Angela Sillars, Ahava Vogelstein, Pamela J Oatis, Annie Davis Schoch, Anna Cole, Pamala Trivedi, Maya Coleman
{"title":"Building a culture of connection in early childhood education: The Hand in Hand Foundations Course.","authors":"Angela Sillars, Ahava Vogelstein, Pamela J Oatis, Annie Davis Schoch, Anna Cole, Pamala Trivedi, Maya Coleman","doi":"10.1002/imhj.70030","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Healthy early childhood development unfolds in the context of relationships with important caregivers, including early educators. Grounded in the evidence on early relational health, the 8-week Hand in Hand Foundations Course for Early Childhood Educators teaches a novel connection-based approach to understanding and responding to young children's emotions. Educators learn five tools for bolstering connection during emotional experiences (Staylistening), increasing positive and playful interactions with children (Special Time, Playlistening), responding to challenging behavior (Setting Limits), and creating sustainable, peer-supported reflective practice groups (Listening Partnerships). The goal is to foster stronger educator-child relationships, improve well-being for educators and children, and build a culture of connection and reflection in ECE. This mixed-methods pilot study of the Foundations Course in the United States investigated educators' experiences with the course, soliciting input on the feasibility of using the tools in the classroom and areas for improving the course. Educators reported that the theories resonated with them, they incorporated many of the tools, and they saw benefits for children and the ECE community. They also expressed a need for ongoing learning opportunities, implementation scaffolding, and organizational support. These findings have implications for supporting educator and child social-emotional health and potential future revisions for the course.</p>","PeriodicalId":48026,"journal":{"name":"Infant Mental Health Journal","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.1000,"publicationDate":"2025-06-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Infant Mental Health Journal","FirstCategoryId":"102","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1002/imhj.70030","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"PSYCHOLOGY, DEVELOPMENTAL","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Healthy early childhood development unfolds in the context of relationships with important caregivers, including early educators. Grounded in the evidence on early relational health, the 8-week Hand in Hand Foundations Course for Early Childhood Educators teaches a novel connection-based approach to understanding and responding to young children's emotions. Educators learn five tools for bolstering connection during emotional experiences (Staylistening), increasing positive and playful interactions with children (Special Time, Playlistening), responding to challenging behavior (Setting Limits), and creating sustainable, peer-supported reflective practice groups (Listening Partnerships). The goal is to foster stronger educator-child relationships, improve well-being for educators and children, and build a culture of connection and reflection in ECE. This mixed-methods pilot study of the Foundations Course in the United States investigated educators' experiences with the course, soliciting input on the feasibility of using the tools in the classroom and areas for improving the course. Educators reported that the theories resonated with them, they incorporated many of the tools, and they saw benefits for children and the ECE community. They also expressed a need for ongoing learning opportunities, implementation scaffolding, and organizational support. These findings have implications for supporting educator and child social-emotional health and potential future revisions for the course.
期刊介绍:
The Infant Mental Health Journal (IMHJ) is the official publication of the World Association for Infant Mental Health (WAIMH) and the Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health (MI-AIMH) and is copyrighted by MI-AIMH. The Infant Mental Health Journal publishes peer-reviewed research articles, literature reviews, program descriptions/evaluations, theoretical/conceptual papers and brief reports (clinical case studies and novel pilot studies) that focus on early social and emotional development and characteristics that influence social-emotional development from relationship-based perspectives. Examples of such influences include attachment relationships, early relationship development, caregiver-infant interactions, infant and early childhood mental health services, contextual and cultural influences on infant/toddler/child and family development, including parental/caregiver psychosocial characteristics and attachment history, prenatal experiences, and biological characteristics in interaction with relational environments that promote optimal social-emotional development or place it at higher risk. Research published in IMHJ focuses on the prenatal-age 5 period and employs relationship-based perspectives in key research questions and interpretation and implications of findings.