A R T I C L E SUPERVISION AND TRAINING IN CHILD CARE: DOES REFLECTIVE SUPERVISION FOSTER CAREGIVER INSIGHTFULNESS? ELITA AMINI VIRMANI AND LENNA L. ONTAI University of California, Davis ABSTRACT: The goal of this study was to explore the effects of reflective and traditional supervision and training on caregiver insightfulness. Caregiver insightfulness, or caregiver ability to understand “motives underlying the child’s behavior in a complete, open, and accepting way” (D. Oppenheim, D. Goldsmith, & N. Koren-Karie, 2004, p. 352) was assessed at two time points with 21 new caregivers at two university- based childcare sites. Trends suggest that caregiver insightfulness was relatively stable while increased levels of components of caregiver insightfulness over a period of approximately 2.5 months were positively associated with reflective supervision and training. These findings suggest that encouraging caregivers to reflect on their interactions with the children in their care fosters caregivers’ ability to see from the child’s perspective in an open and accepting way. RESUMEN: El objetivo de este estudio fue el de explorar los efectos de la supervisi´ on y el entrenamiento reflexivo y tradicional sobre la intuitiva comprensi´ on de prestar cuidado. Esta intuitiva comprensi´ on de quien presta el cuidado, o la habilidad de quien presta cuidado para comprender “los motivos de la conducta del ni˜ no de una manera completa, abierta y aceptada” (Oppenheim & Koren-Karie, 2002) fue evaluada en dos momentos temporales con 21 personas nuevas en sus funciones de prestar cuidados y 2 lugares de cuidado infantil localizados en una universidad. Las nuevas corrientes sugieren que la intuitiva comprensi´ on de quien presta el cuidado era relativamente estable, mientras que el aumento de los niveles de componentes de la comprensi ´ on intuitiva de quien presta cuidado en un per´ ıodo aproximado de dos meses y medio fueron positivamente asociados con la supervisi´ on y el entrenamiento reflexivos. Estos resultados sugieren que animar a quienes prestan cuidado a reflexionar sobre sus interacciones con los ni˜ nos cuando los cuidan, promueve la habilidad de quienes prestan cuidado de mirar desde la perspectiva del ni˜ no de una manera abierta y de aceptaci ´ on. This research was, in part, supported by principal author’s Zolk Fellowship. Portions of this study were submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for a Master of Science degree awarded to the first author. The authors acknowledge the cooperation of families, faculty, and staff of the Center for Child and Family Studies in the Department of Human and Community Development at the University of California, Davis and the Associated Students Children’s Center at Sacramento State University in conducting this study. Direct correspondence to: Elita Amini Virmani, Department of Human and Community Development, University of California, Davis, 1 Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616; e-mail: efavirmani@ucdavis.edu. INFANT MENTAL HEALTH JOURNAL, Vol. 31(1), 16–32 (2010) C  2010 Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI: 10.1002/imhj.20240 16