Training Kuwaiti kindergarten professionals in knowledge of child development, facilitation strategies, and developmental analysis through the transdisciplinary play-based assessment techniques.
Author: Al Balhan, E.M.
Source:
Dissertation Abstracts International Section A: Humanities & Social Sciences, Vol 59(3-A), Sep 1998: 0785
Transdisciplinary Play-Based Assessment (TPBA) uses play, the means through which children learn and develop, to help professionals and parents better understand the developmental status, learning style, temperament, motivation, and interaction patterns of young children. TPBA is an authentic, functional, skill-oriented, holistic strategy that includes parents as an integral part of the assessment process. Children are observed in a variety of play interactions with peers, parents, and trained facilitators. Facilitators provide direction by eliciting a child's highest level skills in an individualized setting that includes toys, materials, and facilitation techniques that are appropriate to each child. Five teams of Kuwaiti kindergarten professionals (teacher, social worker, nurse, and psychologist) were trained to implement TPBA in a 10-week program. The research sites were chosen to provide a representative sample of the geographical and subcultural differences across Kuwait. With five examples of children who had exhibited a variety of difficulties, this study provided evidence that the trainees were able to apply their knowledge of child development and TPBA in successfully facilitating TPBA play sessions. Furthermore, they were able to work effectively as a team with parents to provide a detailed analysis of a child's developmental status and his or her next steps in developing new skills in the cognitive, social-emotional, communication and language, and sensorimotor domains. At the end of the training program, both quantitative and qualitative data suggested that the five teams had remarkably similar levels of knowledge and skills. Staff and parent perceptions of the usefulness of TPBA were very positive. The results of TPBA can help professionals determine eligibility for special services and plan developmentally appropriate interventions for children who are functioning below, at, or above the age-appropriate guidelines accompanying the TPBA materials. Intervention plans can be used by professionals, parents, and other caregivers. The knowledge of child development, facilitation skills, and observational analysis skills associated with TPBA also can be useful for improving the quality of classroom teaching. Therefore, recommendations were made for both in-service and pre-service teacher training, as a step toward wider implementation of TPBA in Kuwait's kindergartens.