Early Childhood Education Programs Research Articles

Geleceğin Öğretmenlerinin Okul Öncesi Eğitim Programına Bakışı: Programın İçerik, Nitelik, İşlevsellik ve Anlaşılırlığının Değerlendirilmesi

This study aims to investigate the views of pre-service early childhood teachers about the content, quality, functionality, and comprehensibility of the early childhood education (ECE) program used in Turkey. The study was conducted as a phenomenological study and its participants consisted of 20 pre-service early childhood teachers. The researchers collected data through an open-ended interview form. According to the findings, the participants expressed a positive opinion about the content of the program in general but stated that the program should be improved regarding gains and indicators, activity type, assessment, parent involvement, and adaptation. In addition, the participants found the program mostly qualified but expressed that it should be updated with new headings according to changing times and needs. Moreover, pre-service teachers found the program functional and guiding in general, but they said that it is not informative about educational approaches and children living in different environments. Finally, according to the participants, the program is comprehensive in terms of language, expression, and elaboration, but it needs more explanations and examples. In the light of these findings, it is thought that this research will contribute to the development and revision of the currently used ECE program.

학습자 참여중심 토의를 활용한 과학수업이 예비유아교사들의 과학교수효능감, 의사소통능력, 문제해결능력에 미치는 효과

Objectives The purpose of this study was to explore the effect of the learner participation-centered discussion class on the science teaching efficacy, communication capability, and problem solving ability of pre-service early childhood teachers. Methods The subjects of this study were 32 students enrolled in a four-year early childhood education program. The learner participation-centered discussion class were carried out through the science education class (45 hours) during the first semester in 2021. Data were collected from science teaching efficacy, communication capability, and problem solving ability rating scales. Results The results of quantitative analysis were as follows. First, the learner participation-centered discussion class brought statistically significant difference to pre-service early childhood teachers’ science teaching efficacy(both science teaching outcome expectancy and science teaching self-efficacy). Second, the learner participation-centered discussion class brought statistically significant difference to pre-service early childhood teachers’ communication capability(especially in message converting capability out of all sub-domains). Third, the learner participation-centered discussion class brought statistically significant difference to pre-service early childhood teachers’ problem solving ability(especially in the production of alternative resolution method, and the implement and confirmation of resolution method out of all sub-domains). Conclusions Therefore, the learner participation-centered discussion class is the meaningful teaching method to improve the science teaching professionality and problem solving ability of pre-service early childhood teachers.

Medium-term protective effects of quality early childhood education during the COVID-19 pandemic in Ghana.

The COVID‐19 pandemic led to extended school closures globally. Access to remote learning opportunities during this time was vastly unequal within and across countries. Higher‐quality early childhood education (ECE) can improve later academic outcomes, but longer‐term effects during crises are unknown. This study provides the first experimental evidence of how previously attending a higher‐quality ECE program affected child engagement in remote learning and academic scores during pandemic‐related school closures in Ghana. Children (N = 1668; 50.1% male; M age = 10.1 years; all Ghanaian nationals) who attended higher‐quality ECE at age 4 or 5 years had greater engagement in remote learning (d = .14) in October 2020, but not better language and literacy and math scores. Previous exposure to higher‐quality ECE may support educational engagement during crises.

Literacy learning in infant-toddler programs: Practice architectures as a lens for examining educator pedagogy

The ‘schoolification’ of early childhood education and care programs, seen as readying children for formalised schooling, has had an impact on the education of younger and younger age groups. While the focus of past research has mainly focused on 4-5-year-old children, this study shifts the focus to two-three-year-old children and the literacy focus of educators working with these very young children. Nine educators from Victoria, Australia were interviewed, asked to share their views on literacy learning and development for two-three-year-old children and the planning, assessment and practices they engage in to support children’s literacy development. Responses were analysed using a practice architectures lens. Findings showed that play-based pedagogies were often overlooked when seeking to support children’s literacy development, with a preference for more formalised foci on print-based learning activities, including a focus on alphabetic letter recognition. Implications for children’s literacy learning and practice are also discussed.

Pandemic times, health, emotions and online work with students of the Bachelor's Degree in Early Childhood Education at the Universidad Autónoma de Nayarit

This paper describes the situation in which the Bachelor's Degree in Early Childhood Education (LEI) programme at the Autonomous University of Nayarit (UAN), under the circumstances and conditions experienced due to Covid- 19 has given follow-up and attention to the students. The confinement and online work has had significant repercussions in the area of health and emotions of our students that must be considered. There are many challenges they have faced due to lack of connectivity, time for online work, lack of working equipment, and lack of products for their learning units.

Perceptions of Early Childhood Preservice Teachers on Early Childhood Education Undergraduate Program Courses

The purpose of the study was to find out the contribution of general culture (GC), pedagogical knowledge (PK), and content knowledge (CK) courses to the professional development of preservice teachers in early childhood education programs. As a part of a mix-method research study, this survey uses a rank-order judgment methodology. Using a two-stage-cluster and random sampling - 432 students from 35 universities participated in the study during the 2018-2019 academic year. Data were gathered using an “Early Childhood Education Undergraduate Program Course Evaluation Form” and analyzed using pairwise comparison. With reference to the results, “Effective Communication” was chosen as the most beneficial one among the GC courses, and “Statistics” was selected as the least beneficial course. In addition, among the PK courses, “Teaching Practice I” was the most beneficial one, and “Assessment and Evaluation” was the least helpful course related to student perceptions. While the “Introduction to Early Childhood Education” course was the most beneficial course among the CK, “Research Project II” was listed as the least beneficial course. It was found that students’ opinions about courses did not change concerning their gender, academic achievement, and the type of high school they had attended.

Valuable unintended learning outcomes when practicum for student teachers in kindergartens is carried out online

This article presents a study of an educational experiment conducted at the early childhood education programme at UiT, the Arctic University of Norway. As COVID-19 made social distancing an issue, the traditional practicum in kindergartens was moved to online platforms. Constructive alignment was used as an analytical framework to investigate the possibilities and limitations of student teachers’ learning outcomes in a collaborative online learning activity. Overall, 8 out of 9 practicum teachers found the online practicum form a better alternative than supplying the student teacher with a written assignment, and 72.7% of the student teachers agreed or somewhat agreed with facilitating learning outcomes from the online practicum regardless of social distancing. The need for professional digital competence is central, as digital technology is not simply part of pedagogical practices but is becoming an integrated part of communicating and collaborating with colleagues and parents. This study broadens the understanding of how collaborative online learning can facilitate unintended valuable learning outcomes and critically debates the limitations related to emphasising a too-strong focus on intended learning outcomes as a premise for constructive alignment in education.

An Overnight Educational Transformation: How did the Pandemic Turn Early Childhood Education Upside Down?

Since the spring of 2020, many early childhood education programs (pre-K, K, 1st, and 2nd grades) had to close as governments around the world took serious measures to slow down the transmission of COVID-19. As a result, the pandemic forced many early childhood teachers to start teaching online and continue supporting their students remotely. Unfortunately, there were few lessons that these teachers could learn from experience to cope with this change since online learning in early childhood settings had been scarce until the outbreak of the pandemic. In response, the goal of this interview study was to investigate how early childhood teachers in public and private schools implemented online learning during the pandemic, the challenges they encountered when teaching online, and their suggestions to address these challenges. The results showed that the teachers did not sit still and patiently wait for the re-opening of the schools. Instead, they took assorted initiatives to support their students’ learning and development remotely. They faced several challenges on the way but also suggested various methods to address these challenges through developmentally appropriate technology use. The results of this study have implications for teachers when early childhood programs return to normal. The study creates opportunities for future research to gain greater understanding of the design and implementation of online learning activities with young learners.

The digital module encourages expression to develop the social competence of early childhood education teachers

This study aims to develop a digital module that encourages expression and analyses the improvement of the social competence skills of early childhood teachers after using digital modules. The research and development methods and experimental methods were used. Data collection was carried out using a questionnaire, pre-test–post-test and documentation. Data were analysed descriptively, qualitatively and quantitatively. Qualitative analysis was carried out through data reduction and curative analysis through inferential statistics with t-test. The results showed that the digital module had been developed through expert validity tests, limited trials and extensive tests. The digital module that has been developed is able to improve the social competence of early childhood education programme teachers. This is indicated by the transformation of teachers in cognitive, affective and behavioural aspects in dealing with children, and teachers begin to get used to using encouraging expressions.
 
 Keywords: Digital module, encouraging expressions, social competence.

Systematic Review of Literature on Quality of Preschool Services in Aganwadis

The paper highlights the implementation and execution of the Early Childhood Education (ECE) program under Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) which was started in 1975. The scheme has been popularized with its need based programs for the larger benefit of millions of children across the country, who is the real assets of the country. The study focus the various aspects of ECE like organizational structure, learning climate, health and hygiene, monitoring and supervision mechanism as well as the infrastructure of the Anganwadi Centers. Pre-school education shoulders the responsibility of making children able to enter into formal schooling. It needs to be recognized as a precondition for the healthy mental and emotional development of children. Rapid growth during the early childhood stages requires the provision of a suitable environment to catalyze the multifaceted development of young children.

Character Education Approach and Actualization at Early Childhood Education Programs: A Study on Inclusive PAUD Organizers in Yogyakarta City

Character Education Approach and Actualization in PAUD (Study on Inclusive PAUD Organizers in Yogyakarta City). Dissertation: Early Childhood Islamic Education (PIAUD) Concentration Doctoral Program of UIN Sunan Kalijaga. This research is qualitative, taking the background of PAUD organizers in Yogyakarta. Data were collected by conducting observations, interviews, and documentation. The research approach uses a phenomenological approach. Data analysis gives meaning to the data collected, and conclusions are drawn from that meaning. First, the study results show that the character education approach in institutions is carried out using a micro, meso, and macro approach. The micro approach covers critical thinking skills, problem-solving skills, and value facilitation. The meso approach covers inculcation value, environment value, and community value. The macro approach includes the realm of moral values (exemplary teachers and parents) and religious behaviour. Second: The actualization of character education in the Pedagogia UNY Kindergarten and the Pelangi Anak Indonesia Islamic Kindergarten is mainly given by example and habituation. Character education includes 18 pillars of character education following the provisions of the Ministry of National Education, specifically: religious, honest, tolerance, discipline, hard work, creativity, independence, democratic, curiosity, national spirit and love for the homeland, respect for achievement, friendly/communicative, love peace, likes to read, cares about the environment, cares about social, and is responsible. Third: The actualization of character education can be classified into three, specifically: self-awareness (moral knowing), a sense of responsibility for oneself and others (moral feeling), and prosocial behaviour (moral action). Self-awareness actualization includes religious character, honesty, independence, discipline, hard work, and creativity. Actualization of a sense of responsibility for oneself and others includes tolerance for others, love of peace, curiosity, responsibility, love of reading, and love for the homeland. Actualizing prosocial behaviour includes being friendly, democratic, appreciating achievements, caring for the surrounding environment, and caring for social and national spirit. Fourth: The stage for the actualization of character education in PAUD can be classified into three levels, specifically: first-level character, middle-level character, and top-level character. At the first level, the character of the realm of self-awareness, a sense of responsibility for oneself and others, and prosocial behaviour has not been able to be absorbed and appropriately applied by students in daily activities. At the middle level, the characters in the realm of self-awareness, a sense of responsibility for themselves and others, and prosocial behaviour have been well absorbed by students, but in applying them in daily behaviour, they still need the guidance of others. At the top level, the character of the realm of self-awareness, a sense of responsibility for oneself and others, and prosocial behaviour have been absorbed and applied well by students in daily activities and does not need guidance from others.

"I Wear a Mask. I Wear It All the Time. The Kids Don't Wear Masks": Early Childhood Education Mask-Wearing During COVID-19 in Florida.

New federal health guidance was issued for early childhood education (ECE) programs to reduce the risk of COVID-19 in March 2020. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended mask-wearing for adults and children aged 2 years and older. Wearing masks was a new practice for teachers and children, and this study investigated when and how masks were worn in ECE centers in Florida. This study was part of a larger assessment of the impact of COVID-19 on mealtime routines in ECE centers. Two statewide surveys based on the Trust Model were sent to directors and teachers via Florida Department of Children and Families. Only teachers were interviewed. Data were collected from August to October 2020. The analysis included survey results and interview responses related to mask-wearing. Surveys were completed by 759 directors and 431 teachers, and 29 teachers were interviewed. Survey results indicated that more teachers than children wore masks during pre- and postmeal activities. Interviews revealed three models that explain mask-wearing: (1) teachers only, in which teachers were required to wear a mask, but children were not; (2) teachers and children, in which teachers and children were required to wear a mask; and (3) masks optional, in which teachers and children could choose to wear a mask. Understanding how decisions about mask-wearing were made at the center level can inform training and support health and safety in ECE. Use of personal protective equipment (such as masks) is effective for reducing risk of pathogen transmission for children and adults in ECE settings.

Third-Culture Kids in early childhood education

This paper’s purpose is to introduce the Third-Culture Kid (TCK) phenomenon and seek the significant aspects of a highly mobile lifestyle, focusing on their impact on young children learning in the early childhood education programme. Such features include the potential positive and negative consequences of growing up in a multicultural environment. Furthermore, this study dissects the question of whether young children should be directly exposed to cultural awareness at a young age, thereby highlighting educators’ crucial role in achieving culturally responsible pedagogy in the preschool context. Triangulation was used based on three methods of data collection. A quantitative survey positioned the voices of 140 Adult Third-Culture Kids (ATCK) in the forefront in order to examine their TCK experience. A qualitative interview focused on ten professional childhood educators’ practical knowledge. Finally, a qualitative case study exploring a TCK experience completed the survey. This research offers both a conceptual framework and practical understanding of the complex influence of the TCK lifestyle on children participating in early childhood education.

Contribution of Perceived Social Support and Job Enrichment to Job Satisfaction in PAUD (early childhood education programs) Teachers

This research aims to determine the contribution of perceived social support and job enrichment to the job satisfaction in PAUD (early childhood education programs) teachers. The number of respondents is as many as 178 people who work as PAUD teachers. The scale used in this research is the teacher?s job satisfaction scale with reliability of 0.876, Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS) with a reliability of 0,875, and a job enrichment?s scale with a reliability of 0,928. Based on the results of the hypothesis analysis, it is known that perceived social support and job enrichment together and separately have a significant effect (? ? 0.01) on job satisfaction. It is also known in this research that perceived social support and job enrichment contributed very significantly by 27.2 % (R2) to job satisfaction (?< 0.01).

Analysis of the Need for Development of Blended Learning Model in Early Childhood Education Programs in the Rejang Lebong Region

This study aims to conduct a conditions analysis on developing a composite knowledge model in early childhood education programs in the Rejang Lebong area to grow character values and pupil literacy provocation. This disquisition is part of the RD (Research and Development) disquisition with the ADDIE model (analysis, design, development, performance, and evaluation). However, this research is only limited to the analysis stage, which is to analyze the need for the development of blended learning models in early childhood education programs education to grow character values and student learning motivation. The population in this study were all early childhood education programs teachers in the Rejang Lebong area. The samples taken were 75 people with the probability sampling technique. The study was conducted in October 2021. The instrument used in this study was a needs questionnaire made using a modified Likert scale with 4 answer choices, namely strongly agree, agree, disagree, and strongly disagree. The results of this study are the blended learning model is a learning model needed by early childhood education programs teachers in the Rejang Lebong Regency area, especially during the covid-19 pandemic. This is evidenced by the percentage obtained from the teacher needs questionnaire analysis process, which reached 89.78%, which was categorized as strongly agree. For this reason, further research is needed to develop a blended learning model in early childhood education programs education in the Rejang Lebong area to grow character values and student learning motivation.

The role and influence of educational leaders in centres rated as providing high quality early childhood educational programs

Despite the role pedagogical leadership plays in quality early childhood education and care services, limited research to date has explored the appointment and enactment of educational leaders in Australia. This qualitative study explored the role and influence of two educational leaders in a high-quality rated service. Findings revealed that these educational leaders’ exercising of distributed and transformational leadership enabled ongoing quality improvement. Appointing the ‘right’ person; a supportive, effective and cohesive team; the whole-of centre valuing of the educational leaders and their role; investment of resources; and professional autonomy, were identified as key enablers of quality education across the service. As the first study to investigate the educational leader role in an ‘excellent’-rated service in Australia, this study highlights that the effectiveness of an EL is dependent on the person in the EL role and the context in which they are working. Implications for policy and service providers are discussed.

Early childhood development and its association with maternal parity.

Maternal parity, which is usually measured as the number of children born to a mother, has a substantial impact on the social and environmental factors around children and their development. This paper estimates the Early Childhood Development Index (ECDI) of 3- and 4-year-old children in Bangladesh and examines the relationship between maternal parity and early childhood development. The study analysed nationally representative data from the Bangladesh Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey 2019. The dataset had 9453 children aged from 36 to 59 months. The ECDI was computed following the UNICEF's approach involving psychometric computation of four domains of development: physical, literacy-numeracy, learning and social-emotional. Since the dataset has a hierarchical structure, we used multilevel logistic regression. A quarter (25%) of the children were not on track in their early childhood development. Seventy-one percent were not developmentally on track in the literacy-numeracy domain, 27% were not in the social-emotional and smaller percentages were not in learning (9%) and physical (1%) domains. There was a significant negative association between maternal parity and ECDI (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] 0.95; 95% CI: 0.91-0.99). Attendance at early childhood education programmes was significantly associated with early childhood development (AOR 1.73; 95% CI: 1.47-2.03). Also, female children, those who were not stunted, located in rural areas, received parental stimulation activities, lived in relatively wealthy households or had mothers who had received secondary or further education were more likely than others to be on track of early childhood development. Early childhood development is negatively correlated with maternal parity. The literacy-numeracy domain constitutes the major developmental delay. Programmes for parental awareness should be widely expanded.

The Instructional Shift of Early Childhood Education During the COVID-19 Pandemic

One of the prevention measures used to stop the spread of COVID-19 was to stop face-to-face learning at all levels of education, including early childhood education programs. Early childhood education, which is rich in teacher-student interaction, has been transformed into virtual learning. The purpose of this article was to look at how the early childhood education program in Kendari changed during the COVID-19 pandemic. This was a descriptive qualitative study. Data were collected through documentation analysis and interviews with key informants, such as school principals, teachers and parents of the students. Triangulation techniques were used to assess the validity of the findings. The results revealed that the early year program in Kendari underwent significant transformations in almost every aspect of learning, including curriculum, educators, strategies, media, learning objectives and learning outcome evaluation. The COVID-19 pandemic caused a change in all learning components, namely psychological and social distancing, so that learning activities were no longer carried out in the classroom with teachers and friends. PAUD teachers now involve parents in implementing learning in each student’s home.&#x0D; Keywords: transformation, teaching model, education

Teacher-Implemented Parent Coaching in Inclusive Preschool Settings for Children With Autism

This mixed-methods study aimed to test the feasibility, acceptability, and fidelity of involving early childhood education (ECE) staff without special education training or prior parent coaching experience in the delivery of an adapted evidence-based parent coaching intervention for young children with autism (Focused Playtime Intervention-Preschool, FPI-P). Ten staff members of a university-affiliated, inclusive ECE program were trained to deliver parent coaching procedures during temporary classroom closures due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Child participants included nine preschool students with ASD aged between 34 and 52 months. While findings highlight several opportunities for improving FPI-P staff training and implementation procedures, results demonstrate (a) the feasibility of involving ECE staff in the delivery of ASD-specific parent coaching to promote social communication, (b) that both parents and preschool staff viewed the experience as beneficial for themselves and the child, and (c) that parents perceived the program to be aligned with family-centered intervention principles.

The policy of mover school as a catalyst for improving the quality of education

This article aim to analyze of the policy form of the Minister of Education, Culture, Research and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia in collaboration with local governments, followed by early childhood education programs, Primary School, Junior High School, Senior High School, Extraordinary School both public and private in the Motivating School Program whether or not it can be implemented. This research uses a qualitative approach. The data collection technique used in this study is library research. In this literature study, the author collects materials related to research from books, scientific journals, literatures and other publications that are worthy of being used as sources, by describing and describing the data through several expert opinions. The result of this research is that the Driving School program has an impact as a catalyst for the quality of education in Indonesia. This is indicated by the existence of several interventions. The interventions carried out in the motivating school program start from human resources, learning with a new paradigm and data-based planning. This program is able to accelerate public/private schools to move 1-2 stages further. However, because it is still dynamic, some of the readiness in the curriculum is still not optimal. This program is able to accelerate public/private schools to move 1-2 stages further. However, because it is still dynamic, some of the readiness in the curriculum is still not optimal.