Courtney O’Grady, Mia Chudzik, Catherine Corr, Lynn Burdick, Brandie Bentley, Jiye Kim
{"title":"The Unintended Consequences of Expulsion in Early Childhood Settings: Caregivers’ Perspectives","authors":"Courtney O’Grady, Mia Chudzik, Catherine Corr, Lynn Burdick, Brandie Bentley, Jiye Kim","doi":"10.1007/s10643-024-01756-z","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p>The prevalence of early childhood expulsion has been documented for close to two decades, with known disparities for children of color, children with disabilities, and children who have experienced trauma. While empirical data on the lasting impact of early expulsion events continues to emerge, there has been little research focused explicitly on how expulsion impacts caregivers (inclusive of any adult that sees themselves in a primary caretaker role for a young child that had experienced expulsion, such as mothers, fathers, grandparents, and foster parents). The purpose of this research study was to examine the experiences of caregivers of young children who experienced expulsion from an early childhood setting. We used a semi-structured interview to capture caregivers’ experiences pre and post expulsion (<i>N</i> = 26). We used a multi-step, collaborative analysis process to analyze the interview data using thematic and constant comparative methods. Initially, most caregivers reported a positive association with their children’s early education setting. However, despite a positive start, relationships with staff deteriorated, and eventually their children were expelled. In most incidents, caregivers described feeling caught off guard by these expulsions, with lasting negative impact for their family. Implications for research and policy are discussed.</p>","PeriodicalId":47818,"journal":{"name":"Early Childhood Education Journal","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.3000,"publicationDate":"2024-09-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Early Childhood Education Journal","FirstCategoryId":"95","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-024-01756-z","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"EDUCATION & EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
The prevalence of early childhood expulsion has been documented for close to two decades, with known disparities for children of color, children with disabilities, and children who have experienced trauma. While empirical data on the lasting impact of early expulsion events continues to emerge, there has been little research focused explicitly on how expulsion impacts caregivers (inclusive of any adult that sees themselves in a primary caretaker role for a young child that had experienced expulsion, such as mothers, fathers, grandparents, and foster parents). The purpose of this research study was to examine the experiences of caregivers of young children who experienced expulsion from an early childhood setting. We used a semi-structured interview to capture caregivers’ experiences pre and post expulsion (N = 26). We used a multi-step, collaborative analysis process to analyze the interview data using thematic and constant comparative methods. Initially, most caregivers reported a positive association with their children’s early education setting. However, despite a positive start, relationships with staff deteriorated, and eventually their children were expelled. In most incidents, caregivers described feeling caught off guard by these expulsions, with lasting negative impact for their family. Implications for research and policy are discussed.
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