Children Temperament and Implications for Preschool Teachers (original) (raw)
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Journal Business and Science Social, 2017
Temperament research in more complex aspects such as cognition, interaction with the context of the environment as well as changes and continuity over time across geographical and cultural boundaries has been explored. Temperament traditionally associated with biological factors inherited and plays an important role in children life. Temperament influences each response, especially during early childhood development and affects behavior, social relationships, personality, physical health, language ability and academic success. This article aims to offer early exposure on temperament and implications to the practice of preschool teachers. Discussions with behavioral responses diversity of children were initiated and followed up with definition on temperament from some researchers. Classification in temperament by the researchers was also discussed by focusing on three types of temperament namely extraversion/surgency, negative affective and effortful control. Temperamental assessment methods are also discussed. The discussion ended with the implications of the practice of preschool teachers. Knowledge and understanding of child's temperament help teachers to plan, offer and carry out more effective and meaningful teaching and learning activities for every child.
Individual differences in preschool children: temperament or personality?
Infant and Child Development, 2010
Individual differences among adults have generally been conceptualized in terms of personality theory and traits. In contrast, individual differences among very young children (birth to kindergarten) have generally been conceptualized in terms of temperament theory and traits. The present study compares and contrasts measures of temperament and personality in a sample of preschool children. Temperament traits were assessed with a well-established measure (the Rothbart CBQ), and a new preschool rating instrument was used to assess personality traits from the five-factor framework (M5-PS). Indeed, a key purpose of this study was to further the development of the M5-PS. Data were gathered on 122 preschool children who were rated by their teachers. Significant correlations were found between the temperament trait Surgency and the personality trait Extraversion, between the temperament trait Negative Affect and the personality trait Neuroticism, and between the temperament trait Effortful Control and the personality trait Conscientiousness. The overall pattern of correlational data suggests that individual differences in preschool children can be adequately described using the five-factor theory, and that this framework may effectively subsume traditional theories of temperament. Preliminary support for the reliability and validity of the M5-PS is offered.
Temperament ratings in early childhood by parents, teachers, and students
Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 1987
Temperament ratings were made by mothers, teachers, and students enrolled in a child development course in order to determine the level of agreement across observers having varied experience with preschool and kindergarten children. Contrary to expectations, agreement did not increase with the age of the children. Furthermore, teacher and parent ratings were in no greater agreement than parent and student ratings. Instead, the teachers and students displayed the highest number of significant correlations for the temperament dimensions. Results are examined from a contextual perspective and suggest that child behavior may be differentially expressed dependent on the observational setting. Much of the literature on temperament in early childhood has been derived from the work of Thomas, Chess, and Birch (1968) through the course of the New York longitudinal study. Basing their work on repeated interviews and clinical observations, these investigators identified three clusters of behavioral style that appear to have clinical significance: the difficult child, the easy child, and the slow-to-warm-up child (Thomas & Chess, 1977). Difficult children are irregular in biological functioning, withdraw to new stimuli, adapt slowly to change, and are negative in mood. Easy children, in contrast, are seen as regular, willing to approach new experiences, adaptable to change, and usually positive in mood. The slow-to-warm-up child is low in activity, adaptability, and approach, mild in intensity, and variable in rhythmicity. Not all children fit neatly into one of these three patterns, but the clusters do account for 65% of the Thomas, Chess, and Birch sample (1968). For children not fitting the patterns, however, Keogh (1982) has
Development and validation of the Preschool Temperament Classification System for use with teachers
Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 2007
The purpose of the current study is to describe the development and validation of a new measure of temperament, the Preschool Temperament Classification System (PTCS). The PTCS was developed as a typological measure that identifies children's temperament styles as undercontrolled, resilient, or overcontrolled. The PTCS is a time efficient structured interview assessing children's temperament as it is observed in the classroom environment. During the 20 min interview, teachers classify all of the children in their class into one of the three temperament styles, rank order children within each temperament group, and assign an intensity rating to each child, indicating how well the child matches his/her assigned temperament group. Data were collected on 196 preschool-age children from 25 Head Start classrooms in an urban area. Teachers assessed children's temperament and peer play behaviors, and trained research assistants assessed children's school readiness. The PTCS classified children into temperament groups that showed expected relations to peer play competence and school readiness after controlling for age and gender, indicating good validity. Test-retest reliability was moderate to high. Overall the PTCS shows promise as a valid and reliable teacher measure of preschool children's temperament.
Školski vjesnik, 2020
The aim of this study was to examine whether the dimensions of parental behavioural style contribute to the explanation of the developmental characteristics of preschool children beyond children’s temperamental characteristics. A total of 194 parents of one preschool child, of which 95.36% were mother, participated in the study. The EASI temperament survey, the Multidimensional Assessment of Parenting Scale and the Preschool Child Development Assessment Questionnaire were used. The results suggested a significant correlation between the dimensions of temperament according to the EASI model (emotionality, activity, sociability and impulsivity), the functional developmental characteristics of the child and some dimensions of parenting. No significant differences were found in the assessments of temperamental characteristics and developmental outcomes between boys and girls. The results of regression analyses showed that temperamental dimensions assessments explained significant portio...
Derivation and prediction of temperamental types among preschoolers
Developmental Psychology, 1999
The number and nature of temperamental types in 488 children aged 3 years 6 months was examined on the basis of a broad set of temperamental characteristics, including positive and negative emotionality and the attentional and behavioral control domains. Configural frequency analysis methods showed clear support for two temperament types: controlled-nonexpressive and noncontrolled-expressive. These types showed meaningful differences against external criteria related to a wide range of problem behaviors from the emotional, social, and attentional domains. The reports of problem behaviors were obtained contemporaneously from fathers and caregivers. These findings replicated a year later when children were aged 4 years 6 months. Furthermore, the findings showed that infant and toddler-age temperamental characteristics differentiated these preschool-aged types. The authors discuss the implications of the results for a categorical view of temperament-personality.
Child Temperament and Academic Performances among Kindergarteners
2021
The study examined the relationship between child temperament and academic performances among kindergarteners in the Wa East and Wa West districts of the upper west region of Ghana. A sample of 150 fathers were selected at random from the two districts to participate in the study. Children of the fathers selected were made of 69 boys and 81girls. Self-reported data from questionnaires were used to examine the relationship between child temperament and academic performances among the kindergarten children of the selected region. Analyses of the data revealed that low intensity, anger/frustration, attentional focusing, fear, and falling reactivity/soothability characteristics of child temperament categories predicted the academic performances of the kindergarten children within the two districts. It was also realized from the study that the occupation of fathers exhibited significant relationship with the academic performances of the kindergarten children. However, child gender, their...