, 151-163.

Rogers, C.R. (1980). A way of being. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin.

Sandall, S., McLean, M. E., & Smith, B. J. (Eds.). (2000). DEC recommended practices in early intervention/early childhood special education. Longmont, CO: Sopris West.

Tannock, R. (1988). Mother’s directiveness in their interactions with their children with and without Down’s syndrome. American Journal of Mental Retardation, 93, 154-165.

Thorp, E. K. & McCollum, J. A. (1994). Defining infancy specialisation in early childhood special education. In L. J. Johnson & R. J. Gallagher (Eds.), Meeting early intervention challenges: Issues from birth to three (2 nd ed., pp. 167-183). Karnes, MB: Hutinger.

Turnbull, A. P., Friesen, B. J., & Ramirez, C. (1998). Participatory action research as a model for conducting family research. Journal of the Association for Persons with Severe Handicaps, 23, 178-188.

home . about the conference . programme . registration . accommodation . contact