The Impact of Kinder Training on Young Children's On-Task Behavior: A Single-Case Design

• Published in: International journal of play therapy Vol. 27; no. 2; pp. 78 - 91
• Main Authors: Chen, Szu-Yu, Lindo, Natalya A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Educational Publishing Foundation 01-04-2018
• Subjects: Adlerian Psychotherapy; Classroom Behavior; Female; Human; Male; Play Therapy; Professional Development; Psychotherapy Training; School Based Intervention; Teacher Student Interaction; Time On Task; Adlerian play therapy; teacher-student relationships; kinder training; on-task behavior
• ISSN: 1555-6824; 1939-0629
• DOI: 10.1037/pla0000066

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of kinder training on young children's on-task behavior in the classroom. This study utilized an experimental single-case methodology and a multiple baseline across subjects design. Three elementary school teachers conducted weekly individual play sessions with three students they identified as frequently exhibiting off-task behavior. The findings provide support for kinder training as an effective play-based professional development training model that can improve students' on-task behavior. Results demonstrated that all student participants showed improvement in on-task classroom behavior. Visual analysis revealed that all student participants demonstrated a positive change in on-task behavior during the intervention phase. All teacher participants reported observing improvement in the student participants' on-task behavior and teacher-student relationships.