Quality of interactions in home-based childcare: Considering normative and meaning-making approaches
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.26443/mje/rsem.v58i3.10085Keywords:
Quality of interactions, Childcare, Home-based childcare, Childcare center, Conceptions, Normative approach, Meaning making approach, Cultural analysis, Classroom Assessment Scoring SystemAbstract
This article aims to describe home-based childcare providers’ conceptions of quality interactions. Based on a meaning-making approach, participants’ conceptions were collected through semi-structured interviews and then analyzed through a cultural lens. The conceptions were also compared to the domains and dimensions of the Classroom Assessment Scoring System Toddler, a standardized instrument designed to measure the quality of interactions as a normative concept in childcare centers. The results show that there are mainly differences in the conceptions regarding interactions as experienced in home-based childcare and in childcare centers. A diversity of languages is necessary to consider the distinct cultural context of home-based childcare.
References
Ang, L., Brooker, E. et Stephen, C. (2017). A review of the research on childminding: Understanding children’s experiences in home-based childcare settings. Early Childhood Education Journal, 45(2), 261-270. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-016-0773-2
Barbour, R. S. (2014). Quality of data analysis. Dans U. Flick (dir.), The SAGE handbook of qualitative data analysis (p. 496-509). SAGE Publications. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781446282243
Bigras, N., Bouchard, C., Cantin, G., Brunson, L., Coutu, S., Lemay, L., Tremblay, M., Japel, C. et Charron, A. (2010). A Comparative Study of Structural and Process Quality in Center- Based and Family-Based Child Care Services. Child & Youth Care Forum, 39(3), 129-150. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10566-009-9088-4
Bigras, N., Lemire, J. et Eryasa, J. (2017). Comparaison d’instruments d’observation de la qualité de services éducatifs de la petite enfance. Les dossiers des sciences de l’éducation, 37, 35-51. https://doi.org/10.4000/dse.1680
Boutin, G. (2018). L’entretien de recherche qualitatif : théorie et pratique (2e éd.). Presses de l’Université du Québec.
Bromer, J. et Korfmacher, J. (2017). Providing high-quality support services to home-based child care: A conceptual model and literature review. Early Education and Development, 28(6), 745-772. https://doi.org/10.1080/10409289.2016.1256720
Cornish, F., Gillespie, A. et Zittoun, T. (2014). Collaborative analysis of qualitative data. Dans U. Flick (dir.), The SAGE handbook of qualitative data analysis (p. 79-93). SAGE Publications. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781446282243
Dahlberg, G., Moss, P. et Pence, A. (2012). Au-delà de la qualité dans l’accueil et l’éducation de la petite enfance: les langages de l’évaluation. Éditions érès.
Davis, E., Gilson, K.-M., Christian, R., Waters, E., Mackinnon, A., Herrman, H., Sims, M., Harrison, L., Cook, K., Mihalopoulos, C., Marshall, B., Flego, A. et Corr, L. (2015). Building the capacity of family day care educators to promote children’s social and emotional wellbeing: Results of an exploratory cluster randomised-controlled trial. Australasian Journal of Early Childhood, 40(2), 57-67. https://doi.org/10.1177/183693911504000208
Delaney, K. K. (2018). Looking away: An analysis of early childhood teaching and learning experiences framed through a quality metric. Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, 19(2), 167-186. https://doi.org/10.1177/1463949118778023
Delaney, K. K. et Krepps, K. (2021). Exploring Head Start teacher and leader perceptions of the Pre-K Classroom Assessment Scoring System as a part of the Head Start Designation Renewal System. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 55, 214-229. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecresq.2020.09.013
Duval, S., Bouchard, C., Lemay, L. et Cantin, G. (2020). Examination of the quality of interactions as observed in childcare centers and reported by early childhood educators. SAGE Open, 10(2), 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244020932914
Fortin, M.-F. et Gagnon, J. (2022). Fondements et étapes du processus de recherche : méthodes quantitatives et qualitatives (4e éd.). Chenelière Éducation.
Garrity, S. M., Longstreth, S. L., Lazarevic, V. et Black, F. (2021). Examining the tensions between cultural models of care in family childcare and quality rating improvement systems. Children and Youth Services Review, 122, 105927. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2021.105927
Gaudet, S. et Robert, D. (2018). L’aventure de la recherche qualitative. Presses de l’Université d’Ottawa. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv19x4dr.12
Hamre, B. K., La Paro, K. M., Pianta, R. C. et LoCasale-Crouch, J. (2014). Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS) Manual, Infant. Paul H. Brookes Publishing. https://books.google.ca/books?id=7dKUngEACAAJ
Harms, T., Cryer, D. et Clifford, R. (2007). Family Child Care Environment Rating Scale Revised Edition. Teachers College Press.
La Paro, K. M., Hamre, B. K., Pianta, R. C. et Thomason, A. (2012). Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS) Manual, Toddler. Paul H Brookes Publishing.
Lemay, L., Lehrer, J. et Naud, M. (2017). Le CLASS pour mesurer la qualité des interactions en contextes culturels variés. Les dossiers des sciences de l’éducation, 37, 15-34. https://doi.org/10.4000/dse.1663
Merriam, S. B. et Tisdell, E. J. (2016). Qualitative research: A guide to design and implementation (4e éd.). John Wiley & Sons.
Ministère de la Famille. (2019). Accueillir la petite enfance : programme éducatif pour les services de garde éducatifs à l’enfance. Gouvernement du Québec. https://cdn-contenu.quebec.ca/cdn- contenu/adm/min/famille/publications-adm/Service_de_garde/programme_educatif.pdf
Ministère de la Famille. (2024). Situation des centres de la petite enfance, des garderies et de la garde en milieu familial au Québec en 2023. Gouvernement du Québec. https://cdn- contenu.quebec.ca/cdn-contenu/adm/min/famille/publications- adm/Service_de_garde/finance/rapport_situation-SGEE_2023.pdf
Organisation de coopération et de développement économiques (OCDE). (2015). Petite enfance, grands défis IV: le suivi de la qualité dans les services d’éducation et d’accueil des jeunes enfants. Éditions OCDE. http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264246171-fr.
Organisation de coopération et de développement économiques (OCDE). (2021). Process quality, curriculum and pedagogy in early childhood education and care. Éditions OCDE. http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/19939019
Pastori, G. et Pagani, V. (2017). Is validation always valid? Cross-cultural complexities of standard-based instruments migrating out of their context. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 25(5), 682-697. https://doi.org/10.1080/1350293X.2017.1356545
Patton, M. Q. (2015). Qualitative research & evaluation methods: Integrating theory and practice (4e éd.). SAGE Publications.
Pianta, R. C., La Paro, K. M. et Hamre, B. K. (2008). Classroom Assessment Scoring System: Manual K-3. Paul H Brookes Publishing.
Reid, J. L., Kagan, S. L., Brooks-Gunn, J. et Melvin, S. A. (2021). Promoting quality in programs for infants and toddlers: Comparing the family child care and center-based teaching workforce. Children and Youth Services Review, 122, 105890. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2020.105890
Reinke, S., Peters, L. et Castner, D. (2019). Critically engaging discourses on quality improvement: Political and pedagogical futures in early childhood education. Policy Futures in Education, 17(2), 189-204. https://doi.org/10.1177/1478210318788001
Rudoe, N. (2020). “We believe in every child as an individual”: Nursery school head teachers’ understandings of “quality” in early years education. British Educational Research Journal, 46(5), 1012-1025. https://doi.org/10.1002/berj.3610
Sabol, T. J., Hong, S. L. S., Pianta, R. C. et Burchinal, M. R. (2013). Can rating Pre-K programs predict children’s learning? Science, 341(6148), 845-846. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1233517
Saldaña, J. (2021). The coding manual for qualitative researchers (4e éd.). SAGE.
Savoie-Zajc, L. (2018). La recherche qualitative/interprétative. Dans T. Karsenti et L. Savoie- Zajc (dir.), La recherche en éducation : étapes et approches (4e éd., p. 191-217). Les Presses de l’Université de Montréal. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv69sv3w
Savoie-Zajc, L. (2021). L’entrevue semi-dirigée. Dans I. Bourgeois (dir.), Recherche sociale : de la problématique à la collecte des données (7e éd., p. 273-296). Presses de l’Université du Québec.
Schaack, D. D., Le, V. N. et Setodji, C. M. (2017). Home-based child care provider education and specialized training: Associations with caregiving quality and toddler social-emotional and cognitive outcomes. Early Education and Development, 28(6), 655-668. https://doi.org/10.1080/10409289.2017.1321927
Tang, J., Hallam, R. A., Francis, J. et Sheffler, K. (2020). Exploring the relationship between quality rating and improvement system supports and global quality in family child care. Child & Youth Care Forum, 49(6), 893-914. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10566-020-09565-2
Teachstone. (2020). Considerations for observing in family child care homes.
https://f.hubspotusercontent10.net/hubfs/336169/Considerations%20for%20Observing %20in%20Family%20Child%20Care%20Homes%20(10_8_2020).docx.pdf
Thouin, M. (2014). Réaliser une recherche en didactique. Éditions Multimondes.
Vandenbroeck, M., Slot, P. et Hulpia, H. (2021). Quality in home-based childcare providers: Variations in process quality. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 29(2), 261-277. https://doi.org/10.1080/1350293X.2021.1895272
Vitiello, V. E. (2014). Using the CLASS measure in family child care homes. Teachstone.
Wuest, J. (2012). Grounded theory: The method. Dans P. L. Munhall (dir.), Nursing research:
A qualitative perspective (5e éd., p. 225-256). Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 McGill Journal of Education / Revue des sciences de l'éducation de McGill

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Those wishing to reproduce all or part of any material published on this website are asked to email mje.education@mcgill.ca for permission and to acknowledge the McGill Journal of Education as the original source.
Authors must transfer copyright of their article to MJE. Authors may use all or parts of their work in any future publication with the article's origin in MJE acknowledged in the customary manner.
A copy of our standard form may be requested from mje.education@mcgill.ca