Early Childhood Education And Care Institutions Research Articles

Looking beneath the surface: associations between varied outdoor surfaces and children’s diverse play behaviours in early childhood education and care institutions

This study assumes that surfaces in outdoor environments in early childhood education and care (ECEC) institutions exert an important influence on children’s play diversity. Gibson (1979) claims that surfaces are important because they are where most action occurs; some surfaces may lead to a diversity of play behaviours, while others afford a narrower range of actions. This study was conducted as part of a three-year mixed-methods project. The sample consisted of 464 video observations (mean duration: 122 seconds) of 79 children’s free play in the outdoor environments of eight ECEC institutions. Multilevel regression analysis, controlled for children’s age and gender, indicated that functional play was positively associated with surfaces resistant to deformation (e.g. rubber) and that constructive play was positively associated with surfaces with low resistance to disintegration (e.g. sand or forest floor). These results can help develop and design outdoor environments that facilitate children’s play diversity in ECEC.

Whiteness and Bodies Out of Place: A Critical Discussion of Early Childhood Educators’ Regulatory Language Practice in a Danish Context

This article sheds light on contemporary interconnections between colonialism, whiteness and notions of Danishness. It offers a critical perspective on the possible (side) effects of emphasising Danish language proficiency in everyday pedagogical encounters with racial-ethnic minoritised children. Taking on the notion of coloniality of power (Quijano, 2000), the article considers Denmark’s colonial complicity and its present implications in today’s social structures and, in particular, in Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC). The article is based on critical ethnographic fieldwork (Madison, 2020) conducted in a Danish ECEC centre. By theorising whiteness (Ahmed, 2007) in relation to ideals of Danish language proficiency and by drawing on postcolonial theory (Fanon, 1952/2021, 1967), the article investigates how a regulatory language practice performed by ECEC educators can be understood as normative whiteness affecting a group of three 4–6-year-old racial-ethnic minoritised children with Turkish backgrounds. The analyses show how the children navigate the white space of the ECEC centre by adjusting their bodies accordingly as they are rendered bodies out of place. Conclusively, the article points to Danish ECEC institutions as critical sites in the reproduction of colonial power structures.

Multilingual learning environments in early childhood education in Finland

Increasing linguistic diversity creates a need to construct early learning environments as spaces where children’s whole multilingual repertoires are represented. The purpose of these spaces is to support the crossing of linguistic boundaries during collaborative, play-based activities. In Finland, the language policies of the National Core Curriculum for Early Childhood Education and Care have been changed to promote multilingualism. This study focuses on data provided by early childhood education and care (ECEC) staff, documenting changing language policies in learning environments through the management of space and practice. The study analyzes what ECEC staff (N = 81 participant groups) report on constructing multilingual learning environments and what type of barriers and enablers are described as present in such environments. Theoretically, the analysis draws on pedagogical translanguaging. The data were collected using the LangPeda tool, and the participant groups’ textual documents were scrutinized via qualitative content analysis. The findings suggested that although most of the groups’ textual documents reflected either pre-planned or spontaneous pedagogical translanguaging, not all the groups were eager to change their monolingual practices. Linguistic hierarchies were found, and the development of children’s linguistic repertoires appeared to be hindered by misconceived understanding of language learning. Enabling pedagogical translanguaging to become part of ECEC institutions’ (spatial) practices requires sufficient resources, materials, and systematic education for ECEC staff.

YOUNG CHILDREN’S AGENCY IN NURSERIES: PREMISE FOR LEARNING FOR LIFE

In the current landscape of restructuring early childhood education and care (ECEC) services for children under three years old in Romania, this article aims to delve into the concept of child agency. It emphasizes children’s learning for life as a complementary aspect to prevailing discourses that view ECEC solely as a foundation for lifelong learning. Through an exploratory study employing a case study approach within early childhood institutions (crèches), the article scrutinizes the agency of young children. It is immersed in interpreting the agentic child within Romania’s multifaceted national ECEC context, seeking to answer the question: How can the perspective of child agency contribute to the development of ECEC institutions and staff? The authors’ understanding of agency draws inspiration from recent discussions on agential realism, marking an ontological shift within education and sociology (Barad, 2007). Agency, entwined within relationships, navigates between the child’s intentions, daily routines, structures, materiality (Spyrou, 2018), and interactions with staff and peers. Empirical data, presented as vignettes, offer glimpses into the child’s agency during play, meals, and other activities. Insights into how children utilize their bodies, indoor and outdoor spaces, sounds, and materials possess the potential to guide further research in the realm of early childhood education. Additionally, these insights may inform professional development within the ECEC field.

Positive Factors Facilitating Collaboration Between Early Childhood Education and Care Institutions, and Multilingual Parents – A Protocol for a Systematic Review and Thematic Synthesis

This protocol presents the planned and upcoming work for a systematic review of the topic positive factors facilitating cooperation between early childhood education and care (ECEC) institutions, and multilingual parents. The number of children with a foreign background, both in Scandinavia and internationally, has increased during recent decades. These children are often exposed to more than one language on a daily basis. Earlier research has established that collaboration between ECEC institutions and parents is a vital factor in children’s development, learning, and school success. This is especially the case for multilingual children with a foreign background. This protocol discusses research-based knowledge in relation to this collaboration, and identifies a knowledge gap regarding up-to-date research on the positive factors enabling collaboration between ECEC institutions and multilingual parents. The aim of the planned systematic review is to contribute a scientifically based overview of knowledge about the positive factors facilitating collaboration between ECEC institutions and multilingual parents. The choice of methods for conducting this systematic review is stated and described in the presented protocol.

Parents as learning facilitators

This paper examines the implications of various learning-centred initiatives for the relationship between early childhood education and care (ECEC) institutions and families in Denmark. Since the 1990s, promoting early learning has been a key objective for Danish ECEC institutions, reshaping the Danish social pedagogy tradition. Recently, early learning initiatives have become part of the collaboration with parents on so-called home learning. Based on ethnographic studies of such collaboration, I argue that the expansion of dominant early learning agendas from ECEC to families results in an institutionalisation of parenthood. The analysis shows that parents are expected to embrace a learning agenda promoted by ECEC professionals. They are appointed as learning facilitators who must strive to support early learning at home and improve their parenting skills. Furthermore, parents’ engagement in early learning is intertwined with the practical organisation of family life and with ideals of a good family and a good childhood.

Active commuting to early childhood education and care institutions among toddlers (2–3 years)

ABSTRACT Little is known about the modes of active commuting to and from school (ACS) in toddlers (2–3 years old). The aims of the present study are threefold: (a) to describe the modes of transport to and from early childhood education and care (ECEC) institutions in toddlers; (b) to analyze the role of different barriers and neighbourhood characteristics, as perceived by parents, in ACS; and (c) to examine the contribution of ACS on levels of PA. Parents provided written input through a questionnaire about the modes of transport to school they use with their young children, the weekly use-frequency of each mode, as well as the barriers they perceived to walking or riding a bike to ECEC institutions. The final sample consisted of 154 young children from Valencia (Spain). In a randomly selected subsample of 44 children, PA was measured using accelerometers. Cars and strollers were the most common modes of transport in toddlers. Perceived distance to school was negatively correlated to ACS, whereas parents’ perceptions around planning/psychosocial barriers was also negatively associated with ACS. There was a significant and positive association between ACS and total PA. However, ACS contributes positively to toddlers’ overall PA levels. This study provides information about planning/psychosocial barriers as significant predictors of ACS in toddlers.

The Role of Play and Objects in Children’s Deep-Level Learning in Early Childhood Education

This research investigates the significance of the physical environment in early childhood education and care (ECEC) institutions as a facilitator of deep-level learning. Building upon Laevers’ concept of deep-level learning, this study explores the interplay between objects in ECEC settings, children’s play, and their deep-level learning. The primary objective is to examine the potential mediating role of play in the relationship between objects and deep-level learning. The research methodology involves the analysis of a sample consisting of 928 two-minute video observations collected from eight ECEC institutions in Norway. The results demonstrate a positive association between children’s engagement in play, their utilization of objects, and deep-level learning. The findings suggest that constructive and symbolic play partly mediate the positive relationship between deep-level learning and object utilization. These outcomes highlight the pivotal role of play in early childhood education and emphasize how elements within the physical environment can effectively support children’s learning.

Children at risk of social exclusion in the early and preschool education and care system

Children at risk of social exclusion (RSI) are more than average exposed to the risk of violation of their socio-emotional and psycho-physical integrity. The term includes children with challenging developmental and/or psychophysical status, exposed to inappropriate conditions in which they grew up, children in families of minority cultural identity. Exposure to RSI is associated with below-average educational outcomes, lower socio-emotional competencies, psychological difficulties, and antisocial/or addictive behaviours.Earlier studies found that 7 to 10% of preschool children are in RSI. Research in Croatia shows that 21.1% of preschool children are in one RSI, while 13.2% of children are in two or more RSI (http://morenec.ufzg.hr/). Children’s involvement in early childhood education and care (ECEC) stands out as an instrument for the prevention of educational poverty and one of the predictors of children’s well-being. Involvement alone is not enough, and the quality of the ECEC system and the process are more important indicators of well-being. Unfortunately, only 30% of ECEC institutions have a standardised child risk assessment procedure and organised support for children and families. Only 20% of ECEC teachers estimate that they are educated for (some) forms of support for children in RSI.

Is early formal childcare an equalizer? How attending childcare and education centres affects children’s cognitive and socio-emotional skills in Germany

Abstract This study examines the role of formal childcare under the age of three in tackling the early social inequality in children’s cognitive and socio-emotional competencies in Germany, by drawing on the new-born sample of the National Educational Panel Study. To this end, we study first whether the access to formal early childhood education and care (ECEC) differs by parents’ socio-economic status (SES), by means of logistic regressions. Second, we analyse the main effect of attending ECEC institutions. Third, we ask whether the effect of attending ECEC on children’s competencies differs by SES. We perform OLS regression with inverse probability weighting to address confounding bias possibly arising from selection into care arrangements. Moreover, we developed a counterfactual analysis to compare the observed SES gradient in children’s competencies with two alternative extreme scenarios, one characterized by the absence of ECEC, and the other by universalistic access to ECEC. Our findings show that ECEC attendance is socially stratified and suggest an equalizing impact of ECEC institutions. We conclude that ECEC can play a compensatory function on social stratification, by making the expansion of formal early childcare expenditures a fruitful investment for more equal opportunities.

Pedagogical practices in ECEC institutions and children’s linguistic, motor, and socio-emotional needs during the COVID-19 pandemic: results from a longitudinal multi-perspective study in Germany

ABSTRACT During the COVID-19 pandemic, German early childhood education and care (ECEC) institutions had to limit their provision of ECEC, implement protective measures, and handle new organizational tasks. Data from two longitudinal surveys (October 2020 to July 2021) among ECEC managers and pedagogical staff were analysed. Limited staff resources, limited access, and high pandemic-related challenges (i.e. difficulties and conflicts related to implementing protective measures), were negatively associated with the frequency of pedagogical practices (Models 1, 2). Manager ratings suggested increased developmental needs for children with low socio-economic status; also higher frequency of pedagogical practices at early stages of the pandemic (T1) was associated with lower increase of developmental needs at a later stage (T2, about 5 months later). In sum, this contribution provides evidence about how the COVID-19 pandemic might have affected quality in ECEC provision on both the structural and interaction level and how this, subsequently, impacted child outcomes.

P01-03 Movement and physical activity in early childhood education and care in the Nordic countries

BackgroundThe World Health Organization (WHO) acknowledges the importance of preschool children taking part in comprehensive physical activities supporting, among other things, their motor development, and competencies. A growing number of children attend early childhood education and care (ECEC), and expectations that this will support the development and learning of the youngest children are high. ECEC are governed by different policies embodied in both laws and curricula, and the framework of a curriculum plays a key role in ensuring the quality of ECEC services. The documents represent the content society wants the ECEC institutions to disseminate, and set out the values, objectives, and content of the work of pre-school teachers and serve as a point of reference for ECEC teachers and schools. The purpose of this study was to examine the values of movement and physical activity (MoPA) using government policy documents ECEC from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden.MethodsThis descriptive, comparative study was designed based on curriculum theory and used word count and content analyses to examine values of MoPA and to identify similarities and differences in the ECEC policies of Nordic countries.ResultsSeven terms were identified as MoPA related; body, motor, move, physical activity, physical education, coordination, idrott/liikunta. These terms occurred in various content contexts: development, environment, expression, health and well-being, learning and play, albeit sparsely and were referred to as both a goal in itself and as a mean of achieving other goals (e.g., learning or development in another area). Formulations dedicated to MoPA as a goal were present in the Danish and Finnish curricula and, to some extent, also in the Norwegian, while the Icelandic and Swedish curricula mentioned MoPA only as a mean.ConclusionFindings indicated that MoPA, which are important for children's development, health, and well-being, is a low-priority value, to varying degrees, in the ECEC policies enacted by the Nordic countries. Thus, the guidance provided to educators and stakeholders therein is inexplicit. The low priority of the MoPA domain in the ECEC policies might negatively affect the possibility for young children to be physically active in preschools.

Risks of Social Exclusion Among Children in ECEC Settings: Assessments by Parents and ECEC Teachers

Recognizing children at risk of social exclusion (RSE) is one of the key prerequisites for providing direct and appropriate support to children and their families. Timely and proper identification of children at RSE requires collaborative and team-based assessments that include standardized procedures outlined in protocols to accommodate child personality, family factors, and other needs. The objective of the research is to analyze the capacities of early childhood education and care (ECEC) teachers to assess the RSE of children by comparing their assessment with the assessment of parents. We used the data about 443 children between 5 and 7 years of age who were attending 10 ECEC institutions in Croatia. Children were assessed with two versions of the questionnaire. Data were analyzed on a descriptive level, and Cohen’s kappa coefficient was used to determine the agreement between parents’ assessments and ECEC teachers’ assessments. It was found that at least 30% of children in Croatian ECEC institutions had one or more RSE. The results indicate a low proportion of children at RSE recognized both by parents and by ECEC teachers. The Croatian ECEC teachers are not familiar with information that is important for a child’s development, such as poverty, quality of family relationships, and involvement in specialized treatments. These data highlight the need to improve the capacity of Croatian ECEC teachers to participate in the process of assessing the RSE of children.

More than words – how second language learners initiate and respond during shared picture book reading interactions

ABSTRACT Initiating conversations and responding to initiations of others via gestural and verbal means are prerequisites for participating in Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) interactions. However, research to date has not addressed the multimodal initiations and responses of young second language learners (SLLs) in natural ECEC settings. This study investigated their initiations and responses during shared picture book reading interactions with ECEC practitioners with a focus on modalities, strategies, as well as the multimodal meanings and types of utterances. Participants were 30 SLLs in German ECEC institutions. Results showed that SLLs responded to the initiations of the practitioners predominantly verbally and initiated interactions mostly multimodally. Furthermore, the children produced more combinations of multi-word utterances and gestures in their initiations than in their responses. These findings complement the body of work demonstrating the varied communicative skills young SLLs use in their interactions as well as by underlining the importance of gestural cues in everyday ECEC interactions.

Sustainable Care: Care as a Communal Virtue in Early Childhood Education

PurposeCare is a core concern for early childhood education and care (ECEC) institutions. Care may be understood as a basic form of interaction and a foundational need for human beings. For these reasons, care also presents challenges for ECEC staff. The staff must seek practical solutions to problems that philosophers have raised on a theoretical basis concerning ethical traditions, such as the ethics of care. These are the problems of justice, parochialism, and self-sacrifice.Design/Approach/MethodsThis article develops a theory concerning the ethics of care in ECEC institutions. The theory is informed by qualitative interviews with ECEC teachers reflecting on their caring practices. The study is therefore located at the intersection of normative ethics and applied ethics. In seven in-depth interviews, the informants discussed how to create a caring ECEC environment that is fair and possible to maintain over time.FindingsThrough analyzing the interviews, I found that caring practices that work toward these ideals can be described as sustainable care. These practices take care of all the children and provide the staff with opportunities to regain the strength they need to create a caring and educating setting.Originality/ValueThe theory this article develops makes ethics of care applicable and practically relevant to ECEC institutions.

Diverstity and centrism in two contrasting early childhood education and care systems: Slovakia and Indonesia compared

Abstract National early childhood education and care (ECEC) systems have been shaped by external influences and have taken different forms in developed countries than in post-colonial countries. This study systematically compares and examines the autonomous elements in national ECEC systems and the countervailing homogenisation process in Slovakia and Indonesia -two countries located in a different hemisphere with different historical, cultural, and political backgrounds. The study shows new rhetoric triggering different tendencies. In Slovakia, the “competency” and “standards” turn led to steps to increase ECEC institutions’ autonomy and give them greater power to create tailor-made education programmes. While in Indonesia, the turn went in the opposite direction, reinforcing curriculum centralisation and increasing its regulatory functions regarding ECEC. This shift towards the same discourse, terminology and concepts does not automatically trigger processes that lead to a significant similarity and the convergence between ECEC systems due to their specific historical, cultural, and political contexts.

Child well-being in early childhood education and care during COVID-19: Child sensitivity in small, fixed groups.

The article explores child well‐being in Danish early childhood education and care (ECEC) during the time of COVID‐19. A phased reopening of Denmark occurred in spring 2020 under strict health guidelines. Two ECEC institutions were followed first‐hand to observe the impact of the pandemic on pedagogy and child well‐being. Observations and interviews were conducted with follow‐up interviews and an online survey a year later. The findings suggest that the pandemic caused pedagogues to work in a more child‐sensitive way with elevated staff/child ratios and children in small, fixed groups; however, child well‐being was not negatively affected, despite the acute situation

Role of Spanish Toddlers' Education and Care Institutions in Achieving Physical Activity Recommendations in the COVID-19 Era: A Cross-Sectional Study.

To our knowledge, there are no published studies that describe the physical activity (PA) levels and objectively measure them through accelerometry in toddlers (2–3 years old) attending early childhood education and care (ECEC) institutions during the COVID-19 pandemic. The aims of this study were two-fold: (a) to analyse toddlers’ PA levels and sedentary behaviour (SB) during school hours in ECEC institutions, as well as the rate of adherence to specific recommendations on total PA (TPA) and moderate–vigorous PA (MVPA); and (b) to evaluate the characteristics correlates (age, gender, and body mass index –BMI) of young children and the school environment on toddlers’ TPA, light PA (LPA), MVPA, and SB during school hours in ECEC institutions. PA was evaluated with ActiGraph accelerometers. The main findings were that: (a) toddlers engaged in very high amounts of TPA and MVPA during ECEC hours; (b) girls and boys displayed similar levels of LPA, TPA, and SB, while girls had lower levels of MVPA, compared to boys, and younger toddlers were less active than older ones; (c) BMI was not associated with PA of any intensity or SB; (d) playground and classroom density were not associated with higher levels of PA of any intensity, though classroom density was associated with SB. These ECEC institutions provide and challenge the new COVID-19 scenario, as well as supportive environments for toddlers’ PA.

Constructions of quality: Australian Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) services during COVID-19

ABSTRACT There is increasing pressure on Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) settings to align their practices and values to that of schools, with the notion that a quality education in ECEC consists of providing care whilst also ensuring strong learning outcomes. This paper employs the constructs of structural and process quality to theorise the perceived disparities between ECEC institutions and schools and between ECEC services during the COVID-19 pandemic. The experiences of 29 Australian ECEC educators provide insight into the differing constructions of quality across ECEC services during the COVID-19 lockdown periods that occurred from May to August 2020 in the state of Victoria. The findings suggest that despite increasing pressure for ECEC programmes to be more like schools, the pandemic amplified society’s positioning of ECEC as a caregiving service, highlighting the perceived differences between ECEC and schools and within the ECEC sector itself. While the findings suggest that ECEC educators were discouraged by the lack of recognition they received for providing quality education during the pandemic, the disruption of the pandemic prompted opportunities for reflection and action, providing more visibility of the quality of care that ECEC educators provide and the importance of their roles within the community.

Harassment in ECEC institutions: 4- to 6-year-old children’s experiences

ABSTRACT There are limited studies involving preschool children and phenomena such as harassment, bullying, exclusion and rejection. This study explores the relations between 4- to 6-year-old children’s experiences of being frequently harassed in Norwegian Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) institutions, their overall feeling of subjective well-being and their social relationship experiences with staff and peers. The study also investigates whether there are significant differences between frequently harassed children’s experiences of well-being and social relations compared to other children’s experiences. The data reported in this study are collected through the Norwegian ECEC Well-being Monitor, an online, free of charge, electronic questionnaire developed for ECEC institutions. A total of 3598 children are included in the study. The main findings show that, for a majority of indicators, children who are frequently harassed have significantly different experiences of subjective well-being and social relations with peers and staff, mostly more negative, than other children.