Rolfe, Sharne, Nyland, Berenice and Morda, Romana ORCID: 0000-0001-8101-5287 (2002) Quality in infant care: observations on joint attention. Journal of Australian research in early childhood education, 9 (1). pp. 86-96. ISSN 1320-6648

Abstract

The critical role of early interactions with significant adults on the psychological development of the infant and young child is wide recognised. Good quality in child care has, as a central feature, emphasis on the nature of interactions between infants and caregivers. This paper will explore one type of interaction - the joint-attention interaction - in which adult, or more competent peer, and infant share attention to and/or jointly act upon some object or event. These interactions are considered key building blocks of later cognitive and cultural competence. Preliminary data will be presented from two studies examining interactions and infants in child care. The first study raises questions about the frequency and quality of joint attentional sequences in child care centres and examines factors that may limit the ability of staff to interact with infants. These factors have implications for training, policy and practice. The second study looks at an infant's everyday experiences and reflects on how more knowledge of these experiences could lead to better quality infant child care programs.

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