https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3741-0885
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ABSTRACT
Although literature reports associations between parent-teacher communication and childcare quality, little is known about how such communications are related to family, child and childcare characteristics. This study examines whether child, family and childcare experience characteristics predict the level of parent-teacher communication, and differences between parents’ and teachers’ reports of communication. Participants were mothers of 90 infants and their teachers in childcare in Portugal. Results show that both parents and teachers report higher levels of communication in higher-quality programmes. Teachers reported more frequent communication than parents. Teachers, but not parents, reported more frequent communication when children spent fewer hours in childcare. Discussion highlights the relevance of monitoring the quality of childcare contexts, especially in early ages, and to increase parent-teacher communication when children spend more time in childcare. The importance of promoting high-quality childcare and accounting for variables at the mesosystemic level of development in teacher training are also discussed.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Notes on contributors
Vera Coelho, Master in Psychology, is currently a full-time PhD. student at the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences of Porto University. Her main research interests include: early childhood intervention and special education services for preschoolers; participation and engagement in inclusive settings, professional development; and quality of early education and development contexts.
Sílvia Barros, PhD., is a professor in the School of Education of the Polytechnic of Porto (PP), teaching courses related to Developmental and Educational Psychology, and Social Education and Intervention. She is a researcher in the Centre for Research and Innovation in the School of Education of PP and in the Centre of Psychology of the University of Porto. Her main research interests are quality of early childhood education and care, teacher–child interactions, child engagement, and teacher education and training.
Margaret R. Burchinal, PhD., is a leading researcher and statistician in childcare research, and a widely recognized applied statistician. She was the lead statistician for landmark early education studies such as the Abecedarian Project, Cost, Quality and Outcomes Study, NICHD Study of Early Child and Youth Development, the Educare Learning Network, and evaluations of state pre-kindergarten programs, Quality Rating andImprovement Systems, and Head Start Designation Renewal System.
Joana Cadima, PhD., is a researcher at the Center of Psychology of the University of Porto. Her research interests include teacher–child interactions and social relationships as contexts for child development in early childhood, child adjustment to school transitions, sociocultural risk and the use of observational methods. She has participated in several research projects on early childhood education, focusing on preschool and primary school quality. She has conducted research involving children from socially disadvantaged communities. Recently, she was awarded with a research grant from the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology to study variations in activity setting and peer interactions, and effects of process quality across four European countries aiming at answering the overarching question “How and under what conditions does quality in early education and care matter?”
Manuela Pessanha, PhD., is a professor in the School of Education of the Polytechnic of Porto (PP), teaching courses related to Developmental Psychology, and Social Education and Intervention. She is a researcher in the Centre for Research and Innovation in the School of Education of PP. Her main research interests are quality of early childhood education and care, sociocultural risks, teacher–child interactions, child engagement, and teacher education and training.
Ana Isabel Pinto, PhD., is an assistant professor and an integrated member of the research team Development and Education at the Centre of Psychology, both at the University of Porto. Her interests include Quality in Early Childhood Education and Early Childhood Intervention; adult–child and child–child interactions.
Carla Peixoto, PhD., is a professor in the School of Education of the Polytechnic Institute of Porto and in the University Institute of Maia. She is also a researcher in the Centre for Research and Innovation in (School of Education of the Polytechnic Institute of Porto). She has participated in several national and international research projects. Her main research interests are: quality of early education and care, family literacy, and literacy, social and emotional development in preschoolers.
Donna M. Bryant, PhD., is a Senior Scientist at the FPG Child Development Institute at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She co-leads the national (U.S.) evaluation of the Educare Learning Network of 21high-quality, birth-to-age 5 Educare Centers. Dr. Bryant has conducted studies of center-based child care, family childcare, and family and health services as well as home visiting programmes that provide early intervention and prevention for at-risk children. She has authored many papers and chapters on early intervention and early childhood education and is the co-author of two books, one on home visiting and another on early intervention. Since 2002, Dr. Bryant has enjoyed collaborations with several faculty and graduate students at the University of Porto on research projects, presentations, publications, and seminars.
ORCID
Vera Coelho http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3741-0885