Date of Award

Winter 2009

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Communication Disorders & Special Education

Program/Concentration

Early Childhood Education

Committee Director

Katharine C. Kersey

Committee Member

Gretchen LeFever

Committee Member

Marie Masterson

Committee Member

Steve Myran

Committee Member

Alice Wakefield

Abstract

While a great body of research evidence in the United States shows the impact of positive teacher interactions on teacher-child relationship quality and beneficial school outcomes for young children, it is not clear how Thai children would respond to the kind of interactional and social-emotional practices of American teachers. In this research, teacher training through The 101s: A Guide to Positive Discipline (The 101s, Kersey, 2006) was implemented in kindergarten classrooms in Bangkok, Thailand. The purpose of the study was (a) to investigate the impact of The 101s teacher training on changes in teacher interaction practices, teacher-child relationship qualities, and children's school adjustment, using a series of multivariate of covariance analyses (MANCOVA), and (b) to examine how these changes impact children's academic achievement, using bivariate correlation analyses.

The sample of this study consisted of 20 kindergarten teachers and 164 three to four-year old students enrolled in the ten classrooms in two private elementary schools located in Chatuchak district during the month of May 2009. The sample was divided into three groups. First, The 101s teacher training group in which the teachers received The 101s training consisted of 6 teacher participants and 59 children participants. Second, The 101s parent training group in which the parents received The 101s training but the teachers received no training consisted of 6 teacher participants and 50 children participants. Third, control group in which neither teachers nor parents received The 101s training consisted of 8 teacher participants and 55 children participants.

The results of this study showed that The 101s teacher training intervention described in this study was associated with positive changes in the teacher interaction practices, teacher-child relationships, and children's school adjustment. Additionally, The 101s teacher training resulted in positive correlations among the use of positive principles in The 101s, close teacher-child relationships, school liking, cooperative participation, self-directedness, language skills, and critical thinking skills. The results suggest that the cultural difference would not be a barrier to changing Thai teachers' interaction practices. The implications for teachers, schools, and educational policy mandates in Thailand, limitations, and suggestions for future research are discussed.

DOI

10.25777/ym4v-zt78

ISBN

9781109559408

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