A Qualitative Examination of Family and Educator Perspectives on Early Childhood Behavior Supports

Abstract

Challenging behavior is an obstacle to social-emotional competence for young children. Function-based behavior support can promote positive outcomes for children and their families, and family collaboration is an important component of successful positive behavior support programs. However, little is known about how families and educators collaborate to support young children with challenging behaviors in early childhood settings. Using qualitative inquiry, we examined family members’ and early childhood educators’ experiences with the behavior support process. Focus groups were conducted with 12 family members and 11 educators to understand how they collaborate. Our findings highlight themes related to communication and building partnerships. Based on these findings, we present a model of family–professional collaboration and a discussion of technology-supported communication tools that may facilitate successful collaboration between families and educators during the behavior support process.