EVALUATION OF ATTACHMENT STYLES, COGNITION AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT OF CHILDREN IN EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background to the Study

Infants’ early social experiences have converged on the concept that the newborn develops from a main relationship with a single individual to relationships with an increasing number of individuals, which aids in the development of a child’s social skills. (2013) (Landa & Duscthinsky). Attachment in children is a biological inclination in which the youngster seeks proximity to an attachment figure when he or she detects or senses danger or discomfort. Attachment behavior is anticipatory in nature, anticipating a reaction from the attachment figure that would alleviate threat or discomfort. Childhood attachment can describe qualities that influence a child’s sense of self, their emotional regulation mechanisms, and how they interact with others. Attachment is a term that refers to the availability of an authoritative figure, which is defined as the degree to which the authoritative figure responds to the kid’s needs and communicates with the youngster (Kayastha 2010, Charles, 2014). Pianta & Stutililman (2004) acknowledge that the newborn and caregiver can respond to a variety of conditions, but they believe that the observed adjustments represent biological variance. They stressed that the teacher–child connection may be defined by the teacher’s level of participation with the child and the emotional nature of that involvement, both good and negative. Attachment refers to a strong emotional tie formed between a newborn and his or her caregiver. However, a kid is born with an intrinsic or inborn need to bond with a single primary attachment figure (monotropy). Attachment is a relationship of affection between a kid and his or her primary caregiver (Ainsworth, Blehar, Walls & Charles 2014). This link may last a lifetime and have a significant impact on the individual’s development. The attachment bond has an effect on a child’s socioemotional development, school preparation, academic success/failure, and overall adjustment. (2013) (Kochanska, Gravyna, and Sanghag; Charles, 2014). The kid develops an internal working model (IWM) that reflects the caregiver’s reactions to the child as a result of repeated attempts to seek physical and emotional intimacy with the caregiver and the responses received. Parents vary in their approach to and level of care for their children. Children’s attachment experiences are consolidated into internal working models of connection, parental attachment, and appropriate response, which result in secure attachment, which is characterized by a perception of oneself as deserving of care and capable of managing one’s surroundings. (1990, Cassidy). Children develop expectations about their caregivers (whether the caregiver is consistent and dependable or inconsistent and unreliable) and about themselves in relationships as a result of repeated encounters with adults (whether they are worthy of love or not). These expectations, collectively referred to as the internal working model, become generalized in subsequent partnerships. Internal working models alter and grow throughout time as youngsters form new relationships. Thus, internal working models are the methods through which early attachment interactions influence subsequent development. (2005) (Shaw & Dallas).

According to Ainsworth (1978), the main element determining whether a child develops a secure or insecure attachment is the caregiver’s level of sensitivity. At an early age, children establish distinct attachment patterns depending on their experiences and interactions with their caregivers. Children exhibit four distinct attachment styles: secure attachment, anxious-ambivalent attachment, anxious avoidant attachment, and disordered attachment. (2006) (John). Academic success may be influenced by attachment quality in a variety of ways. Additionally, it is critical to comprehend attachment and its link to cognitive ability and academic achievement, since these characteristics may be used to predict academic performance in school and beyond (Jin, Jacobvitz, Hazen & Jang 2012). The word “Cognition” encompasses a wide variety of phenomena, including intellect, mental talents, problem-solving memory, reasoning, thinking, attention, language, imagination, and metacognition. These phenomena span the conscious and unconscious realms, from automatic to strategic activities (Williams, Watts, MacLeod, & Mathews, 1988). Cognition is a broad term that encompasses a range of mental capacities such as knowledge, attention, memory, and working memory. The word “problem-solving” refers to the mental processes involved in identifying, analyzing, and resolving issues. This encompasses all stages of the problem-solving process, including problem identification, choice to pursue the issue, problem comprehension, option study, and action to attain your goals. The critical skills of problem solving need students to have the abilities and methods necessary to overcome difficulties encountered in school and in life. Issue solving abilities involve recognizing and comprehending a problem, tracking progress toward resolving the problem, and assessing a solution to a problem. (2000 National Curriculum). Several markers of problem-solving ability include youngsters displaying an understanding of cause and effect and the ability to apply past learning to a situation.

A problem is something you do not immediately know how to solve, a gap between where you are, and getting started on a part to a solution. This means that the pupils require thinking and playing with the problem time. They need to test out ideas, make conjectures, and adjust their thinking in the light of what they learn from other peers’ ideas, and should be comfortable in taking risks. When children are confident to behave in these ways they are then able to step into problems independently rather than depending on the teacher. Questioning, deep thinking, shared instructions should be supported and valued by the teacher to help children learn the skills they need to tackle their problems.

Achievement is influenced by the time spent on a task, and time on-task is greatly influenced by persistence (Anatasi, 1984).  Achievement is also influenced by attention control.  When an individual is focused on a task, attention is sustained to enhance cognitive growth (Anastasi, 1984). Also motivation for environmental mastery is an important contributor that helps foster Cognitive development (Uzendoorn, 1992).

The mediators are not exclusive, other factors, such as behaviour problems might also play a role. It also emphasized the need for further research on the psychological and possibly biological mechanisms that cause affective factors which has an impact on Cognition processes. It seems evident that the importance of the attachment bond between caregiver and the child is especially relevant for theories of Cognitive development which emphasize social influences on cognition. Some marked weaknesses in the previous studies which created some gaps include inconsistent categorization of the attachment styles under secure and insecure attachment, and non use of standardized measurements.

Therefore, the present study examined the relationship between pupil-teacher attachment styles, Problem-solving competence, attention competence and academic achievement of middle basic Primary five children in Imo state.

 Statement of the Problem

Although there have been many significant contributions to attachment research to date, most studies have focused on parent-child relationship during the formative years spanning infancy to preschool. Similarly, research that has explored the influence of children’s relationship with their teacher has largely been focused on early childhood. Further. measurement  of the child- teacher relationship has typically been from the teacher’s perspective. There is a gap in the  research examining the relationship of child-teacher attachment during middle childhood and the researcher increasingly identified a need for taking into account the child’s perception of the child-teacher relationship.

Moreover, there has been several observational reports from students on teaching practice and practicum observation concerning poor performance of primary school pupils in Early Childhood Education. One wanders ‘why’ despite several efforts by the government to improve on the academic achievement of children  through mounting of academic programmes as millennium development goals programmes in education, workshops, seminars, in service trainings, and other educational programmes yet poor academic achievement in Early Childhood Education  persists in our government owned primary schools.  The researcher’s efforts is being made to understand how the teacher-child attachment, Cognition competencies could be linked to Academic Achievement of the child.

Part of the researchers worry is the role of the teacher as a Caregiver and nurturer which has changed overtime. There is inconsistency on the stability of the teacher- child relationship quality across classes because of inconsistency in teacher class allocation. The researcher investigated if these had relationship between child-teacher attachment styles, (affection variables) problem-solving and attention competences and academic achievement of children in Early Childhood Education, and also defined these relationships more broadly than has been envisioned before.

 Scope of the Study

The study covered the following selected Pupil- teacher attachment variables namely: (secure, anxious- ambivalent, and anxious- avoidant attachment styles).  Cognition was delimited to variables with respect to problem-solving, attention competences while achievement in Early Childhood Education was delimited to whole numbers, fractions, ratio, proportion, addition and subtraction.

This study was delimited to selected primary  5 school pupils in Owerri Education zone one and two and specifically between the ages of 10-12, because they fall within the school-aged pupils and also for easy interpretation, understanding and filling of the instrument.

Purpose of the Study

The general purpose of this study is to determine the relationship between attachment style, cognition and academic achievement of children, specifically the study intends to:

1. find out the relationship between anxious-ambivalent attachment style and academic achievement of children in Early Childhood Education;
2. find out the relationship between anxious-avoidant  attachment style and academic achievement  of children in Early Childhood Education;
3. find the relationship between secure attachment style and academic achievement of children in Early Childhood Education;
4. examine the relationship between problem solving competencies and academic achievement of children in Early Childhood Education; and
5. examine the relationship between attention competencies and academic achievement of children in Early Childhood Education.

 Significance of the Study

Despite the limitations of this study, the non-significant findings are important and can contribute substantially to the field of psychology. This study will inform attachment researchers, cognition researchers, as well as researchers in the area of resilience, because it broadens our understanding of the different variables involved in the resilience of children, their cognition competences and academic achievement.

Additionally, these findings will inform school psychologists, educators, school counselors, parents, teachers, about the intricacies and socio -emotional factors, understanding their own internal working models as well as those of their pupils and pupils’ observable behaviours. These may influence cognition functioning, academic performance and attainment of academic skills.

This area of research is always relevant because it identifies the factors that are involved in offering protection or building resilience in children with less than optimal adjustment and low quality attachment with their parents and teachers.

It is imperative to understand the quality of primary attachment, cognition competences, in the context of school psychology because it relates to children’s learning, knowledge and skills that are accumulated throughout their school experience.

Furthermore, this information may also help school psychologists, teachers, parents in assisting students with less optimal attachment patterns and those with low resilience to succeed in the academic environment and in life.

Research Questions

The researcher posed the following research questions to guide the study:

1. What is the relationship between Anxious-ambivalent attachment style and achievement of children in Early Childhood Education?
2. What is the relationship between anxious–avoidant, attachment style and academic achievement of children in Early Childhood Education?
3. What is the relationship between secure attachment style and academic achievement of children in Early Childhood Education?
4. What is the relationship between problem- solving competence and academic achievement of children in Early Childhood Education?
5. What is the relationship between attention competence and academic achievement of children in Early Childhood Education?

Research Hypotheses