Lim Cai Yan-Group B

Case Study 1- Nurturing social experience of Annie in classroom

(i) The intervention
Recchia and Soucacou (2006) had conducted a research to observe how the teachers’ interaction with children would affect their social experience in the classroom. "For children with developmental delays, challenges engaging in social play, negotiating conflicts, and maintaining friendships appear to persist beyond early childhood and if left unsupported may lead to later social exclusion and adjustment difficulties" (Recchia & Soucacou, 2006, ¶2, as cited in Guralnick, 2001; Guralnick et al., 2006). Therefore, teacher plays an important role to support and nurture children’s social experiences in class.

The observation was conducted in three preschools (two preschool special education classrooms and one inclusive preschool classroom). All these schools served children between 3 and 5 years old with a variety of disabilities. The teachers observed in the three schools were all female with a master's degree in early childhood special education. In the study, teachers’ behaviors were the main focus and the researchers were observing out how the teacher’s interactions with the children would affect the children’s behavior in class.

After carrying out the observations in the three schools, the researchers had derived with four themes which focus on the area of nurturing children’s social experiences in classroom. For each theme, they had also come out with three strategies that the teacher had used to support social experiences during the observation.

Themes:
1. Adaptations that supported individual children's positive social experiences.
Strategy 1: Teachers allowed children the time and space they needed to explore their environment independently before supporting their participation in the group.
Strategy 2: Teachers honored and respected individual differences by encouraging children to express their individual skills and needs in the group.
Strategy 3: Teachers provided individual adaptations such as extra visual cues or physical input to enhance children's involvement in social activities.

2. Positive emotional connections between teachers and students
Strategy 1: Teachers acknowledged and validated children's feelings in both verbal and physical ways.
Strategy 2: Teachers encouraged children to take an active role when redirecting them gently to more appropriate behaviors.
Strategy 3: Teachers created special one-on-one moments with each child to nurture teacher-child relationships.

3. Ways in which teachers promoted positive social engagements and interactions among peers.
Strategy 1: Teachers actively engaged in children's play to help them initiate and maintain positive interactions with peers, and they modeled what children needed to do to show peers that they were their friends.
Strategy 2: Teachers set up activities for children that encouraged high levels of peer participation and peer interaction.
Strategy 3: Teachers encouraged more socially competent children to initiate interactions with their peers, modeling appropriate language and social behaviors.

4. Ways in which teachers promoted positive conflict resolutions.
Strategy 1: Teachers spoke for the children in order to explain their behaviors to others.
Strategy 2: Teachers diverted conflicts by helping children find more appropriate ways to interact with their peers.
Strategy 3: Teachers found ways to scaffold appropriate social responses through structured tasks in the classroom.

(ii) Its effectiveness (as reported in the journal article)
The strategies listed above are used by the teacher during the observation that had nurtured the children social experiences in the classroom. Not only has the child with special needs benefited from the strategies used by the teacher, but also the rest of the peers in the class. The teacher’s positive interactions with the child with special needs had resulted changes in the child’s negative behaviors in class. For example, in one of the observation, a teacher had encouraged the children to be kind to their peers through modeling the appropriate behaviors. Overall, her supportive presence and contagious enthusiasm had created a positive classroom climate.

(iii) Your personal evaluation how the child will benefit from this intervention
I feel that a same strategy may not work effectively for every child. However, Annie’s teacher is encouraged to try out the strategies listed above and also, she has to observe how each of these strategies can help to improve Annie’s social interactions with her peer. In addition, Annie’s teacher must be observant and flexible to modify the strategies to suit Annie’s needs.

Furthermore, I believe that in order for the strategies to work effectively on Annie, the teacher plays an important role to promote positive interactions between Annie and her peers. She has to be flexible to adjust the environment and activities and willing to make emotional connection with the Annie.

(iv) Your suggestions how you can make adjustments to cater to the needs of the child and to facilitate integration of the child / the intervention activity into your classroom.
I feel that Annie’s teacher needs to seek cooperation from the other children in the class to work together to improve Annie’s social experiences in the classroom. I feel that it is essential for Annie’s teacher to build up respect and care among the children in the beginning.

For example, Annie’s teacher can use storytelling to highlight the moral such as respecting friends or showing care towards friends. Annie’s teacher can also promote awareness about children with special needs through story telling too. I believe that if Annie’s peers displayed more positive social interaction in class, it would definitely influence Annie and the strategies may work more effectively, together with her peers’ support and understanding.

Reference:
Recchia, S. L. & Soucacou, E. P. (2006). Nurturing Social Experience in Three Early Childhood Special Education Classrooms, 8(2). Retrieved August 29, 2009, from http://ecrp.uiuc.edu/v8n2/recchia.html, Early Childhood Research & Practice (ECRP) database.