A Child at a Time Understanding Temperament

Loraine Cook

ISBN 10: 9766409315 / ISBN 13: 9789766409319

Editore: The University of the West Indies Press, 2024

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&Uumlber den AutorLoraine D. Cook is a Professor of Educational Psychology at the University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica. She has been a visiting scholar in Applied Psychology at the New York University (NYU), and is the im.

Codice articolo 1695335952

Dati bibliografici

• Titolo: A Child at a Time Understanding Temperament
• Editore: The University of the West Indies Press
• Data di pubblicazione: 2024
• Lingua: Inglese
• ISBN 10: 9766409315
• ISBN 13: 9789766409319
• Rilegatura: Brossura
• Condizione: New

Descrizione articolo

Riassunto

Children are not empty canvasesawaiting adult input; rather, they come into the world with inherent traitsencoded in their DNA. As they develop, these unique characteristics graduallyreveal themselves. In A Child at a Time: Understanding Temperament, Loraine D. Cook explainsthe importance of teachers and parents understanding a child’s uniquecharacteristics (their temperament), reflected in their behaviour and reactionstyles. The author questions the conventional one-size-fits-all approach toeducation to which many educators and parents adhere. By exploring the conceptsof a poorness-of-fit and a goodness-of-fit environment, Cook illustrates how achild’s surroundings can influence the expression of their temperament.

 

Over severalchapters, the author discusses parents’and teachers’ interactions with their children and how such interactions canaffect the quality of the home and school environments in which childrendevelop. These interactions are not only impacted by children’s temperamentsbut also by the characteristics of the adults involved. If adults fail to account for temperament in managing children’sbehaviours, then the nurturing environment for children in the home and theclassroom may be inundated with frustrated parents, teachers and children, potentiallycompromising children’s social, emotional and academic growth. By helpingparents and teachers understand children’s behavioural patterns, adults candevelop a more holistic environment conducive to their children’s well-being.

 

In the book’s concluding chapters,Cook discusses the INSIGHTS programme, which is rooted in temperament theories,and its outcomes in Jamaica. This programme offers customized behaviour-managementstrategies for parents and teachers based on children’s temperaments andemphasizes early intervention by teaching conflict-management skills tochildren as young as five.

 

A Child at a Time isa call to educators,parents and policymakers to recognize that children’s individual differences areimportant, particularly in their formative years. By reading this book, parentsand educators can gain valuable insights into children’s behaviours and reactions,thereby improving their approach to behaviour management. 

Informazioni sull'autore

Loraine D. Cook is a professor of educational psychology and lectures in research methods and educational psychology at the School of Education (Mona), University of the West Indies. She is a founding co-chief editor of the Caribbean Journal of Mixed Methods Research. She received the Fulbright Visiting Researcher Award in 2011.