Access and quality issues in early childhood education and care

Access and quality issues in early childhood education and care: The case of Germany

Six Access and quality issues in early childhood education and care: The case of Germany

This chapter examines the extent to which disadvantaged children are able to access high quality early childhood education and care in Germany. Germany is experiencing a rapid expansion of provision in the ECEC sector, particularly in the western part of the country, where levels of provision were traditionally low. All children are now entitled to a nursery or family day care place from the age of three, and that entitlement is to be extended downwards to reach children age one and two. However, thus far, it is mostly higher income families who access ECEC for younger children, in part because mothers in these families are most likely to be employed. Young children with a migration background are much less likely than their peers to be enrolled both before and after age three. The chapter also describes developments to improve the quality of provision, including the innovative work of the National Quality Initiative.

Let's put a national child care strategy back on the agenda

I was very pleased to be invited to serve as a guest editor of a special issue of Early Child Development and Care. The present special issue, ‘Contemporary issues in early childhood education in G...

This article, based on empirical qualitative data gained from a survey and interviews with a group of early childhood educators, argues for the inclusion of sexual differences, or more specifically, gay and lesbian equity issues, in approaches to anti-bias. The article examines the discourses that prevail in the field, that perpetuate the perceived irrelevance, invisibility and exclusion of lesbian and gay issues in early childhood settings and education generally. The discussion focuses on several main areas, including: the prevalence of the dominant discourses of childhood and sexuality that intersect to constitute sexuality as irrelevant to children; the pervasiveness of the discourse of compulsory heterosexuality and the assumed absence of gay and lesbian families in settings; or the assumed absence of significant gay and lesbian adults in children's lives; the presence of homophobia and heterosexism in early childhood settings; and the perceived irrelevance of broader social, political and economic issues to the ‘child's world’. This article highlights some crucial issues for practice and policy development in the area of anti-bias education concerned with sexual differences.

About the book: This textbook has been developed and written in response to the huge changes in the Early Years sector. It will encourage students to go beyond the basics, to explore and research issues in more depth, and to take a critical and reflective approach to their practice. The book takes full account of the curriculum framework and the Foundation Stage for early years; it also acknowledges the National Literacy Strategy and the National Numeracy Strategy. Exploring Issues in Early Years Education and Care enables readers to go beyond a basic, introductory level and introduces the key issues in early childhood education and care such as researching young children; the place of work in early childhood; reducing inequalities in child health; and comparative perspectives in early childhood literacy.

About the book: This textbook has been developed and written in response to the huge changes in the Early Years sector. It will encourage students to go beyond the basics, to explore and research issues in more depth, and to take a critical and reflective approach to their practice. The book takes full account of the curriculum framework and the Foundation Stage for early years; it also acknowledges the National Literacy Strategy and the National Numeracy Strategy. Exploring Issues in Early Years Education and Care enables readers to go beyond a basic, introductory level and introduces the key issues in early childhood education and care such as researching young children; the place of work in early childhood; reducing inequalities in child health; and comparative perspectives in early childhood literacy. Although rooted firmly in practice and with a UK focus, the text introduces controversial issues and takes a look beyond the UK. This book comes from the team that wrote the best-selling Looking at Early Years Education and Care. The contributors' wide range of backgrounds in early years health and education ensures that the text will meet the needs of students and tutors on many different early years and early primary courses, as well as reflective practitioners working in a range of Early Years settings.

About the book: This textbook has been developed and written in response to the huge changes in the Early Years sector. It will encourage students to go beyond the basics, to explore and research issues in more depth, and to take a critical and reflective approach to their practice. The book takes full account of the curriculum framework and the Foundation Stage for early years; it also acknowledges the National Literacy Strategy and the National Numeracy Strategy. Exploring Issues in Early Years Education and Care enables readers to go beyond a basic, introductory level and introduces the key issues in early childhood education and care such as researching young children; the place of work in early childhood; reducing inequalities in child health; and comparative perspectives in early childhood literacy.

Introduction: Contestation, Transformation and Re-Conceptualisation in Early Childhood Education Theme 1: Theoretical Perspectives on Learning, Curriculum and Pedagogy 1. Introduction From 'Play in the Infants' School' E.R. Boyce, Methuen, 1946 2. Fleer, M. (2006) The Cultural Construction of Child Development: Creating Institutional and Cultutral Intersubjectivity. International Journal of Early Years Education, 14(2), 127-140 3. Soler, J & Miller, L. (2003) The Struggle for Early Childhood Curricula: A Comparison of the English Foundation Stage Curriculum, Te Whariki and Reggio Emilia, The International Journal of Early Years Education, Vol.11, No. 1, (Taylor and Francis) 4. Brooker, L(2003), Learning How to Learn : Parental Ethnotheories and Young Children's Preparation for School, The International Journal of Early Years Education, Vol. 11, No. 1, (Taylor and Francis) Theme 2: Play: Advances in Theory and Practice 5. Newman, F and Holzman, L. (1993) Playing in/with the ZPD, Lev Vygotsky: Revolutionary Scientist (Routledge) 6. Janson, U. (2001) Togetherness and Diversity in Pre-school Play, The International Journal of Early Years Education, Vol. 9, No. 2, (Taylor and Francis) 7. Marsh, J. 'But I Want to Fly Too!': Girls and Superhero Play in the Infant Classroom, Gender and Education, Vol. 12, No. 2 (Taylor & Francis) 8. Sawyers, J. and Carrick, N. (2003). Symbolic Play through the Eyes and Words of Children, Play and Educational Theory and Practice, Ed. Lytle, D. Ablex Publishing Corporation, U.S Theme 3: Policy Generation and Implementation 9. Neuman, M. (2005). Governance of Early Childhood Education and Care: Recent Developments in OECD Countries, Early Years, Vol. 25, No. 2. (Taylor & Francis) 10. Sylva, K. and Pugh, G. (2005). Transforming the Early Years in England, Oxford Review of Education, Vol. 31, No. 1. (Taylor & Francis) 11. Ball, S. and Vincent, C. (2005) The 'Childcare Champion'? New Labour, Social Justice and the Childcare Market, British Educational Research Journal. Vol. 31. No. 5. (Taylor & Francis) 12. Rosemberg, F. (2005) Childhood and Social Inequality in Brazil, in H. Penn (2005) (Ed) Unequal Childhoods: Young Children's Lives in Poor Countries. London, Routledge, Chapter 8, pp. 142-170. Theme 4: Professionalism and Professionalisation 13. Duncan, J. (2004). Misplacing the Teacher? New Zealand Early Childhood Teachers and Early Childhood Education Policy Reforms, 1984-96, Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood Education, Vol. 5, No. 2. (Symposium Journals) 14. Osgood, J. (2006). Professionalism and Performativity The Feminist Challenge Facing Early Years Practitioners, Early Years, Vol. 26, No. 2. (Taylor & Francis) Theme 5: Research Methods: Agency and Voice 15. Sumsion, J. (1999). Critical Reflections on the Experiences of a Male Early Childhood Worker. Gender and Education, Vol. 11, No. 4. (Routledge) 16. Farrell, A. Tayler, C. and Tennent, L. (2004). Building Social Capital in Early Childhood Education and Care: An Australian Study. British Educational Research Journal. Vol. 30. No. 5. (Taylor & Francis) 17. Montgomery, H. (2005). Gendered Childhoods: A Cross Disciplinary Overview. Gender and Education, Vol. 17, No. 5. (Routledge). References

Work in early childhood education: Protocol of a systematic review

Gender Issues in Early Childhood Education and Care

This chapter is based on the Attachment Matters Project (Dolby R, The circle of security: roadmap to building supportive relationships. Early Childhood Australia, Canberra, 2007; Dolby R et al, Childcare: a holding environment: supporting infants and their parents with mental illness and emotional difficulties. In: Sved-Williams A, Cowling V (eds) Infants of parents with mental illness: Developmental, clinical, cultural and personal perspectives. Australian Academic Press, Brisbane, pp 249–262, 2008) that has pioneered a method of working to bridge the gap between knowledge and practice. In this project clinicians and educators in an early childhood centre have worked together for 10 years to develop new understandings of how teacher-child relationships and interactions can support children’s learning and social competence with peers. This chapter outlines their approach. They begin by choosing a practical issue in early childhood education and care, often a concern raised by educators. Small–scale research is conducted to understand the issue better. The findings are then used to develop a concrete procedure that educators and parents put into practice step-by-step. Each step is filmed and shared and discussed with parents and educators. This discussion is itself filmed and the ideas that emerge are incorporated into what is produced. The outcome of this collaborative approach is the production of a practical, well-tested procedure with a dedicated package of training resources that have come directly from practice with input from educators and families. In this chapter, the authors illustrate this approach by focusing on a particular issue—the day-to-day experience of toddlers and their families when they arrive at child care—and present the collaborative research and practical procedures undertaken and developed through the Attachment Matters Project to address this issue.

There has been significant reform of early childhood education and care within Australia in the past years. It has become a highly politicized issue around issues of quality, affordability and accessibility. In each election, policies within early childhood education and care are hotly debated and scrutinized. In 1996, the election of the Howard government intensified the marketisation of care, removing the small subsidies paid to non-profit services. This suggested that the government allowed and supported the privatisation of the early childhood sector. Today the majority of the early childhood sector in Australia is within the private sector. The sector continues to grow, as more demand is sought from families of young children. The approach taken by the Australian government has been described by Sumsion (2012) as a national experiment in corporatised early childhood education and care. Hence, the focus of this chapter is to provide a historical perspective of Australian early childhood education and care, before providing an overview of the current situation the Australian context. The chapter concludes with suggestions for ways forward for Australian early childhood education and care.

Current Issues in Early Childhood Education and Care for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Children