The Effects of a Teacher-child Play Intervention on Classroom Compliance in Young Children in Child Care Settings

• Main Author: Levine, Darren Gabriel
• Other Authors: Ducharme, Joseph
• Language: en_ca
• Published: 2010
• Subjects: compliance; child care; pre-school; play; children; 0384; 0518
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1807/24812

The current study evaluated the effect of a teacher conducted play intervention on pre-school aged children’s compliance in child care settings. Study participants included 11 children ranging in age from 2 to 5 years old and seven early childhood education teachers within seven classrooms across five child care centres. Teachers were trained to conduct daily 5 minute play sessions consisting of contingent praise, mirroring, and warm responsiveness. A combination ABAB and multiple baseline design was used to demonstrate the effect of the play intervention. Pre-treatment observations revealed varying degrees of recurring child compliance difficulties. The play intervention was associated with improved rates of compliance for each participant child regardless of differences in age, gender, and level of compliance difficulties. The intervention is discussed with regard to its potential as a pro-active, non-intrusive strategy for improving young children’s classroom compliance.