A Penguin is Not a Giraffe: Categorizing Preschool Children According to Temperament

IF 2.3 3区 教育学 Q1 EDUCATION & EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH Early Childhood Education Journal Pub Date : 2024-06-29 DOI:10.1007/s10643-024-01696-8
Jana Maine, Timothy J. Huelsman, Sandra Glover Gagnon, Rose Mary Webb, Pamela Kidder-Ashley
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Abstract

Temperament is a widely researched trait that significantly influences children’s lives. Still, theorists differ in their perspectives on the construct. With their nine dimensions of temperament and three “categories” of children—easy, difficult, or slow to warm up—Thomas and colleagues (1968) laid the foundation for future temperament research. Subsequent researchers have identified temperament profiles that are similar to but not completely consistent with Thomas and colleagues’ model. Still, most conceptualizations exist primarily for researchers and may be challenging to translate for educators who work directly with children and their caregivers. Therefore, this study had two aims. First, we used cluster analysis to corroborate and extend research that categorized children into temperament groups. We identified four groups that converge and one group that diverges from previous findings. Our second, more important purpose was to strengthen the link between research and practice by conceptualizing our results in a way that is understandable to educators and caregivers. The challenging task of capturing the nature of each cluster in one or even a few words led us to adopt a zoomorphic approach in which we assigned nonhuman animal names to each group: koalas, penguins, dogs, bobcats, and giraffes. Our findings support previous groupings of children by temperament and provide a consumer-friendly model that facilitates communication between caregivers and educators.

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企鹅不是长颈鹿:根据气质对学龄前儿童进行分类
气质是一种被广泛研究的特质,对儿童的生活有着重大影响。然而,理论家们对这一概念的看法却不尽相同。托马斯及其同事(1968 年)提出了气质的九个维度和儿童的三个 "类别"--容易热身、难以热身或热身缓慢--为日后的气质研究奠定了基础。后来的研究人员发现了与托马斯及其同事的模型相似但不完全一致的气质特征。尽管如此,大多数概念主要是为研究人员而存在的,对于直接与儿童及其看护者打交道的教育工作者来说,将其转化为概念可能具有挑战性。因此,本研究有两个目的。首先,我们使用聚类分析来证实和扩展将儿童划分为气质类型的研究。我们发现有四个组与之前的研究结果一致,一个组与之前的研究结果不同。我们的第二个、也是更重要的目的是,通过将我们的结果概念化,使教育者和看护者能够理解,从而加强研究与实践之间的联系。用一个甚至几个词来概括每个分组的性质是一项极具挑战性的任务,因此我们采用了放大法,为每个分组指定了非人类动物的名称:考拉、企鹅、狗、山猫和长颈鹿。我们的研究结果支持了以前按气质对儿童进行的分组,并提供了一个方便消费者的模型,促进了照顾者和教育者之间的沟通。
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来源期刊
Early Childhood Education Journal
Early Childhood Education Journal EDUCATION & EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH-
CiteScore
5.30
自引率
14.80%
发文量
124
期刊介绍: Early Childhood Education Journal is a professional publication of original peer-reviewed articles that reflect exemplary practices in the field of contemporary early childhood education. Articles cover the social, physical, emotional, and intellectual development of children age birth through 8, analyzing issues, trends, and practices from an educational perspective. The journal publishes feature-length articles that skillfully blend 1) theory, research, and practice, 2) descriptions of outstanding early childhood programs worldwide, and 3) quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods research. Early Childhood Education Journal is of interest not only to classroom teachers, child care providers, college and university faculty, and administrators, but also to other professionals in psychology, health care, family relations, and social services dedicated to the care of young children. Areas of Emphasis: International studies; Educational programs in diverse settings; Early learning across multiple domains; Projects demonstrating inter-professional collaboration; Qualitative and quantitative research and case studies; Best practices in early childhood teacher education; Theory, research, and practice relating to professional development; Family, school, and community relationships; Investigations related to curriculum and instruction; Articles that link theory and best practices; Reviews of research with well-articulated connections to the field
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