Helen Baker-Henningham Department of Educational Studies, University of the West Indies, Jamaica

1. Introducing the Incredible Years Teacher and Classroom Dinosaur Programmes in Jamaican Preschools:Results from a pilot study Helen Baker-Henningham Department of Educational Studies, University of the West Indies, Jamaica

2. The prevalence of externalising behaviour disorders in 5-6 year old Jamaican children is 12%. Likely to be higher in inner-city areas. Few children access appropriate services. There is a paucity of prevention services for young children with social and emotional problems. Prevalence

3. Children’s emotional self regulation and social competence are powerful predictors of school success, even after controlling for variation in cognitive abilities. Children with emotional and behavioural difficulties are at high risk for a range of negative outcomes – e.g. underachievement, school drop out, and continuing aggression and substance abuse. Need for social-emotional training in early childhood

4. School based, preventative interventions, implemented during the early childhood years, have been effective in reducing child conduct problems and promoting child social and emotional competence in developed countries. No reports of such interventions from developing countries – urgent need to implement and evaluate feasible interventions in different cultural and economic contexts where access to childhood mental health services is extremely limited. School Based Interventions

5. Cater to children aged 3-6 years (and 2 year olds) High child-teacher ratio (1:25 children) Untrained teachers Few resources Overcrowding High noise levels Strong focus on academics and little emphasis on other aspects of development. Few opportunities for play & exploration Mostly teacher-directed activities English as a second language in school setting Corporal punishment is common (a recent Act bans the use of corporal punishment in preschools but it is not enforced) Jamaican Preschools

8. Parent Training Greatest evidence base But costly: need child care, transportation, refreshments, gifts etc. May be more feasible as a targeted program for children at higher risk. Teacher Training Less costly and more feasible One trained teacher can result in benefits to a number of high risk children Teachers can be trained to teach social / emotional skills to children and to reach out to parents Children’s behaviour at school is key to their school success Most feasible approach?

9. Range of training programmes: Parent Training Teacher Training Child Training Validated in different settings and with people from diverse cultures. Manualised, training and supervision available. Designed for implementation during the early childhood years. Incredible Years Training Series

10. The Study

11. 5 focus groups with parents of basic school children (47 parents) 4 focus groups with basic school teachers (42 teachers) 7 key informant interviews with basic school principals Extensive unstructured observations in basic school classrooms Preliminary Work • Identify common behaviour problems • Investigate parents’ and teachers’ perceptions of why these behaviours occur • Investigate behaviour management strategies used • Identify how the IY programmes can be effectively used in the Jamaican early childhood setting

12. Study Design 5 Basic Schools Stratified, Randomised Control Group: n = 2 Additional educational materials Intervention Group: n =3 IY Teacher Training (October – May) and IY Dina Classroom Training (January – May) 12 classrooms 15 classrooms Children screened for behaviour and / or attentional problems through teacher report: approx 5-6 children / class selected 69 children 65 children 5 lost 5 lost 64 children 60 children

13. Building positive relationships with children Building parent-teacher collaborations Importance of teacher attention, encouragement and praise Preventing problems: proactive teaching Decreasing inappropriate behaviour Promoting positive social skills, emotional literacy and problem solving in the classroom. Teacher Program Content

14. Building a positive relationship with each teacher Use of videotape modelling to promote discussion Collaborative process: teachers learn by identifying principles through guided discussion and solving their own and each others problems Role play and rehearsal to reinforce and practice skills Group support: other teachers are experts Monthly classroom assignments to promote application of skills in the classroom Individual behaviour plans for children with behaviour problems Teacher Program Methods

15. More time More practical activities & role plays Monthly classroom assignments more explicit Monitoring checklist designed to encourage teachers to monitor themselves 1 page handout of key concepts to accompany each workshop Additional items added to assessment checklists Behaviour planning forms more explicit Less emphasis on written assignments & more individual sessions to allow for verbal feedback Adaptations for Ja Context

16. How to do your best in school (4 weeks) Understand classroom rules Follow instructions Ignore distractions Persistence: keep trying when the task is difficult Understanding and detecting feelings (4 weeks) Learning words for different feelings Learning to recognise different feelings Understanding why different feelings occur Discussing what we can do to make ourselves and others feel better Child Program Content

17. Anger management (2 weeks) Learning to recognise when they are getting angry Practicing anger management steps – “doing turtle” Learning appropriate ways of expressing anger Friendship skills (4 weeks) Learning and practicing friendship skills (e.g. sharing, taking turns, swapping, working together, praising, asking & listening) Discussing and practicing different contexts in which these skills can be learnt Child Program Content

18. Child size puppets, colourful cue cards to engage children and make concepts more meaningful Use of rituals and routines to enhance participation and learning Modeling of concepts followed by children rehearsing skill Small group practice activities to reinforce skills Promoting skills taught throughout the day Child Program Methods

19. Puppet is used to role play scenarios rather than basing lessons on discussion and / or videos More visual aids & materials are used to promote children’s understanding and participation Feasibility is paramount materials must be available or easily accessible all activities must be suitable for use by the teacher without additional assistance limited use of handouts & homework assignments Adaptations for Ja Context

22. Teacher Behaviour 4 x 15 minute observations of teacher behaviour (2 ‘teaching’ sessions & 2 ‘activity’ sessions). Event recording of: Negative behaviours: critical comments, physical negative, intrusion, warnings, negative commands Positive / nurturing behaviours: labelled & unlabelled praise, incentives/ rewards, descriptive commenting, physical positive, grandma’s rule Commands: direct commands, indirect commands Teaching social and emotional competence: talking about feelings, encouraging friendship skills, reminding children of rules. All behaviours have clear descriptors documented in an observation manual with examples and non-examples of each Measurements: Pre and Post Adapted from: DIPCS (Robinson & Eyeberg, 1981) & T-POT (Martin, 2005)

23. Classroom atmosphere Four 5 point rating scales completed after each 15 min observation Level of appropriate behaviour Opportunities to share and help each other Level of interest and enthusiasm Teacher warmth Clear descriptors provided for each point on each scale Measurements: Pre and Post Adapted from Conduct Problems Prevention Research Group Rating Scales

24. Screening instrument Teacher rated each child in her class: yes or no. Definition Child has some difficulties with: Behaviour (for example, fighting, disrupting the class) &/or Paying attention (including often out of seat, not doing their work, not listening to teacher) Measurements: Selecting children who are at risk

25. Child Behaviour: Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire: hyperactivity, emotional problems, peer problems, conduct problems and prosocial behaviour Teacher-Parent Contacts: Number and content of teacher-parent contacts during the previous week (by teacher report): rated by interviewer as positive, negative or neutral Measurements: Pre and Post

26. 594 children (292 boys and 302 girls) 27.8% (165) identified as having a behavioural difficulty 33.9 % (99) boys 21.9% (66) girls Results of Screen

27. Change in teacher positives in intervened and control classrooms p < .001; Values are median scores / hour of observation

28. Change in teacher negatives in intervened and control classrooms p < .001; Values are median scores / hour of observation

29. Change in teacher commands in intervened and control classrooms p < . 05; Values are median scores / hour of observation. Intervention effect no longer significant when control for the school effect.

30. Change in promoting social & emotional skills in intervened and control classrooms p < .001; Values are median scores / hour of observation

31. Change in classroom ratings in intervened and control classrooms ** *** ** *** ***p < .001, **p < .01; Values are mean change (final – baseline) scores

32. Change in children’s prosocial skills p = .09, controlling for child sex and initial score; if control for school effect, no longer significant: ES = 0.38. Mean scores are presented.

33. Change in children’s total difficulties score on SDQ p < .01, controlling for child sex and initial score. If control for school effect, no longer significant: ES: 0.56). Mean scores are presented.

34. Change in parent-teacher contacts in intervened and control classrooms ***p < .001, *p < .05

35. Teacher Behaviours per Hour of Observation *Hutchings et al (in press)

36. Results of Qualitative Inquiry • Interviews with 15 teachers who had participated in the intervention. • All interviews were conducted by a researcher who was not involved in the intervention. • Interviews were taped and transcribed. • Framework analysis was used.

37. “They are three year olds and I now get to understand that, hey they are three and they won’t sit all the time, just give them a little wiggle space.” (teacher of 3 year olds) “It open my eyes, it make me see different, stop looking only at the ones that are bright but look at the other ones who aren’t and make them feel important just like the other ones, not to feel left out but them feel appreciated.” (teacher of 5 year olds) Understanding Children

38. “I would just sit and observe the free activity area but now from what I learned, I get up and go around and listen to what they are saying and encourage them. Normally, I would sit at my desk, now I get up and meet them at the door, rap with them a little so they start to open up.” (teacher of 5 year olds) “When they are in the corners playing, I’ll go into the corners and sit with them and be more interested in what they are doing and sometimes I even role play along with them and they love that. You see them smile and it makes you feel good. To see the fun that they have when I play with them, they laugh and say ‘Look at teacher’.” (teacher of 4 year olds) Playing with / spending time with children

39. “Changing my whole outlook on the punishment and hitting and stuff because most of the time the slapping don’t really work anyways, and now we find the new stuff, it’s less stressful for you because you don’t have to be saying the same thing over and over and doing the same stuff over and over and not getting a result.” (teacher of 3 year olds) “With the difficult children, some of the time, when they misbehave I would respond by either giving them a little slap or maybe shouting at them but instead now I find myself looking for times I can praise them and that really works. It works far better than shouting. I am less stressed and it has helped me be more patient and tolerant.” (teacher of 4 year olds) Reducing corporal punishment

40. “If they are sitting in the areas you hear them talking to each other, they are playing with the teddy and they ask ‘How are you feeling today? Are you feeling sad?’ (teacher of 3 year olds) “At first the children in the classroom, they are so angry like they use their pencils to stab each other. When they feel a child is not giving them …they just angry. Now they are more calm. They have been controlling anger by taking a deep breath and calm down themselves and using their ignore muscles.” (teacher of 5 year olds) Children’s emotional development

41. “Sometimes another child will come in and they just give the child a compliment and if a child come and helps somebody, they will come and say, ‘That was very good, very kind.’ They love to do the compliments.” (teacher of 4 year olds) “They ask for something when they need it, they don’t just pull it from the other person, the sharing – children keep coming to me to tell me that they are sharing.” (teacher of 4 year olds) Children have better social skills

42. “ She would just bite and she can’t sit by nobody and Tenice can’t agree with nobody and now I can put her to sit beside anybody. I used to put her at just one spot that I can see her and say ‘TENICE’ … and now she is helpful and she is just in her class, do her work and things. And I tell her mummy about the improvement and she stand up there and she say ‘I can’t believe this is Tenice’ and I say ‘Yes, it’s the same Tenice’ and the next day they bring me mango, they so happy.” (teacher of 3 year olds) Children have better social skills

43. “I have a better relationship with the parents. Cause at first you tend to want to give the negative, ‘He’s not behaving well’ and now you say ‘Tajay did this today, he sat at his table and completed his task.’ The parents know that ‘Hey, my child is doing something in school and he is great.’ It’s working. Parents are interested to come.” (teacher of 5 year olds) “Say for instance the child shares or helps a child outside who falls, we send a happygram home to the parents. The parents they respond very nicely, they come in and they say they like the way the child has been sharing in class.” (teacher of 5 year olds) Improved relationships with parents

44. “Parents are telling us that they are using those same skills at home, waiting turns, asking, complimenting. A parent told me that she had dressed for somewhere and the child complimented her and she went somewhere and she was pushing and the child told her to wait her turn” (teacher of 5 year olds) “It’s helping, not just in the school but in the home. It is rubbing off because their cousins and everybody is talking about the rules when they are playing at home. The parents say they hear the children saying ‘Keep your hands to yourself’.” (teacher of 5 year olds) Transfer of skills to home

45. “It helps the shy ones just open up and respond and they start to interact with each other better and they feel more confident so they started to talk and participate in the activities.” (teacher of 5 year olds) “The children learn to listen, they learn to participate, they learn to answer questions, they learn to observe things that are in the setting, they learn to obey rules and they relate to what is being taught. They answer questions, they cooperate and that’s a whole lot …….. (teacher of 4 year olds) “With the creativity that the programme offers for the teacher, it makes the classroom more exciting, more interesting and interactive for the children because some persons perceive children as empty containers waiting to be poured into. The children have so much to offer.” (teacher of 5 year olds) Other benefits in school

46. “I want it to continue and I would recommend it to any teacher and any school and I am really glad for it. When I go in and I sit down, I don’t come out till when it’s over. I don’t put anything on my agenda to say this Friday, if I have something come up, I change it, just to be at the workshop. ” (teacher of 3 year olds) “Every month we have the workshop, we get different ideas which helps, so I’m looking forward to the end of the month so we can get ideas, strategies we can use, so we can go straight ahead and work on it. If we have a problem with it, they patiently listen to us and we tell them and they help us and we go back to the room and we try it again and it works and they come in sometimes and they help us to deal with them and it works.” (teacher of 5 year olds) Recommendations

47. “It’s very good and I love it very much and I know you gonna get other schools, when they get this programme, they gonna love it also, this thing gonna big man, trust me, when you finish from this school and go to other schools them gonna love it, trust me. (teacher of 5 year olds) Recommendations

48. Pilot the revised programme in a greater number and more representative sample of schools and evaluate the programme for: Its impact on child behaviour through direct observation and teacher and parent report) Its impact on teacher behaviour and classroom atmosphere Its impact on parent-teacher relationships. Next Steps

49. Pay close attention to: The mechanism through which the intervention achieves its effects For whom and under what conditions does the intervention work best Amount of technical assistance required Cost- effectiveness of the programme How to integrate the training into the early childhood network in a sustainable and effective way. Next Steps

50. The project was funded by: Environmental Foundation of Jamaica Office of the Principal, UWI, Mona UNICEF, Jamaica