Challenges to improving the uptake of milk in a nursery class: a case study

Early childhood education as the main foundation of one's education is determined by the quality of teachers who can be seen through the performance of teachers and teachers, so the discourse of professional development is important. This study aims to determine how the performance of superior early childhood teachers and performance measurement as performance standards for outstanding teachers. Qualitative research is carried out with a psychological approach that is carried out directly on the object under study, to obtain data relating to aspects of teacher performance so that increased performance becomes an example for other teachers. Research data collection techniques using interviews, documentation, and observation. The results showed that the performance of outstanding early childhood teachers always tried to hone and control themselves by participating in outstanding teacher competitions to monitor their professional condition and performance. Early childhood teachers who have extraordinary grades also have strong scientific insight, understand learning, have broad social insights, are positive about their work, and show work performance according to the required performance criteria. The teacher's performance in the extraordinary category is the success and ability of the teacher in carrying out various learning tasks. Measuring the performance of early childhood teachers with achievement has two tasks as measurement standards, tasks related to the learning process and tasks related to structuring and planning learning tasks. Referring to these two tasks, there are three main criteria related to teacher performance in early childhood teacher professional development literacy, namely processes, teacher characteristics, and outcomes or products (changes in student attitudes). In the learning process, the performance of early childhood teachers who excel can be seen from the quality of work carried out related to professional teacher learning activities.
 Keywords: Early Childhood Education, Outstanding Educator Performance, Professional Development

Research (Davis, Elliot, Hagglung, Johansson, Ritchie, Miller, Inoue, Chua, Sageidet, Young, Cutter-Mackenzie, Ji, Stuhmcke, Mackey, Ohillips, Enggahl, Arlemalm–Hagser, Barrat, Barrat–Hacking, Black, Chawla, Rivkin, Gorman, Sundberg, Ottander, Gilbert, Fuller, Palmer, Rose, Farrell, Danby, 2014) has indicated that very young children are capable of supporting the Agenda for Global Action through transformative and creative pedagogical approaches utilised through their environments, that are informed and practiced by knowledgeable early education practitioners and leaders. The early years offers multiple opportunities to surround young children with the awe and wonder of their world, linking to their local cultures, as they seek to question, challenge and access possibilities to transform their families and communities. Beach Kindy utilises the natural environment of the coastline, at sites that demonstrate the biodiversity of the planet. Water, for example, is recognised not only as an effective medium and tool for education for sustainable development but also its immense capacity to support holistic, interconnected areas within early childhood education. However, it is acknowledged that this approach is not without challenges. The four home nations that make up the United Kingdom (England, Northern Ireland Scotland and Wales) have distinct early years curriculum frameworks and this paper focuses on the English framework, The Early Years Foundation Stage (The Department of Education (DfE) (2014). The DfE (2014) imposes what is perceived by many as a linear statutory framework and policy makers must try to move towards embedding education for sustainable development and encourage more flexible, creative approaches to learning. The English Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS, DFE 2014) statutory guidance focuses on three Prime areas, (Communication and Language, Personal, Social and Emotional Development and Physical Development and four Specific areas including, Understanding the World (UW). This Specific area (UW), presents a renewed emphasis on a ‘concentric approach to learning’ (Tickell in The early years: foundations for life health and learning (Tickell review), DfE, London 2011, p. 104) where children are guided to ‘make sense of their physical world and their community through opportunities to explore, observe and find out about people, places, technology and the environment’ (DfE 2014, p. 8). Children can become young scientists, utilising the coastlines and becoming “ocean literate”. Early education practitioners can thus provide “a platform to channel their infinite capacities for activism into the creation of a better world”. (2015, p. 12). This paper seeks to explore how Beach Kindy can help implement both the Sustainable Development Goals and the scientific approaches embedded within UW, whilst also recognising the challenges that it may bring.

The development of children’s oral language skills is clearly recognised as a key element of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) curriculum in England. However, most current advice is based on research from dyadic interactions between mother and child and stresses the importance of one-to-one conversations. There has been limited research on the benefits or drawbacks offered when talking with young children in groups, or the use of group conversations as an opportunity for teaching and developing children’s language and communication skills. The present study presents data on the interaction patterns of different children, in terms of the topics they talk about and overhear, their individual initiation and response rates and the feedback they receive, and relates this to their progress in language development. Video observations of nine 3- to 4-year-old children and their key worker during so-called ‘family group’ sessions in a nursery class were analysed for each child in turn, to give a measure of the number of verbal initiations and responses made to and by the child during each session. The findings indicate some of the adult behaviours and conversation topics most usefully employed during small-group conversations in the nursery setting, to provide opportunities for language use that individual one-to-one conversation may not encourage.

Early childhood education, nationally defined as preschool education in Turkey, defined in the XIV1. National Education Council (1993) as the following; “Pre-primary education is an integrated part of fundamental educational process that is appropriate for 0–72 months old children’s development and individual differences, provide rich and stimulated environment, support children’s physical, intellectual, emotional and social development, guide them according to the cultural values and preparing them to primary education”.2 Early childhood education and care is provided through creches (for 0–36 month olds), kindergartens (36–72 months old), ‘practical’ nursery classes, i.e. kindergartens established within the vocational high schools, (36–72 months old) and preschool classes in primary schools (for 60–72 months old). Both public and private kindergartens, nursery classes and ‘practical’ nursery classes are under the responsibility of the Ministry of Education (MONE), while others are provided under the responsibility of National Ministry of Family and Social Policies. All public pre-primary education centres are free of charge, but parents are expected to contribute to the cost of meals and cleaning materials. ECE programs under the responsibility of MONE should follow the National Early Childhood Education Curriculum for 36–72-month-old children (2013), regardless of whether they are public or private. Private ECE programs are also allowed to integrate national curriculum with their own educational philosophy. Staff of public kindergartens should have at least a four-year bachelor degree in the field of early childhood education or child development. Inclusion is encouraged through legislations; one child with special need for a group of ten children is compulsory if there is an application. Family involvement is seen as a must for the early childhood education process.

Children's early years provide an important foundation for their future health and strongly influence many aspects of wellbeing. Children's tastes and eating habits are also formed early in life with consequences for growth, development, health and academic achievement in later life.1-4 Promoting the initiation and optimal duration of breastfeeding and good nutrition in the early years can reduce the prevalence of later obesity and associated chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes and some cancers.5 Hence, the most cost-effective nutrition interventions focus on this window of opportunity.6 With over 1.3 million registered early years places in England7 and an increasing number of full day-care places,8 early years settings provide an invaluable opportunity to help children to eat well and engage with families to encourage development of healthy eating habits at home. All regulated early years settings in England are required to follow the mandatory standards for learning, development and care of children from birth to five years as set out in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) framework.9 The framework includes a welfare requirement for the provision of 'healthy, balanced and nutritious' food and drink, but until recently, there was no national guidance in England to explain what this meant in practice.10Development of the 'Eat Better, Start Better' programmeIn April 2011, the Children's Food Trust11 was awarded a Department for Education grant to develop and deliver the 'Eat Better, Start Better' programme. This programme evolved from two recommendations made by the Advisory Panel on Food and Nutrition in Early Years,12 the development of national food and drink guidelines for early years settings and food and nutrition training for the early years and health workforce. The main aims of the programme are to support healthier food provision in early years settings and in families with young children, and increase the food, nutrition and healthy cooking knowledge, skills and confidence of early years and health practitioners and parents.The programme has been implemented over two phases. As part of Phase 1 (2011-2012), the trust developed the Voluntary Food and Drink Guidelines for Early Years Settings in England13 and practical support tools, and worked collaboratively with five local authority areas to develop and pilot an integrated food and nutrition training and evaluation package. Following successful delivery in Phase 1,14 the programme was rolled out to a further 20 targeted local authorities across England between April 2012 and September 2013.The 'Eat Better, Start Better' programme has been designed to support early years and health professionals to confidently cascade age-appropriate, nutrition advice to early years settings and families, helping to ensure that children and parents receive consistent messages around healthy eating.The programme includes two trainthe- trainer courses (how to use the food and drink guidelines; healthy cooking with families), dissemination of guidance and resources, and regular monitoring of impact using standardised evaluation tools. The Trust's training, accredited by the Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH),15 acknowledges the unique role health and early years practitioners have in delivering health and education services.Monitoring the impact of the 'Eat Better, Start Better' programmeEvaluation is an integral part of the programme. Following the training, each local authority undertakes baseline and follow-up audit visits in early years settings to assess the impact of the food and drink guidelines and practical tools on settings' approach to and provision of food. To assess the impact of the cooking sessions delivered to families, early years settings report what food was prepared, the skills developed and how many families were involved in the cooking sessions. This information informs an evaluation report for commissioning in local authorities and can be used as evidence of impact for health and wellbeing boards. …

In 2009, Professor Julie Davis published her review of international research findings and noted “a research hole” related to children being considered “agents of change” in early childhood environmental education. The paper considered three different categories of learning, “around the concepts of in the environment, about the environment and for the environment” (Davis and Elliott, 2014:4). In 2014, Julie Davis and Sue Elliott (2014:5) observed the development of a “newer” body of research which “makes more explicit, the philosophical and pedagogical links between early childhood education and education for sustainability, often advocating for an embedded and enacted culture of education for sustainability within early childhood education, rather than focusing mainly on investigating children’s knowledge about the environment or engagement in the environment”. This chapter explores early childhood education for sustainability (ECEfS) within the context of the statutory early years framework in England, the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) (DCFS, 2008a; DfE, 2014, 2017), and the associated discourse related to sustainability within primary education. Using an early childhood education lens, this chapter also explores the guidance for early years practitioners, including variants of teacher education, as a platform to visualise education for sustainable development (ESD) with young children.

This article considers policies and strategies employed to professionalise the early childhood workforce in England since the Labour government took office in 1997. The term ‘professionalisation’ is associated here with moves towards creating a graduate early years workforce, which could have implications for training, pay and employment conditions, the specific body of knowledge and the professional identity of early years practitioners. The new status of Early Years Professional is explored, which has its legal underpinning in the 2006 Childcare Act. The discussion is informed empirically by the views of a small sample of practitioners training as Early Years Professionals. It is argued that the concept of professionalism applied here does not meet the criteria employed within sociological theories of the professions. It also contrasts with that of other professions working with young children, such as qualified teachers and social workers. Finally, it conflicts with early years practitioners' own views on their professional identity. This process could therefore be regarded as representing a missed opportunity in professionalising the role of early years practitioners in England, but instead it is viewed as a work in progress, in the light of evidence for early years practitioners' professional attitudes and commitment.

The aim of this article is to problematise the dominant construction of ‘professionalism’ as created and promoted by the United Kingdom Government through policy. Like other professionals working in education, early years practitioners are subjected to a disempowering, regulatory gaze in the name of higher standards. The preoccupation with satisfying dominant and externally imposed constructions of professionalism leaves little time to engage in meaningful critiques of the status quo, and as a consequence of social engineering those working in the early years become constrained by demands for technicist practice. The discourse of rationality is deconstructed to reveal that through its dominance and perpetuation early years practitioners are regulated and controlled in their attempts to satisfy the demands for performativity and technicist practice. This article draws upon and is framed by the work of Foucault, in particular his concern with ‘disciplinary technologies' that produce docile bodies as objects that yield to the discourse, and his focus upon rules that govern the discourse — in this case the discourse professionalism. The article concludes with a discussion of the vital and important role that agency plays and it is argued that practitioners are not passively shaped by social structure but that they are active in challenging, negotiating and reforming the discourses through which they are positioned and defined and therein lies the possibility for resisting the regulatory gaze.

This article highlights an action research project that sparked transformation regarding how early years practitioners documented children’s learning. The dominant discourse of standardisation and narrowing of early childhood education, encapsulated in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s International Early Learning Study, has resulted in the ‘shaping’ and ‘testing’ of young children around the globe. The OECD has become very interested in early childhood education and is a very instrumental player today (Moss, 2018). Consequently, the testing of young children has been instigated by governments to ensure children gain the accepted knowledge, skills and dispositions required to be successful learners. Situated within this context of testing and standardisation, this article will share knowledge gained from a small action research project that took place in one Scottish early years setting. The study was stimulated by the early years practitioners of the setting, who strongly opposed the ‘reductionist’ formal ‘tick-box’ assessments produced by their local authority. These types of didactic formal assessments suggest that pedagogy is underpinned by a desire to tame, predict, prepare, supervise and evaluate learning. This article is of critical importance as it examines the imposition of didactic assessment from the practitioners’ perspective. The practitioners in the study contested that ‘tick-box’ assessments diminished children’s identities down to a list of judgements about their academic abilities, or lack thereof. The introduction of the ‘tick-box’ assessments presented a dilemma for the practitioners, in terms of the different views of the government and practitioners of what knowledge is worth knowing and what individuals and groups are able to learn. Many of the practitioners from the early childcare and learning setting positioned themselves and their work as being consciously different from what was going on in the wider sector. The early childcare and learning setting employed in this article introduced a new method to capture children’s learning, which they named the ‘Lived Story’ approach. In this article, we argue that Lived Stories are a form of narrative assessment which are designed to track children’s progress whilst respecting the complexity of their learning, their position within the learning process, the flow/fluidity of their ways of being and their ability to act in radical, creative and innovative ways. We conclude that by using ‘Lived Stories’ practitioners were able to lessen the surety of the language we use. The article highlights that as practitioners write Lived Stories and assess children’s progress they are freed to use language such as ‘wondering, puzzling, thinking, exploring’. In turn, we demonstrate that this language, and the ideas it enables, are on a continuum; a journey that spans a lifetime.

This thesis responds to contemporary debates about early childhood education and the gendered nature of the workforce, drawing on feminist theory, interpretive methodologies and practitioner accounts. This project amplifies the female voice of practitioners in the workforce, using data drawn from semi- structured interviews with 11 early years practitioners. Drawing on intersectional feminist theories surrounding women’s liberation from misogyny, and Foucauldian conceptualisations of power, this project will highlight the role of femininity on predominantly working-class early childhood practitioners, and how it distorts their identity and their relationships with colleagues under the current neoliberal regulation of the sector. Through analysing the qualitative data, this thesis will explore the impact of the assumption that women are the traditional caregivers on practitioners themselves; how the patriarchy reproduces this norm by perpetuating misogyny and marginalisation; and how this notion affects women’s oppression and the consequent movements towards liberation. This thesis offers two conceptual and empirical contributions to the field of early childhood education research. Firstly, the theoretical underpinnings of Foucauldian and feminist theory with interpretive methodologies to explore women’s oppression in the early childhood workforce. Secondly, in exploring the role of gendered language and gossip in interactions between early childhood professionals, this thesis analyses the extent to which patriarchal language surrounding gossip is used to trivialise and devalue the female voice and probes the extent to which gossip is a form of power for women. This study contributes important perspectives on how current drives towards the ‘educationalization’ of early years settings can have harmful consequences for the professional development of early childhood educators, rather than raising the standards of childcare in the UK.

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

Introduction: The article concerns the strategies in the work of early years practitioners in terms of the relationships they create with children, colleagues at work, management or parents. The description of tacit knowledge is presented in the light of the nursery’s resources, not its weaknesses. Research Aim: To show how relational tacit knowledge is visible in the work of early years practitioners in nurseries. Method: The study involved 20 early years practitioners in Warsaw, it was an in-depth interview. The study used the framework of Collins’ theory of explicit and tacit knowledge. The analysis of the interview data was carried out using the MAXQDA 2022 software. The part of the interview concerning the research results presented in this article contained 12 questions. Results: When analyzing the coded fragments about the strategies used in conversations and cooperation with the nursery management, they were divided into two parts. The first part of the strategy is applying them to a manager who is considered to be a trustworthy, helpful, committed, understanding person. The second part of the strategy is to apply them to a manager who is considered to be unpredictable, unorganized, unjust in financial management, unjust in managing employee resources, and uncommitted. Most early years practitioners declare an open strategy of conversation towards their colleagues and children, based on the directness of the message and honesty of expression. The early years practitioners declare that they use the sandwich method with their parents. Conclusions: It was observed that the greatest intensification of informal strategies occurs in the relationship between the early years practitioners and parents. In the statements of the respondents, it was noticeable that even if relational tacit knowledge tries to see the light of day, it is basically one-sided in the form of requirements for parents to meet the expectations of the nursery. It is difficult for parents to implement the rules prevailing in the nursery to the rules prevailing at home.

This chapter provides a brief overview of contemporary Western Australian early childhood education during a period of reform. It describes, through the lens of a University lecturer, the complexities early childhood teachers experience as they try to implement Australia's first national Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) in a policy environment of Australia's first national curriculum (for students aged 5-17 years) and an already overcrowded state-education early years curriculum. It also considers how the lack of practical support for teachers is crippling the crusade for nationally consistent, high quality experiences and programs in children's education. Finally the chapter examines some leadership and advocacy. initiatives that can facilitate the early years reform agenda. In this chapter the term 'teacher' refers to those who have completed a University degree in early childhood education (ECE). The term 'educator', as identified in the EYLF, includes early childhood practitioners (working directly with children in early years settings) who do not have early childhood teacher/education University qualifications.

This chapter examines early language education in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a vibrant plurilingual context that has two dominant languages, Arabic and English. Arabic is the UAE’s official language, and speakers of Arabic include Emirati citizens who form a minority of the overall population, as well as expatriate residents from across the Arab world. However, English is used as the contemporary lingua franca, due to the superdiversity of the majority multinational expatriate population. Given the volume of global immigration to the UAE, other languages are widely spoken, including Farsi, Hindi, Malayalam, Sinhalese, Tagalog, and Urdu.For the national population, free, state-sponsored Arabic-medium kindergarten education is offered from 4 years of age, while both national and expatriate parents must pay for private prekindergarten education which is offered mostly in English. The focus of this chapter is primarily on early language education in nursery (birth to 4 years) and kindergarten (4 and 5 years) settings, with some reference to the early elementary years (6–8 years). Little research attention is paid to languages other than Arabic and English in early childhood education in the UAE. In light of recent moves to develop Arabic-English bilingualism and emergent biliteracy from an early age through the state education system, the chapter pays particular attention to issues and challenges surrounding early dual-language education. In addition, some recent, although limited, developments in multilingual provision in the early years are discussed. Home language and literacy factors outside formal educational settings are also addressed. Although early childhood language education in the UAE is not yet well researched, key studies published in English are referenced, critical issues are addressed, and future development and research directions are outlined.KeywordsUnited Arab EmiratesEarly language educationArabic language teachingEnglish language teachingEarly bilingual teachingEarly biliteracy teaching

STEAM to R-SLAMET Modification: An Integrative Thematic Play Based Learning with R-SLAMETS Content in Early Child-hood Education