Understanding the Role of Interaction in Promoting Holistic Development of Malay Infants and Toddlers

This paper explores the understanding of infant and toddler teachers on the role of interaction in promoting holistic development of Malay infants and toddlers from underprivileged homes. It focuses on the teachers' understanding derived from brain development and Vygotsky social constructivist theories.

2. Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to explore the degree and extend of the infant and toddler teachers
understanding of the role of interaction in promoting holistic development of Malay infant and
toddlers from underprivileged homes. For the purpose of this paper UPMIT refers to
underprivileged Malay infants and toddlers between the age of 2 months to 30 months from the
low-income strata. Research tells is that at least 1 million new neural connections form every
second in the first few years of life, thus it is particularly imperative that educators working with
UPMIT are providing meaningful interactions to facilitate holistic development. The inductive
theoretical framework that guides the investigation will focus on the teachers understanding
derived from brain development and Vygotsky social constructivist theories. It is exploratory in
nature and presents a multidimensional approach to describing and evaluating infant and toddler
teachers’ understanding on the issues. An interpretivist paradigm intermingle with thematic
perspective is adopted to analyse the data. This issue is considered to be a pertinent because
UPMIT are discovered to be susceptible to more stress in relation to the other income grouped
children. In addition, a deeper understanding of the issue may also address some of the gap so
that teachers can be in a better position to help the families of UPMIT.
Keyword: infant and toddler teachers’ interactions, brain development of underprivileged
children, Singapore

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3. Aim and objectives of the research
Conducting educational research is beyond completing the major steps that guides a
research. It involves planning as well as designing and writing the research in either two major
tracks: qualitative research or quantitative research. This research study utilised the qualitative
track and aims to suggest improvements for practice. It also utilized the quantitative track using
the survey design to ascertain behavior, trends in attitudes , opinions as well as characteristic of
a sizeable group of people. An ineffective educator can influence the child’s growth in a severe
way than any other issue of childhood (Eve Siu Ling Chen et al., 2018). The issue is dire for the
children from the lower income strata because they already have lesser opportunities in life than
the rest of the population and this is one of the reasons for their undergrowth persistently
(Collins, 2016). Hence, the purpose of the research will delve deeper and study the infant and
toddler teachers’ understanding on how interaction facilitates the brain architecture and holistic
development of the UPMIT in order to suggest improvement to practices.
4. Background
According to Conkbayir (2015), the ability of cognition of the child develops at the
tender age and this is not an isolated process rather there are other influences of socialization,
types of parenting, schooling of the children and most importantly the impact of a good teacher.
It is found that the ramifications of the inefficient educators are severe for a child as it might
restrict the potentials which can impact the scope of the child from realizing their potentials
(Duchesne et al., 2018). According to Berk (2017), early teaching and the role of the main
caregiver have a positive impact on the development of the child. The tender age is the most
crucial part of the development (Bruer, 2011). The development of cognitive capacity and
memory are the two most important factors of the childhood where the impact of the early

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educators is important. It is further argued that there are a few other issues for consideration like
the socio-economic growth, extreme poverty or unequal employment which are also important
for the present state of these groups (Collins, 2016). Hence, it is important to consider that the
underachievement of these minority groups is not isolated rather it is attached to their lower
development of cognitive capacity (Collins, 2016). It is therefore important to consider that the
issue does not reside with the elderly population rather it is there within the foundation and the
basic elementary education where the issue resides (Collins, 2016).
5 .The theoretical framework
A theoretical framework is the blueprint of the research in a methodological way for
conducting the research (Choy, 2014). The inductive research method is adopted as the
framework here because inductive method helps to derive the knowledge to substantiate the
conclusion on the basis of derived data (Choy, 2014).There are researches which focus on the
inductive method because it helps to derive conclusions based on the premises undertaken in the
research. It will also help to infer data from different perspectives and general information
(Choy, 2014). The research will follow this framework as this approach provides enough scope
for exploring each issue with greater detail. This inductive research reasoning is taken as the
theoretical framework since it helps to derive knowledge from the interviews and it also leave
scope for using multiple theories within the body of research.
5.1 Structure of the study
The research will be conducted by pointing out the broad issue of the topic and further
breaking it into smaller parts to highlight each issue for analysis of the issue. This will be helpful
to provide equal weight to each issue of the broader concept. The next part of the research will
be focused on the interviews and finally the derivation base conclusions. The interview protocol

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to be carried out will comprises of four to five questions. The structure of the research is centered
on the collection of data and their analysis to arrive at a conclusion, and it is presented in the
form of the expected outcome. The aim of the research to follow this particular structure is to
analyse the issue systematically and to find the nuances of the same.
7. Research question
Haynes (2006), shared that it is the familiarity with the topic that helps define a suitable research
question but an interest in a specific topic typically starts the research process. The research
question guides, helping the researcher to integrate the issues. The research question should be
succinct, clear and has the ability to present a unique argument; synthesizing multiple sources.
Creswell (2009), affirms that researchers place signposts in their work helping others to
distinguish the purpose of the study and the research questions or hypothesis being investigated.
In qualitative research researchers’ formally states, a central question and then generally follow
with a set of associated sub-questions. Central questions need to be broad and asked around a
central phenomenon or concept of study. Research questions are usually either causal questions
which associate two or more phenomena and determines if a relationship exists or descriptive
questions seek to describe a phenomenon or comparative questions. The comparative questions
goal is to delve deeper into the difference which may exist between the two or more groups in
relation to one or more variables. For this research, the descriptive and causal questions is chosen
to explore the phenomenon.
Here are the research questions for this study:
RQ1. What do infant and toddler teachers understand about interaction to promote a holistic
development?

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RQ2. How do infant and toddler teachers interact to promote holistic development of UPMIT?
8. Methodology
8.1. Philosophy of Research
Research works are generally dependent on the three kinds of philosophies. The three
kinds are interpretivism, positivism as well as realism (Choy, 2014). The following research will
take into consideration the aspect of interpretivism to conduct the research. The philosophy of
interpretivism is generally dependent on the idea that the prevalent knowledge related to the
external world depends on notions as well as the coherent sharing amongst ideas as well as
discourses (Choy, 2014). Moreover, the research cannot be conducted depending on mere
external objective facts. This philosophy is chosen and justified because interpretivism allows
the scope for interpretation and does not take into consideration the notion of objectivity. This
form of methodology chiefly focuses on the combination of the factor of the researcher as well as
the subjects (Flick, 2015). This is perhaps one of the best forms of qualitative research as it
encompasses the survey design and interviews. Here, the ontology will assist in gauging the
existential nature and the reality, which in turn, will help in answering the questions (Flick,
2015).
The following research will focus on the inculcation of epistemology as well as
ontology. While the first one focuses on relativist perspective, the second depends on the emic
approach. The second perspective or emic perspective solely focuses on the conception of the
researcher's particular perception about reality. The following research will take into
consideration the perspective generated by the insider view. Thus, most of the perspectives shall
be employed. This will act as a research philosophy, which in turn, will prove to be helpful to

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find the research external of the researcher (Panneerselvam, 2014). While the epistemological
approach depends on the belief of internal reality, the philosophy of interpretivism believes in
the conception that multiple realities exist at the same time and are relative to each other. As
against the positivism research philosophy, interpretivism hardly takes into consideration the
framework of structure and adopts certain flexible issues (Gast et al., 2014). The approach of
interpretivism fails to encompass the notion of the inherent relationship shared between the two
constituents. This philosophy considers them to be exclusive from each other and solely
concentrates on acquiring proper knowledge in connection to human instead of arriving at
general statements(Flick, 2015).
8.2. Design of Research
To conduct researches, many design frameworks are available for the disposal of the
researcher. The prominent research designs are explanatory, analytical or descriptive as well as
the exploratory design model (Flick, 2015). The employment of the analytical design assist in the
comprehension of the research in descriptive terms. On the other hand, the explanatory design
serves to establish the correlation amongst the variables. Thirdly, the exploratory design serves
to implement the concepts at the early stages (Smith, 2015). For this research, the exploratory
model will be employed as it assists in exploring the innumerable concepts at the very
beginning. In addition to this, the exploratory design will also assist in the scrutiny of the ideas
as well as concepts (Smith, 2015). The model of exploratory research assists in the development
of hypothesis and in the identification of proper courses of actions (Simonsohn et al., 2017).
Once the problem associated with the study gets identified, the employment of exploratory
design can help in gauging the concepts. In addition to this, this model is selected so as to enable

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the researcher to highlight build arenas for further research based on he variables presented
(Smith, 2015).
8.3. Method of Data Collection
In order to conduct elaborative and justified research, both primary, as well as secondary data,
should be employed. The primary method of collection of data rests on the collection of
information through survey designs. This part of research data will be collected using the on-
line google survey form to pinpoint trends in behaviours , attitudes, characteristic or opinions of
a large group of people. Usually an instrument will be used in quantitative data collection to
measure the variables. The purpose of this process is to relate the results from a small
community to the larger community. For this study 25 infant toddler teachers with at least two
years of field experience. They will be given an information sheet together with a consent form
giving full details of the study. These information sheet will be sent by email. The participants
will need to bring a signed copy on the day the of the interview. The collection of secondary data
rests on the collection of data through the rigorous processes of interviews (Smith, 2015). For
this study 5 infant toddler teachers will be interviewed. The participants in the interview will
bear no potential risks as their establishments will not be named in subsequent reports , journal
or article submitted for publication. In addition, it can be mentioned that the process of
interviews assists in the procurement of coherent information as well as personal perspectives on
the chosen topic. It can be said that interviews guarantee the accentuated response rate of the
participants (Smith, 2015). The method of interview is selected because it enables to capture the
direct and undiluted response of the interviewers as well, the interviewees and has proved to be
better than most other methods. Certain limitations such as time constraint and other difficulties
act as limitations. Nevertheless, the method of interviews assists in garnering the views of the

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persons who have been directly or indirectly affected by the various nuances of the topic. In
addition to this, interviews also assist in generating comprehensive views about the processes
related to research.
8.4. Method of sampling as well as the size of the sample
The concept data saturation “entails bringing new participants continually into the study”
until the data set is complete, as indicated by data replication or redundancy. In other words,
saturation is reached when the researcher gathers data to the point of diminishing returns, when
nothing new is being added (B, Marshall, P, Cardon, A, Poddar & R, Fontenot, 2013) . Hence,
estimating adequate sample size is directly related to the concept of saturation. In order to arrive
at concrete results, the following research will take into consideration the non-probability as
well as the probability sampling methods (Smith, 2015). In addition to this, researchers need to
take into consideration the factor of selecting proper as well as concrete sample size as this can
determine the correct determination of concrete results. Choosing a sample point towards the
practice of selecting from a population to ease the process of arrive at results (Smith, 2015). The
benefit of choosing probability as well as non-probability sampling method is that it will permit
the employment of probability sampling and assist in the suitable selection of the sample size for
arriving at the results. The probability sampling technique will help in the collection of random
samples, which in turn, will assist in the process of selecting random choices that are dependent
on the myriad automated processes. In addition to this, it helps the researcher in exercising the
autonomy of conducting the research depending on the basic requirements of the following
research (Smith, 2015). The technique of random sampling also assists in the further segregation
of the chosen population depending upon the innumerable criteria such as the sex, gender or race
(Smith, 2015). This method will prove to be extremely useful because it can be said that each

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member may have criterion which is different from each other and their perceptions vary. The
author will identify the participants within a group of infant toddler teachers who are attending a
workshop given by the author. Participation by the teachers will be through self-selection. The
interviews conducted upon the three to five infant and toddler teachers will be conducted keeping
in mind data from the survey groups. The author will also visit a sub-set of the participants in
their infant and child care. Once again, the participation by the teachers will be through self-
selection. A multi-method approach which include the data collection of not only digital videos,
it may also include digital images taken by the author. The semi-structured interview will also
allow the author to verify and check for triangulation of data.
8.5. Analysis Technique for the Acquired Data
One of the most important sections related to research is the technique that needs to be
adopted for the analysis of the acquired data. Proper analysis technique will assist in the
conversion of the acquired data into concrete numbers and numeric (Gast et al., 2014). Without
the availability of proper measures to convert the acquired data into visual representations, the
facts, as well as the figures, are nothing but futile. After the acquired data is gathered, this
research will try to plunge into a conversion of the acquired data into graphical presentations
and tables. This will enable as well as ease the process of reading and decoding the available
data. The data that is acquired will then be analyse to resolve the questions and to reach
conclusions. Thematic approach shall be employed by the research to decode and analyze the
qualitative data (Gast et al., 2014). Based on the themes of the research, the acquired data shall
be analysed. The employment of the thematic approach will assist in the rigorous analysis of the
prevalent thematic pattern and will also assist in arriving at the hypothesis in relation to the
specific phenomenon (Gast et al., 2014). Every research bound on themes and the employment

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of this theme can assist in distributing attention on each theme. The semantic, deductive, latent
and inductive approaches can be clubbed under the thematic approach (Gast et al., 2014).
Focusing on the deductive approach, the following research will endeavor to infuse the
prevalent and relevant theories and literature, which shall be justified by the acquired data from
the surveys as well as the interviews.
8.6 Ethical consideration in research
The Institutional Review Board (IRB) main purpose is to protect the welfare and the
rights of participants involved in research activities being conducted under its authority. The
human research subject risks are reduced by adhering to processes that are coherent with sound
research designed towards unnecessarily exposure that involves the research participants. It is the
responsibility of the author to seek IRB approval before commencing of this research. As the
research includes UPMIT appropriate additional safeguards will also need to be integrated in the
study to protect the rights and welfare the participants who are likely to be vulnerable to coercion
or undue influence. Maintaining an ethical standard throughout the research is the most crucial
part of a research. According to Gast et al., (2014), there are certain values like honesty,
objectivity, integrity and objectivity required for conducting any form of research (Gast et al.,
2014). Hence, it is important that while collecting the data from interviews and surveys, no
participants are forced to give a certain opinion or give consent without their permission.
Moreover, it would be considered that the use of a particular logo is restricted as that might be
showcasing any form of advertisement (Gast et al., 2014). There would be no use of logo even in
the survey paper. In addition, the protection of all the members from these communities will be
ensured and enough measures would be taken to protect their interest while conducting the
research. It is important to consider that research is entirely for the academic purpose, and any

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form of un-ethical and non-academic behavior will not be showcased during the research
process. Throughout the interview, it will be assured that prior consent has been taken from the
participants and the respective authorities and for that, an authorization letter is to be ensured
before conducting the research. In addition, the original videotapes/ digital images, recorded will
stay with the participants. It is a common practice that researcher will make a copy of the video
and digital image, but it will remain with the researcher and will be made available to the
participants. Nevertheless, only clips of video and digital images agreed by all parties will
eventually be retained. Finally, the participants and the researcher will both have copies of edited
material. All participants will be assured that their names and their setting will not be divulged.
In written documentation the children’s first names will be changed and surnames will not be
used. During videoing, the practitioners will also be reminded not to use children’s surnames.
Albeit, the researcher would ensure that there is zero pressure from anyone in any part of the
research.
9. Study limitations
Situations arise where there is less control of the researcher, and it is purely external in
nature(Gast et al., 2014). No matter how well it is planned, there are bound to be certain
limitations(Gast et al., 2014). In this situation, the amount of time allotted for the research may
be restricted, and this might limit the scope of the research. It may also happen that while
collecting the primary data, consent is not given from the desired authority and it restricts the
scope of the research. Moreover, there are issues like cultural biases that can restrict the scope of
the researchers. This can also lead to a biased understanding of the issues for consideration
which may result in a shallow and parochial understanding of the issues. Hence, these limitations
are challenging for the researchers conducting the research.