Supporting Parents of "Children of Concern" at Nursery Schools.

Abstract

Early childhood educators struggle to provide support for the parents of "children of concern". To improve the knowledge of nursery teachers and nurses in this area of specialization, consultations, training, and case meetings were conducted by professionals, including clinical psychologists. However, supporting parents may be difficult in some situations due to misunderstandings between these stakeholders regarding child development, problems with parental care, lack of parental ability, and improper parental care⁹⁾. In addition, nursery teachers and nurses working in nursery schools may not be confident at supporting "children of concern" because they do not know how to interact with these children and have not learned how to teach them. The aim of this study was to clarify the type of support available to parents with children deemed "of concern" by teachers and nurses in nursery schools; the effects of these types of support were also examined. A questionnaire-based survey was performed. The data were analyzed using a simple tabulation method; the free description method was used for qualitative analysis. Early childhood educators remain in a difficult situation when dealing with parents of "children of concern", in particular, when conveying concern to parents and when dealing with parents not accepting or not aware of these concerns. Referrals to experts and talking and listening to parents can help build trust and support parents. Nurses have a duty to support parents of "children of concern" who are suspected of having developmental disabilities. In addition, it is necessary to incorporate education on practicing childcare support in basic nursing training.