Early Childhood Education And Care Institutions Research Articles

The educational context in expert assessments. A study of special education documents of children in ECEC institutions

ABSTRACT The aim of this study was to critically examine how expert assessment documents describe and assess the early childhood education and care (ECEC) context in reports about a child’s need for special educational support. Adhering to a shift towards inclusive education, the focus is on how educational-psychological services assess, or fail to assess for, potential shortcomings in the educational environment. The study is based on in-depth document-analysis of 23 expert assessments of children with 1–10 weekly hours of special educational support in various ECEC institutions in Norway. The analysis outlines five different ways in which expert assessments refer to the educational context: from concealing, separating, situating the child in, accentuating, to critically assessing the ECEC context. The results illustrate how assessments at times refer to the ECEC context in, for example, descriptions of a child’s behaviour during routine activities or providing information about the institutions organisational qualities and practices. However, the documents hardly ever discuss potential shortcomings of the ECEC context.

Four- to six-year-old children’s experiences of participating in different physical environments and activities in early childhood education and care institutions in Norway

ABSTRACT Children’s well-being in early childhood education and care (ECEC) is associated with their participation in both planning and assessing ECEC activities. The aim of the study presented here was therefore to explore children’s experiences of participating in different physical environments and activities in ECEC institutions. Quantitative data were collected from structured conversations with 3693 4–6-year-old children using the Norwegian ECEC Well-Being Monitor from 2014 to 2019. Among the results, children’s experiences of participating in ECEC activities were diverse and depended upon the physical environment, although most children experienced higher degrees of participation when outdoors instead of indoors. Furthermore, going hiking and circle time are activities the majority of children have to attend, even if they do not want to. Increased awareness about how children experience opportunities for participating in ECEC activities is important for ECEC institutions and may influence pedagogical thinking and planning in different environments and activities.

Associations between Children's Risky Play and ECEC Outdoor Play Spaces and Materials.

Children spend a large amount of time each day in early childhood education and care (ECEC) institutions, and the ECEC play environments are important for children’s play opportunities. This includes children’s opportunities to engage in risky play. This study examined the relationship between the outdoor play environment and the occurrence of children’s risky play in ECEC institutions. Children (n = 80) were observed in two-minute sequences during periods of the day when they were free to choose what to do. The data consists of 935 randomly recorded two-minute videos, which were coded second by second for several categories of risky play as well as where and with what materials the play occurred. Results revealed that risky play (all categories in total) was positively associated with fixed equipment for functional play, nature and other fixed structures, while analysis of play materials showed that risky play was positively associated with wheeled toys. The results can support practitioners in developing their outdoor areas to provide varied and exciting play opportunities.

Risky Play and Children\u2019s Well-Being, Involvement and Physical Activity

Children's activities and experiences in Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) institutions are essential for children's present and future lives. Playing is a vital activity in childhood, and playing is found to be positively related to a variety of outcomes among children. In this study, we investigated how risky play – a fundamentally voluntary form of play – related to children's well-being, involvement and physical activity. Results from structured video observations (N = 928) during periods of free play in eight Norwegian ECEC institutions indicated that engagement in risky play was positively associated with children's well-being, involvement and physical activity. The findings in this study suggest that one way to support children's everyday experiences and positive outcomes for children in ECEC is to provide children with opportunities for risky play. Restrictions on children's play behaviours following safety concerns must be balanced against the joy and possible future benefits of thrilling play experiences for children.

The relationship between indoor environments and children’s play – confined spaces and materials

ABSTRACT The provision of environments that support and afford play is fundamental for young children’s experiences, learning and development. Play environments of Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) institutions are therefore of great importance for the opportunities provided children to create and engage in a wide range of play. This study examines the association between Norwegian ECEC institutions’ indoor environment (spaces and materials) and children’s engagement in different types of play. Children (3–6 years, N = 86) were observed in two-minute sequences during periods of the day when they were free to choose what to do. The data consists of 943 randomly recorded two-minute videos, which were coded second-by-second to register the type of play occurring, the space in which it occurred and the materials children used. The results show that the indoor environment in the participating ECEC institutions afforded predictable play types in what could be called confined spaces designed and furnished for certain kinds of play activities. The authors discuss how this helps practitioners maintain predictability and control of children’s play, while on the other hand, it restricts children’s play and freedom to bring their own initiatives, ideas and creativity into the play in unpredictable ways.

Pedagogical intentions or practical considerations when facilitating children's play? Teachers\u2019 beliefs about the availability of play materials in the indoor ECEC environment

This qualitative study investigated teachers' beliefs about the availability of play materials in the physical indoor environment of early childhood education and care (ECEC). The empirical data were gathered from fieldwork in eight child groups in ECEC institutions across Norway and comprised 13 semistructured interviews with teachers. The findings indicate a common ideological understanding among teachers that play materials should be available in children's play, enhancing play, learning, and development possibilities. However, many teachers described putting play materials out of children's reach during times of play. There are variations, but practical considerations often override pedagogical intentions when teachers plan and facilitate children's play. This study aims to enhance the indoor ECEC environment's quality by stimulating teachers' consciousness about play materials' availability, ensuring equal possibilities for children's play in ECEC. Implications for policy and practice are discussed.

Possibilities and challenges in sustained capacity-building in early childhood education and care (ECEC) institutions: ECEC leaders’ perspectives

ABSTRACT This paper investigates early childhood education and care (ECEC) institutions’ opportunities to build a learning organization and master future innovations by focusing on core components, implementation drivers, leadership, and collective collaborative systems. The paper is based on results from semi-structured interviews with ten ECEC leaders from three different municipalities in Norway that had taken part in the Being Together (BT) innovation five years earlier. Three areas were identified as crucial for the continuation of ECEC teachers’ capacity building: (1) a strong focus on implementation processes and sustainability; (2) transformational leadership; and (3) developing professional learning communities. Potential challenges to building capacity in ECEC institutions include the variety of educational backgrounds among ECEC staff members in Norway and too little time to create professional learning communities.

Affordances for physical activity and well-being in the ECEC outdoor environment

Children's everyday experiences with physical activity in Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) institutions are important from a health promotion standpoint. Experiencing well-being in physically active play is important, and the affordances of the environment may support such behaviour. The aim of this study is to develop knowledge about how the affordances of the ECEC outdoor environment may facilitate physical activity and well-being simultaneously. The sample in this study consists of 858 video observations of 2 min from eight ECEC institutions. The video observations are analysed both quantitatively and qualitatively. The findings highlight the importance of the physical environment for promoting children's well-being in physical activity and show how different affordances of the environment are important to enhance well-being and physically active play for all children in the outdoor environment of ECEC institutions.

Language education professionals in multilingual ECEC institutions – Sprach-bildungsprofis in mehrsprachigen Kitas

AbstractThe cross-disciplinary research project ‘SprabiPiKs’ (‘Sprachbildungsprofis in mehrsprachigen Kitas’) – ‘Language education professionals in multilingual ECEC institutions’ – investigates a number of components related to the quality of interactions in multilingual early childhood education and care (ECEC). The project closely examines the interplay between the quality of interactions and pedagogical orientations on multilingualism, competencies of the professionals, and the conditions in ECEC facilities as well as in their neighbourhoods. To address the complexity, the sample consists of six childcare centres and their professionals. The project’s data collection method consists of interviews and group discussions with the professionals, videography of verbal interactions, and questionnaires on the conditions in the facilities and the neighbourhood. The objective is to contribute significantly to the understanding of the complex quality pattern in ECEC institutions from both an intercultural-educational and a linguistic perspective. Moreover, the project’s findings can be informative to enhance the quality of interactions with respect to the diverse linguistic backgrounds of children.

Supportive indoor environments for functional play in ECEC institutions: a strategy for promoting well-being and physical activity?

ABSTRACT The physical environment in Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) institutions provide children with possibilities for play. This study describes a physical environmental intervention aiming to increase the possibilities for functional play in the indoor environment, and its influence on children’s well-being and physical activity. The intervention involved the establishment of a tumbling space with soft surfaces, mats and big construction materials. The sample consists of video observations of 65 children’s free play in seven ECEC institutions at two data points. Multilevel regression analysis indicates that children’s physical activity and functional play is strongly related to the use of a tumbling space, and that the intervention group had a higher increase in functional play following the intervention compared to the control group. The impact of the tumbling space on well-being is limited. The results indicate that targeting children’s possibilities for functional play may be beneficial form a health promotion standpoint.

Hallmarks of participation – children’s conceptions of how to get access to communities in Norwegian Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC)

ABSTRACTThis study focuses on children’s participation in community and the research question is as follows: What do children describe as hallmarks influencing their ability to participate in the ECEC community? The study is based on a qualitative hermeneutic analysis of semi-structured group interviews with 12 five-year-old children from three different Norwegian ECEC institutions. How children express that they are included, mutually accepted and engaged with others are interpreted as hallmarks for participation. The main theoretical basis is Biesta’s view of democracy as both action and a mode of togetherness, and also his understanding of education as socialisation, qualification and subjectification. The analysis of the group interviews resulted in five broad categories of the children’s descriptions of their prerequisites for participation: trust, responsibility for others, adapting to the institutional rules, freedom to choose and refuse community, and common ground. At the end the findings are discussed and seen in relation to some implications for theory and practice.

Participation in communities in ECEC expressed in child–educator interactions

ABSTRACT The aim of this study is to contribute to knowledge about children’s opportunities to participate in early childhood education and care (ECEC) communities. The study focuses on the communication between educators and children in ECEC settings and how the communication forms condition children’s opportunities to participate in the community. The research questions are: What kind of communication patterns occur in educator and child interactions and how do these influence children’s opportunities to participate in the ECEC community? How can the communication patterns and the opportunities for participation in a community be understood from a lifeworld and a system perspective? Theoretically, the study is based on Habermas’s (1995) social philosophical perspective and the way he views the world from both a lifeworld and a system perspective. His concepts of communicative and strategic action guide the study in the purpose to identify and interpret communication patterns. The data consist of video observations of educators and children in everyday interactions in three Norwegian ECEC institutions. The analysis generated three main categories representing different communication patterns and participation opportunities in the community: (a) controlling communication – limited participation, (b) supportive communication – passive participation, and (c) co-operative communication – mutual participation. The findings show a priority in early childhood education on the individual child and a goal-oriented practice where the educator controls the communication and, by that, the children’s lifeworlds.

Children's play, well-being and involvement: how children play indoors and outdoors in Norwegian early childhood education and care institutions

ABSTRACTIn this article, we report on a Norwegian study exploring the relationship between children's play, well-being, and involvement, and identify how children play in indoor and outdoor environments at their early childhood education and care (ECEC) institution. In this quantitative study, structured video observations (960 two-minutes sequences) of 80 free play sessions (indoors and outdoors) at eight ECEC institutions were analysed to measure the time spent in different kinds of play types, and to code children's level of well-being and involvement, using the Leuven well-being and involvement scale [Laevers, F. (2005). Well-being and involvement in care settings. A process-oriented self-evaluation instrument. Retrieved from https://www.kindengezin.be/img/sics-ziko-manual.pdf]. The results demonstrated that there was a significant and positive correlation between children's play and their well-being and involvement. Children spent 2/3 of their time in different kinds of play during their free play time in ECEC, and there were significant differences between the types of play children engaged in indoor versus outdoor environments.

The outdoor environment and children’s health: a multilevel approach

ABSTRACTPlay in an outdoor environment may improve children’s health. Little is known about how characteristics of the outdoor environment in Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) settings influence children’s health. This study explored the relationship between the outdoor environment and children’s health by examining children’s well-being and physical activity in different outdoor environments. The sample consisted of 471 video observations of 80 children’s free play in the outdoor environments of eight ECEC institutions. Multilevel analysis indicated that playing is associated with health outcomes and that nature is positively associated with children’s well-being. Children’s physical activity was found to be positively associated with the use of pathways and open areas. The use of fixed functional equipment, wheeled toys and loose parts emerged as negative predictors of physical activity. The findings of this study contribute to a better understanding of how the outdoor environment in ECEC settings can influence children’s health.

Democratic Participation in Early Childhood Education and Care - Serving the Best Interests of the Child

Abstract: The meaning of democratic participation in Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) remainsvague and difficult to implement. Thus, the aim of this paper is to contribute to this gap of knowledge by shed light on the meaning of democratic participation in relation to the best interests of the child, by analysing General Comment No. 14 (2013). The research uses theories on democracy in ECEC to discuss the results (Biesta, 2014, 2015; Moss, 2007, 2011; Pettersvold, 2014; Einarsdottir, Purola, Johansson, Broström, &Emilson, 2015). The study investigates how key terms (rights, participation, unity/collective, equality, influence and responsibility) relate to democratic participation. Findings indicate that these terms are used to align with ideas about the “best interests of the child”. Furthermore, the study identified specific groups of children who can be in vulnerable situations and their explicit right to express their views and to influence decisions affecting them in ECEC institutions. I therefore argue that understanding democracy in ECEC must focus on inclusion of children who can be in vulnerable situations because this is in the best interests of the child. Keywords: Best Interests of the Child, Democratic Participation, Document Analysis, General Comments

Affective-motivational aspects of early childhood teacher students’ knowledge about mathematics

ABSTRACTOne goal among many in early childhood education and care (ECEC) is that children develop positive attitudes towards mathematics. In order to support this development, teachers need professional competence in both cognitive and affective-motivational facets. Teacher students need to develop this professional competence during their initial teacher education. This paper investigates how teacher students’ age, mathematics self-efficacy (MSE), and mathematics anxiety (MA) affect their knowledge about mathematics and mathematics education in ECEC settings. A quantitative cross-sectional study with a paper-and-pencil questionnaire is used with a convenience sample from Norway. While MA affects students’ knowledge as expected from previous studies, our findings show that MSE has a net suppressor effect on MA, revealing a reversal paradox. Higher MSE leads to lower MA which leads to better achievement in the exam that was used to measure students’ knowledge. However, when MA is controlled, higher MSE causes lower achievement. Furthermore, we found that MA is affected by teacher students’ age. Older teacher students and part-time students with experiences from working in ECEC institutions are less anxious about mathematics. This finding suggests that positive experiences with mathematics in daily life and pre-school situations can help students overcome their MA.

Parents of the Welfare State: Pedagogues as Parenting Guides

In Denmark, a process of defamilising has taken place since the expansion of the Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) sector in the 1960s, in the sense that children now spend a large part of their childhood outside the family. Nevertheless, parents are still seen as key figures in children's upbringing and as having primary responsibility for the quality of childhood, implying a simultaneous process of refamilising. Based on ethnographic fieldwork we show that parents are not only held responsible for their children's lives at home, but also for ensuring that ECEC staff have the best possible opportunity to support children's development at ECEC institutions. We analyse how ECEC staff offer guidance on how to be a responsible parent who cooperates in the right ways, and on how to cultivate children's development at home. Parents willingly accept such advice because of a strong risk awareness embedded in diagnostic forms, positioning ECEC staff as parenting experts.

Creating teacher capacity in Early Childhood Education and Care institutions implementing an authoritative adult style

The being together intervention intends to raise teacher capacity in Norwegian Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) institutions and promote social and emotional development in preschoolers by implementing an authoritative (warm and predictable) adult style in the institution. An authoritative adult balances between building up high quality interactions with children, while at the same time having a predictable structure with clear norms and social expectations in the learning environment. The purpose of this study was to investigate what helped the ECEC institutions to successfully implement the program principles and core components, and what were the challenges. The staff groups of seven Norwegian ECEC institutions in different municipalities who took part in the innovation were interviewed at the beginning and before the end of the first year of implementation. Data analysis identified five success criteria in the implementation process; strong commitment to the authoritative adult style, strong focus on the implementation process, advanced support systems, highly involved leaders, and a collective orientation. These elements resulted in a shared vision and an academically grounded practice in the ECEC institutions. Staff members without formal professional training and a lack of written documentation in the ECEC institutions should be given more consideration in further improvement of the capacity building.

4-6 year-Old Children’s Experience of Subjective Well-Being and Social Relations in ECEC Institutions

There is a need for research about children’s perspectives on their everyday lives in Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) institutions, using methods that involves the children themselves and takes their voices seriously. This study aims at exploring what promotes and constrains children’s wellbeing in light of their social relations to other children and staff in ECEC institutions. Research on children’s own perspectives about their well-being has mainly been conducted among children older than those of preschool age, and therefore this study aimed at highlighting the voices of 4–6-year-old children regarding how they experience their lives in ECEC institutions. Quantitative data was collected through conversations with 171 Norwegian 4–6-year-old children based on an electronic questionnaire. The results indicate that relations, both with other children and with the practitioners, are important for children’s well-being - particularly, liking the other children and experiencing that the children are kind to each other in the ECEC.

Empathic expressions among three-year-olds in play and interaction in ECEC institutions in Norway: bodily empathic expressions purposed for peers’ well-being and confirming relationships

ABSTRACTThis article is based on video observations of three-year-old children’s empathic expressions in the context of playful interactions in early childhood education and care (ECEC) institutions in Norway. The data were analysed within a hermeneutic phenomenological approach, searching for a system of the children’s self-initiated empathic expressions in their play and interaction. The findings show that young children’s inherent empathy largely appears as an embodied intonation in the other’s emotional state, expressed through facial and bodily intersubjective expressions, followed up with empathy-related responses adapted to the context through physical communication. This study reveals that funny behaviour and play invitations are empathically motivated actions, making peers happy again and confirming relationships. This new insight contributes to a broader understanding of young children’s empathy and may contribute to developing the knowledge of how ECEC’s educational work can support children’s empathic development based on an understanding of the body’s phenomenology and integrated in children’s play.