2.1 Attachment Theory

John Bowlby, a British pediatrician, and Mary Ainsworth, an American researcher, were the architects of the current understanding of attachment theory. Bowlby presented his work in a series of papers and writings, based on observations of children aged 1 to 4 years old in British hospitals (1969, 1973, 1980), while Mary Ainsworth studied infants and their mothers in Uganda (1967). Ainsworth and Bowlby later met and continued to explore various issues associated with attachment. Ainsworth developed an experiment to determine the quality of attachment between an infant and the infant's mother. From this experiment, she described three different categories of attachment: secure, insecure-resistant/ambivalent, and insecure-avoidant.

Types of Attachment

Mary Ainsworth observed infants, aged 12 to 18 months old, in an experiment in which the infant and mother entered a playroom containing both toys and a stranger to the infant. The mother then left, and the infant interacted with the stranger. Later, the mother re-entered, and the stranger left. This sequence was then repeated. Based on the infant's behavior with the mother, attachment was determined. Ainsworth called this the Strange Situation experiment.

Ainsworth categorized attachment under securely attached and insecurely attached. In addition, she described two kinds of insecure attachments. Infants who mildly protest when their mothers leave but then actively seek reunion with them when they return are those with secure attachment. The securely attached infant then goes back to explore and play with the toys, using his or her mother as a strong psychological base, checking in once in a while.

Infants who are extremely upset when their mothers leave, often clinging to them and crying, and who initially seek comfort from their mothers or other caregivers on their return but then turn away in anger and irritability or struggle to get away, have an insecure-resistant/ambivalent attachment. Infants who ignore their mothers and continue to play when they leave as well as when they return to the room have an insecure-avoidant attachment. Insecurely attached infants are often angry at home, and hostile and unfeeling in the preschool with peers (Honig, 2002).

Since Ainsworth's work, another distinct category of attachment has been added. Infants who display conflicting behaviors both when their mothers leave and when they return have disoriented/disorganized attachment (Hesse & Main, 2000). On the return of their mothers, the infants may initially move toward them, then stop and redirect their attention, or they may avoid them on their return and then seek closeness later. They appear to be confused about what they should do (Main & Solomon, 1990).

The Role of the Mother (and Other Caregivers)

Infants attach to significant adults in their lives. These adults are usually the child's mother, but not always. The infant establishes a primary attachment relationship with this person, which determines the nature and quality of the child's development. For example, mothers who have securely attached children engage in nurturing behaviors with their children, whereas mothers of insecurely attached children tend to be inconsistent, intrusive, and unpredictable (Belsky, Rovine, & Taylor, 1984). Specifically, mothers of securely attached infants

are sensitive and responsive

hold their infants tenderly and carefully

enjoy playfully interacting with their infants

feed their infants when they are hungry and in a way they like

let the infants play freely on the floor

sensitively respond to the infants' emotional changes

respond sensitively and immediately to the infants' physical and emotional distress

provide face-to-face feedback to the infants on language, behavior, and emotions (Honig, 2002)

Mothers of insecurely attached infants, on the other hand, inconsistently or rarely exhibit behaviors (e.g., cuddling, picking up, soothing, providing feedback, and playing) that allow their infants to feel secure. These mothers may engage in these behaviors only when it suits them. They can be intrusive and controlling and seem insensitive to the emotional and physical needs of their infants. Mothers of insecurely attached infants are often under extreme stress both at home and in the workplace. The mothers of avoidant/insecure infants seem to dislike contact with their infants and do not enjoy interacting with them. They are resentful and angry; they appear to reject the infant and have few positive feelings toward them. Mothers of disoriented infants are often severely depressed or mentally ill; they may also be dependent on drugs. They exhibit distant and inappropriate behaviors toward their infants.

There are many reasons for the difference in behavior between mothers of securely attached and insecurely attached infants. Parenting skills, knowledge of child development, stress, drug dependency, and mental illness are all contributing factors.

The Effects of Early Attachment

Through physical and emotional closeness to their mothers or other caregivers, infants develop a sense of security (Ainsworth, 1973). This feeling of closeness and emotional warmth allows infants to develop expectations of their attachment future—that significant people in their lives will respond to their needs, and that significant people in their lives will be available to them when needed.

Secure attachment grows when an infant's basic needs are immediately and warmly addressed by the mother, father, and/or other caregivers. When an infant cries in distress and his or her caregiver responds, this attachment behavior continues to grow. If the pattern of behavior becomes one of coldness, unavailability, and inattention, the infant develops defenses against stress, unhappiness, and insecurity (Honig, 2002). This may exhibit itself by the infant avoiding or ignoring their parent or other caregiver.

Attachment also affects an infant's own sense of worthiness. A rejected child may begin to see himself or herself as a victim, as someone whom others do not love or care for. This self-view is the child's internal working model. The more a negative working model is reinforced by the behavior of adults in the child's environment, the stronger it becomes, and the more difficult it is to change. Further, the child's feelings of rejection may produce negative behaviors that result in teachers and caregivers responding negatively to the child, thus fulfilling the child's negative expectations.

A key element of attachment is this internal working model. If children believe their caregivers love and accept them for who they are, they will develop positive attachments (Bowlby, 1958). When attachment is produced through warm, responsive personal relationships, a child develops expectations of comfort, security, and a deep sense of self-worth. Warm, personal, physical touch from a caregiver is one way secure attachment is developed. See Helping Children Develop: The Importance of Touch for more about the critical need for touch in the development of secure attachment.

Although the initial development of attachment is important, it is a process that continues to evolve, especially during the early years. Thus, if a child's initial experiences are negative, subsequent positive interactions with parents, teachers, and others can help that child develop greater security. However, this may be difficult to accomplish because adults often see children who are insecurely attached as more difficult to love and care for in a responsive, warm, sensitive manner.

The Child's Temperament and Attachment

So far, we have discussed the impact of the behavior of a parent or other caregiver on the development of secure and insecure attachment in children. But what about the child's behavior—does it also have an influence on attachment? After all, attachment is the result of a dynamic relationship between the child and the caregiver.

Every human has a distinct personality. Some people are happy-go-lucky and spontaneous. Others are serious and careful, and some people always seem to be tense and upset. Much of this distinct personality is caused by a genetically inherited predisposition to emotions, activity, and self-regulation, called temperament. Temperament traits originate with nature—they are inherited from our parents. However, experiences in early childhood can—and will—modify a person's later personality (Goldsmith et al., 1987). In the 1950s and 1960s, a famous study was conducted on the temperament of infants, known as the New York Longitudinal Study (Thomas, Chess, & Birch, 1968). This study of temperament

was conducted on the same children over a six-year span. According to the study, infants as young as 4 months old exhibit a variety of temperamental traits that can be categorized into four groups.

Easy. An infant with an easy temperament displays regular biological functions (e.g., going to sleep, eating) and a positive approach to change and new stimuli, adapts well to new situations, and exhibits a mild to moderate intensity when reacting to change. Easy children are generally in a positive mood, and adults enjoy being around them.

Difficult. A child with a difficult temperament displays irregular biological functioning (e.g., is very difficult to get to sleep at night, eats at different times of the day) and negative and often intense responses to new situations and to any kind of change. In general, a child with this temperament is frequently in a negative mood, and adults often avoid contact with the child.

Slow-to-warm. The slow-to-warm temperament manifests in somewhat irregular biological functions. Slow-to-warm children exhibit a negative response to new stimuli and adapt slowly to change. The child's mood is initially negative but then improves to a more positive one over time. In common language, we tend to call a child with this temperament "shy." Adults must be very sensitive to the changes in mood in these children and adapt sensitively to them.

We know that a child's temperament affects the way a parent or caregiver responds to the infant. For example, difficult infants (i.e., fragile, needy, and often crying) are at the greatest risk of child abuse (Bugenthal&Happaney, 2004; Rothbart, Pott, Azuma, Miyake, &Weitsz, 2004), as are premature infants, children with disabilities, and children who are irritable and not easily soothed (Thompson & Wyatt, 1999).

Children with difficult temperaments pose a particular challenge for parents and other caregivers. Not only do they exhibit behaviors that required a great deal of patience, flexibility, and understanding, but they produce fewer joyful and engaging behaviors that trigger positive responses in adults (Thomas & Chess, 1986). According to Kostelnik, Whiren, Soderman, and Gregory (2009), children with difficult temperaments require lots of patience, persistence, and care from very secure adults who are not under stress and have time to give to them. Parents and other caregivers who lack these critical attributes are more likely to engage in the kinds of behaviors with difficult children that lead to insecure attachment. This is also true to an extent for slow-to-warm children, particularly if the child does not meet the expectations of the parent or other caregiver.

This is one critical reason why each child must be treated as an individual and not compared to other children, either at home or in the program. For example, a father who is frustrated when his 5-year-old daughter is very upset because her mother momentarily left the table at a restaurant should not say to his daughter, "Why can't you behave nicely like your brother? He's not upset." Rather, the father should

empathize with the child and patiently say, "I know you want your mother. She'll be back in a few minutes." In a similar vein, a teacher who tries to encourage a slow-to-warm boy to enter a game with other children should not say to the boy, "Look, all the other children are playing together happily." In this case, the teacher might suggest, "When you are ready to join in, I am sure the other children will welcome you."

The ability of the caregiver to respond in a timely and sensitive manner to the temperamental differences of children is called goodness-of-fit, or the ability to match the physical and emotional environment to the unique temperament of each child. Caregivers need to learn how to treat each child as a unique individual whose daily rhythms, emotional responses to the environment, and overall temperament require a careful behavioral match by the caregiver.

2.2 The Parent's and Teacher's Roles in Each of Erikson's Stages

In Chapter 1, we introduced Erikson's psychosocial stage theory. This is an eight-stage theory that covers birth to death—a lifespan theory. Recall that the first three stages are trust versus mistrust (birth to 1 year old), autonomy versus shame or doubt (1 to 3 years old), and initiative versus guilt (3 to 6 years old). Both the parent and the caregiver in an early care and education program have a direct influence on the successful completion of each of these stages.

Caregivers who offer a loving, responsive relationship that provides focused attention to the needs of infants and young children are most likely to rear well-motivated and prosocial children with high self-esteem (Honig, 2005). However, caregivers need to be aware of developmental crises to help children overcome these specific challenges more effectively. For example, an infant's development includes a series of challenges to caregivers (e.g., learning to walk and toilet training). These challenges can serve as a potential opportunity for positive social interactions between the caregiver and the infant. Clearly, the progression of the child through the first three of Erikson's stages, and the caregiver's ability to provide support for the resolution of each stage, directly affects the development of attachment in young children (Bretherton & Waters, 1986; Sameroff &Emde, 1990).

Trust Versus Mistrust

To support the positive development of this stage, parents and other caregivers must be able to interpret the infant's signals of distress and other needs, and care for the infant's unique needs through cuddling, turn-taking in communication, games, and joyful play. Other caregiver behaviors that increase the development of secure attachment in the infant include lots of intimate touch and meeting the child's unique social, emotional, and physical needs. Each child's basic needs must also be met uniquely: diaper changes, feeding, comforting, and sleep. Through these responsive behaviors by the caregiver, the infant learns he or she is important and that the world can be trusted.

Autonomy Versus Shame/Doubt

During this stage, caregivers need to find an appropriate goodness-of-fit between adult expectations (e.g., neatness, schedules, obedience to rules) and what the toddler is developmentally capable of doing. Firm, pleasant control—without a sense of shame—and calm, accepting handling of conflicts can increase toddler autonomy. Caregivers should not focus on the toddler's temporary failures; rather, support should be given to help the toddler achieve developmental tasks.

This sensitive yet firm support of the child's struggle for autonomy increases a sense of secure attachment because it builds a bond between the child and the caregiver as the caregiver responds to the child's unique needs, provides feedback to the child's behavior, interprets his or her signals, and plays affectionately with him or her.

Initiative Versus Guilt

Piaget was a developmental scientist from Switzerland who studied how children think and develop cognition. He created a four-stage theory of cognitive development. Children at this age (3-6 years old) are in his second stage, the preoperational stage. They are very fascinated with discovering everything they can about the world. Piaget viewed young children as little scientists (Siegler&Alibali, 2005). This describes what Erikson terms initiative: the desire to find out everything they can about the world and how it works. Thus, as we discuss Erikson's initiative versus guilt stage, it is important to understand its relationship to Piaget's preoperational stage. At this stage, children are fascinated with the real world of insects, animals, plants, objects, and people. They want to know how everything works and why things happen the way they do.

Piaget argued that this active exploration of the world is how children construct knowledge. Specifically, according to Piaget, children create what he calls schemes. A scheme is an abstract cognitive structure through which the organism assimilates information (Brainerd, 1978). Essentially, a scheme is a unit of information that is used by the child to process and store information. For example, the scheme for a dog might initially be a small, black, four-legged animal with a tail that barks. As the child interacts with more dogs, this scheme becomes more sophisticated and accurate. Thus, young children need lots of opportunities to play with a rich variety of natural and man-made materials. As children explore the natural and social world, caregivers should help children make choices and select tasks. They should help children engage in moral and prosocial reasoning, talking about why certain behaviors are good and moral, and why some are not. While rules should be clear, children should feel that they have some input into developing the rules. These rules should be enforced consistently and fairly.

From an attachment perspective, adults should encourage the child's exploration and investigation, both of social and physical environments. They should continue to be warm, responsive people who sensitively meet the child's unique physical, social, emotional, cognitive, and moral needs (Honig&Lally, 1990; Lally, Mangione, &Honig, 1988). For example, when young children first visit a museum and discover they can hold a pet tarantula, some 4-year-olds will be very enthusiastic about this possibility,

while others will be extremely hesitant. In the first instance, the teacher should support the child's enthusiasm, while also reminding the child to be careful when holding the spider and telling him or her not to pick up spiders at home. For the second child, the teacher could model holding the tarantula to demonstrate to the child that the spider is safe to hold.

2.3 Attachment and Cultural Diversity

Attachment is formed, supported, and reinforced by certain behaviors of the adult caregiver, which are influenced greatly by the child. However, parents from different cultural backgrounds raise children differently. In the United States and throughout the world, a variety of different child-rearing practices and adult-child behaviors are used. These different approaches are deeply embedded within the culture of the parents and other caregivers who interact with the child. Spotlight: To Sleep Alone? illustrates one of these cultural differences. But what is culture, and how does it have an impact on the attachment of a child?

In the book Multicultural Principles (Administration for Children and Families, Head Start Office, 2010), a variety of definitions of culture are provided:

"a framework that guides and bounds life practices" (Hanson, 1992)

"the organized and common practices of particular communities" (Rogoff, 1990)

"the complex processes of human social interaction and symbolic communication" (Hernandez, 1989, p. 45)

"patterns, explicit and implicit, of and for behaviors acquired and transmitted by symbols, constituting the distinctive achievement of human groups, including their embodiment in artifacts" (Kroeber &Kluckhohn, 1952, p. 357)

"the ways and manners people use to see, perceive, represent, interpret, and assign value and meaning to the reality they live or experience" (de Melendez &Ostertag, 1997)

You can see that there is no agreed-upon definition of culture. However, all of these definitions point to how groups of people affect the values, behaviors, interactions, and symbols of individuals within them. And one of the central ways cultures exhibit themselves in families is in the way children are raised.

Four critical characteristics of culture must be kept in mind. First, culture can be the product of a vast variety of groups, or societies, including but not limited to geographic regions, ethnic and racial groups, national peoples, tribes, and economic and religious groups. Second, cultures are dynamic—they are continually under a state of flux and change. A third element of culture, particularly in an ever-more diverse and global world, is that cultures continually come up against other cultures, and they are changed by this contact. This process, whereby people and cultures change and adapt as they are exposed to other peoples and cultures, resulting in the dynamic, ever-changing nature of societies, is called acculturation (Wardle & Cruz-Janzen, 2004). Finally, cultures often exist within larger, more global

cultures. We talk of the United States society as comprising many cultures—being multicultural. However, if you talk to people who do not live in the United States but have met an American or someone who has come to the United States from another country, they are likely to tell you that there is such a concept as the U.S. culture (Wardle, 2011b).

When considering cultures and the cultural contexts in which children and families are embedded, Ngo (2008) reminds us that cultural characteristics are not absolute and do not occur as opposites. It is not minority versus majority, individual versus communal, and competitive versus collective characteristics and behaviors that are exhibited by people from specific cultures, but rather cultural nuances and complexities. On the issue of independence versus dependence, for example, the question should be how are both independence and interdependence understood and valued in relationship to children's development in different cultures (Raeff, 2010)?

Cross-cultural research using the Strange Situation experiment shows that, across cultures and countries, the same numbers of infants are classified as displaying secure attachment (Sagi, van Ijzendoorn, &Koren-Karie, 1991). However, the proportion of infants in the various insecure attachment categories differs from culture to culture.

For example, in Japan infants became upset when mothers left the room and ambivalent on the return of their mothers. Their attachment relationship was characterized by researchers as insecure-resistant/ambivalent attached (Miyake, Chen & Campos, 1985; Takahashi, 1990). Infants in Japan rarely leave their mothers' side, babysitters are uncommon, and when parents need care for their infants, grandparents are used (Saarni, Mumme, & Campos, 1998). In Germany, a culture very different from Japan, infants do not seem upset at all when their mothers leave and are not too eager to rejoin their mothers on their return. They seem to display an insecure-avoidant attachment (Grossmann, Grossmann, Huber, &Wartner, 1981). In Germany and other European countries, mothers often leave infants alone for short periods, and the infants' behavior seems to reflect this.

Because parents in all countries and cultures believe they are good parents who are attached to their children, the understanding of what constitutes attachment differs from culture to culture. Mothers in Japan view their children as securely attached if they behave well, cooperate, and do not bring attention to themselves (Rothbaum, Pott, Azuma, Miyake, &Weitsz, 2000). However, mothers in the primarily white cultures of Europe and North America are more likely to associate secure attachment with autonomy and individuality.

Children in a variety of cultures develop secure attachments. Further, the development of secure attachment is not a function of culture, but is rather, as has been pointed out, the direct result of specific adult-child interactions. So long as the significant caregivers in the child's life—either their biological parent(s) or other important adults—engage in the kinds of behaviors that we know foster the

development of secure attachment, children will develop secure attachment (NICHD Early Child Care Research Network, 2001). Further, in collective societies it may be easier to provide attachment behaviors for difficult children (those with medical or other challenges, and children with difficult temperaments), because a variety of adults are available to provide sensitive, supportive, warm, and responsive care.

From a diversity perspective, it is critically important to understand that it is not the family's structure or the family's culture that determines whether a child develops secure attachment, but the variety and consistency of ways significant adults in the child's life interact with the child (Honig, 2002, 2005).

2.4 Nurturing Secure Attachment in Early Care and Education Programs

Our discussion of attachment has focused on the primary caregiver—often the mother—and the child because this is the strongest early influence and where attachment initially develops. But attachment can also be encouraged, supported, and fostered within the early care and education program. Both the family and the early care and education program belong within Bronfenbrenner's microsystem—the first and most direct context (see Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Systems Theory in Chapter 1) (Bronfenbrenner, 1979, 1995; Bronfenbrenner & Morris, 1998). This is because both the family and early care and education programs have a direct and powerful impact on the child's development and learning. This impact includes powerful influences that help shape the development and reinforcement of secure attachment.

Types of Early Care and Education Programs

Before we reflect on their capacity for nurturing attachment, it is important to consider the many types of early care programs currently available. In the United States, a wide range of programs are designed to care for and educate children aged infant to 5 years old (Neugebauer, 2008). These programs include the following:

private, for-profit, community programs (a single program or several programs)

private, not-for-profit, community-based programs (a single program or several programs under the same ownership)

national for-profit child care chains

Head Start and Early Head Start

mother's day out programs (mothers share caring for their children, a few days a week)

programs sponsored by religious organizations. Nearly one in four early childhood facilities in the United States are associated with a religious organization (Neugebauer, 2005). These include Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Mormon, Muslim, Buddhist, and Seventh-day Adventist programs.

programs—both private and not-for-profit—targeted to single populations (e.g., gifted students, homeless families, and children with specific developmental delays)

public school preschool programs. According to Kagan, Carroll, Comer, and Scott-Little, almost all states now fund some kind of preschool program. Sometimes these are within public school buildings; others are run in a variety of community early childhood settings.

programs for infants and toddlers of teen parents attending public high schools

campus child care programs. These are programs associated with, and partially subsidized by, a college or university. Most research on infant care and early education is conducted in these campus programs.

employee child care. These are on-site programs for companies and government agencies. They might be run by a child care chain (i.e., Bright Horizons) or are a private, stand-alone program.

drop-in child care. These programs, both for profit and not-for-profit, are housed in shopping centers, hospitals, government agencies, and other places where parents need short, one-time care for their children.

family/home-based child care

A variety of state and local agencies provides governance for these programs. Enforcement for early care and education programs differs from state to state and county or city. The rules and regulations cover everything from adult-child ratios, space requirements, and food health rules, to qualifications of directors, group leaders, teachers, and caregivers. Many of these programs must meet regulations for several different agencies. For example, Head Start must comply with local child care regulations and stringent national Head Start performance standards. Public school programs must follow both the local child care rules and regulations and the state's school standards. In some states, religious programs are exempt from some of the state and local licensing standards (Neugebauer, 2005). Further, rules and regulations for home-based/family child care tend to differ from those for center-based programs.

Additionally, many states now have an evaluation process for determining the quality of programs. These standards are usually based on the Clifford/Harms rating scales (Harms & Clifford, 1998), and they rate the early childhood programs using a fairly simple scale (on a scale from 0 to 5 stars). Additionally, there are a number of national accrediting systems used by many programs to demonstrate their quality to the community. These will be discussed in more depth in Chapter 10.

Curricula

As one would expect, the wide range of early care and education programs that operate throughout the United States implement a vast array of curricular approaches. Most public school early childhood programs use some form of extension of the public school curriculum, along with adhering to a state-developed standards framework, which generally focuses on kindergarten readiness (Kagan et al., 2006). Head Start must follow the shifting mandates of a federally funded program sensitive to the political whims of the time. Religious programs generally have approaches developed by a national office, although they are often tailored to local needs. The religious approaches usually include in their content specific religious beliefs, values, rituals, and other religious content.

Single, community-based programs—both for profit and not-for-profit—use a range of curricular approaches, from the adoption of national curricula such as Creative Curriculum, High/Scope, and Core Knowledge Curriculum, to individual approaches described as play based and developmentally appropriate. Then there are programs associated with well-known accepted approaches: Montessori, Waldorf, British Infant/Primary, and Reggio Emilia.

The Montessori approach focuses on a carefully planned and aesthetic environment, child-sized equipment, self-correcting materials, multi-age grouping of children, and large blocks of time for individualized, uninterrupted activities. Curricular content includes practical life (use of child-size brooms, mops, jugs, glassware, and other everyday items), exploring the world through the arts and movement, learning through multisensory experiences, and using carefully designed, concrete materials. Literacy is encouraged by first developing a rich oral language as a foundation, and the arts are used to focus on self-expression and teaching social studies (Kahn, 1995).

The Waldorf curriculum is broken into three developmental stages: (1) early childhood (infant to the end of kindergarten), which is the time to develop the body and senses; (2) middle childhood (first grade to puberty), where the focus is on learning through feelings and imagination; and (3) from puberty on, when children engage in the specialized studies of specific curricular content and academic skills. In the first period, children are exposed to learning about the environment through their senses and developing their imagination. Exploration and creative play are encouraged, and role playing of parents' activities, painting and drawing, and developing language through nursery rhymes, fairy tales, puppet shows, and songs are emphasized.

The day, week, and year are organized around natural patterns, such as the children coming in the morning, lunch time, play, and small groups; the seasons of the year create patterns for the schedule. These rhythms are designed to connect each child to the external world (Trostli, 1998).

The curriculum of British Infant/Primary school programs is based on the constructivist philosophies of Dewey and Piaget. Projects of interest to each child form the foundation to the curriculum and are pursued in mixed-age groups. The process of accomplishing the projects is the mechanism used to teach various academic and social skills. As can be seen, the curricular content is presented in a whole-to-part approach, as opposed to the traditional curricula that tends to focus on parts to whole (i.e., teaching isolated skills and separate academic content). Teachers provide direct instruction to individuals and small groups of children in the skills and concepts needed to complete the projects.

The Reggio Emilia philosophy is a child-centered approach that focuses on the creative use of a carefully developed environment. This environment includes a studio where students—under the expert direction of a staff person with specialized skills—create artistic and scientific creations and projects, entryways and hallways that encourage social inclusion and interactions, a kitchen, meeting/eating

spaces, and a deliberate flow of air and people between the inside and outside environments (Gandini, 1993). Classrooms include the traditional learning centers, such as a construction area, art area, dress-up, games, math manipulates, science table, and so on. The curriculum itself is delivered through projects, with the focus on

use of the studio and staff person who helps with the projects

self-directed groups of students developing projects

documentation

In the Reggio Emilia curriculum, there are different kinds of projects: intended projects, environmental projects, daily life projects, and self-managed projects. Documentation is used for children to reflect on their learning and development, for students to connect and reflect on other children's work, for teachers and parents to enjoy and reflect on their student's work, to document student's growth and development, and to share with the larger community. The Reggio Emilia approach is considered unique for its focus on documentation (Gandini, 1993).

Some early care and education programs use several curricula to address the different needs of their students. For example, the Renaissance Children's Center in Lakewood, Colorado, which serves children of homeless families, uses High/Scope for its cognitive curriculum, ECE Cares for social and emotional development, and Relationship Roots to help children learn boundaries and conflict resolution skills. However, many home-based/family and small community-based programs have no formal curriculum. They seem to use an organic approach, following the beliefs of the director and individual teachers and responding to the pressure of their parents.

Program Components That Support Secure Attachment

High quality of caregiver interactions with infants and young children is needed. Caregivers must respond to infants and young children in consistent, sensitive, responsive ways. They must provide a goodness-of-fit between the child's temperament and their response. They must engage with the infant in the "dance of life," what we call synchrony. This is a rapid, responsive, coordinated interchange of behaviors and responses between an infant and a caregiver. And they must change their interaction patterns and responses as children progress through each of the first three of Erikson's psychosocial stages (Erikson, 1963).

Young children need a continuity of care to develop secure attachment. Keeping children with the same caregiver seems to develop in them a sense of trust that their caregiver knows and respects their own unique needs, wants, and joys (Raikes, 1993). In this way, the caregiver can learn a child's unique temperament, feeding style, daily schedule, likes and dislikes, fears, and overall daily rhythms.

Thus, it is critical for a program to have a primary caregiver for infants and young children (Lally et al., 1995). The primary caregiver in the early childhood program is a person with whom infants spend most of their time, rather than having infants cared for by a variety of caregivers. It is advisable that this primary caregiver follow the infant until 36 months of age (Essa, Favre, Thweatt, & Waugh, 1999). Many quality programs move caregivers up as the children grow older. This continuity not only reinforces the important relationships between the caregiver and child, but also enables the caregiver to guide the toddler through the challenging struggles of the first two of Erikson's stages (Erikson, 1963).

Caregivers who provide consistent, responsive, sensitive care to infants and young children provide an added bonus to the child who has a secure attachment at home. For the child without secure attachment at home, a warm, nurturing relationship with a caregiver is critical. To foster secure attachment, programs should include the additional components listed next (Honig, 2002).

Create a safe emotional climate. For a young child to develop into an active, curious, self-motivated learner who cooperates with caregivers and persists at difficult and challenging tasks, an emotionally safe climate is required (Erikson, 1963). To do so in a child-care setting, every aspect of the programming, particularly routines around diapering, feeding, and soothing for naptime, are critical opportunities to foster secure attachment.

Create a responsive environment. The physical environment must be soft and responsive. Soft pillows, mattresses with washable covers, and areas carpeted with rugs of different textures are all required. These add a sense of coziness and warmth to the environment. A rocking chair (away from the other children) is a great item to help soothe infants. Comfortable beanbags add to warmth and softness. Fresh flowers and green plants, colorful banners, and a cozy reading area give children the message that they can relax and enjoy a book or play with a toy. A private, fabric-lined cubby for each child provides a needed private space.

The outside playground should also have a warm, shaded area, where caregivers can sit on comfortable benches, carefully watching infants and toddlers enjoy the outdoors, crawl on gently sloped grass mounds, and play in the sand and water.

Develop love for the child. The development of secure attachment requires a special bond between the caregiver and child. Caregivers need to enjoy being with the child and develop a deep sense of love for the child. As we have discussed throughout this chapter, this can be difficult to achieve with a child who has a difficult temperament or fragile medical issues.

Treat babies and young children with respect. Caregivers need to respond to children in their care as special and well-loved people, use their names frequently, speak in a calm voice, and respond respectfully to difficult and confusing behaviors. Also, caregivers need to let the child know when they

need to leave, and then when they return. While infants do not understand these words, body language and the tone of voice communicates respect for the child.

Support the efforts of infants and young children. Young children need sensitive, unobtrusive help and support for their sincere efforts. Instead of pointing out their mistakes, the adult should provide encouraging words and an occasional physical assist. It is a matter of following the child's initiative and interests, and helping them when needed.

Respond to the child's sensitive body language. Bodily cues from an infant or small child can help caregivers know their needs and their temperament. The caregiver should become extremely familiar with these nonverbal cues and respond sensitively to the child's needs. This is particularly true for the difficult and slow-to-warm child, whose cues may initially cause the adult to be defensive and cold. Children who appear tense, stressed, distant, aggressive, or hyper-vigilant may need special care and attention. (See Think About It: How Do You Know the Child Trusts You? for more information.)

The Role of Professional Caregivers

Because caregivers can affect the development of attachment in the children they work with, it is critical that they consistently demonstrate the behaviors that enhance secure attachment. One of the main reasons caregivers must attend college classes and training sessions to gain certificates and degrees is so they can obtain important knowledge of child development and skills for working with young children. However, these classes do not address issues of stress and mental and physical illness. It is well documented that in the United States, people who care for and teach young children are poorly compensated (Neugebauer, 2004). Many do not have adequate health insurance and health care. And, because of the low pay and benefits they receive, many child-care providers and teachers live in poverty, putting them at higher risk for stress than if they received better compensation (Neugebauer, 2004). As a result, the continuity of care that is critically needed to develop and foster secure attachment may be jeopardized.

Collaboration Between the Program and the Family

The positive connections and collaborations between families and their early care and education programs fall under the mesosystem category of Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory. This context includes various ways dimensions of the microsystems work together to affect the development and education of the child, in this case ways the family and program work together for the benefit of the child (Bronfenbrenner, 1979, 1995; Bronfenbrenner & Morris, 1998).

When we discussed fostering attachment in the early care and education program, consistency and continuity were viewed as critical elements. For the same reason, consistency and continuity between the family and program are also critical for developing and fostering secure attachment in children. To create and maintain this consistency and continuity, two-way communication is essential. As was mentioned in Chapter 1, two-way communication between the home and program begins with respect

and willingness to work together for the good of the child. A program can enhance two-way communication through the following strategies.

Use initial registration forms. On these forms, information can be collected about the child (temperament, likes and dislikes, food preferences) and concerns parents have regarding the care of their child. The form should convey to parents an interest in their views, concerns, and aspirations for their child.

Focus on the initial contact between the program and parent. As we are well aware, first impressions are critical. At the initial interview between the parent and program representative, information about the child, the child's behavior and temperament, and the parents' wishes for the child need to be discussed. The program representative must also clearly communicate to the parent the program's philosophy and rules, regulations, and expectations, both for the child and for the parent.

Provide parent bulletin boards. Each classroom should have a parent bulletin board close to the classroom door. On this board, pertinent information should be posted. The tone of the board should be user-friendly, and it should convey the program's sincere interest in parents' concerns and points of view.

Establish and maintain an open climate of the center and classroom. Many centers tell parents they are welcome to visit at any time. But are they? When parents visit, are they welcomed with a smile and a kind word, or a shrug and the impression that they are being intrusive? What about fathers, grandfathers, boyfriends, and others who are part of the child's extended family and wish to be involved with the child's care? Are they welcome also?

Set up a parent library. For infant programs, the parent library should focus on infant development, breastfeeding, attachment, parenting skills, and awareness of cultural diversity.

Provide information on community agencies. One of the responsibilities of a family-centered care and education program is to connect parents with agencies that support them. This can be achieved in a variety of ways, from presenting posters and informational material in the center or home, to inviting representatives of various agencies to give presentations at parent meetings (and even providing seminars and programs for parenting and staff training). Programs with a website should provide links to community agencies and services.

Support mothers who are breastfeeding. Breastfeeding is one of the most obvious behaviors a mother can engage in to enhance secure attachment. Thus, the program should encourage and support mothers

who breastfeed. Does the program provide a private room where mothers can breastfeed? Does it provide a place where pumped breast milk can be stored (and not with hazardous materials)? Does it encourage mothers to provide pumped breast milk to be given to their infants? Is there a feeling that mothers who breastfeed or provide pumped breast milk are welcome, or is this seen as an intrusion or an inconvenience?

Provide parent training. Parent training is an excellent way for programs to communicate to parents a variety of ways to support and to increase secure attachment. How does the program decide on topics to be covered in these trainings? Do parents have input in the decisions?

Clearly and accurately communicate to parents the program's philosophy. Early care and education programs should develop a clear philosophy. Once this philosophy is in place, it needs to be communicated clearly and consistently to all parents and other caregivers. By doing so, confusion and disagreements will be minimized, and two-way communication enhanced. The program's philosophy should be revised on a regular basis (annually), with input provided from all stakeholders, including parents and other caregivers.

Provide direct, continuous communication about the child and the needs of the child to parents and other caregivers. Because the child is at the center of attachment, parent-program communication must focus on the child. Program staff should provide formal and informal opportunities to communicate with parents. Staff members need to make sure that the communication is two-way: from the parent to the caregivers and from the caregivers to the parents. (See Think About It: Guidelines for Two-Way Communication for more on this topic.) Further, the caregiver must make sure not to focus the discussion just on challenges and concerns, but also to let parents know how much they enjoy caring for their infant or young child. This is also true for a difficult child or a child with a developmental delay.

Provide communication in different languages. One of the central challenges for effective communication in many programs is parents who do not speak English (Administration for Children and Families, Head Start Office, 2010). Efforts must be made to find someone—in the community, center, local college, or elsewhere—who can help translate both written and verbal communication. Obviously, the language to be translated depends on the community and the school. Programs should also consider setting up classes to help parents learn English, either at the center or somewhere in the community. Many non-English speaking parents want to learn English, partly so they can communicate with the program's staff, and also so that they can help their children as they move into a regular school and need support with their schoolwork.

Carefully examine parent/teacher conferences. Parent/teacher conferences are the traditional place for parent-program communication to occur. However, these cannot be stand-alone events; they need to be part of a comprehensive communication approach. As with all communication between parents and

staff, it needs to be two-way and include positive aspects of the child and the child's behavior. Conferences that focus on negative behaviors and other challenges are unproductive, for many reasons.

Communicate to parents about special needs of infants and young children. In the next chapter, we will discuss in detail issues families and programs must address around developmental delays. Here, it is important to listen to parents' concerns, to connect parents with community resources, and to make sure that parents talk to whoever is responsible in the program for working with children who have developmental delays.

Speak with parents about diversity concerns. As early childhood programs become increasingly diverse, parents and other family members need to be involved in addressing relevant issues. For example, do parents have any concerns related to how they want their child's racial and ethnic identity to be supported in the program? Do they speak a language other than English at home, and do they want their child using this language or English in the program? Are there food issues that the program should be aware of? It is important not to make assumptions about the family, but to provide a context in which the family can speak openly about sensitive topics if they wish to do so.

2.5 Use of Community Resources to Support Attachment

There are many agencies, organizations, websites, and other resources that parents can use to help them support the development of secure attachment in their children and to provide information and resources for programs to continue to support this effort. A list of specific resources, agencies, and websites is included at the end of this chapter.

Resources for Families

There are many community programs that serve infants. Some communities provide Early Head Start, a parent's workplace may provide infant care, and some religious programs also provide infant care. Some of the traditional options, such as Waldorf, Montessori, and British Infant/Primary programs, also offer infant care. Many parents prefer family-based care for their infants, especially if they can find a provider who speaks their language (if it is not English) and if they have odd or difficult work hours. Local federal child-care offices and state agencies may have programs that provide financial assistance to qualifying parents who are seeking child care.

Most communities provide programs for families that need food. Women, Infants and Children (WIC) is a federal program targeted to women with infants. Food banks and community food programs abound, and many urban areas are also developing urban vegetable gardens. Some families buy shares in local farms and gardens, and farmers markets exist in many communities during the summer through the fall.

Mothers who need assistance breastfeeding can find a variety of programs. Many hospitals and health centers provide assistance. La Leche League has a website and local support groups, and there are support groups on the Internet and in many local communities.

Parenting classes are offered at many venues. Hospitals, community colleges, and even some high schools offer parenting classes, as do adoption and foster agencies (i.e., local county government departments). There are, of course, a plethora of parenting books and online sites available. Parents who want a spiritually focused approach should check with their church or house of worship. Many early childhood programs provide parenting classes or can refer parents to community programs.

Early Care and Education Staff Development and Training

Local community colleges and four-year institutions provide a variety of programs for teachers and caregivers. A number of state and local agencies offer training required by the state's licensing departments, such as Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR). Many early childhood programs are loosely connected to larger organizations: religious groups and the associations of early childhood programs associated with these groups (e.g., Catholic, Lutheran, or Jewish), associations of family providers, and state and local Head Start and Early Head Start associations. Most of these organizations provide conferences on a regular basis that staff can access. Then there are the state affiliations of the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) that have annual conferences. Many communities also have experts in a variety of areas, from discipline and behavior issues, to diversity and management training.

Finally, programs can use hospitals, community agencies, and government programs that specialize in specific child development and parenting issues, including specific developmental delays (e.g., sensory integration and autism spectrum disorder), nutrition, classroom management, and parenting skills and parent involvement.

Wardle, F.  (2013).  Collaboration with families and communities [Electronic version]. Retrieved from https://content.ashford.edu/