Investigating the Role of Early Years Education in Influencing Children’s Behaviours and their Abilities to Manage or Regulate their Behaviours in Early Years

Abstract

The study aimed to examine the how early years’ education (EYE) influences the behaviour of children and their abilities to manage or adjust their behaviours in early years. The investigation sought to determine the differences in the views of teachers and parents. A total of 105 teachers and 105 parents were involved in the survey-based study. Analysis was performed through regression analysis. The results reveal that the perspectives of teachers and those of parents with regard to how EYE influences the behaviour of children and their ability to manage or adjust their behaviour differ. Among the teachers, the five behavioural outcomes were found to be comprehensive predictors of the influence of EYE, based on the constant results (t=1.474, t=0.144), while among the parents, the constant effects were statistically significant, indicating that there are additional predictor variables not tested herein (t=3.775, t=0.000). Among the teachers, EYE was found to influence the ability of the children to regulate three out of the five behavioural outcomes, including impact on hyperactivity (t=-0.0228, p=0.020), peer problems (t=1.028, p=0.006) and pro-social behaviours (t=3.112, p=0.002). Among the parents, the influence of EYE was found to be statistically significant with reference to pro-social behaviours (t=3.530, p=0.000), problems with conduct (t=1.961, p=0.050) and problems interacting with peers (t=-2.695, p=0.000). Based on the results, it is apparent that the EYE in Saudi Arabia should be oriented towards explicit behavioural outcomes. Similarly, parents should be informed about the principles of EYE that relate specifically to behavioural management and regulation, so that they can support the inputs from the teachers.