Early Childhood Education And Care Research Articles

A cross-sectional study assessing modifications to the delivery of a multi-component implementation strategy (the Get Outside, Get Active program) to improve child physical activity in early childhood education and care services.

The Get Outside, Get Active (GOGA) program is a randomised controlled trial which tested the impact of a multi-component implementation strategy to support early childhood education and care (ECEC) services to replace indoor-only free play with indoor-outdoor-free play. This cross-sectional study aims to describe the extent and nature of modifications made to implementation strategies and Behaviour Change Techniques (BCTs) using the Framework for Reporting Adaptations and Modifications to Evidence-based Implementation Strategies (FRAME-IS) and to describe the fidelity of BCT delivery throughout GOGA. An audit of records was undertaken throughout the intervention delivery period in the intervention arm. GOGA included 14 standard BCTs within six implementation strategies. Modifications and BCT delivery were recorded by Health Promotion Officers via project records. Modifications were categorised according to the FRAME-IS. BCT delivery was recorded using a checklist. Forty-four ECEC services received the GOGA program. Overall, 60 modifications were recorded. According to FRAME-IS categories, most modifications related to: content; format; pragmatic or practical considerations; tailoring/tweaking/refining in nature; fidelity was inconsistent; the goal was to increase the acceptability, appropriateness, or feasibility of the implementation effort; the rationale was at the practitioner level; and were unplanned/reactive. Overall, 96.4% of standard BCTs were delivered as intended. GOGA was delivered with high fidelity to protocol as indicated by the level of BCT delivery. This article details a thorough approach to documenting modifications and provides guidance for future studies. SO WHAT?: This article contributes to the emerging evidence regarding documentation of adaptations and modifications to public health implementation interventions.

Assessing the implementation of healthy eating and physical activity policies and practices in Early Childhood Education and Care in New South Wales, Australia: A cross-sectional study.

Australian children are not meeting the recommended physical activity (PA) and healthy eating (HE) guidelines. Health behaviour practices implemented in community settings such as early education services can improve child's health outcomes and are therefore key to help meet guidelines. This study aimed to measure the implementation of HE and PA policies and practices in Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) services in New South Wales (NSW), Australia, and to examine their association with service characteristics. A random sample of 1122 centre-based ECEC services were invited to a cross-sectional survey measuring HE and PA policy and practice implementation. Regression analyses were conducted to assess the relationship between the service characteristics and implementation of policies/practices. In total, 565 ECEC services completed the survey. Results show that while some practices are implemented, the implementation of practices promoting HE and PA education is low. Practices related to educator training for HE (18%) and PA (13%) were poorly implemented. The implementation of practices such as 'providing educator training around child PA', 'engaging families in activities to increase child PA' and 'encouraging supportive feeding practices' were significantly higher in services located in major cities than regional/remote services. 'Having a PA policy' and the practice of 'limiting the use of screen time' was significantly higher in long day care services than in preschools. The implementation of 'providing educator-led PA', 'providing free play opportunities' and 'having a PA policy' was significantly lower in private not-for-profit community managed services than in private for-profit services. Implementation of various HE and PA policies and practices in regional/remote services, private not-for-profit services and preschools across NSW could be improved. SO WHAT?: Future research should be prioritised towards identifying factors influencing the implementation of these policies and practices to best tailor implementation support efforts for those who need it the most.

Examining the Stability and Durability of Child Care Arrangements during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Canada

La pandémie de COVID-19 a provoqué d'importantes perturbations dans tous les secteurs du travail et de la vie familiale, y compris les services de garde éducatifs à l'enfance (SGÉE). Les recherches démontrent que l'instabilité (soit les interruptions aux services de garde) et l'absence de durabilité des SGÉE (soit le maintien des mêmes services de garde au fil du temps) peuvent exacerber le stress des parents et nuire au développement de l'enfant. S'inspirant des données d'un sondage original réalisé en décembre 2020 auprès de 882 parents de jeunes enfants de quatre provinces canadiennes, les autrices ont examiné les choix des parents au sujet de la garde d'enfants avant la pandémie et les répercussions de la COVID-19 sur ces dispositions, dans l'immédiat et à long terme. Dans leur échantillon, elles ont trouvé que a) les services hors du domicile étaient plus instables et plutôt moins durables que ceux à domicile; b) la perte d'accès pendant la pandémie à cause de la fermeture des centres de la petite enfance était moins marquée en Colombie-Britannique, ce qui était toutefois contrebalancé par un taux relativement élevé de retraits volontaires; c) l'Ontario a présenté un taux relativement élevé de pertes d'accès en raison des fermetures et des retraits volontaires; d) dans l'ensemble, 64 % des dispositions en matière de garde se sont révélées durables, mais e) la durabilité était plus faible dans les familles à plus faible revenu et en Ontario. En revanche, la durabilité était beaucoup plus élevée au Québec, ce qui fait ressortir le rôle possible des investissements dans les politiques des SGÉE pour protéger les parents et les enfants en cas d’événements déstabilisants.

Early childcare arrangements and children's internalizing and externalizing symptoms: an individual participant data meta-analysis of six prospective birth cohorts in Europe

Early childcare attendance may be related to children's internalizing and externalizing symptoms throughout childhood and young adolescence, however evidence from Europe is limited. We aimed to assess this association across multiple population-based birth cohorts of children recruited in different European countries. Data come from six parent-offspring prospective birth cohort studies across five European countries within the EU Child Cohort Network. A total of 87,208 parent-child dyads were included in the study. To test associations between childcare attendance (centre-based or informal) anytime between ages 0 and 4 years and children's internalizing and externalizing symptoms in middle childhood and young adolescence (measured at: 5-6 years, 7-9 years, and 10-13 years) a two-stage individual participant data meta-analysis was implemented. Linear regression models were performed in each cohort separately; combined random-effects meta-analysis was then used to obtain overall association estimates. In secondary analyses, we tested interactions between childcare attendance and mother's post-partum depression, low education status, and the child's sex. Compared to children who were exclusively cared for by their parents prior to school entry, those who attended centre-based childcare had lower levels of internalizing symptoms in all age groups [5-6 years: β:-1.78 (95% CI:-3.39,-0.16); 7-9 years: β:-0.55 (95% CI:-0.88,-0.73); 10-13 years: β:-0.76 (95% CI:-1.15,-0.37)]. Children who attended informal childcare appeared to have elevated levels of internalizing symptoms between 7-9 and 10-13 years, respectively [β: 1.65 (95% CI: 1.25, 2.06); β: 1.25 (95% CI: 0.96, 1.54)]. Informal childcare attendance was also associated with increased levels of children's externalizing symptoms between 7-9 and 10-13 years, respectively [β: 2.84 (95% CI: 1.41, 4.26); β: 2.19 (95% CI: 0.54, 3.84)]. Early centre-based childcare is associated with decreased levels of children's internalizing symptoms compared to exclusive parental care. For informal childcare, opposite associations were observed. Overall, our results suggest that centre-based childcare attendance may be associated with slight positive impacts on children's emotional development and should be encouraged by public policies. In addition, children from socioeconomically disadvantaged families require special attention, as they may not sufficiently benefit from universal early childhood education and care (ECEC). This research was funded by the ERC Consolidator grant RESEDA (Horizon Europe, 101001420).

Understanding datafication in Swedish ECEC through three evaluation imaginaries

In this paper we explore datafication through a specific kind of evaluative practice in Swedish early childhood education and care (ECEC): the creation of quality reports by individual preschools. A theoretical framework is developed based on Dahler-Larsen's descriptions of three ‘evaluation imaginaries’ (the modern, reflexive modernity and audit society), with elaboration of their respective characteristics and complementary notions from other sources. We then apply the framework, and a qualitative text analytical approach, to analyse eight quality reports from diverse Swedish preschools, purposefully selected to represent preschools that vary in terms of ownership, geographical location, size and pedagogical profile. We find that the reflexive modernity imaginary is most clearly influential in the ECEC quality reports, but there are emerging indications of the audit society imaginary's influence. We also find variations in prioritised focus in the reports among ECEC providers, underscoring the need for further exploration. The study calls for future research to delve into provider-specific nuances, expand the investigation to other kinds of evaluations and scrutinise the broader implications for ECEC operations and practices.

Democratic spaces for ECEC teachers’ professional development: the case of the RIECU Network in Spain

ABSTRACT This article deals with one of the multiple and complex aspects that shapes quality in Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC), such as teachers’ professional development. It presents the successful case of the RIECU Network in Spain in which for almost two decades the following institutions have been cooperating: (1) the university, responsible for initial teacher training, (2) the institution in charge of in-service teacher training and (3) the ECEC centers where professional development takes place through the practical experience of teachers. Data obtained from the focus groups with representatives of the three institutions reveal that the greatest benefit that teachers perceive for their professional development is the interaction, professional contact and shared reflection with their colleagues, and the creation of a stimulating learning environment in which they feel welcomed and valued, moving from a competitive culture, widely spread in their schools, to a collaborative culture conducive to teaching innovation.

Embodied with data: Early childhood education and care centre director's stories about living with datafication

This article presents autoethnographic short stories that describe an early childhood education and care (ECEC) centre director's work for one year in a municipality in Finland. The purpose of this article is to provide a glimpse into what it is like to enter into an ECEC director position and live everyday ECEC life with economic data that are produced by frequently fluctuating child–staff ratios. This study contributes to a better understanding of the transformational implications of datafication by providing insight into affective interrelations held together by economic aspirations. It shows that datafication is a powerful tool to affect and to be affected in the female-dominated care work of ECEC. The study highlights the possibilities of using an autoethnographic analysis to recognise how data affect the body in data dominated ECEC and how to utilise this very recognition as resistance.

The influence of family life on the pedagogical praxis of male teachers in early childhood education and care

ABSTRACT There is increasing literature regarding the experiences of men working in Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC). Around the world, men are an under-represented group in ECEC settings. The article uses a cultural-historical wholeness approach to explore the interconnected dimensions of the personal and institutional perspectives of male ECEC teachers. The focus is on the participants’ personal experiences (family) and professional practices (pedagogy) when working with young children (aged under five years). Data were gathered from four participants through approximately six hours of semi-structured interviews and included discussion of personal and pedagogical artefacts collected from the men’s personal life and work in ECEC settings. Findings suggest that for all participants, family practices were particularly important in shaping pedagogy, and influence the development of motives and everyday practices. We argue that the intersection of personal and professional family practices informs and enhances the pedagogical praxis of male teachers in ECEC.

Creating indoor learning areas to implement the Early Childhood Care and Education Curriculum

Background: A safe and inclusive indoor learning environment reflects different ways of knowing, actuality and thinking. In the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) context, indoor learning areas influence the exploration of teaching and learning activities.Aim: This article explored rural ECCE teachers’ experiences of creating indoor learning areas as required by the National Curriculum Framework (NCF) for children from birth to 4 years.Setting: Six purposively selected teachers from the three rural ECCE centres in KwaZulu-Natal province that transitioned to using the NCF participated in the study.Methods: A qualitative case study located within the interpretive paradigm was employed. Data that were inductively analysed were collected through semi-structured interviews with two teachers in each of the three centres. Transformative learning theory underpinned the study.Results: The study found that six teachers who desired to learn from each other engaged in a collaborative learning venture within their centres and complied with the NCF to create indoor learning areas in the interest of young children.Conclusion: The study argues that teachers shifted their insights from the challenges to achieving the objectives of the NCF. Thus, it questioned the assumption that rural teachers lack the knowledge to design learning areas.Contribution: Rural ECCE teachers are committed to learning for the development of young children.

Early childhood education for sustainable development in the Nordic national curricula: status and content

This study explores how early childhood education for sustainability (ECEfS) is directly framed in the Nordic curriculum. The study’s theoretical background builds on theories and research viewing ECEfS as a comprehensive approach which integrates the three pillars of sustainability. To explore the status of ECEfS, Nordic curricula were analysed using qualitative content analysis, specifically examining sustainability concepts and the contexts of these concepts in relation to the sustainability pillars. The findings reveal that sustainability education is included in the Nordic national curricula for early childhood education and care (ECEC), but the emphasis varies: ecological and economic sustainability were prioritised over sociocultural sustainability, which is scarcely addressed in some curricula. Incorporating the concept of sustainability into national curricula could encourage teachers to recognise its comprehensive value beyond nature conservation. Additional research is needed to guide the implementation of ECEfS as well as teachers’ understanding of policy documents.

Collective dreaming as conduits to enact just futures in childhood/s education and care

We joined this collaborative space as colegas and friends, who come from diverse personal and professional backgrounds and have connected to Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) in various ways. When we asked ourselves what it means to reconceptualize ECEC, we began with situating this idea within our own childhood, familial, and professional lived experiences, and based on these, how they have inspired us to dream for more just futures, particularly for children who are Black, Indigenous, and People of Color. In this collective dreaming piece, we imagine a different reality, transforming how education and society engage with the children in our educational care. Through the act of going back in time, stories are affirmed and validated, knowing we are, and were not, alone when it came to experiencing white supremacy and Anti-Blackness in education. While we cannot do much to change the past, we engage and connect through a sisterhood, and in our commitments to social justice in education, in the present and future.

Spatial clusters for demand and supply of early childhood education and care services in Italy

In recent years, concern has increased about affordable and high-quality early childhood education and care (ECEC) services. Such services can help balance work and family life, increase workforce participation, promote gender equality, and increase fertility rates. ECEC services are then essential, especially for countries facing ultralow fertility rates like Italy. To face these challenges, the Italian government has included an unprecedented investment in the recovery and resilience plan financed with Next Generations EU funds to increase the supply of ECEC services and make them more equitably distributed across the country. However, socio-economic policies need a comprehensive understanding of demand dynamics and the intricate interplay between supply and demand of such services. Therefore, in this article, we propose a novel analysis of the complex combination of supply and demand of Italian ECEC services. We explore patterns of this combination in terms of groups of spatial areas sharing similar structures of service coverage and public expenditure rates in ECEC, as well as other socio-demographic and economic factors such as female employment, education, and grandparent rates. Our empirical findings confirm how Italy is characterized by several distinct territorial models and how some are shared across multiple regions. Current empirical findings suggest a lack of uniform governance across the Italian territory. Policymakers can use these results to plan, discuss, and implement area-specific welfare strategies regarding ECEC services.

Emotion socialization in early childhood education and care – How preschool teachers support children's emotion regulation

Children’s emotional experiences during early childhood education and care (ECEC) are important for children’s emotional development and the socialization of this development by teachers. One central goal of emotion socialization is that it should help children acquire reflective regulation of their emotions, resulting in socially acceptable and age-appropriate experience and behavior. The current study is based on emotionally challenging situations of children in ECEC and aims at investigating, first, associations of teachers’ emotion coaching and co-regulation with children’s self-regulation, and, second, how teachers’ emotion coaching and co-regulation are linked with characteristics of the specific emotion episode and the involved child. Based on extensive video observations in the preschool setting (N = 19 groups), this study analyzed episodes with teacher interventions (N = 48 teachers) following a negative emotion expression by one or two children (N = 213 children aged 2–6 years old). Multilevel results show, first, that teachers’ initial emotion coaching and co-regulation through meta-cognitive prompts were associated with children’s independent self-regulation. Second, teachers’ emotion coaching and co-regulation were systematically associated with characteristics of the emotion episode, especially emotion quality and intensity. The findings support the assumption that emotion coaching and co-regulation are especially valuable tools to support self-regulation. However, emotion coaching and the different co-regulation levels and strategies do not turn out to be universal strategies that are used indiscriminately, but teachers use them depending on individual child and situational characteristics.

Longitudinal relationship between organised and non-organised physical activities and overall physical activity in children aged 3-11years.

Young children's physical activity (PA) has been decreasing while their sports participation has been increasing. Therefore, the aim of this research was to longitudinally examine whether and, if so, how organised and non-organised PA participation by early childhood education and care (ECEC)-aged children (T1; 3-8years) predicted their accelerometer-measured PA at primary school age (T2; 7-11years). Secondarily, changes in organised and non-organised PA participation over time were investigated. The cluster-randomised study participants comprised 501 Finnish children (52.3% girls: T1, Mage=5.57±1.06; T2, Mage=8.80±1.07). PA participation was queried via guardian questionnaire at T1 and T2. Organised PA participation was operationalised as non-participation, participation in one sport or multisport (two or more) participation; non-organised PA was operationalised as time spent outdoors on weekdays and on weekend days. PA at T2 was measured using accelerometers. The primary outcome was tested using linear regressions, while a paired sample t-test and Mann-Whitney U test assessed differences between T1 and T2. The results showed outdoor time and organised sports participation increased from T1 to T2. Moreover, outdoor time at T1 predicted more moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) and less sedentary time at T2, while multisport participation predicted significantly more MVPA and less sedentary time at T2. Overall, being outdoors and multisport participation at younger ages appear to have predicted Finnish children's later (MV) PA and sedentary behaviour.

Professional development for praxis transformation in early childhood education and care: a systematic review

ABSTRACT Despite the extensive international overview of in-service professional development in Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC), the majority of studies concentrate on short-term training programmes or workshops. The existing scientific literature suggests that these approaches have either minimal or no impact on effective ECEC transformation. Nevertheless, there is a growing global interest in Continuous Professional Development (CPD) approaches situated in the real professional context as a new avenue for praxeological processes. A systematic review of English-language empirical research published between 2018 and 2022 was conducted to identify the features and impacts of CPD approaches that have a significant influence on the transformation of ECEC practices and contexts. The synthesis and analysis of 17 studies yielded thought-provoking findings regarding the approaches, the transformation of ECEC praxis, as well as children and practitioners’ learning. This systematic review is a pioneering endeavour in identifying and synthesising empirical studies that facilitate a more in-depth understanding of the connection between effective CPD and praxis transformation in ECEC.

A comparative study of early childhood education and care national documents between China and Finland

Early childhood education and care (ECEC) serves as a crucial foundation for children’s holistic growth and lifelong learning. Despite its significance, comparative analyses of leading ECEC documents across cultures remain limited. To address this gap, our study conducts a comparative analysis to identify key aspects and examine similarities and differences in national ECEC documents from China and Finland. Methodologically, we used a triangle of researchers from China and Finland. We employed qualitative content analysis to systematically identify, examine, and compare the key aspects in these two countries from the leading ECEC documents, i.e., the Chinese national ECEC guidelines and the Finnish ECEC national core curriculum. The findings reveal numerous similarities alongside notable differences. Both countries place a high value on ECEC, emphasizing principles that shape the learning environment and use diverse pedagogical methods. However, nuanced variations exist in the approaches. The Chinese documents feature more specific guidelines tailored to different age groups, accompanied by detailed pedagogical suggestions, while the Finnish national core curriculum offers general guidelines for all preschool age groups, complemented by the unique feature of individual development plans for each child. The findings have significant implications for policymakers, ECEC educators, and practitioners in international contexts. Future studies are needed to further explore the specific pedagogies in ECEC between these two nations and to analyze how the curriculum and educational guidelines are implemented in pedagogical practices.

Declared Practices of Language Facilitation in Early Childhood Education and Care with Children Younger than Two Years

AbstractEarly reciprocal language experiences are crucial for children’s language development. Early childhood education and care (ECEC) has the potential to facilitate language development. However, knowledge on ECEC educators’ actions in implementing early language facilitation is scarce. This study surveyed educators’ declared practices of early language facilitation and its relationship with their educational background. Open-ended responses gathered from 644 Finnish ECEC educators were categorized by content and analyzed in relation to the educators’ qualifications and work experience. The findings showed that when reporting on their practices, the educators typically did not focus on the child’s communicative initiatives and reciprocal language. However, the responses of educators with a qualification in ECEC special education contained more focused content on child-led reciprocity. Moreover, both ECEC special education teachers and educators with experience in infant-toddler ECEC underlined the importance of interaction. The findings indicate a need to increase educators’ awareness of their actions in facilitating children’s early language skills. To achieve the educational and preventive rehabilitative potential of ECEC, it is crucial that centers both include ECEC special educators in their teaching staff and invest in educator training.

Educator wellbeing and family engagement in Australian early learning settings: perspectives of early childhood educators and families

AbstractWhile the COVID-19 pandemic brought with it multiple challenges for families and the Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) workforce, it also highlighted the essential role of ECEC in the lives of children and families and presented unique opportunities for innovation and learning. The current study sought to explore learnings from this uniquely challenging period, including the factors and strategies that best supported educator wellbeing and family engagement in ECEC settings, from the perspectives of families, centre directors and educators. In 2021, 104 Centre Directors/Educators and 102 families completed online surveys exploring wellbeing and educator–family relationships. Correlations suggest that robust professional wellbeing and resilience are potential enabling factors for strong family engagement, and that supportive organisational structures in ECEC settings are a protective factor for both educator wellbeing and family engagement. In addition, five effective family engagement strategies were derived from the qualitative data: (1) drawing on personal and professional knowledges to enrich children’s learning at home; (2) prioritising regular and reliable communication with families; (3) maintaining familiar relationships and a sense of community; (4) providing person-centred support and a bridge to other services; and (5) nurturing mutually supportive educator–family relationships. Learnings provide important insights that may inform ongoing quality improvements across different ECEC contexts, and to help safeguard against the negative impacts of future global crises.

SAGA: results of a second trial testing a mentalizing-based reading intervention on children and staff in early childhood education

Social–emotional development is a key factor in child well-being and development, and studying how it can be supported in early childhood is crucial. This study acted as a second trial testing the efficacy of a shared story book reading intervention combined with mentalizing discussions (SAGA), on children’s (N = 196) social–emotional development. In contrast to the first trial, the current trial utilized a group comprised of mostly multilingual children, attending daycare in a minority language. In addition, we investigated the effect of the intervention on the mentalizing capacity of the staff. The staff of the early childhood education and care (ECEC) centers were trained to lead discussions about story characters’ mental states with children three times a week. The staff’s mentalization ability was measured by the self-reported Mentalization Scale (MentS). Children’s social–emotional development was evaluated via the teacher-reported Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire SDQ, and verbal fluency via a subtest from the NEPSY II neuropsychological test battery. After 12 weeks, the children in the SAGA group showed improvement in prosocial behavior, whereas no change was observed in the control group. Furthermore, within the SAGA group, the children showing initially lower scores for prosocial behavior displayed larger improvement compared to their peers with higher scores at baseline. No such intervention-based improvement emerged in verbal fluency. Unlike in the first trial, the intervention did not have an impact on children’s internalizing or externalizing problems. The results suggest that story reading sessions combined with mentalizing discussions about emotions, thoughts, and intentions of the story characters may support children’s social–emotional development within the realm of prosocial behavior, although the possibility to decrease children’s internalizing and externalizing problems with these sessions remains unclear based on the two trials. In addition, training the ECEC staff in mentalization theory and guiding them toward mind-related dialogs improved staff motivation to mentalize, as well as their child-related mentalization capacity.

Developing professional ethical care through co-creation in ECEC in Norway: A qualitative study

The article analogizes findings from the project Children in Central Norway, Mental Health in ECEC. A preventive factor for children’s mental health in early childhood education and care (ECEC) is the sensitive relationship between children and staff. ECEC staff in three municipalities participated in a competence-raising package for children’s mental health. Subsequently, 33 members of staff attended five focus-group interviews. Research question: In what way have ECEC staff’s experience changes in their relationship with the children after working with the competence-raising package for mental health, and what kind of processes appeared during this work? The qualitative data has been analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis, while the discussion is rooted in ethics of care and based on children’s rights. The findings show that the staff describe the development of compassionate pedagogy and a common language for children’s needs for attachment. This facilitates a collective professional language through co-creating processes and affects the relational quality in ECEC.