Distress is a part of everyday life. Both adults as well as teenagers and children encounter it. Younger children are the most vulnerable group in experiencing distress, since they haven't yet developed mechanisms to deal with it.
My master's thesis is based on children who are enrolled in pre-school education. I am exploring the responses of teachers and professional workers to distress of children and I am also discovering the importance of preventive actions of preschool teachers and practitioners workers in this field. In the theoretical part I have defined the child's development in the preschool period and the needs of toddlers in early childhood. Next I have defined the role of a teacher and its importance for the child's development. The core of my thesis includes identification of a child’s distress with listed possible early signs of distress and definition of emotional and behavioral difficulties. I have listed some possible guidelines and strategies to cope with and reduce distress of children and I have also pointed out a few guidelines for preventive support in the kindergarten system as well as for individuals.
The empirical part is based on a qualitative study, which included seven preschool teachers and three from various kindergartens across Slovenia. I was interested to find out how teachers and other practitioners in kindergartens respond to child’s distress, which behaviors they detect to stand out the most and what are the best practices they use to deal with the distress of children in the context of early intervention and prevention. I have found out that the interviewees associate distress of children and, consequently their behavior, most often with changes they see in children. They usually respond sympathetically and carefully to them. Most often distress arises because of changes in the family and often children are experiencing distress as a result of entering kindergarten.
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