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CLASSROOM QUALITY AND TEACHER-CHILD INTERACTION IN EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION

Relationships with ChildRen’s ClassRoom engagement and stRuCtuRal Quality

in Vietnamese Context

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Hoang Thuc Nhi

CLASSROOM QUALITY AND TEACHER-CHILD INTERACTION IN EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION

Relationships with ChildRen’s ClassRoom engagement and stRuCtuRal Quality

in Vietnamese Context

Publications of the University of Eastern Finland Dissertations in Education, Humanities, and Theology

No 139

University of Eastern Finland Joensuu

2019

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Grano Oy Joensuu, 2019

Sarjan vastaava toimittaja / Editor: Päivi Atjonen Sales: Itä-Suomen yliopiston kirjasto

ISBN: 978-952-61-3069-9 (nid.) ISBN: 978-952-61-3070-5 (PDF)

ISSNL: 1798-5625 ISSN: 1798-5625 ISSN: 1798-5633 (PDF)

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Hoang, Nhi

Classroom quality and teacher-child interaction in early childhood education:

Relationships with children’s classroom engagement and structural quality in Vietnamese context, 56 p.

Publications of the University of Eastern Finland.

Dissertations in Education, Humanities, and Theology; 139 ISBN: 978-952-61-3069-9 (print)

ISSNL: 1798-5625 ISSN: 1798-5625

ISBN: 978-952-61-3070-5 (PDF) ISSN: 1798-5633

aBstRaCt

Previous research has shown that classroom quality is associated with children’s academic outcomes. Therefore, it is imperative to study classroom quality and how it is related to children learning. This dissertation investigates classroom quality, child classroom engagement and disaffection, relationships between pro- cess quality and structural quality in the classroom, and the functionality of the two measurements: the Classroom Assessment Scoring System – CLASS and the Engagement versus Disaffection in Learning- EvsD in a new educational context.

The two main theories applying in this dissertation are the Teaching through In- teraction framework and the motivational conceptualization of engagement and disaffection.

The participants in the study were 1,474 children and 60 teachers of 54 classrooms from 12 kindergartens in three Vietnamese cities. The dissertation encompasses three sub-studies. The first sub-study examines classroom quality in terms of teacher-child interaction and how it is related to child classroom engagement and disaffection. Find- ings show that the classroom quality in Vietnamese kindergartens was at moderate level. Classroom organization was related significantly to child classroom engage- ment positively, while emotional support was related to child classroom engagement negatively. Teacher-child interaction was not related to significantly child classroom disaffection.

The second sub-study examines the latent profiles of classroom quality and their associations with structural quality, such as teaching experience, teacher age and child classroom engagement and disaffection. Three classroom quality profiles (high, medium, and low) were found in this sample of kindergarten classrooms. In the high quality profile, classroom organization received the highest scores. In low- and mid- dle-quality profiles, instructional support received the lowest scores. In the low quality profile, negative climate overcame positive climate. The fixed-effect and random-effect modelling results suggest that classroom quality is related to child classroom disaf- fection. Children had lower classroom disaffection in high-quality profile classrooms and had higher classroom disaffection in lower quality profile classrooms. The re- sults also reveal that less-experienced teachers were represented more in low-quality profile classrooms. The study found that children were less engaged in learning in older-teachers classes, and children were more engaged in classes taught by more- experienced teachers.

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The third sub-study examines child classroom engagement and disaffection and associations of these with structural quality, such as child age, child gender, school type, and class size. Findings show that child classroom engagement and disaffection were at moderate levels and disaffection was lower than engagement in both behavio- ral and emotional dimensions. Child age and gender were related to child classroom engagement and disaffection. Boys had lower behavioral and emotional classroom engagement and higher emotional disaffection than girls. Younger children showed lower emotional disaffection and greater emotional engagement than older children.

Children in private kindergartens had lower emotional and behavioral disaffections than those in public kindergartens. Children in a smaller class size were more disaf- fected than children in larger classes. The findings of the dissertation suggest that, using CLASS (with three factors) and EvsD (with four factors), it is possible to assess classroom quality and child classroom engagement and disaffection in Vietnamese kindergarten classrooms.

Overall, the dissertation shows that classroom quality in kindergarten classrooms in Vietnam differ from those of other countries using the same instruments. In the kin- dergarten classrooms of most western countries, the emotional support is the highest, and instructional support is the lowest among the main domains. In Vietnamese kin- dergarten classrooms, classroom organization received the highest scores, indicating that teachers in Vietnam more focused on classroom organization than on emotional support. The results also show that teacher sensitivity and regard for student perspec- tives in classrooms in Vietnam were lower than those previously found for teachers in other countries using CLASS.

Keywords: Age difference, classroom engagement and disaffection, classroom quality, class size, classroom quality profiles, gender difference, kindergarten, teacher’s teaching experience, school type.

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Hoang, Nhi

Opetuksen laatu ja opettaja-oppilas vuorovaikutus vietnamilaisissa varhaiskasvatuksen ryhmissä: Lasten koulusitoutumisen yhteys rakenne- ja prosessilaatuun., 56 s.

Publications of the University of Eastern Finland.

Dissertations in Education, Humanities, and Theology; 139 ISBN: 978-952-61-3069-9 (nid.)

ISSNL: 1798-5625 ISSN: 1798-5625

ISBN: 978-952-61-3070-5 (PDF) ISSN: 1798-5633

aBstRakti

Opetuksen laadun tiedetään olevan yhteydessä oppilaiden oppimistuloksiin. Var- haiskasvatuksen ryhmissä lapset luottavat opettajiinsa vieläkin enemmän kuin op- pilaat kouluissa, joten opettajan ja lasten välisen vuorovaikutuksen rakentuminen korostuu arvioitaessa opetuksen laatua. Sen vuoksi tarvitaan tutkimusta myös esi- opetusryhmien opetuksen laadusta ja sen roolista lasten oppimisessa. Tässä väitös- tutkimuksessa tarkasteltiin esiopetusryhmän vuorovaikutuksen laatua Hamren y.

(2013) teoreettisen Teaching through Interaction -viitekehyksen kautta. Lapsen mo- tivoitumista (sitoutuminen ja tyytymättömyys) esiopetukseen määriteltiin puolestaan motivaatiotutkimukseen perustuen. Tutkimusmenetelminä käytettiin CLASS -havain- nointimenetelmää ja EvsD -Oppimiseen sitoutuminen vs. tyytymättömyys -arvioin- timenetelmää. Lisäksi tutkimuksessa arvioitiin näiden menetelmien soveltuvuutta uudessa kasvatuskontekstissa, Vietnamissa.

Tutkimusaineistona oli 1,474 lasta ja 60 opettajaa 54 luokasta 12:ssa päiväkodissa kolmen kaupungin alueella Vietnamissa. Tutkimus koostui kolmesta osatutkimukses- ta. Ensimmäisessä osatutkimuksessa tarkasteltiin sitä, miten ohjausvuorovaikutuksen laatu oli yhteydessä oppilaiden oppimiseen sitoutumiseen tai tyytymättömyyteen.

Tulokset osoittavat ensinnäkin, että ohjausvuorovaikutus vietnamilaisissa esiopetus- ryhmissä oli kohtalaista. Luokkahuoneen toiminnan organisointi oli positiivisessa yhteydessä lapsen esiopetukseen sitoutumiseen, kun taas opettajan tunnetuen yhteys lapsen esiopetukseen sitoutumiseen oli negatiivista. Opettaja-oppilas -ohjausvuoro- vaikutuksen laatu ei puolestaan ollut merkitsevästi yhteydessä lapsen tyytymättö- myyteen.

Toisessa osatutkimuksessa opetuksen laatua analysoitiin latenttien profiilien kautta. Lisäksi tutkittiin latenttien profiilien yhteyttä rakenteellisiin tekijöihin, kuten opettajien opetuskokemukseen ja ikään sekä myös oppilaiden lapsen esiopetukseen sitoutumiseen ja tyytymättömyyteen. Analyysi paljasti opetuksen laadun osalta kolme latenttia ryhmää (korkea, keskimääräinen ja matala). Luokan toiminnan or- ganisointi osoittautui korkealaatuiseksi. Keskimääräisessä ja matalalaatuisessa ry- hmässä ohjauksellinen tuki oli heikompaa. Matalalaatuisessa ryhmässä havaittiin myös negatiivisen ilmapiirin olevan positiivista yleisempää. Kiinteän vaikutuksen ja satunnaisen vaikutuksen tilastolliset mallit osoittivat ohjausvuorovaikutuksen laadun vaikuttavan lapsen esiopetukseen tyytymättömyyteen, sillä lapset osoittautuivat vähemmän tyytymättömiksi korkealaatuisessa ryhmässä ja enemmän tyytymättömiä matalalaatuisessa ryhmässä. Tulokset osoittivat myös, että niistä opettajista, joilla oli

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vähän opetuskokemusta, enemmistö kuului siihen ryhmään, missä opetuksen laatu oli matala. Lisäksi havaittiin, että ne lapset, jotka eivät olleet sitoutuneita oppimiseen opiskelivat iältään vanhempien opettajien luokissa ja ne lapset, joiden opettajat olivat työssään keskimääräistä kokeneempia, olivat oppimiseen sitoutuneimpia.

Kolmas osatutkimus tarkasteli lapsen esiopetukseen sitoutumista ja tyytymättö- myyttä sekä niiden yhteyttä lapsen ikään ja sukupuoleen sekä rakenteellisiin tekijöi- hin, kuten koulun tyyppiin (julkinen, yksityinen) ja luokan kokoon. Tarkasteltaessa tuloksia sekä behavioraalisesta ja emotionaalisesta ulottuvuudesta havaittiin, että sekä esiopetukseen sitoutuminen että tyytymättömyys olivat molemmat keskimääräisellä tasolla, mutta tyytymättömyys oli vähäisempää kuin sitoutuminen. Oppilaiden ikä ja sukupuoli olivat yhteydessä sekä oppilaiden esiopetukseen sitoutumiseen että tyy- tymättömyyteen siten, että pojat olivat vähäisemmin behavioraalisesti ja emotionaal- isesti esiopetukseen sitoutuneita kuin tytöt. Nuoremmat lapset olivat vähäisemmin emotionaalisesti tyytymättömiä ja enemmän emotionaalisesti sitoutuneimpia kuin vanhemmat lapset. Havaittiin myös, että yksityisissä esiopetusryhmissä olevat lapset olivat vähäisemmin emotionaalisesti ja behavioraalisesti tyytymättömiä verrattuna julkisissa esiopetusryhmissä oleviin lapsiin. Mielenkiintoinen oli myös tulos, jonka mukaan pienemmissä ryhmissä olevat lapset olivat tyytymättömämpiä kuin lapset suurissa ryhmissä. Tulokset osoittavat, että kolmen faktorin ratkaisua käytettäessä CLASS-menetelmä ja neljän faktorin ratkaisua käytettäessä EvsD -menetelmä ovat luotettavia menetelmiä myös Vietnamissa, kun arvioidaan esiopetuksen ohjausvuoro- vaikutuksen laatua ja lapsen esiopetukseen motivoitumista.

Tämän tutkimuksen tulokset osoittavat, että opetuksen laatu vietnamilaisissa esi- opetusryhmissä on erilainen kuin niissä maissa, joissa CLASS-arviointimenetelmää on aiemmin käytetty. Useimmissa länsimaisissa tutkimuksissa on havaittu, että mit- tarissa arvioiduista osatekijöistä tunnetuki on korkein ja ohjauksellinen tuki matalin.

Vietnamilaisissa esiopetusryhmissä puolestaan ryhmän organisointi on laadultaan korkeinta. Tämä kertoo siitä, että ryhmän organisointi korostuu vietnamilaisissa esio- petusryhmissä ja tunnetuki jää vähemmälle huomiolle. Myös opettajien sensitiivisyys on aiemmissa CLASS-arviointimenetelmää käyttäneissä tutkimuksissa havaittu ole- van korkeampaa kuin tämän tutkimuksen kohdejoukossa.

Asiasanat: Ikä, esiopetukseen sitoutuminen ja tyytymättömyys, luokkakoko, luokan ohjausvuorovaikutuksen profiilit, sukupuoli, esiopetus, opettajan työkokemus, koulun tyyppi

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ACkNOwLEDgEMENTS

Thanks God for leading my life, giving me a chance to be supervised by two wonderful supervisors, who not only guided me in doing research but also cared about my well- being during the my doctoral program. I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisors, professor Leena Holopainen and Dr. Martti Siekkinen for the endless support and guidance. Under your supervisions, I have progressed significantly thanks to your valuable comments, time and encouragements. Also thanks for your support, I had an opportunity to study the Classroom Assessment Scoring System in the U.S.

I also would like to express my special thanks to professor Eve Kikas, as one of the pre-examiners for her valuable and constructive suggestions, and for her agreement to be the official opponent in the public examination. I also thank docent Päivi Pihlaja for her work as a pre-examiner, her insightful comments have helped to improve the dissertation.

I would like to thank Philosophical Faculty in University of Eastern Finland for employing me for four years, giving me supportive facilities and materials to do the research. Four-year working as early stage researcher was not only a significant financial source but also a great journey, which gave me chance to work at an international and friendly working environment. I also thank the personnel, officers, teachers and profes- sors in special education and philosophical faculty. Especially, Liisa Puhakka, for your friendship, help with the travel, invoice claims and Finnish language. I really enjoy the talks, foods and books. Thank you Teija Koskela for your instructions in special educa- tion and Tapio Hokkanen for having me in your Finnish courses. I have now solid basic knowledge about Finnish language for further learning Finnish and I started loving the language. I also want to thank Minna Mäkihonko and Teemu Valtonen for involving me to the projects, I have learnt much when working with you. Thank you Barnali Sarkar for sharing the working room with me in four years, I always enjoyed our talks and shares. Thank you Kirsti Stolt-Pappinen and Matti Pappinen for your friendship, I enjoyed working in the project with you. There are many more people that I have not named here, those who have helped and supported me so much during my time at UEF.

I would like to thank my family (Mom-Xuan, Dad-Uy, Quan, Tien, Thu, Mai, Nhat) and my daughter An Thy who always love me endlessly, being with me when I am up and down, giving me smiles when I come home. This dissertation is also a gift for my grandpa Khue and my grandma Nhi, who had passed away but always being with me wherever I go or live, never leave me alone. And Esa Savolainen, thank you for being with me, helping me, reading my dissertation.

Finally, I would like to thank all the principals, teachers and students in the kin- dergartens for allowing me to record the teaching and learning sessions and rating the children´s engagement and disaffection assessments. Especially, I would like to thank Sr. Hong Hoa, then-principal of Hoa Cuc kindergarten, Sr. Yen, Principal of Son Ca kindergarten, Ms. Camly, principal of Chimnon kindergarten, Ms. Mai, Principal of Mamnon 14 Quan 3 kindergarten, Principal and vice-principals of Hoa Mi and Little Canary kindergartens for the friendship, kindness and hospitality during my data collection. I also thank Ms Trang for assisting me to collect the data in Hanoi.

Joensuu 16.4.2019 Hoang Thuc Nhi

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LIST OF PUBLICATIONS

I Hoang, N., Holopainen, L., & Siekkinen, M. (2018). Quality of teacher–child interactions and its relations to children’s classroom engagement and disaffection in Vietnamese kindergartens. International Journal of Early Years Education, 26(4), 387–402. doi:10.1080/09669760.2018.1478281

II Hoang, N., Holopainen, L., & Siekkinen, M. (2018). Classroom quality profiles and associations with children’s classroom engagement in Vietnamese kindergartens. Learning Environments Research, 1–16. doi:https://doi.

org/10.1007/s10984-018-9273-1

III Hoang, N., Holopainen, L., & Siekkinen, M. (2018). Children’s classroom engagement and disaffection in Vietnamese kindergartens. Educational Psychology, 39(2), 254–270. doi:10.1080/01443410.2018.1524854

The permissions to reprint the three original articles as a part of this dissertation have been received from publishers/copyright holders.

The independent contribution of the doctoral candidate to this doctoral dissertation:

This doctoral dissertation is a collection of an independent summary and three peer- reviewed research articles that have been published online. Nhi Hoang is a major contributor to all three articles. She has done most of the works in all stages of the research project, from research design, data collection, coding data, statistical analysis to checking the final stage of the project. She has written all the articles in this disser- tation under the guidance of Professor Leena Holopainen and Dr. Martti Siekkinen.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

aBstRaCt ... 5

aBstRakti ... 7

aCknowledgements ... 9

list of oRiginal puBliCations ... 11

1 intRoduCtion ... 17

1.1 Overview of Early Childhood Education (ECE) from International Perspectives ... 18

1.2 ECE in Vietnam ... 20

1.3 The Theoretical Framework of Teaching through Interaction ... 22

1.4 The Theoretical Framework of Child Classroom Engagement and Disaffection ... 23

1.5 Relations between Structural Quality, Process Quality, and Child Classroom Engagement and Disaffection ... 25

1.6 Aims of the Study ... 27

2 methods ... 30

2.1 Procedure and Participants ... 30

2.1.1 Procedure ... 30

2.1.2 Participants ... 30

2.1.3 The ethical procedures of the study ... 31

2.2 Measures ... 32

2.3 Reliability and Validity of the Study ... 32

2.3.1 Reliability of this study . ... 33

2.3.2 Validity of this study . ... 33

2.4 Data Analysis Strategy ... 36

3 summaRy of the Results ... 38

3.1 Classroom Quality in Vietnamese kindergartens ... 38

3.1.1 Levels of classroom quality in Vietnamese kindergarten ... 38

3.1.2 Latent profiles of classroom quality ... 39

3.2 Child Classroom Engagement and Disaffection in Vietnamese kindergartens ... 40

3.3 Relationships between Structural Quality, Process Quality, and Child Classroom Engagement and Disaffection ... 41

3.3.1 Relations between classroom quality (in terms of teacher-child interaction quality) and child classroom engagement and disaffection ... 41

3.3.2 Relations of teacher age and teaching experience to child classroom engagement and disaffection and classroom quality profiles . ... 41

3.3.3 Relations of child age, child gender, school type and class size to child classroom engagement and disaffection ... 41

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4 disCussion ... 42

4.1 Classroom Quality in Vietnamese kindergartens ... 42

4.1.1 Levels of classroom quality in Vietnamese kindergartens ... 42

4.1.2 Latent profiles of classroom quality ... 43

4.2 Child Classroom Engagement and Disaffection in Vietnamese kindergartens ... 44

4.3 Relations between Structural Quality, Process Quality, and Child Classroom Engagement and Disaffection ... 44

4.3.1 Relations between classroom quality (in terms of teacher-child inter- action quality) and child classroom engagement and disaffection .... 44

4.3.2 Relations of teaching experience and teacher age to classroom quality profiles and child classroom engagement and disaffection ... 45

4.3.3 Relations of child age, child gender, school type, and class size, to child classroom engagement and disaffection ... 46

4.4 Theoretical and Practical Implications of the Study ... 47

4.5 Strengths, Limitations, and Opportunities for Future Studies ... 48

5 ConClusion ... 50

RefeRenCes ... 51

oRiginal aRtiCles ... 57

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list of taBles

Table 1. Overview of the Sub-studies ... 37

list of figuRes

Figure 1. The theoretical model ... 27

Figure 2. The research model of this study ... 28

Figure 3. Three-factor model of CLASS ... 34

Figure 4. Four-factor model of EVSD ... 35

Figure 5. Levels of classroom quality domains in Vietnamese kindergartens .... 38

Figure 6. Classroom quality in each profile ... 39

Figure 7. Child classroom engagement and disaffection in Vietnamese kindergarten classrooms ... 40

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1 INTRODUCTION

Children’s academic achievement is a crucial aspect of child development that educa- tors and researchers desire to enhance through the educational process. The classroom is a momentous learning environment for child development. In that learning environ- ment, both process quality (i.e., teacher-child interaction) and structural quality (i.e., teacher age, teaching experience, classroom size, school type, child age, child gender) might affect child engagement in the classroom. Positive and supportive teacher-child interaction can be considered an important aspect of classroom quality and is closely linked to child engagement in the classroom and the academic achievement of children (Furrer & Skinner, 2003; Leyva et al., 2015; Siekkinen et al., 2013). Therefore, in order to improve academic achievement of children and to engage children in learning activities, positive classroom quality and teacher-child interaction are prerequisites, especially in young ages. As kindergarten’s one aim is to function as preparation for later schooling, the first step into academic life, this initial period of schooling is very important, and it may have lifelong effects on children´s academic life. Recent studies suggest that long-term academic benefits of kindergarten on children include better academic achievement, easier transitions to primary school, and better socialization and self-esteem (Ansari & Pianta, 2018; Cooper, Allen, Patall, & Dent, 2010).

Previous studies on classroom quality and child classroom engagement and disaf- fection indicate that classroom quality has an essential influence on child academic engagement and social competence (Furrer & Skinner, 2003; Leyva et al., 2015; Siekki- nen et al., 2013). Research on classroom quality using observation measurements and focusing on the interactions of teachers and children in the classroom has increased (Cadima, Leal, & Burchinal, 2010; Lerkkanen et al., 2012; Pakarinen et al., 2010; Pianta et al., 2008; Siekkinen et al., 2013; Suchodoletz, Fäsche, Gunzenhauser, & Hamre, 2014). The typical teacher-child interactions in kindergartens are instructional and compliance-directed interactions, and teacher-child interaction is at the center of pro- cess quality in a classroom. A good and positive relationship with teachers facilitates children’s motivation, interest, and engagement in learning. Positive personal and emotional interactions support child development.

Even though the body of research on child engagement and disaffection in class- rooms and classroom quality has been growing rapidly, most classroom quality re- search has been organized and carried out in Western countries, a very limited number of research has been done in non-Western contexts. Conducting research in various socio-cultural contexts is essential to provide evidences and to contribute to addi- tional knowledge on the diversity of classroom quality and child engagement and disaffection around the world (Seidel & Shavelson, 2007). Moreover, doing research in a non-Western country would add values and information to examine whether the measurements used to measure child classroom engagement and disaffection and classroom quality can be used in different educational and cultural contexts, such as Vietnam. The structural quality in Vietnamese kindergartens is very different from that of European and USA kindergartens, e.g. larger class size, different classroom organization, instructional management in the classroom, centralized curriculum. The cultures are different, which may lead to differences in teacher-child interaction and child behaviors, and consequently, child engagement and disaffection and classroom quality may be different from those found in western countries.

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In Vietnam, education has received a significant focus from the government, with 20% of the national budget spent on education in 2015 (Ministry of Education and Training Vietnam, 2015). Since 2002, according to government’s regulation, Early Childhood Education (ECE) should have received at least 10% of the state’s budget for education (Boyd & Phuong, 2017). In the last 15 years, Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) has put efforts on reforming the education practices and curriculum in ECE. In this context, study on classroom quality and child learning outcomes is cru- cial. By applying both variable-oriented and person-oriented methods, this disserta- tion aims to provide information about child classroom engagement and disaffection, classroom quality with a focus on teacher-child interaction, and how it is related to child classroom engagement and disaffection in Vietnamese kindergartens. The rela- tionships of structural quality, such as teacher age, teacher teaching experience, child age, child gender, class size, and school type, with child classroom engagement and disaffection, and classroom quality are also examined. The study would add practi- cal value to Vietnam education and inform MOET, educators and teachers the ECE practices in Vietnam. Through the information provided by this dissertation, MOET could review the guidelines, curricula, and teacher education as well as evaluate the process and structural quality of kindergarten classrooms in order to improve class- room quality, and children academic achievement. Teachers could reflect on their teaching practices using international criteria of classroom quality.

First of all, it is important to have an overview of ECE practice and research in different countries throughout the world and in Vietnam. In the next section, ECE practice and research in the U.S, Finland and China are reviewed. The reasons for choosing these countries to review are numerous. For the U.S, the two measurements used in this dissertation originate from the U.S, and the American education, culture and society are different from the Vietnamese. It would be interesting to compare classroom quality and child engagement from different educational contexts using the same instruments. For Finland, this dissertation is defended in Finland, and Finland is a country, which is well-known globally for its education, many countries (including Vietnam) want to learn from Finnish education, therefore it is useful to review Finn- ish education system in this dissertation. And as for China, the country shares many similarities with Vietnam, such as a collectivistic culture, centralized curriculum and educational management. Moreover, many previous studies in the U.S, Finland and China have used the same measurements that are used in this dissertation, hence, it is possible to discuss the similarities and differences.

1.1 oVeRView of eaRly Childhood eduCation (eCe) fRom inteRnational peRspeCtiVes

ECE practice began hundred years ago in Europe then came to the United States and other countries through various ways (Spodek & Saracho, 2005). Research on ECE began much later than the ECE practice. Only till the 1950s and 1960s, the research in ECE made major steps toward to establishing its own research base, thanks to two impetus of changes: developmental psychology and social justice (Spodek & Saracho, 2005). Until that time, kindergartens were only to keep children healthy and safe. This was due to the belief in child development that human intelligence was determined by genetics and would not change. But the theory of cognitive development of Jean Pia- get (1936) and later, the work of Joseph McVicker Hunt (1965) changed ECE. Piaget’s

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theory of cognitive development argues that children’s environmental experiences are crucial and fundamental for child development. The study by Benjamin Bloom (1964) posits that ECE has a greater impact on human development than educational experiences that people have later in life. Nowadays, ECE provides children with various academic skills, e.g. language, math, sciences. The aims of ECE are not only to improve child academic skills but also to develop children’s emotional and social skills (Barnett, Carolan, Fitzgerald, & Squires, 2012)

In the United States, practices and research in ECE have increased since the 1960s because the number of children attending ECE programs has grown up dramati- cally. ECE research was to evaluate the impacts and effectiveness of ECE programs.

Two major federal early childhood initiatives have their roots in those days: The Head Start program (1965) for 3-to-5-years-old children and the Early Head Start program (1995) for infants and toddlers. Both of these federal programs target low-income children in every state. Besides the federal programs, there are pre- kindergarten programs in every state that are funded and administered by state governments. These state prekindergarten programs offer group-based learning experiences for children 3–4 years old. The increases in funding for ECE programs in the U.S. reflect the benefits of ECE programs on child learning and development (Bloom, Jackson, Talan, & Kelton, 2013), which has been proven through research on ECE. Several researchers have shown that prekindergarten educational programs have positive effects on child development (Camilli, Vargas, Ryan, & Barnett, 2010).

The High/Scope Perry Preschool Study (Schweinhart et al., 2005) and the study by the Institute for Developmental Studies (IDS, Jordan, Grallow, Deutsch, & Deutsch, 1985) posit that children who participated in the studies improved language and cognitive abilities significantly. Many studies have found that the ECE programs also affect literacy, mathematics, and behaviors (Gormley, Phillips, & Gayer, 2008;

Lipsey, Farran, Hofer, Bilbrey, & Dong, 2011). In order to implement an ECE pro- gram effectively, teachers play an important role, and the quality of the ECE pro- gram is closely associated with the quality of ECE teacher education. Therefore, a four-year bachelor degree in ECE is a general requirement to become an ECE teacher in the United States. However, this requirement may vary from state to state; some kindergartens set a minimum requirement at an associate’s degree, which takes only two years to complete.

In Europe, Finland is one of the countries that is well-known for its education.

ECE in Finland began in 1863 with the Uno Cygnaeus’s kindergarten in Jyväskylä.

In the beginning, Finnish ECE was strongly influenced by Froebelian ideas of ECE.

Following Cygnaeus´s footsteps, Hanna Rothman and Elisabeth Alander continued to develop Finnish ECE’s ideology and pedagogy. Their central ideas for Finnish ECE was to educate children for an integrated unity of life, in which nature, human, and the spiritual aspects of life would be in harmony. Based on this central idea, the diversity of pedagogical activities was developed and implemented, e.g. free play, games, movement exercises, outdoor activities, handicrafts, field trips, musical ac- tivities, story-telling, household activities, etc. In the most recent educational reform in 2016, the following questions were addressed: “What will education mean in the future? What types of competencies will be needed? What kind of practices would best produce the desired education and learning? How will change be realized in municipal and school cultures, and in every lesson? What kind of skills will teachers and other school staff need to be able to work to promote education and learning for the future? How do the national core curricula and local curricula guide and support

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the work of teachers and the school community?” (Finnish Advisory Board of Educa- tion, 2016). Following this educational reform, legislation changed through the ECE Act, and preprimary education became compulsory. Children in Finland start their basic education (first grade) at the age of seven. Recently many children in Finland attend preschool 1 year either in kindergarten or primary school before they go to grade 1 (Hakyemez-Paul, Pihlaja & Silvennoinen, 2018). In current research on ECE, research on special education in ECE has become intense in the last few decades with a focus on different topics, such as learning difficulties in language, mathemat- ics, socio-emotional development, and teaching practice and reflection (Holopainen, Kiuru, Mäkihonko, & Lerkkanen, 2017; Pihlaja & Holst, 2013 and 2011). In Finland, a three-year bachelor’s degree in ECE is required to work as a kindergarten teacher.

Kindergarten teacher education programs are offered at academic universities. With the bachelor’s degree in ECE, teachers are able to continue to a master’s degree to become class teachers or special education teachers and continue to a doctoral pro- gram in education.

In Asian countries, e.g., China, the ECE programs started in 1903, since then, ECE has played a crucial role in Chinese society and child development. ECE programs in Chinese kindergartens for children of age 3–6 has been through three major reforms:

the child-centered curriculum reform in 1920s–1930s, the Soviet Union model of cur- riculum reform in the 1950s, and the early childhood curriculum reform from 1980s.

The current ECE in China is mixed between communist culture, traditional culture, and Western culture. Children in kindergartens are divided by age and attend full- day programs. Class size ranges from 20 to 40 children (Zhu & Wang, 2005). Mini- mum requirement for kindergarten teachers is a 2-year associate’s degree in ECE.

In big cities, due to harsher competition, the requirement for kindergarten teachers is higher, i.e., a 4-year bachelor’s degree (China Education and Research Network, http://www.edu.cn). There has been great progress in ECE research in China in the most recent decades. Since the end of the cultural revolution, there have been three periods of development in ECE research, with different focuses and topics. The period of 1980–1985 was a period of recovering in ECE research, after being destroyed during the cultural revolution. The focus of ECE research in this period was on collecting information about children’s psychological and physical development. The period of 1985–1990 was the progressive period in ECE research. The topics of research in this period included: educational environment, parent involvement, curriculum, and children’s cognitive development. The period of 1990 – present has shown quick development in ECE research. In this period, research in ECE has not only grown in number of studies but also in diversity of topics (e.g., child development, child behavior, teacher education, classroom quality, etc.), context (e.g., classroom, school, home, cities, rural areas, etc.), and methods (e.g., qualitative, quantitative, survey, experimental, observation, etc.).

1.2 eCe in Vietnam

Similar to kindergarten in China, public and non-public kindergartens in Vietnam nowadays, follow the same regulations for organization, management structure, and curriculum; children are taught in classes that are divided by age. ECE in Viet- nam began in the early 1900s, however, many decades after that, ECE had not shown any significant development due to the wars and closed-door policy. In 1991, ECE

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in Vietnam had a milestone, Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) estab- lished the first ECE department, since then, ECE has progressed significantly (Boyd

& Phuong, 2017). Even though ECE in Vietnam is not free of charge and not a re- quirement for primary school entry, the attendance rate is high, especially in urban areas. In 2017, preprimary school enrolment was 95.21% (World Bank, 2019). The figure shows that Vietnamese people value education. Public kindergartens share the largest percentage of preprimary school enrolment because public kindergartens are more affordable for the majority of Vietnamese families. Vietnamese parents send their children to kindergartens for learning and child development. The parents can choose a full (from 7am to 4–5 pm) or half-day (from 7am to 12pm) program for their children. The ECE curricula are divided into two programs: a program for 3–36 months old children and another program for children of age 3–6. MOET provides teaching guidelines for curricula, and its local offices supervise the implementation of the curricula. The curricula aim to develop physical, emotional, mental, cognitive and social, development of children, and prepare them for school. There are various learning activities, such as playing in groups, music, storytelling, playing outside, math, writing, reading, music, sciences, arts and crafts. Children of ages 4–6 learn basic reading, writing, mathematics, and the alphabet. The new ECE curriculum in Vietnam applied in 2009 was planned to switch from teacher-centered to child- centered education programs. However, the obstacles such as insufficient prepara- tion for teachers and large class size challenged the implementation (World Bank, 2013). MOET has recommended that class size for 4–6 years old children is around 30 students (MOET, 2015). However, due to the demand, in urban areas class size is often larger, whilst in rural areas class size is smaller than the MOET’s recommend number (Boyd & Phuong, 2017). The child-adult ratio varies from school to school, usually it is two adults working in one classroom. In urban areas or big cities, two teachers co-teach a class, in rural areas, there would be a teacher and a teaching as- sistant work in one classroom, due to the shortage of qualified teachers. Previously, kindergarten teachers were only required to hold a professional secondary school di- ploma (trung cấp sư phạm) in ECE, which is usually awarded from a teacher-training school. In 2019, in order to improve the teaching quality in kindergarten, MOET set a new requirement for ECE teachers (MOET, 2019) that the minimum requirement for pre-school and kindergarten teachers is an associate degree in ECE (cao đẳng sư phạm) from a pedagogical college. In major urban centers, many teachers have 4-year bachelor’s degree in ECE.

Vietnam has gained extraordinary achievements in international academic tests, i.e TIMSS (Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study) and PISA (the Programme for International Student Assessment) tests. According to a World Bank’s report (2016), Vietnam is “the only low-income country that performs as the same level as rich countries on the international academic tests” (Parandekar & Sedmik, 2016). However, there are still issues related to cultural aspects in education, UNICEF- UNESCO (2012) reported inequity between gender, boys are more encouraged to attend school than girls, especially within minority ethnic groups,. Regarding special education, majority of disable children are stay at home, as it is hard for children with a disability to gain admission to school. In order to address these issues, Vietnamese government has continuously improved ECE policies in the last two decades. In the National Education Action Plan (2015), Vietnamese government aimed to (1) “expand and improve ECE, especially for vulnerable and disadvantaged children”, (2) “ensure all children, especially girls, and those from ethnic minority groups, have access to

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complete and free primary education of good quality”, (3) “improve all aspects of the quality of education”.

Though there have been many changes in and efforts to develop ECE practice, the research on ECE in Vietnam is negligible. It is hard to find empirical research on child classroom engagement and classroom quality using observational instruments in Vietnam. Therefore, in this dissertation, international instruments that were used in different countries, were applied to examine child classroom engagement and dis- affection and classroom quality in the Vietnamese educational context. Information on the instruments and their theoretical backgrounds and framework are presented in the following sections.

1.3 the theoRetiCal fRamewoRk of teaChing thRough inteRaCtion

Classroom quality in the present dissertation was approached by the Teaching through Interaction framework (Hamre et al., 2013). This framework broadly describes class- room practice and the interactions of teacher-child and child-child, such as teacher sensitivity, instructional learning format, behavior management, language model- ling, quality of feedback, etc. Pianta and colleagues have developed an observational instrument, the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS, Pianta, La Paro, &

Hamre, 2008), based on the Teaching through Interaction framework, to measure classroom quality through interactions between teacher and children and among chil- dren in the classroom environment. At first, CLASS was used and validated in U.S.

classrooms, and later it was expanded to many other countries, such as, Chile, China, Germany, Finland, and the Netherlands (Cadima, Leal, & Burchinal, 2010; Hu et al., 2016; Pakarinen et al., 2010; Suchodoletz et al., 2014).

The teaching through interaction theoretical framework argues that the interac- tions with teachers and peers are important for child development and learning (Pi- anta et al., 2008). Quality of teacher-child interaction in early childhood classrooms include emotional and social support, well-managed teaching practices, and a variety of instructional methods and materials. These interactions occur through the com- munications between teachers and students and among students during teaching and learning periods. Within this teaching through interaction framework, there are three domains of interactions, i.e., Emotional Support, Classroom Organization, In- structional Support.

Emotional support domain reflects the emotional interactions between students and teachers and among students. Emotional interactions can be positive, e.g., warmth, and respect or negative, e.g., anger, yelling, physical control. In the study “Teaching through Interaction: Testing a Developmental Framework of Teacher Effectiveness in over 4000 Classrooms”, Hamre et al., (2013) indicated that the emotional support domain was developed based on two theories: Attachment Theory (Bowlby, 1969) and Self-determination Theory (Connell & Wellborn, 1991). Attachment theory explains how relationships between adults and children affect child development, in which adults provide emotional support, care, responsiveness, and a safe environment, and children, consequently, show better emotional development and less aggression (Bowlby, 1969; Hamre et al., 2013). Self-determination Theory posits that children’s motivation to learn is regulated by three psychological needs: autonomy, competence, and relatedness (Connell & Wellborn, 1991; Ryan & Deci, 2000).

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Classroom organization concentrates on the ways teachers organize the classroom to maximize students’ involvement in the learning activities and to increase students’

engagement and interest in the classroom. It also includes teacher ability to prevent and redirect student misbehaviors. The theoretical backgrounds of this domain are children’s self- regulatory skills (Blair, 2002; Rimm-Kaufman, Curby, Grimm, Nathan- son, &Brock, 2009) and constructivist theories on engaging students in learning (Brun- er, 1996; Rogoff, 1990). These theories argue that preschool activities and experiences in the classrooms facilitate the development of cognitive skills and self-regulation in young children. Also, several previous studies have shown that a classroom with clear and consistent routines improves children’s self-regulatory skills (Rimm-Kaufman et al., 2009; Raver et al., 2009).

Instructional support was based on research on children’s cognitive and language development (Catts, Fey, Zhang, & Tomblin, 2001; Taylor, Pearson, Peterson, & Rodri- guez, 2003). Instructional support assesses how teachers use discussions and activities to advocate children’s abilities to analyze, reason, and learn language skills. Adults facilitate and encourage children to express their existing skills and to practice new and complex skills would help children develop cognitive and language (Skibbe, Behnke, & Justice, 2004).

1.4 the theoRetiCal fRamewoRk of Child ClassRoom engagement and disaffeCtion

Child classroom engagement, herein, is defined by the motivational conceptualiza- tion of engagement and disaffection that was developed by Skinner, Kindermann, and Furrer (2009) based on the work of Connell and Wellborn (1991). Student engage- ment and motivation are closely linked to each other; motivation is the intent and engagement is the action, and engagement is the outcome manifestation of motiva- tion (Skinner, Kindermann, Connell, & Wellborn, 2009a). The motivational dynamics model of engagement and disaffection distinguishes engagement and disaffection (negative engagement) and each has two dimensions: behavior and emotion (Skin- ner et al., 2009).

Student engagement in academic is defined as willing, enthusiastic, constructive, emotionally positive (Connell & Wellborn, 1994; Skinner et al., 2009; Wang, Willett, &

Eccles, 2011). Thus, students engage in learning not only emotionally but also behavio- rally. Bronfenbrenner’s ecological models (Bronfenbrenner & Morris, 2006) depict child development through interactions with environments; children acquire knowledge and skills through participations in learning activities. The Ecological Systems Theory presents the context of child development on five levels: (1) the microsystem is the clos- est and the most immediate environment, including parents, classmates, teachers, etc.

(2) the mesosystem is the interactions of different microsystems, such as home-school interaction, family-church interaction, etc. (3) the exosystem is the connection between two or more environments that may affect child development, such as neighborhood, extended family members, parent workplaces, etc. (4) the macrosystem is the largest and most distant environment, such as society, cultures, politics, and economics in the place where the child lives, (5) the chronosystem demonstrates the influence and constancy of the environments around the child (Bronfenbrenner & Morris, 2006).

Engagement posits the proximal process of learning, the pathway to long-term achievement and academic success. Student classroom engagement plays a critical

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role in student learning experiences; students who are more engaged in learning ac- tivities are more academically competent. In contrast, students who are less engaged in learning show poor academic performance. In the motivational conceptualization model, engagement is an “action” component that refers to goal-directed behaviors.

Also guided by Bronfenbrenner´s ecological theory, several student engagement studies on early childhood education have emphasized providing an effective learn- ing environment to help a child develop behavioral, and socio-emotional skills that later affect academic achievement and development (Kikas & Mägi, 2017; Holopainen et al., 2017; Pakarinen et al., 2017; Pianta, Hamre & Allen, 2012). Literature on early childhood engagement is associated with child school readiness (Blair, 2002; Mc Cormick et al., 2006). In ECE literature, school readiness means that children must gain basic behavioral, socio-emotional competencies that allow them to study math, writing, and reading later in school (Ramey & Ramey, 2004). Child behaviors in the classroom, which focus on child participation and engagement in learning activities and academic tasks, are measured as school readiness (Bierman et al., 2008; Ramey

& Ramey, 2004).

According to the conceptualization of motivation, engagement and disaffection are central to organizing the motivational system. Behavioral engagement (BE) refers to student on-task behaviors and participation in learning activities (Skinner et al., 2009). Behavioral disaffection (BD) refers to inattention, passivity, and withdrawal. In the ECE literature, behavioral engagement has been one of the important fields. Chil- dren with behavioral difficulties are associated with poor academic performance and school drop-out. (Fantuzzo & Mcwayne, 2002; Raver, 2002). Therefore, it is essential to keep children’s attention and behavioral engagement in the classroom (McWil- liam &Casey, 2008). Staying on task, following rules, and participating in peer play or learning activities are components of behavioral engagement in early childhood (Fantuzzo & Mcwayne, 2002). Children’s interaction with classmates and carrying out shared activities in peer play, which are associated with positive engagement in the classroom and learning motivation, can be antecedent for later academic success and self-regulation (Fantuzzo & Mcwayne, 2002; Bierman et al., 2008).

Emotional engagement (EE) refers to the feelings or affective reaction of students, such as interest, enthusiasm, or happiness (Connell & Wellborn, 1991; Skinner et al., 2009). Emotional disaffection (ED) implies children’s anxiety, frustration, and dis- interest in learning (Connell & Wellborn, 1991; Skinner et al., 2009). Together with behavioral engagement, emotional engagement is also associated to academic achieve- ment and school readiness. Attending ECE programs, children have chances to com- municate and interact with people (classmates and teachers) other than their family members, which helps them to promote their social communication and learning skills and develop social-emotional competencies (Ramey & Ramey, 2004; Syrjämäki, Pihlaja & Sajaniemi, 2018). These interactions also support and develop a sense of belonging and liking school, which help to increase child engagement in learning and reduce troublesome behaviors (Bierman et al., 2008; Raver, 2002).

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1.5 Relations Between stRuCtuRal Quality, pRoCess Quality, and Child ClassRoom engagement and disaffeCtion

According Pianta, Hamre, and Allen (2012), interpersonal relationship are effective processes for children’s classroom engagement because children spend nearly half of their time in school, and most of that in classrooms. Therefore, relationships and inter- actions with teachers are one of the most proximal influences on children that support or inhibit child social development and academic engagement (Pianta et al., 2012).

Ponitz, Rimm–Kaufman, Grimm, and Curby (2009) have found that higher classroom quality (emotional support, classroom organization, and instructional support) pre- dict higher children’s behavioral engagement. Similarly, disaffection can be the result of poor classroom quality or negative interaction between teacher and children. For example, a child may feel frustrated and/or sad if teachers treat that child unfairly or criticize and/or express disapproval of the child´s efforts. Previous studies have indicated that teacher´s teaching practices enhance child interactions during learning activities (Syrjämäki, Pihlaja, & Sajaniemi, 2018), and students show less disaffected behaviors if they perceive teachers’ emotional support (Reyes, Brackett, Rivers, White,

& Salovey, 2012). On the contrary, children who behave aggressively or antisocially, or children who experience conflictual relationships with teachers, have been found more likely to show lower engagement in the classroom and academic achievement (Buhs, Ladd, & Herald, 2006; Crick et al., 2006). Siekkinen et al. (2013) have indicated that instructional support is associated with children’s classroom disaffection and disruptiveness.

Previous research findings about the effects of structural quality, e.g., teacher expe- rience, teacher age, child age, child gender, class size, and school type, on classroom process quality and child classroom engagement and disaffection have been mixed.

Some studies have indicated that teacher age and teaching experience are not associ- ated with classroom quality (Cadima, Peixoto, & Leal, 2014; LoCasale-Crouch et al., 2007). Some other studies, in contrast, have found significant, but controversial, as- sociations between classroom structural and process quality, and children’s outcomes (LoCasale-Crouch et al., 2007; Salminen et al., 2012; Reyes et al., 2012; Suviste, Kiuru, Palu, & Kikas, 2016). Reyes and colleagues (2012) have found that the better teacher teaching efficacy was, the higher student engagement in elementary classrooms, and student engagement was negatively associated with teacher experience. Neverthe- less, classroom organization in kindergartens differs from classrooms in elementary schools. Kindergarten children are more reply on teachers than elementary or sec- ondary students. Therefore, kindergarten teachers might affect child engagement more than teachers in elementary or secondary schools. In the study of Suviste and colleagues (2016), researchers had found a significant relationship between teacher experience and child mathematic achievement, in which children who had studied with teachers with longer teaching experience had better mathematic skills. Other studies showed that the ages of caregivers are positively related to caregivers’ behav- ioral quality to children (Van IJzendoorn et al., 1998; De Schipper, Riksen-Walraven

& Geurts, 2007). De Schipper et al. (2007) have indicated that children received higher quality care from older caregivers.

The research on the relationship between child gender and classroom engagement and disaffection has found contentious results. Some studies have suggested that boys have lower classroom engagement and higher disaffection than girls (Reyes et al.,

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2012; Searle, Sawyer, Miller-Lewis, & Baghurst, 2014). However, significant differences have not been found between boys and girls in observers´ rating of children´s engage- ment or in self-reported children’s literacy interests (Baroody & Diamond, 2013).

Regarding the relationship between child age and classroom engagement and disaffection, Blatchford, Bassett and Brown (2011) have found that older students were less engaged in learning than younger students, and middle- and low-achieving elementary students show more disaffection in learning. However, Alford, Rollins, Padron, and Waxman (2016) in a longitudinal study have found that classroom en- gagement of children from pre-kindergarten to second grade was not significantly different.

Previous studies showed different findings of the effects of school type on children´s outcomes. Some studies indicated that public school had better quality program than private schools (Coley, Votruba-Drzal, Collins, & Cook, 2016) How- ever, children´s behaviors did not vary between school types. Other studies have found that children got higher academic achievement in public schools (Magnuson, Meyers, Ruhm, & Waldfogel, 2004; Votruba-Drzal, Coley, Koury, & Miller, 2013), but children in public schools got lower socio-behaviors (Loeb, Bridges, Bassok, Fuller,

& Rumberger, 2007).

There has been an increasing debate about in the impact of class size on students’

academic outcomes, especially for children in early education. Previous studies have indicated that children show higher classroom engagement in smaller classes (An- derson, 2000; Finn, Pannozzo, & Achilles, 2003) and children in larger classes had more disaffected behaviors (Blatchford, 2003; Finn et al., 2003). On the other hand, Blatchford, Bassett, and Brown (2005) and Hoxby (2000) have reported no difference in children’s learning behaviors between smaller classes and larger classes. It suggested that children’s learning engagement might not be affected by class size. However, these studies were all conducted in Western countries, where the class sizes might be smaller (i.e. 19 to 33 children per class in Blatchford’s 2003 study) as compared to a Vietnamese context (i.e. 30 to 50 children per class in the present study). It is assumed, that with the differences in class sizes between Western countries and Vietnam, the effects of class size on children´s engagement and disaffection in Vietnam may be different than those found in Western countries.

Overall, the theoretical model below (Figure 1) presents how the mentioned theo- ries explain the studied phenomena, i.e: classroom quality, child classroom engage- ment and disaffection. In the model, classroom quality, child classroom engagement and disaffection are bound within the classroom, the microsystem level as described in Bronfenbrenner’s ecological theory (Bronfenbrenner & Morris, 2006). The classroom quality with three domains, i.e., emotional support, classroom organization, instruc- tional support, described by the Teaching through Interaction theoretical framework (Hamre et al., 2013) is hypothesized as being related to child classroom engagement and disaffection, which have four dimensions, i.e, behavioral engagement (BE), emo- tional engagement (EE), behavioral disaffection (BD) and emotional disaffection (ED).

Child classroom engagement and disaffection are defined by the motivational concep- tualization of engagement and disaffection (Skinner et al., 2009).

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Figure 1. The theoretical model

1.6 aims of the study

This dissertation has four specific aims, first, to examine classroom quality in terms of teacher-child interaction quality, i.e., the levels and the latent profiles of classroom quality; second, to explore child classroom engagement and disaffection; third, to in- vestigate the associations between classroom quality and child classroom engagement and disaffection; and fourth, to explore the relationships of structural quality (i.e., teaching experiences, teacher age, child gender, child age, school type, and class size) to classroom quality and child classroom engagement and disaffection. In addition, as this study has pioneered to apply the CLASS and EvsD to Vietnamese context, the validity and reliability of the two measurements were also examined. This disserta- tion aims to respond to the following research questions:

1. Classroom quality (in terms of teacher-child interaction quality) in Vietnamese kindergartens

a) What are the levels of classroom quality (in terms of teacher-child inter- action quality) in Vietnamese kindergartens?

b) How many latent classroom quality profiles can be found in this data?

2. What are the levels of child classroom engagement and disaffection in Vietnamese kindergartens?

3. Relations between classroom quality, child classroom engagement and dis- affection, and structural quality:

a) How is classroom quality (in terms of teacher-child interaction quality) related to child classroom engagement and disaffection?

b) To what extent are teaching experience and teacher age related to classroom quality profiles and child classroom engagement and disaffection?

c) To what extent are child age, child gender, school type, and class size related to child classroom engagement and disaffection?

Behavioral Engagement Emotional Engagement Behavioral Disaffection Emotional Disaffection Emotional

Support Classroom Organization

Instructional Support

Classroom Quality

Children’s Engagement

& Disaffection

Microsystem level - Classroom

The theoretical model

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Three sub-studies were conducted in order to answer the above questions:

Sub-study I investigated the levels of classroom quality (in terms of teacher-child interaction quality) and examined the relations of classroom quality (in terms of teacher-child interaction quality) to child classroom engagement and disaffection.

The study also examined the structure of CLASS.

Sub-study II investigated the latent profiles of classroom quality and the associa- tions of teacher age and teacher experience with classroom quality profiles and child classroom engagement and disaffection.

Sub-study III investigated the levels of child classroom engagement and disaffec- tion and the relationships of structural quality (child age, child gender, class size, and school type) to child classroom engagement and disaffection. The study also investigated the structure of EvsD.

In the previous sections, the theoretical framework and the main domains/dimen- sions have been presented. In this section, the research model of this study (Figure 2) is presented in more detail. First, the levels of classroom quality and relationships between the three domains and ten dimensions of the classroom quality in terms of teacher-child interaction are examined.

Figure 2. The research model of this study

Note: Positive climate (PC), negative climate (NC), teacher sensitivity (TS), regard for student perspectives (RSP), behavior management (BM), productivity (PD), instructional learning formats (ILF), concept devel- opment (CD), quality of feedback (QF), and language modelling (LM).

The research model of this study

PC

Student’s age Student’s gender

Class size School type

Behavioral Engagement Emotional Engagement Behavioral Disaffection Emotional Disaffection Emotional

Support

Classroom Organization

Instructional Support

NC TS RSP

PD ILF BM

CD QF LM

Classroom Quality

Children’s Engagement &

Disaffection Teacher’s age

Teacher’s experience

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Based on previous research, three domains are hypothesized as being related to each other. The emotional support domain is hypothesized to include four dimensions, i.e, positive climate, negative climate, teacher sensitivity, and regard for student per- spectives. The classroom organization domain is hypothesized to be constructed by three dimensions, i.e, behavioral management, productivity, instructional learning formats. The instructional support is hypothesized to consist of three dimensions, i.e., concept development, quality of feedback, and language modeling. Second, la- tent profiles of classroom quality are explored by using a person-oriented approach.

Third, the relationships between classroom quality and child classroom engagement and disaffection are investigated. Finally, the associations between the process qual- ity (i.e. teacher-child interactions), structural quality (i.e., teacher´s age, teacher´s teaching experiences, student´s age, student’s gender, class size, and school type) and child classroom engagement and disaffection are examined.

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2 METHODS

2.1 pRoCeduRe and paRtiCipants

2.1.1 procedure

Data were collected twice in two years, 2014 and 2015. The first data collection was conducted in the beginning of 2014. In January 2014, 8 kindergartens in the south- ern and central highlands areas of Vietnam were contacted and asked permission to observe, video-tape, and conduct surveys in the kindergarten classrooms (from 4-6 years old). Six out of eight kindergartens agreed to participate in the study, two kin- dergartens in Ho Chi Minh City and four kindergartens in Buon Ma Thuot City. After obtaining kindergartens’ permissions, the procedure and aims of the research were sent to and discussed with the principals of those kindergartens. Measurements were carried out in February 2014, the second semester of the school year. Before starting the surveys and observations, the researchers and teachers met to discuss how to rate children’s engagement. Teachers received small incentives for their participations.

In the first data collection, 19 teaching sessions of 18 classes were recorded, and the classroom engagement of 159 children was assessed.

The second data collection was conducted in January-February 2015. In the sec- ond data collection, nine kindergartens participated in the study, three of the original participating kindergartens and six new kindergartens. Three kindergartens that participated in the first collection declined to join the second collection. For the newly participating kindergartens, the same procedure of the first data collection was ap- plied. Altogether, 38 teaching sessions were recorded, and the classroom engagement of 1,315 children was assessed in the second collection. Teachers also received small incentives for their contributions.

2.1.2. participants

There were 1,474 children of ages 4–6 and 60 teachers of 54 classrooms from 12 kin- dergartens in three cities in Vietnam participating in the study. Of those children, girls were 702 (47.6%) and boys were 772 (52.4%). Of the 60 teachers, male teach- ers were two and female teachers were 58. 14 teachers were in the age of 20–25, 30 teachers were in the age of 26–30, 16 teachers were in the age of 30–35. Regarding teaching experience, only one had more than 15 years of teaching experience, three had 11–15 years of experience, eight had less than one year of experience, 15 teachers had 6–10 years of experience, and most of the teachers had 1–5 years of experience (33 teachers).

All the kindergartens were situated in urban areas. Four kindergartens were in Hanoi, the capital city in the northern part of Vietnam, two kindergartens were in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), a southern city in Vietnam. Six kindergartens were from Buon Ma Thuot City – a central highland city in Dak Lak province. Five kindergartens were public, and seven kindergartens were private. The class size was from 7–50 children

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per classroom. The reason why the large difference in class size was that one newly established kindergarten had only six children in the age of 4–6 as the study’s require- ments. Majority of the classes had 41–50 children/classroom (50%), 22.8% of the classes had 31–40 children, the classes with 21–30 children were 21.1%, 3.5% of the classes had 11–20 children, and the classes with fewer than 10 children were 1.8%. Among the classrooms, only one classroom was English speaking, all other classes were Viet- namese speaking. In the English speaking classroom, the students were Vietnamese, the teacher was a foreigner and the language used in the classroom was English.

In total, 118 observation cycles were conducted using the CLASS measurement, and 1,474 child engagement and disaffection assessments were measured using the EvsD measurement. A single observation cycle was 25 to 30 minutes, of which ob- servation was 15 to 20 minutes then followed by 10 minutes of rating. Child age was coded as 1 for older children (age of 5–6) and 0 for younger children (age of 4–5). Child gender was coded as 1 for female and 0 for male. Class size was coded as 1 for classes having less than 10 children, 2 for classes having 11 to 20 children, 3 for classes having 21 to 30 children, 4 for classes having 31 to 40 children, and 5 for classes having 41 to 50 children. Teaching experience was coded as 1 for less than 1 year of experience, 2 for 1–5 years, 3 for 6–10 years, 4 for 11–15 years, 5 for over 15 years. Teacher age was coded as 1 for teachers of age 20–25, 2 for teachers of age 26–30, and 3 for teachers of age 31–35.

2.1.3 the ethical procedures of the study

The study followed the National Advisory Board on Research Ethics Guideline (2009) and the principles of the Finnish Advisory Board of Research Integrity (2012). The guideline divides the ethical principles of research in the humanities and social and behavioral sciences into three categories: voluntary participation, avoiding harm, and privacy and data protection.

After receiving agreements and permissions from the kindergartens in Vietnam, information on the study (the purposes of the study, and the procedures) was sent to the headmasters/principals and teachers for their considerations and discussed in meetings with the principals. The headmasters/principals and teachers signed the agreement of participation that they participated voluntarily in the study.

Teachers informed children and their parents about the study two days before the observations began. The parents were able to decline their child’s participation in the study without any reason. The observations were conducted during the normal teach- ing/learning activities. All physical and mental harms were avoided, the children and teachers were treated with respect. Teachers rated children’s engagement right after the observations. During the data collection, the researchers did not impede classroom activities. Some of the classrooms were observed and recorded in two days, most of the classes were observed/recorded in one day.

The research data were processed and protected according to the data management guidelines of the National Advisory Board on Research Ethics (TENK) and the Finn- ish Social Science Data Archive. The protection of privacy in research includes three categories: (1) protecting research data and confidentiality. The personal data and the participants’ identifications were processed and kept secretly, i.e., children’ and teach- ers’ personal information were coded to protect their privacy. (2) Storing and dispos- ing of research data. For data security, data files were stored on hard drives, backed up,

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