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Considering Care: Infant Teachers, Reflective Function And The Care Environment In Child Care Centers, Cynthia C. Jurie

Dissertations

The present study sought to explore infant teachers' understanding of the mental states of the infants in their care in child care centers. The goal of the study was to examine whether reflective function could be assessed through semi-structured interviews with infant teachers and whether the care environment of the center was

influential in supporting reflective capacity. To assess the care environment provided by the child care center, director interviews, teacher and director questionnaires and subscales of the Infant/Toddler Environmental Rating Scale, Revised (Harms, Cryer &

Clifford, 2003) were used. Participants in this study were 25 infant teachers and 24 …