Ensuring children discipline is a collaborative task requiring effort from all stakeholders entrusted with the care of children in different settings. Integration of disciplinary programs in homes and schools is imperative to realize uniformity and avoid confusion among children. Therefore, opinions of parents, teachers, and the management of schools play significant roles towards positive progress. This paper draws from the interviews with different stakeholders and compares and contrasts the similarities and differences in views and their impacts on collaboration to deliver effective disciplinary programs for children.
Stakeholders Interviewed
The first stakeholder interviewed was a single mother with a daughter aged 8 years from a previous relationship. The mother, who was interviewed as a parent, is currently in another relationship and living with a boyfriend with whom they have a 4-year-old boy. The parent came from a low-income family of an African American father and a Swedish immigrant mother. However, they were brought up living with their mother and stepfather. The parent experienced many behavioral problems during their upbringing. Their highest education level is high school, and they currently work as a personal care assistant but intend to go to college and pursue a diploma to become a certified nephrology nurse. The second interviewee is also a parent, a single mother with two daughters aged 5 and 7 years. The single mother has been divorced for 4 years from a 14-years marriage but has a very and supportive family. They grew up in a complete family with a father, a mother, and siblings, despite being of low-income status. The parent’s mother is Swedish, but they do not know their father’s ethnic group. Their highest education level is high school, but they enrolled for a college degree recently in a bachelor’s degree program. They currently work as a preschool teacher but have plans to enroll in a master’s program in early childhood education after college.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
The third stakeholder interviewed is a pre-school director, a married mother of two. The director is an immigrant and lives in the US with their two siblings, but their parents are in Puerto Rico. The family shares a close relationship and spends time together on weekends. They have a master’s degree in early childhood education. The director has been in the field of early childhood education for over 20 years. They started as a preschool teacher before subsequent promotions to the positions of supervisor, education director, and the current position as the director of the center. The fourth and last interviewee was a pre-school teacher, an 8-year divorcee and a single mother of two children aged 15 and 17. They have had to balance family, academic, and career life. The pre-school teacher has been teaching pre-school for 19 years, has an associate’s degree in early childhood education, a bachelor’s degree in psychology, and is currently enrolled in for a masters’ degree in early childhood education. However, despite their caring family, they have financial difficulties and recently moved to an apartment because they could not afford the mortgage. The teacher started in a daycare center before joining pre-school but harbors ambition of getting an office job.
Narrative Summary of Each Interview
The first interviewee views on decision-making and engagement of children are that at certain ages, the process is the sole responsibility of parents and children cannot question it because they do not understand why some decisions are made. However, the single mother emphasizes communicating with children frequently about both good and bad conduct. They observed that handling challenging behavior requires patience because it is imperative to explain to children why the behavior is bad and its consequences. According to the interviewee, children must be taught to behave in a manner that the parent deems appropriate and must be encouraged to complete tasks because it nurtures commitment. Emphasis is also placed on verbal communication and the use of punishment and reward approach in dealing with discipline cases. The interviewee argued that parent involvement in school is necessary to ensure they take part in their children school performance and discipline, but that has not been the case.
The second parent interviewed appears to be accommodating in their decision-making because they engage children depending on the issue and whether it is age appropriate. The mother, in this case, is an ardent reader and encourages their children to do the same in addition to learning household chores. The parent appears to emphasize gaining knowledge and skills through theory and practice. They also observed the need to deal with bad and good behavior through punishment and reward, and the use of verbal communication to praise or explain the consequences of specific behaviors. The parent noted the need to be consistent in their expectations of good behavior by acting as a role model and owning up to mistakes by apologizing and explaining the situation to the child. They observed that dealing with bad behavior involves a warning, punishment, and explanation. The mother praises teachers’ openness to suggestions from parents, and the need to understand the child’s side of the story when dealing with the disciplinary case to ensure they do not deviate from the classroom or school rules.
The pre-school director expressed confidence in their agency’s structural mechanism in dealing with different types of behavior. The school has policies for ensuring parents and children understand what is expected through orientation programs. The Case Management Committee in collaboration with the mental health consultant, handle disciplinary cases in the school. The director can make the final decision, but the Head Start Performance Standards and DEEC (State) Regulations must inform it. The Head Start Performance Standards outline guidelines for dealing with cases where parents disagree with the decision of the school. The document extends to offer case specific regulations for ensuring individual needs of children who demonstrate deviant behavior are addressed. The success of disciplinary programs is founded on parental involvement through professional workshops and communication. The school follows recommended models in dealing with errant children including appropriate communication language. Teachers are encouraged to be role models and their concerns about disciplinary cases re dealt with professionally.
The pre-school teacher emphasizes the need to operate by the school rules and regulations and serve as role models. Emphasis is placed on rewarding good behavior from deviant children, and use of models, such as the peer model, to build and nurture interpersonal skills. There are established measures for use by teachers to prevent and deal with instances of deviant behavior, and address issues of diversity among children. The teacher pointed out the need for a personal control program when dealing with classroom pressures. Importance is also attached to setting up classroom rules and expectations for all children and the use of visual models in demonstrating good behavior.
Comparing and Contrasting Similarities and Differences and Possible Impacts
The interviews involving parents indicate consistency in parenting styles across the board with emphasis on good behavior. A similar approach is evident in the interview of the pre-school teacher where the focus is placed on developing rules and regulations that develop and nurture good behavior. For instance, the two parents and the teacher adopt similar approaches in rewarding good behavior, owning up mistakes and apologizing, explaining decisions to children, and ensuring adherence to expectations on good behavior. The similarities are likely to create a favorable environment for children at home and school because it encourages an understanding that they need to operate by the rules in each of the two settings.
However, the first parent interviewed expressed dissatisfaction with how the school engaged parents in soliciting for their views. The opinion is contrary to what the director of the school expressed about the existence of workshops and orientation programs for parents. It is evident that not all parents are engaged in the programs, implying the administration is likely to face increased cases of disagreement with disciplinary consequences, and subsequent resolution measures may strain the relationship between the management and parents, negatively impacting the progress of the children involved. The interview with the pre-school teacher shows that the classroom setting has many variables that may affect how the child behaves. According to the teacher, they have the privilege to come up with classroom rules and regulations, but the views by the director show that such protocols must conform to institutional policies. The book approach in dealing with discipline may not auger well with teachers who may feel they are better placed to develop rules suited to classroom settings in which they operate. The contradictions may be seen by parents as lack of leadership and may lead to questioning of the school's ability to ensure discipline among children.
How Discipline is Handled in the Field of Placement
During my field placement, I had the privilege to witness a case where a child used a racial slur against another. The case involved a white and African-American children where the former called the latter ‘nigger’ while protesting their request to join play. The teacher observed that such cases are common occurrences, which may point to the inefficiency of workshops and orientation programs referred to by the director. The pre-school teacher observed that they use the curriculum to teach manners, culture, and diversity, implying that the problem is not of their making. Therefore, attention must be shifted to parents because children tend to learn such words in their home environment. Workshops and orientation programs must sensitize parents to be vigilant about their children interactions to ensure they are not influenced by their peers in a negative way. Sensitization is important because none of the two parents mentioned about taking an interest in their children’s friends and company, implying they are at risk of learning offensive language from peers and are likely to use it against classmates in school where cultural diversity exists.
Personal Opinion on Collaboration between Stakeholders
I think there is a lot to be done to ensure positive benefits are realized through parent-teacher and management collaboration. During my placement, I observed that parents are reluctant to come to school to check on their children progress and only do so when summoned or during special occasions. Parents must take the initiative to engage the director and teachers on the progress of the child in academics and discipline by making frequent visits to the school to familiarize themselves with the environment and existing policies. I also noted the existence of a gap between the administration and the teachers. The director ’s approach is a formal one, but teachers expressed concerns about the rules being inappropriate in some classroom settings. There is need to advocate for teachers’ autonomy in the development of classroom rules, which of course must be approved by the management. The objective is to ensure critical aspects influencing children behavior in the diverse classroom settings are captured and addressed.
