05/16/12 - Recent news from the Siskin Center for Child and Family Research

Recent study shows importance of international affiliations

In upcoming issue of Early Childhood Research Quarterly, one of the U.S.’s top early childhood research journals, will have an article by Institute researcher Robin McWilliam, Ph.D., and Cecília Aguiar, a former student and current collaborator from Portugal. In this study, McWilliam and Aguiar found that a child who demonstrates sophisticated engagement in one setting is likely to do so in another setting, even though it's known that children often differentiate their behavior by setting.

This study demonstrates the kind of collaboration and partnership that exists in the Institute’s international affiliations, one of which is with the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences at the University of Porto, Portugal, where this study was carried out. The Siskin Center for Child and Family Research strives to improve interventions for young children through research and technical assistance. This study advances our understanding of child engagement, a vitally important concept in child functioning.

To read the full text of the article, click here.

Institute researcher Robin McWilliam, Ph.D., conducts workshops in N.C.

Dr. Robin McWilliam conducted the following workshops at the 2012 Inclusion Institute at the Friday Center at UNC Chapel Hill, North Carolina, on May 14-16: 

1. Pre-Institute Session - Making Inclusion for Toddlers and Preschoolers Individualized, Instructional, and Inspirational
   The session will be facilitated by Dr. McWilliam and feature the Siskin Model of Early Intervention. Central to the Siskin model is the concept of the Engagement Classroom, a manualized approach to organizing and managing inclusive classroom services, and elements of the Reggio Emilia approach. This session will discuss discrete practices that can be applied piecemeal or all together.                      
2. (Read here) Latest News: Preschoolers Are Not Orphans! They Have Families! -
3. (Read here) It's Getting Better All the Time: Look at Practice Quality to Improve Outcomes

 For more information on the Inclusion Institute, visit http://inclusioninstitute.fpg.unc.edu/index.