Abstract

CUELLAR ESCOBAR, María del Pilar  and  FARKAS KLEIN, Chamarrita. Awareness and mentalization among pre-school teachers. Child language predictors at 30 months. Perfiles educativos [online]. 2018, vol.40, n.160, pp.64-82. ISSN 0185-2698.

Teaching staff (TS) provide children with physical and emotional support, and their interaction contributes to language development. In turn, it has been proved the adult awareness and mentalization are competences that influence children’s development. This study identifies the connection between awareness and mentalization among TS on the development of children’s language at 12 and 30 months, controlling the awareness and mentalization levels of the teacher in charge. The sample consisted of 78 TS-child pairs at basic education institutions in Santiago de Chile. The results showed an association between the “playful interaction” awareness scale of TS and the expressive language of children at 12 months, which predicted greater language ability at 30 months. No associations were observed between mentalization and language at 12 months; only predictive effects at 30 months.

Keywords : Early childhood; Pre-school education; Teachers’ competences; Awareness; Mentalization; Child language.