Multiple identities and religious transmission: a study among moroccan-dutch muslim adolescents and their parents

This study investigates the relation between religious group identification and ethnic and national identity among Moroccan‐Dutch Muslim adolescents (11–18 years) and their parents (n = 369). Compared to their parents, adolescents showed higher national identification and lower religious and ethnic group identification. However, for adolescents and their parents, there were similar positive relations between Muslim and ethnic identifications, and both identifications were negatively related to Dutch identification. For early adolescents, parent’s religious group identification was strongly related to their religious identification and ethnic and national identifications. These associations were not significant for middle adolescents. It is concluded that research on children from immigrant Muslim families should not only focus on ethnicity but on religious identity in particular.     

Temperament and Teacher–Child Conflict in Preschool: The Moderating Roles of Classroom Instructional and Emotional Support

Research Findings: This study is an examination of (a) links between preschool children’s temperament (effortful control, shyness, and anger) and teacher–child conflict and (b) classroom instructional and emotional support as moderators of associations between temperament and teacher–child conflict. Children (N = 104) were enrolled in 23 classrooms in 9 preschools in a midwestern city. Teachers provided ratings of children’s temperament and parents reported demographic information in the fall of the school year, classrooms were observed in the winter to assess instructional and emotional support, and teachers rated conflict with children in the spring. Multilevel models were estimated, and 3 main findings emerged. First, children’s effortful control was negatively associated with their level of conflict with teachers. Second, children’s effortful control was negatively related to teacher–child conflict in classrooms with low emotional support but unrelated to conflict in classrooms with high emotional support. Third, children’s effortful control was negatively related to conflict in classrooms with high instructional support but unrelated to conflict in classrooms with low instructional support. Practice or Policy: Findings highlight the importance of considering the interplay of children’s effortful control and preschool classroom instructional and emotional support in the development of early teacher–child conflict.     

Limited English Proficiency and Socioemotional Well-Being Among Asian and Hispanic Children From Immigrant Families

Research Findings: Previous research has suggested that children from immigrant families face multiple stressors associated with acculturation. One component of acculturation that has not been widely explored in relation to children's socioemotional development is limited English proficiency (LEP). Given that English is the main language used in American schools, it is important to understand how LEP can affect the socioemotional development of children from immigrant families whose 1st language is not English. This study explores the effects of LEP on the socioemotional development of 5,268 Hispanic and 2,088 Asian American children from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study data set (first 3 waves of data). Results from generalized estimating equation analyses revealed significant interactions between ethnicity and language status. English-proficient Asian American children fared better than Hispanic children, but Asian American children with LEP lagged behind their Hispanic counterparts in their approaches to learning, self-control, and interpersonal skills at the beginning of kindergarten. These ethnic differences disappeared by the end of 1st grade. Practice or Policy: Our findings suggest that language-related challenges among minority children may be more consequential for young Asian American children, who would benefit from additional efforts to help them attain proficiency in English.     

Maternal Attribution and Chinese Immigrant Children’s Social Skills: The Mediating Role of Authoritative Parenting Practices

SYNOPSIS

Objective . This study explores the contributions of Chinese immigrant mothers’ parenting cognitions and parenting practices to their children’s social skills. Design . We used a cross-sectional design to examine the mediating role of authoritative parenting in associations between Chinese immigrant mothers’ parenting attributions and their children’s social skills. Chinese immigrant mothers (N = 208, M _age = 37.36 years) reported their attributions regarding successes and failures in their daily caregiving experiences, authoritative parenting practices, and demographic information. Their preschool children’s (M _age = 4.51 years, 46.2% females) social skills in school were rated by their teachers. Results . Maternal attributions of successful events to uncontrollable causes and unsuccessful events to controllable causes were associated with more authoritative parenting. In turn, more authoritative parenting was associated with more competent social skills in children. In contrast, maternal attributions of successful events to controllable causes and unsuccessful events to uncontrollable causes were associated with less authoritative parenting, which in turn was associated with poorer social skills in children. Conclusions . Promoting Chinese immigrant mothers’ attributions that preserve positive efficacy during daily parenting tasks may enhance their engagement in warm, autonomy-promoting and regulatory parenting, which in turn may facilitate their children’s social skills.     

Discrimination, ethnic identity, and academic outcomes of mexican immigrant children: the importance of school context

This study examined ethnic identity, perceptions of discrimination, and academic attitudes and performance of primarily first‐ and second‐generation Mexican immigrant children living in a predominantly White community (N = 204, 19 schools, mean age = 9 years). The study also examined schools’ promotion of multiculturalism and teachers’ attitudes about the value of diversity in predicting immigrant youth’s attitudes and experiences. Results indicated that Latino immigrant children in this White community held positive and important ethnic identities and perceived low overall rates of discrimination. As expected, however, school and teacher characteristics were important in predicting children’s perceptions of discrimination and ethnic identity, and moderated whether perceptions of discrimination and ethnic identity were related to attitudes about school and academic performance.     

Parental involvement,children's aspirations,and achievement in new immigrant families

The authors investigated the relationships among multiple aspects of parental involvement (English proficiency, school involvement, control and monitoring of children), children's aspirations, and achievement in new immigrant families in the United States. They used data on immigrant parents and school-age children (N = 1,255) from the New Immigrant Survey to examine immigrant families from diverse backgrounds. Structural equation modeling analyses revealed that parental English proficiency and involvement in school education are related to children's academic achievement, cognitive development, and English language ability, directly as well as indirectly, through children's educational aspirations. Parental control and monitoring is not beneficial to immigrant children's cognitive development, although variations were found across different groups. They also observed intriguing findings regarding gender and racial or ethnic diversity. Based on their findings, they provide recommendations for the fostering of academic success and the design and implementation of educational programs and practices for immigrant children.     

Effortful Control,Behavior Problems,and Peer Relations: What Predicts Academic Adjustment in Kindergartners from Low-Income Families?

This study used a short-term longitudinal design to examine the role of effortful control, behavior problems, and peer relations in the academic adjustment of 74 kindergarten children from primarily low-income families. Teachers completed standardized measures of children's effortful control, internalizing and externalizing problems, school readiness, and academic skills. Children participated in a sociometric interview to assess peer relations. Research Findings: Correlational analyses indicate that children's effortful control, behavior problems in school, and peer relations are associated with academic adjustment variables at the end of the school year, including school readiness, reading skills, and math skills. Results of regression analyses indicate that household income and children's effortful control primarily account for variation in children's academic adjustment. The associations between children's effortful control and academic adjustment do not vary across the sex of the child or ethnicity. Mediational analyses indicate an indirect effect of effortful control on school readiness through children's internalizing problems. Practice or Policy: Effortful control emerged as a strong predictor of academic adjustment among kindergarten children from low-income families. Strategies for enhancing effortful control and school readiness among low-income children are discussed.     

Pictorial representations of simple arithmetic problems are not always helpful: a cognitive load perspective

This study examined immigrant parents’ involvement in early years mathematics learning, focusing on learning of multiplication in in- and out-of-school settings. Ethnographic interviews and workshops were conducted in an urban city in Japan, to examine out-of-school practices of immigrant families. Drawing from sociocultural theory of learning and the concept of appropriation (Wertsch, 1998), the role of power and identity was examined in relation to children’s appropriation of an informal multiplication method that was taught by their parents. An intergenerational analysis, between immigrant parents and their children, revealed heterogeneous perspectives towards appropriation. Immigrant parents in this study framed their involvement in their children’s early years mathematics learning in relation to their positional identities and the pressures to conform to the mainstream practices of their host country. During their early years of schooling, students in this study were already aware of academic tracking in the school and were aware of what was believed to be legitimate in school mathematics learning. The significance of diversifying mathematics curriculum and pedagogy was discussed to affirm the knowledge and identities of immigrant students and families.     

Children’s academic achievement and goal orientations: does the ethnic membership matter? / Rendimiento académico y orientación a las metas: el papel de la etnicidad

This study explored how ethnic membership relates to children’s academic achievement and goal orientations and whether there are ethnic differences in how goal orientations are linked to academic achievement. Further, we investigated whether these relations vary based on the geographical region where ethnic groups live. The sample included 361 children (179 girls), age 12–15 years, from two regions in Romania, Banat (n = 237) and Moldavia (n = 124). Ethnic differences in academic achievement were found only between majority and Hungarian minority ethnic groups who live in different areas, whereas ethnic differences in goal orientations were found between minority and both groups of majority children (living in the same and in different geographical regions). The strengths of the associations between goals and academic achievement were not significantly different based on ethnic and regional background. The findings highlight the importance of cultural (i.e., ethnicity) and contextual (i.e., regional area) factors in relation to children’s achievement and motivation (i.e., goal orientations). Additionally, our findings show that the relations between academic achievement and goal orientations are similar across the analysed ethnic and regional groups.     

Immigrant–Native Differences in Child Health: Does Maternal Education Narrow or Widen the Gap?

Abundant U.S. research documents an “immigrant advantage” in children’s physical health. This article extends consideration to the United Kingdom, permitting examination of a broader group of immigrants from disparate regions of the world and different socioeconomic backgrounds. Drawing on birth cohort data (ages 0–5) from both countries (n = 4,139 and n = 13,381), the analysis considers whether the children of immigrants have a physical and mental health advantage around the beginning of elementary school, and whether advantage is more pronounced among low‐educated populations. Findings indicate that the children of immigrants are not uniformly healthier than those in native‐born families. Rather, there is heterogeneity in the immigrant advantage across outcomes, and evidence of both greater advantage and disadvantage among children in low‐educated immigrant families.     

The Home Environment and Asian Immigrant Children’s Early Literacy Skills

Objective. The current study examines how aspects of the home literacy environment were related to Asian immigrant children’s early literacy skills. Design. One hundred and thirty-nine Asian immigrant families and their children (69 girls; mean age = 62.93 months; standard deviation = 3.82) were recruited from kindergarten classrooms at seven public elementary schools in Honolulu, Hawai?i. Trained research assistants assessed children’s early literacy skills in English at the beginning (T1) and end of kindergarten (T2). Parents (16% fathers; 84% mothers) rated their involvement in literacy-related activities in English and in their native language at T1, and classroom teachers rated children’s interest in literacy at T2. Results. Our results showed that parents’ literacy activities in English at T1 were positively related to children’s English literacy skills at T1. Parents’ literacy activities in English and in their native language at T1 were both related to children’s interest in literacy at T2, which in turn was associated with children’s English oral language skills at T2. Conclusion. These findings highlight the importance of examining the languages immigrant parents use during literacy-related activities.     

Cultural transition and academic achievement of students from ethnic minority backgrounds: a content analysis of empirical research on acculturation

Background: The achievement gap between immigrant and non-immigrant students that has been identified in most OECD countries and the considerable educational dropout rate among students from ethnic minority backgrounds in some countries have become serious challenges for national educational systems. The educational underachievement of young people from ethnic minority backgrounds is embedded in the process of their acculturation. In the tradition of cross-cultural psychology, acculturation describes individual or ethno-cultural group changes in behaviour and attitudes in the situation of intercultural contact. Such cultural changes are central to the experience of ethnic minority students including newly arriving immigrants, children of immigrants and members of marginalised ethnic and racial groups. Acculturation has been described as a stressful process, and acculturation orientations adopted by young people from ethnic minority backgrounds have been shown to have an impact on their adjustment.

Purpose: The school context has been recognised to be the crucial context for acculturation of young people from ethnic minority backgrounds. The academic achievement of these students is thus embedded in the acculturation process, which involves cultural identity development, psychological adjustment and behavioural adjustment. The study is aimed at analysing and systematising the findings of empirical research on acculturation in the school context with a focus on the academic achievement of young people from minority backgrounds.

Design and methods: For this study, 29 peer-reviewed articles from a total of 348 articles that matched the search criteria in the database of the Education Resources Information Centre were selected according to inclusion criteria. The selected articles addressed academic achievement of young people from minority backgrounds in relation to at least one of the issues of acculturation such as cultural identity, psychological adjustment and behavioural adjustment. The articles were analysed by applying the method of qualitative content analysis, using MAXQDA software. The findings presented in the selected articles were analysed and integrated according to a deductively developed and inductively enriched category system.

Conclusions: Overall, the results of our analysis offer insight into issues of acculturation in relation to academic achievement. Moreover, our findings reveal the complexity of the relationship between cultural transition and school adjustment for young people. As shown in our review, although a bi-cultural orientation was predominantly positively related to school adjustment of minority students, some studies also identified assimilative attitudes as advantageous for students’ academic achievement as well as for their psychological and behavioural adjustment. Moreover, our study has also shown that young people’s acculturative attitudes may have a different impact on their school adjustment relative to acculturative behaviours.     

Positive Youth Development Among Diverse Racial–Ethnic Children: Quality Afterschool Contexts as Developmental Assets

Positive youth development (PYD) deserves more empirical attention, particularly among children of diverse racial–ethnic backgrounds. Given the need among families for monitoring and supervision during out‐of‐school time, community‐based afterschool is a potentially promotive ecological setting. This study explores the quality of afterschool experiences upon PYD. This multimethod study includes over 500 elementary school children in Grades 2–5 (M_age = 8.80, SD = 1.12). The sample comprises of 49% White, 27% African American, 7% Latino, and 17% mixed race/others with 45% free/reduced lunch eligible children. In multilevel models, independently observed quality across time positively impacted competence, connection, caring for all youth, and cultural values for racial–ethnic minority youth. Afterschool fosters PYD, including sociocultural dimensions, when comprised of appropriately structured, supportive, and engaging interactions.     

Independent Contributions of Mothers’ and Fathers’ Language and Literacy Practices: Associations With Children’s Kindergarten Skills Across Linguistically Diverse Households

Research Findings: Home language and literacy inputs have been consistently linked with enhanced language and literacy skills among children. Most studies have focused on maternal inputs among monolingual populations. Though the proportion of American children growing up in primarily non-English-speaking homes is growing and the role of fathers in early development is increasingly emphasized, less is known about these associations in primarily non-English-speaking households or how mothers and fathers independently contribute to children’s skills. Using a subsample of data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study–Birth Cohort (N = 5,450), this study assessed the frequency of maternal and paternal inputs during early childhood and their prospective connections with children’s English language and literacy skills at age 5 across White, Mexican, and Chinese children from linguistically diverse households. Analyses revealed significant differences in inputs by ethnic/language group membership and significant associations between both maternal and paternal inputs and children’s skills. These associations did not differ across ethnic/language group membership. Practice or Policy: These results point to the importance of promoting rich home language and literacy environments across diverse households regardless of the language in which they take place or the parent from which they derive.     

Korean Immigrant Mothers’ Praise and Encouragement,Acculturation, and Their Children’s Socioemotional and Behavioral Difficulties

Objective. This study examined associations among Korean immigrant mothers’ use of praise and encouragement, their acculturation, their children’s socioemotional and behavioral difficulties, and the moderating role of child gender and age. Design. One hundred and twenty Korean immigrant mothers in the United States and their preschool children participated. Maternal praise and encouragement were observed during free-play interactions. Mothers reported their acculturation level, and teachers reported on children’s difficulties. Results. Mothers used process praise most frequently. Higher maternal American acculturation was associated with more use of person and other praise. Higher Korean acculturation was associated with greater use of person praise among younger children, but less use of person praise among older children. Mothers higher in American acculturation used more encouragement with older children only. Maternal encouragement was associated with fewer child difficulties. Conclusion. Korean mothers’ acculturation impacted their use of praise and encouragement, and maternal encouragement may be important for decreasing children’s difficulties.     

Children’s Home Numeracy Environment Predicts Growth of their Early Mathematical Skills in Kindergarten

This study investigated the longitudinal associations between children’s early mathematics and their home numeracy environment (HNE). Chilean children from families who varied widely in socioeconomic status were assessed at the beginning and end of prekindergarten in 2016 (N = 419, M_age = 4:7 [years:months]), and at the end of kindergarten in 2017 (N = 368, M_age = 5:10). Children whose parents provided frequent operational numeracy activities (e.g., learning simple sums) at prekindergarten showed better arithmetic performance and growth in nonsymbolic and symbolic number comparison at the end of kindergarten. Parents’ knowledge of number-related games predicted children’s arithmetic skills and growth in nonsymbolic number comparison. These findings underscore the persistent relations between the HNE and the development of children’s mathematical skills.     

Fostering effective and sustainable home–school relations with migrant worker parents: a new story to tell?

Current government policy, which calls for closer working relationships with families, together with the escalation of globalised communities places mounting pressure on teachers to take account of increasingly diverse family values, traditions and parenting styles. Considering the disproportionate number of minority ethnic children facing educational underachievement in the UK, one could argue practitioners take up this challenge. In view of increased European migration, this paper considers factors which remain the key to enabling migrant worker parents to establish and sustain effective links with their child’s school. After decades of research and government reports, how far we have come to ensuring that all families are enabled to become involved in their children’s schooling? The findings, which stem from a broader qualitative study, are largely presented through three collective vignettes which represent the voices, and different experiences, encountered by nine migrant worker parents. Factors identified as having significance to home–school relations include language barriers, issues associated with changing family structures, and community relations.     

Private Speech Moderates the Effects of Effortful Control on Emotionality

Research Findings: In addition to being a regulatory strategy, children’s private speech may enhance or interfere with their effortful control used to regulate emotion. The goal of the current study was to investigate whether children’s private speech during a selective attention task moderated the relations of their effortful control to their anger and sadness. The private speech of 156 preschoolers (age in months: M = 52.10, SD = 9.24, min = 36.20, max = 69.50) was transcribed and coded during a selective attention task. Effortful control was observed and reported by parents. Anger and sadness were reported by parents and observed in a frustration task. Children who used more inaudible muttering had higher levels of sadness. Effortful control interacted with private speech to explain anger. The negative relation of effortful control to anger was significant for children who used low and moderate but not high levels of task-irrelevant private speech. Practice or Policy: The presence of private speech, although it may support regulatory abilities within a task, may be an additional form of evaluation that might help teachers and caregivers decide how best to support children’s learning. These findings suggest that private speech can be used as an indicator of how well children use other regulatory abilities, such as effortful control.     

Longitudinal Trajectories of Four Domains of Parenting in Relation to Adolescent Age and Puberty in Nine Countries

Children, mothers, and fathers in 12 ethnic and regional groups in nine countries (N = 1,338 families) were interviewed annually for 8 years (M_age child = 8–16 years) to model four domains of parenting as a function of child age, puberty, or both. Latent growth curve models revealed that for boys and girls, parents decrease their warmth, behavioral control, rules/limit-setting, and knowledge solicitation in conjunction with children’s age and pubertal status as children develop from ages 8 to 16 across a range of diverse contexts, with steeper declines after age 11 or 12 in three of the four parenting domains. National, ethnic, and regional differences and similarities in the trajectories as a function of age and puberty are discussed.     

Building preschool teachers’ capacity for teaching Chinese to ethnic minority children in Hong Kong: A qualitative study

ABSTRACT

Teaching Chinese to second language learners is a challenge for preschool teachers in Hong Kong so effective teacher professional development programmes are urgently needed to enhance their knowledge and skills. An Integrative Model Teacher Professional Development Programme which incorporates three theoretical underpinnings (i.e., culturally responsive teaching, meaningful and pleasurable learning, and effective teaching of Chinese as a second language) is designed to equip preschool teachers with knowledge, skills, and awareness in teaching Chinese to ethnic minority students. Through qualitative interviews with 15 in-service preschool teachers who joined the Programme, teachers’ perceptions and changes in three theoretical areas of teaching Chinese to ethnic minority students were explored. Particularly, teachers increased their awareness of ethnic minority cultures, developed empathy with ethnic minority children and their families, gained knowledge of implementing culturally responsive teaching and meaningful and pleasurable learning of Chinese. The role of teacher sharing in effective professional development was highlighted.