The impact of the 101s positive discipline teacher training on teacher practices and preschoolers' executive function skills

Abstract

The 101s Positive Discipline (The 101s) is a set of research-based techniques for teaching children to be self-discipline. The 101s techniques were carefully studied in a lab school in the United States by Dr. Katharine C. Kersey, a university professor in Old Dominion University, and her research team. In the current study, The 101s techniques were adopted from the lab school to implement in the sample schools in Thailand. The 101s positive discipline training was designed for Thai teachers by a Thai expert who acquired The 101s trainer certificate. The objectives of this study were (1) to investigate the impact of The 101s teacher training on changes in teacher interaction practices and preschoolers' executive function and (2) to examine the correlations between teacher interaction practices and executive function skills. Two kindergarten schools in Samuthprakarn were randomly assigned as an intervention group ( 4 teachers, 31 children) and control group(3 teachers, 29 children). For the data analysis, independent t tests were employed to investigate the mean differences on each subscale of teacher interaction checklist between the intervention and control groups. The results of this study showed that the trained teachers in The 101s teacher training had significantly higher scores on positive teacher interaction practices subscales and significantly lower scores on negative teacher interaction practices subscales, comparing to the teachers in the control group. In addition, multivariate analyses of covariance (MANCOVA) tests were employed to investigate the mean differences on each subscale of BRIEF®-P between the intervention and control groups. The results also showed that the students whose teachers received The 101s Positive Discipline training had significantly lower scores on inhibit, emotional control, working memory and plan/organization (F=5.087, 7.873, 7.230 and 5.562 respectively, p<.05) as measured by the BRIEF®-P, comparing to the control group. Finally, bivariate-correlations were performed to examine the relationships between teacher interaction practices and executive function skills. The results showed the significant negative correlations among the use of positive principles in The 101s and BRIEF®-P subscale. The results indicated that The 101s training had an impact on teacher interaction practices and children's executive function skills. Discussion, limitations, implications, and suggestions for future research are also presented .