Early Childhood Development

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Checklists for the components of a Model Day Care Center
(BRAC University, 1/12/2012) Siddique, Jennifer; Sarker, Dr. Profulla Chandra
Perception of parents about the care of children in the selected day care centers of Dhaka city
(BRAC University, 1/12/2012) Akter, Hasina; Sarker, Dr. Profulla C.
A SWOT analysis of pre-primary program in slums of Dhaka city run by Surovi (NGO).
(BRAC University, 2011-02) Alam, Md. Farhad; Rahman, Prof. A S M Atiqur
An evaluation study on provision of motor development within preschool program in Grameen Shikkha (GS).
(BRAC University, 2011-07) Chowdhury, Md. Tariqul Islam; Akhtar, Farida
SWOT analysis of government daycare centre in Dhaka city
(BRAC University, 2011-07) Nahar, Zannatun; Rahman, Professor ASM Atiqur
This is a qualitative study conducted to analyze the Strength, Weakness, Opportunity and Threat (SWOT) of government Day Care Centers (DCC) in Dhaka city. The objectives of the study are to explore the strengths and examine the weaknesses of sampled DCCs as well as identify the opportunities and determine threats to DCCs. For conducting the study two governments DCCs were selected out of thirteen as case examples. One DCC was in Mogbazar and other was in the Department of Women Affairs (DWA) office premises in Dhaka city. The data were collected from two Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) where nineteen parents of DCCs participated. Additionally, two observations were conducted in two DCCs and five interviews were conducted with five DCC staff (one caregiver, one teacher, one DCC officer, one administrative officer and former Deputy Director) to learn in depth about the SWOT. Participants were selected purposively from two locations. To conduct the FGD a guideline manual and two checklists were developed for reliability and validity of the observations. Five different questionnaires were developed to conduct the interviews. The GOB run DCC is a 100 percent subsidized program which is its great strength. This program is affordable for poor and middle income working parents who do not have access to other DCCs. Parents of children attending Mogbazar are pleased with the availability of these subsidized DCCs. They are able to work without concern because they feel their children are in a safe and secure environment. Most of the parents from both DCCs have voiced their satisfaction regarding the DCC services such as accommodation, provision of more nutritious food, supply of toys, learning kits and furniture. Parents are also satisfied regarding the care of their child in a safe environment and the positive role of DCC officers. Parents of DWA day care have voiced the need for a more flexible time schedule where children can attend the program related to their needs. Furthermore, parents expressed the interest in a quality school readiness program in DCCs and the need to increase the numbers of caregivers. DCC staff has also identified some weaknesses such as lack of AC, refrigerator, TV, and adequate staff, especially for the Mogbazar DCC. The researcher has identified that facilities are not the same between the two DCCs. These need to be maximized for all children. Furthermore, staff capacity is not being developed and there is a lack of a DCC operational guide as well as a defined curriculum. Children 2 currently lag behind with regards to stimulation due to the lack of age specific developmentally appropriate activities in the curriculum . Another serious concern is that children aged 6 months to 3 are not developed properly due to lack of initiatives. Some opportunities were identified through interviews and observations . DCCs need a separate budget to develop partnerships with different sectors. Moreover, the findings of this study also indicate that the few numbers of DCCs run by the government is inadequate according to the need of working parents. A significant number of children with working parents are at risk of not being able to properly develop . Consequently, few numbers of DCC facilities exist in private and public sectors through what is known as the Factory Act. All sectors need to attend to DCCs, as they contribute to the GDP. A further study with a representative sample is suggested to generalize the findings.
The knowledge of Marma parents in Chittagong Hill Tracts area on the role of play in Early Childhood Development and their contributions towards children's play practices
(BRAC University, 2012) Chowdhury, A. T. M Shoeb; Rahman, Nishat F.; Talagala, Indrani
Mothers understanding of the role in children's language development
(BRAC University, 2012) Begum, Asma; Kalam, Md. Abul; Sharma, Dr. Adarsh
Perception of parents and teachers of Chakma community towards mother tongue based multilingual education at early primary level
(BRAC University, 2012) Chakma, Jyotimoy; Khanom, Ferdousi; Talagala, Indrani
Adaptation of Preschool Language Scale-4 (PLS-4) for screening language development of Bangla Speaking Children
(BRAC University, 2012-01) Alam, Md. Jahangir; Sarker, Prof. Profulla C.
Early literacy development and school readiness: perceptions and practices of parents having 3-5 years old children in Dhaka city
(BRAC University, 2013-09) Mehnaz, Ashfi; Yesmin, Sakila; Sultan, Dr. Mainus
Research on early literacy in Bangladesh is mostly concentrated on poorly resourced environments and early literacy practices done by illiterate parents of lower socio-economic communities in rural areas. This study aimed to explore educated parents' perceptions and practices towards early literacy related skills in urban context at home settings. Additionally, it examined the home literacy interventions of 3-5 years old children and their pre-literacy skills in relation to school readiness. Data in this study collected through home observations and in-depth interviews with five mothers and conducted in natural home settings. The questionnaire was pretested and translated pdor to the actual study. This study is followed by three main research questions such as, parental perceptions towards early literacy and school readiness, availability of literacy materials and the process of doing literacy activities at home. Qualitative approach and purposive sample technique were employed in doing the study. Study reveals that educated parents prefer doing informal and unstructured early literacy promotional activities at home settings. They moderately mediate and facilitate early literacy promotional activities along with moderate facilitation of available resources at homes. Parents view home is the main repository for acquiring literacy skills but there lies lack of understanding towards the contributing factors that makes positive home literacy environment. Early reading is viewed as only beneficial for children's academic success and the benefits of early reading associated with other domains (social, emotional, psychosocial etc) are mostly overlooked in parents' responses. Parents are unable to model the behavior of story books reading to their children due to their own literacy habits and knowledge gap, and it works as a reason of conducting less story book reading sessions at home settings. Data suggests that parents seem to be unaware of the fact that shared reading can be a contributing factor to early literacy. Additionally, study reveals that social behavior of schools mostly determines what preJiteracy skills these age group children bring to schools as part of their school readiness. Child's own ability in academic skills is viewed as his/her'school readiness' and readiness in other domains along with family's readiness is overlooked in parent's responses. The study highlighted that educated parents have the understanding that their roles and contribution are factors for promoting children's early literacy but they have inadequate understanding and knowledge gap regarding the significance of their involvement in child's literate life. That's' why parents moderately scaffold and facilitate early literacy promotional activities and available resources at homes despite having opportturities. If parents were more conscious about the significance of their engagement in children's literate life, they might view 'family readiness' essential for child's 'school readiness.'
Exploring storytelling practices of urban mothers
(BRAC University, 2013-10) Majumder, Fahmida; Talagala, Dr. Indrani
The obiective of the study was to explore the practice of storytelling by urban mothers in Dhaka city. Two separate groups of participants - mothers in slum and middle class - were selected in Goran area under Khilgaon thana. The particular study explored the nature of storytelling, what the mothers thinks about it, what kind of stories they tell, whether the practice varies based on different strata of the society, how this is contributing to the mental and language development of the children, and what the children themselves think about it. The study followed qualitative approach. Focus group discussions (FGDs), indepth interviews with mothers and interviews with children were the methods used for data collection. Two FGDs were conducted with mothers selected from slum areas and middle class separately. Three in-depth interviews with mothers of each group were conducted while three children from each group were interviewed. Since the children interviewed are under age, their guardians were consulted beforehand. The study findings are organized under four themes according to the research objectives: 1) Prevalence of storytelling as a common practice among urban mothers; 2) Types of stories urban mothers frequently relate to their children and the time they relate; 3) Stories urban mothers relate and their contributions to child,s learning and development; and 4) Urban mothers' knowledge on the importance of storytelling to child development. It is found that urban mothers tell stories to their children but on irregular basis' only 40% mothers (both slum dwellers and middle-class mothers) tell stories to their children and the practice is much lower for slum mothers (slum mothers- 2g5% & middle-class mothers- 50oh).Nevertheless, mothers tell stories more frequently than any other member in the family. Folk stories, real life stories, religious stories and childhood stories mostly occupy the list of stories related to children. Data also supports that mothers pick up different kinds of stories based on their background and objectives. Slum mothers and middle class mothers have different choice in selecting folk and real life stories. Both groups of mothers practice oral storytelling, though it is the only means of slum mothers to share stories with their children. Gender consideration in selecting stories is present in both the group of mothers. Children also show their interests towards the gender stereotype stories. Analysis of the stories shows that the stories mothers select contribute to the children's learning and development, such as mental, language and emotional development. Storybook reading enhances the home literacy environment which is practiced only by a few middle class mothers (3 out of g). Slum mothers do not practice it at all. Data supports that mothers have knowledge about the importance of storytelling but do not practice it regularly. The study also found that watching cartoons on television occupy a major portion of time that should be allocated to storytelling' Though mothers are aware about the negative impact of cartoons on children, living in the modern age, they are reluctant to discourage their children from watching TV.
Education for hard-to-reach children: strategies used by NGO Surovi to provide primary education to children living in urban slums
(BRAC University, 2019-06) Islam, Manisha; Sultana, Sabira
The study titled “Education for hard-to-reach children: Strategies used by NGO SUROVI to provide primary education to children living in urban slums” explored the strategies and initiatives being used and implemented by NGO SUROVI for ensuring primary education to the underprivileged children living in the urban slums. The nature of the study was qualitative. The research site was the SUROVI School situated in Dhanmondi, Dhaka. For gathering data I conducted interviews with executive director, Head teacher and teacher, FGD with students and parents, document review and informal discussion with teachers, parents and students. The study found that SUROVI School provides the primary education in a non-formal education setting that follows the NCTB curriculum. It also offers vocational training to the underprivileged children of urban slums. The study revealed that infrastructural development of the school is needed and also there is crisis of funds. It was also found that more teachers training are required. However, teachers are very passionate about their teaching. Children living in urban slums have their particular problems but NGO SUROVI started its journey with a view to ensuring education, skill training and basic needs of the working underprivileged children. NGO SUROVI has been working with a vision of society where there will be no neglected deprived children in the society.
Working mothers’ perception on 3-5 years child school readiness in Dhaka city
(BRAC University, 2019-11) Nahar, Arifun; Khan, Mohammad Safayet
Research on school readiness in Bangladesh is mostly concentrated to explore general mothers' or teachers' perceptions or relationships between mother and teacher perception. Research indicates the working rate in Bangladesh is increasing with the enhancing of women's education. Since they are working mother they get less time to look after the child. So, it’s now a burning question for the working women to secure and educate their child in a sound way. This study aimed to explore working mothers’ perceptions of 3 to 5 years of child school readiness. The study was attempted to know working mothers’ knowledge practices, attitudes, and actions to promote child school readiness. This study is followed by 3 main research questions such as: (1) what does the working mother understand about child school readiness? (2) what are the working mothers’ perceptions (practice and attitude) about child school readiness? (3) what is the working mothers’ action toward their child school readiness? For this study, the qualitative research design was formulated. The study selected about 12 working mothers (6 graduate working mothers and 6 non-graduate working mothers). The data were collected with two focus group discussions (FGD): one FGD was conducted with six working graduate mother and the other was conducted with six non-graduate working mothers. And, four In-depth-interviews (IDIs): two IDIs were conducted with two working graduate mothers and tow non-graduate working mothers. The study suggested that working mother’s understanding, knowledge, and practice are influenced by maternal education level and socioeconomic status. Since graduation complete mother are privileged by educational level and socioeconomic status so they have shown more advanced knowledge and understanding about their child school readiness than non-graduate mothers. Mostly graduate working mothers acknowledged the importance of child school readiness with clear understanding and intentionally they translate into their practice. On the other hand, non-graduate working mothers also acknowledged the importance of school readiness but for having ambiguous knowledge about school readiness often they do not translate into their practice. Despite having a time constrain, different educational levels, and socioeconomic status there are no major differences in the mothers' role.
Perception of RMG working mothers on caregiver quality for children’s development at factory based child care center
(BRAC University, 2019-11) Alam, Sumana; Zaman, Syeda Sazia
Healthy early childhood development is important for all children, predominantly for the most disadvantaged children (Unicef, 2017). Appropriate care and stimulation in the early years had a deep influence on shaping a child’s brain to attain optimum functional capability and stability (WHO, 2004). In Bangladesh the children of RMG working mothers are in a vulnerable state due to lack of quality care in factory based childcare center (Unicef, 2015). Despite laws, labor act 2013, 94(2) of trained caregiver, set in place for factory-based childcare provisions, garment workers still suffer due to the lack of quality childcare center and also because of the lack of awareness regarding the importance of early childhood development. The objective of this study was to expose the current condition of two factory based childcare center through identifying RMG working mother’s perception on quality of caregiving on their child’s development. The results show that the RMG working mothers have inappropriate perceptions on quality of caregiving. Consequences show that quality of childcare center depends only on the physical environment of center. The findings also indicate that, the mothers have lack of knowledge on early childhood development and only referred about physical and language development. Regarding mother’s view on caregiver’s engagement, findings shows caregiver should be motherly, loving, and patient also can engage with children while feeding, giving bath, taking to sleep, play time. Concerning the challenges to ensure the quality caregiving in RMG factories, mothers identified some challenges such as-lack of trained and educated caregiver, insufficient caregivers are the hurdles of quality care in factory based childcare center. Based on the findings, some suggestions have been recommended for this study through strengthening professional capacity of caregivers, creating awareness among RMG working mothers and a large scale of study for further exploration on RMG childcare center.
Safeguarding of 5 to 8 years old children in primary school premise in Kaligonj
(BRAC University, 2019-11) Gomes, Gloria; Fatima, Nishat
Children are delicate in nature. When a child is born in a family, she/he entirely relies on a human support that is his/her mother or caregiver. Children need special care, support and a safe environment which supposed to be positive and stimulating for children’s physical, mental, social and emotional development. Home is the safest and secure place for children. However, when children enter in the social environment, school is the place where children spend most of their time after home. Therefore, Children look for the same safety, security and care in the school as home through teachers, peers and friends. This study focused on that situation. Especially, this study discussed and focused on the knowledge, perception, practices of the schools, teachers, and parents regarding children’s safeguarding issues in the school premise. This study was qualitative in nature and was guided by the explorative approach. Children’s safeguarding is a verse area to explore, consequently children maltreatment is selected to study on as one of the common factors of children’s safeguarding. The population of this study was primary school teachers and parents from a rural area of Kaligonj under Gazipur district. Two Primary school teachers including Head teachers and the 6 parents of the children aged 5 to 8 years were sampled purposively as research participants. Two data collection methods were used in order to achieve the objectives; i) Focus Group Discussion (FGD), ii) In-depth-interview (IDI). After collecting data, it was managed using content analysis method. Results from the analysis revealed that most of the teachers and parents expressed the need of a safe and secure environment for their children’s holistic development. Though they feel the inevitability of safety and security for their children in the school where children will learn and play freely without fear but still they keep emphasizing on to ensure children’s education only, children safeguarding issues are quite left out from their attention. They have a minimum knowledge and practices regarding these issues. Moreover, schools haven’t developed / implemented or arranged any sort of child safeguarding policy or plan, training or seminar for schools teachers or parents. As a result many teachers do not have enough knowledge how to work on safety and security issues in the school. All of the participants stated only physical punishment in the question of child maltreatment in the school. The other kinds of abuses are remote from their observation and attention. Nevertheless, they are experiencing this sort of matters in their daily experiences. Some of the teachers had only a “Half day program “on children safeguarding issues but haven’t taken any necessary steps after program. So the results of this study suggests that GoB and the schools as well should focused on this issue, should take necessary steps to ensure children’s safety and security in the school premise.
Teacher’s perception on bullying in early-primary years
(BRAC University, 2019-11) Islam, Sufia Binte; Zaman, Syeda Sazia
This paper addresses the early primary teachers’ perceptions on bullying in school. Bullying is an alarming issue creating an obstacle to the school going children’s mental health and hence ceasing their physical, mental, academic growth. The paper has followed a qualitative approach to conduct the research using Interviews and FGDs as tools to convey the teacher’s perceptions on bullying. The collected data were analyzed the findings. The findings are categorized in three parts; teacher’s perception, practice and challenges relating to bullying in the schools of Bangladesh. Although teachers have clear idea about bullying, they seemed to differ in the severity of the problem. The schools lack in quality trainings and policies. The GOs and the NGOs need to step forward in this matter to arrange some sort of programs to aware the teachers about bullying. It is very important to prevent bullying for the children’s sound mental health.
Current role of urban fathers in child rearing practices in early years
(BRAC University, 2019-11) Laboni, Bipasha; Zafer, Areefa
This study focuses on to know the current role of urban fathers in child rearing practices in early years. Most of the fathers and mothers in this study could define the term child development and they mentioned it is a growing process. Some of them relate child development with physical and brain development and also gave emphasis on nutrition. Most of the fathers relate fathers’ role in a child’s cognitive, social and emotional development. It has found out that fathers’ play caregivers role when their wives are working outside. For housewives the fathers mostly spend time with their children by playing, taking them outside, buying thing, or trying to give quality time on free times. The study also found out that the area where fathers could be more involved is taking care of their children’s study. Both in FGD and IDI the fathers gave priority to their children and family.
Understanding the perceptions and practices of private school teachers in the integration of empathy in classrooms
(BRAC University, 2019-11) Salauddin, Mehtaz Islam; Islam, Syeda Fareha Shaheeda; Rahman, Nishat Fatima
This qualitative study focused on exploring the perceptions of private school teachers about the importance of empathy and to learn about their current practices regarding the integration of empathy in the teaching learning scenario. Empathy is vital for building strong interpersonal relationships and has been tied to positive outcomes in harmony and collaboration, in this era of globalization. In the light of the increase of violence, cruelty and the divide between people, the society as a whole can be characterized as facing an “empathy deficit”. It has become imperative to bring focus on the socio emotional development which in turn will aid in cultivating compassion, altruism and empathy. As children spend a significant amount of crucial time of their development in school it is vitally important for teachers to know about the importance of empathy and be able to empathize with children and their emotional needs. Children from 2 years of age may have the rudimentary level ability to cognitively interpret; experience and react to the physical and psychological states of others. Moreover, both nature and nurture play a role in shaping individual differences for children’s concern for others. So, it is essential for teachers to have empathy in order to model empathic behavior and to foster empathy. This qualitative study focused on understanding teachers’ values, beliefs, and language in relation to empathy. It was conducted in 2 private schools in Dhaka. 4 (2 from each school) non participatory classroom observation was conducted and in-depth interview of 2 teachers (1 teacher from each school) was conducted using a semi structured questionnaire, consisting of both convergent and divergent questions. Two major themes and seven subthemes emerged from the data. The two major themes are: (a) teachers’ knowledge and perception of empathy in teaching criticism distorts empathy, and (b) teachers’ expression of empathy in the teaching and learning scenario. Overall, the study found that most teachers showed understanding in knowledge of empathy and expressed varying degrees of empathy for children in the teaching learning scenario. Some teachers despite of having the knowledge cannot take actions to build positive relationships with children. The recommendations derived from this research study suggest that further large-scale study, on-going empathy and special education training for teachers and establishing encouraging and supportive school environment for teachers in regard to integrating empathy in classrooms.
A study to explore mother‟s perception about 2-6 years children‟s behavior influenced by prolonged screen time in Dhaka city
(BRAC University, 2019-11) Jany, Tahmina; Khan, Mohammad Safayet
Innovation in technology has made gadgets and devices an integral part of our everyday lives. Every household from different economic background has some sort of gadgets that they use for either entertainment or for communication. It is inevitable for children not to become part of this new era gadget culture. Children are exposed to different types of gadgets from the moment they are born. In U.S.A 29% of children use tech gadgets as toddlers and 70% master them completely by primary school age. In developed countries many researches were done and still being conducted about children‘s gadget usage and screen time to ensure children‘s proper healthy growth and to inform parents about right ways to let their children use gadgets. In 1999, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommended no T.V at all for kids under 2 and only two hours a day for older kids. In Bangladesh, not very many researches were done on children‘s gadget or screen usage. There is no guidance from the government for Bangladeshi parents to exercise with their children about gadget use or screen time. The research and findings found in western world has associated screen time with sleep disorder, developmental delay, attention issues, school readiness, problems with social connectedness, violence, less connectivity, sleep disorder, obesity, sedentary behavior and less family bonding. In Bangladesh screen time and gadget usage among children is relatively newer concept than western world. Therefore, advantages and disadvantages of using gadgets are coming into light recently. Considering the importance of this issue, this study was done in Dhaka City to understand mother‘s perception and practices at home with gadgets with their preschool age children. This study will give us insight into mother‘s perception and practices about gadget usage among preschoolers. The objective of this study is to explore mother‘s perception on whether their 2-6 years old children‘s behavior influenced by prolonged screen time and practices at home. This is a qualitative study. Data was collected through qualitative data collection methods. It used In-Depth Interview (IDI) and Focus Group Discussion (FGD) as data collection method with the mothers of Dhaka city. Open ended questionnaire for IDI and FGD was used. The study used purposive sampling for selecting four (4) mothers from different socio-economic background and two FGD groups consisting of 6 mothers in each group and these two group represents two different social economic class. Content analysis was used for data analysis. The findings of the study gave us a vivid understanding of mother‘s perception about gadget or screen usage among their children. From both the IDIs‘ and FGDs‘ it seemed like mothers are using gadgets as ―babysitters‖ to control their children while they are eating or acting out in a social gathering. They also claimed that screen is being used as a source of entertainment due to the lack of child friendly activities in the town and absence of secured play area. This situation has made it impossible for children not to use electronic devices to engage themselves during their leisure time. Many parents expressed that when children are using devices they tend to be focused into the device, quiet and sitting which gives the parents opportunity to do their own chores or work. Some mothers said it is easier to feed their children if the children are watching screen during meal time. The usage of screen has increased among children in recent years which has finally started to show side effects and now parents are confused if screen or excessive gadget usage are the reason for their children‘s sedentary behavior, less sleep, less attention, obesity, less social connectedness, speech delay etc. problems. Many mothers think being able to use gadgets is a smart thing for their children without realising that children will suffer from its side effects. However, research findings have shown that, screen time, in particular, television viewing, has been negatively associated with the development of physical and cognitive abilities, and positively associated with obesity, sleep problems, depression and anxiety. Numerous researches have linked excessive screen time with socializing, cognitive and behavior issues. In this research, mothers showed positive attitude towards their childrens‘ usage of devices. Not all mother is informed about the issues that will arise due to excessive usage of screen and we are creating a generation who will lack social connectedness and other life skills. However some of the mothers are aware and thinks gadget use or screen time should be controlled by parents and children should not use gadgets or screen excessively. Mothers were confused about how much time they are supposed to allow their children to use gadgets as it was really very tough to control gadget or screen time of their children. There is no government guidelines for parents of Bangladesh to follow about this topic. Mothers do think there should be more awareness raising workshops where parents can get more information in this subject matter.
Parents' perception on responsive parenting during infancy
(BRAC University, 2019-11) Sultana, Rabeya; Zafar, Areefa