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"A secure attachment to a caregiver is where a young child recognizes a caregiver as a 'secure base' from whom exploration is possible, and who can be returned to if exploration leads to stress that the child cannot handle alone. This is not simply an emotional bonding, which emphasizes closeness, but is broader in scope and recognizes the need for children to develop their autonomy."

This observation about attachment was made by John Oates from the Open University in the United Kingdom in the Bernard van Leer Foundation's journal, Early Childhood Matters (November 2007). Oates continues to explore the issue by addressing the issue of multiple caregivers. He argues...

"Unfortunately attachment theory, as proposed by John Bowlby and developed subsequently by others, is often misrepresented as stressing the importance of the biological mother alone for healthy attachment development. Indeed Bowlby's concept of 'maternal deprivation' has often been (mistakenly) seen as asserting that the bond with the mother is the crucial and only relationship affecting attachment. Instead, Bowlby stressed (and his views have been borne out by later research) that children can and do form multiple attachments to those who give a degree of support and care over more than short periods of time. Attachments take time to establish, hence frequent changes of caregiver are not conducive to secure attachments being made, but becoming an attachment figure is possible for fathers, grandparents, siblings, aunts, uncles, and also adoptive parents or fostering carers."

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Exchange has a number of extremely helpful resources for supporting teachers in dealing with children with challenging behaviors:

• Our book, Behavior, has 24 articles written by experts in the field on how to deal with challenging behavior.
• Ten Out of the Box Training Kits on "Positive Discipline" provide directors with all the resources you need to conduct in-house training sessions.
• An Exchange CEU course on Managing Challenging Behavior provides credit for reading 10 Exchange articles on the subject.
• Exchange's newest resource, the DVD Facing the Challenge, is an expertly crafted video training tool.

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