Welcome to the first post on our new blog, Inside INSIGHTS! We are posting this initial commentary on our new website! I hope you will find these blogs informative and will respond to them with your own insights (pun intended). You are most welcome to ask for clarification of the content. Feel free to comment so we can all benefit. I hope to learn from you. Tell me how you are applying the content or about the challenges you experience as a parent or teacher.
Rather than easing you into the content, let’s jump right into the multifaceted topic of Goodness of Fit. Still with me? I hope so, because thinking about goodness of fit has inspired my research and my clinical practice with children, their parents, and their teachers for over thirty years. Goodness of fit has both intrigued and bemused me. Read on — but only if you are ready to have your imagination and emotions piqued as well.
Goodness of Fit—Let me Count the Ways
Goodness of fit is a quirky sounding phrase. Try saying it five times really fast. Not easy, is it? Regardless, goodness of fit is essential for supporting your children’s adjustment and even bringing joy into their life.
The term “goodness of fit” was first coined by Stella Chess and Alexander Thomas, a multi-talented couple who were husband and wife and parents to four children. Their everyday observations of children and parents inspired their research and informed their clinical practice as psychiatrists. As pioneers in the temperament field, Chess and Thomas defined goodness of fit as the “match of a child’s temperament to the demands, expectations, and opportunities of the environment.” Goodness of fit is at the heart of the work we do at INSIGHTS Intervention.
Understanding a child’s temperament is a precursor to providing goodness of fit. Temperament, as we explain it at INSIGHTS, is the consistent reaction style that a child demonstrates across a variety of settings and situations, particularly those that involve stress or change. For example, some children wiggle all the time. They have temperaments that are high in motor activity. Providing goodness of fit for a 1st grader who is high in motor activity might involve a number of components: a school that incorporates recess into every school day, a teacher who doesn’t care if children stand up or sit down to complete their “seat work” and parents who arrange for fast-moving after-school activities like soccer.
Goodness of fit is decidedly different for a child who is high in negative reactivity. Such children often have a quick and negative response to change or even to a minor stressor. Goodness of fit for children who are high in negative reactivity is likely to include parents and teachers who ignore, rather than escalate, grumpy responses. (Sounds simple, but typically, intentional ignoring requires a concerted effort by adults, especially those whose own temperaments are high in negative reactivity). An additional asset to achieving goodness of fit with children high in negative reactivity is being blessed with parents and a teacher who have a good sense of humor!
And then there are kids whose temperaments are easy. Their propensity to complete small chores at home and assignments at school makes daily life flow rather smoothly. Children with easy temperaments typically elicit warm interactions from peers and adults. Their high adaptability would, at first glance, make them an easy candidate for goodness of fit in just about any benign environment. Yet if we refer back to the definition of goodness of fit, we note that the environment must also provide adequate opportunities to match a child’s temperament. A boring environment might not bestow easy children the stimulation needed for goodness of fit. Encouraging the interests of an easy child might include offering activities that foster their curiosity and talents.
Providing goodness of fit for some children can become a bit more challenging as they get older. For example, quality pre-schools aim to meet the individual needs and interests of the young children who attend. Children are given many options to choose among: puzzles, crafts, dress-up, etc. Educational lessons are presented creatively and are balanced with adequate time for physical activities and free play. Throughout the day, social/emotional skills are fostered with only gentle behavioral corrections. What a lovely environment in which to enjoy one’s preschool years!
Imagine the confusion of a child who graduated from such an enchanted preschool only to find that her elementary school has strict expectations for following directives and sitting quietly for long periods of time. Instead of coming home tired but happy as she did after preschool, the same child comes home tired and cranky when in kindergarten.
Most adults can recall situations in their own lives when they did not experience goodness of fit. Perhaps, they had a job that they perceived as repetitive and boring. Or, for someone with a different temperament, poorness of fit might be a position that required responding quickly to ever changing demands. The majority of adults in such uncomfortable situations will eventually seek out a new job. If they find one that provides goodness of fit, they are likely to wonder why they waiting so long before fleeing.
Kindergarteners do not have a lot of options when they experience poorness of fit. They rely upon the adults in their world to provide environments that meet their temperamental needs. Often the environmental adjustments are not major. Perhaps adding activity options or relaxing some behavioral expectations that are not realistic based on a child’s particular temperament. Regardless of the strategy, recognizing a child’s temperament is critical first step.
Our website is set up to help you identify different children’s temperaments. If you are a parent go to: https://insightsintervention.com/parents-schools/for-parents/ Select “Tools for Parents” and then go to “Take the Survey.”
A teacher questionnaire is also on our website. First go to: https://insightsintervention.com/parents-schools/for-schools/ Then select “Tools for Schools” and then “Take the Survey.”
The more you learn about a child’s unique temperament, the more you will make environmental adjustments or at least advocate for him or her. In a future blog, we will tackle strategies for enhancing goodness of fit. We will also address other topics related to goodness of fit such as:
- What happens if a child experiences “poorness of fit?”
- What’s the line between goodness of fit and permissiveness?
- And—imagine a drum roll here– how is goodness of fit related to selecting astronauts?
But don’t let me choose all the topics related to goodness of fit? Please suggest your own. I look forward to responding in future blogs that will occur at whim. Why, you ask, “at whim?” Temperament researchers and clinicians have a long tradition of resisting organization. Our professional meetings are called “The Occasional Temperament Conference” because we espouse to the principle that life is best enjoyed with a dollop of spontaneity.
Welcome to my world exploring an assortment of temperament adventures complete with unscheduled blogs!