Title

Cluster Randomised Controlled Trial Evaluation of the Effects of the Media Initiative for Children on 3-4 Year Old Children’s Attitudes Towards Diversity and the Republic of Ireland

Research Team

Professor Paul Connolly (Joint PI), Dr Ruth Sinclair (Joint PI), Ms Audrey Craven-Lynn, Dr Angela Eakin, Ms Cheryl Gamble, Ms Frances Lyons, Dr Barbara McConnell, Ms Joanne McDowell, Professor Carol McGuinness, Dr Sarah Miller, Dr Glenda Walsh

Timescale

September 2007 – December 2009

Funder

Early Years – The Organisation for Young Children

Aims and Objectives

To evaluate the effectiveness of the Media Initiative for Children – Northern Ireland in improving 3-4 year old children’s inclusiveness, respect for differences and prosocial behaviour.

Methodology

A cluster randomised controlled trial is being used to evaluate the effectiveness of the programme. 60 settings in Northern Ireland and 20 in the Republic of Ireland (10 in County Louth and 10 in Roscommon) have been recruited to participate in the evaluation. 40 of these will be randomly allocated to the intervention group and 40 to the control group (30 each from Northern Ireland and 5 each from Counties Louth and Roscommon). Those in the intervention group will receive training and the programme over the academic year 2008/09. All of the children will be individually tested before and after the intervention on relation to their: ability to recognise emotions; awareness of instances of exclusion and how that makes someone feel; willingness to be inclusive of others in general and specifically those who are different in relation to race and disability; and attitudes towards the cultural events and traditions associated with their own and other communities. In addition, measures are also being taken for parents and practitioners in relation to their own attitudes to cultural differences and their attitudes towards and confidence in discussing diversity issues with young children.

The delivery of the programme in the intervention settings will be monitored carefully and indepth qualitative case studies will be undertaken in four settings that will involve interviews with the children, practitioners and parents and observations of sessions during various time points across the year.

Outputs

A draft report on the evaluation is due to be presented to the funder in September 2009.

Further Information

For further information please contact Dr Angela Eakin