Early Childhood Education System Research Articles

Moving Beyond Inclusion to Participation: Essential Elements

This paper discusses the evolution of the early childhood education system from excluding children with disabilities to fully including them in a manner emphasizing full participation.  Evidence indicates meaningful participation in everyday activities is necessary for development to occur. The essential elements needed to bring about participation will be presented as well as specific evidence-based strategies used to promote inclusion and participation.

Exploratory analysis of decentralized governance and its implications for the equity of early childhood education services in four countries of Europe and Central Asia

ABSTRACTWe conducted a qualitative study in four countries of the Europe and Central Asia (ECA) region and explored the Early Childhood Education (ECE) policy landscape with an emphasis on the challenges and opportunities decentralization has presented for the provision of services. We content-analyzed ECE policies and documents to map national approaches to ECE. Key informant interviews were conducted to assess the implementation of decentralized ECE governance. An analytical framework that combined core constructs of ECE systems and key domains of decentralization (autonomy, institutional capacity and accountability) was developed and applied. Our analysis points to four overarching processes that contribute to the perpetuation and possible increase of inequitable ECE including (1) sparse mechanisms for participatory and autonomous policy formulation, with few systematic efforts to strengthen local institutional capacities; (2) fragmented policy approaches to promote the assessment and strengthening of quality at scale; (3) funding frameworks and financing schemes that tend to benefit enrolment in contexts of higher levels of economic development; and (4) few mechanisms for coordination to ensure operational coherence across the ECE sector.

Reshaping and Reimagining Marketised Early Childhood Education and Care Systems

Die Vermarktlichung und Privatisierung der Frühpädagogik und frühkindlicher Betreuungssysteme stehen in Verbindung mit einer steigenden sozialen Stratifizierung und Elitebildung, welche die Bereitstellung und Versorgung beeinträchtigt. Belege aus verschiedenen EU- und OECD-Mitgliedsstaaten (Lloyd & Penn, 2014'; Penn & Lloyd, 2014) zeigen Politiken und Strategien auf, welche solchen Dynamiken entgegenwirken sollen. Praktische Lösungen solcher Risiken scheinen in transparenten Werten und Prinzipien gegründet, welche in nationalen Debatten von einem breiten Spektrum an Interessenvertretern abgestimmt werden. Solch eine Grundlage lässt sich beispielsweise in den von Moss (2014) und Tronto (2013) entwickelten alternativen Rahmenkonzepten zur Neukonzipierung gerechterer frühkindlicher Systeme finden. Sich abzeichnende Belege deuten darauf hin, dass bestimmte geschäftliche Leitungsstrukturen der Kinderbetreuung, welche klar formulierte Werte und Prinzipien aufnehmen, gleichzeitig Marktrisiken im Sektor Kinderbetreuung minimieren können. Die Etablierung einer substantiellen Systemumgestaltung bleibt dennoch eine Herausforderung innerhalb sich rasch verändernder politischer Umgebungen.

Comparison of Early Childhood Education System and In-Service Education of Early Childhood Teachers in Korea and Finland

Comparison of Early Childhood Education System and In-Service Education of Early Childhood Teachers in Korea and Finland

The Intersection of Health and Education to Address School Readiness of All Children.

Children who enter kindergarten healthy and ready to learn are more likely to succeed academically. Children at the highest risk for not being ready for school live in poverty and/or with chronic health conditions. High-quality early childhood education (ECE) programs can be used to help kids be ready for school; however, the United States lacks a comprehensive ECE system, with only half of 3- and 4-year-olds being enrolled in preschool, lagging behind 28 high-income countries. As addressing social determinants of health gains prominence in pediatric training and practice, there is increasing interest in addressing ECE disparities. Unfortunately, evidence is lacking for clinically based, early educational interventions. New interventions are being developed asynchronously in pediatrics and education, often without knowledge of the evidence base in the other's literature. In this State-of-the-Art Review, we synthesize the relevant work from the field of education (searchable through the Education Resources Information Center, also known as the "PubMed" of education), combining it with relevant literature in PubMed, to align the fields of pediatrics and education to promote this timely transdisciplinary work. First, we review the education literature to understand the current US achievement gap. Next, we provide an update on the impact of child health on school readiness and explore emerging solutions in education and pediatrics. Finally, we discuss next steps for future transdisciplinary work between the fields of education and pediatrics to improve the health and school readiness of young children.

Bridging a Cultural Divide Between Play and Learning: Parental Ethnotheories of Young Children’s Play and Their Instantiation in Contemporary China

ABSTRACTResearch Findings: The current study explored the ethnotheories of 6 Chinese families regarding their young children’s play in Shanghai, the most Westernized metropolis in China. A triangulation of multiple data sources was established through in-depth interviews, home visit observations, and 1-week recordings of child’s daily play activities. The empirical evidence revealed that the 6 families practiced eduplay (Rao & Li, 2009) with their young children, a Chinese version of play-based learning or a compromise between contemporary Western notions of child-centered play and the Chinese tradition of adult-directed academic training. Albeit with individual differences and varieties, parents’ ethnotheories were instantiated in the child’s daily settings for the provision of toys, the use of time in play and learning, and parents’ roles in the child’s play. However, some contextual constraints and barriers prevented the parents from fully putting the imported progressive educational beliefs into action. Practice or Policy: The changing and varying parental ethnotheories of play may reflect a paradigm shift in the early childhood education system, which has been jointly shaped by traditional Chinese beliefs and contemporary Western notions of appropriate practice. More implications of these findings are discussed against the backdrop of sociocultural changes in contemporary Chinese society.

ECEC Professionalization – challenges of developing professional standards

ABSTRACTWithin the early childhood education system, early childhood teachers are the weak element in two hierarchies, the governance hierarchy and the epistemological hierarchy. From the perspective of early childhood teacher professionalization, this is a paradox because professionalism is intrinsically linked to a relatively high degree of professional autonomy and control over one’s work. However, professional autonomy must be built on a set of professional standards – or commons – that clarify the values, priorities and knowledge that are shared among the professionals. In this project, a researcher (the author) and a group of early childhood teachers have worked out a set of professional standards for early childhood teachers, with Norway as context of analysis. The article aims to conceptualise what early childhood teachers view as the core of their professional practice. It conceptualises the attempt to develop professionalism ‘from within’ that professional practice, expressing professional standards from the perspective of professionals.

O PROGRAMA DE FORMAÇÃO DE PEDAGOGOS NA DINAMARCA: ESPECIALIZAÇÃO EM PEDAGOGIA DA PRIMEIRA INFÂNCIA

O artigo apresenta o programa de formação de pedagogos na Dinamarca, no que se refere à especialização em Pedagogia da primeira infância, uma das três especializações para a concessão do grau de bacharel em Pedagogia. O texto tem início com uma breve nota sobre o sistema de educação infantil na Dinamarca e a figura do pedagogo, e segue com a descrição dos elementos que compõem o programa de formação: o contexto histórico; a estrutura regulatória; as áreas e metas de competência; as formas estéticas de expressão; o estágio e o papel do supervisor do centro de educação infantil e da universidade; as formas de autoavaliação e avaliação externa dos alunos; e competências pessoais e acadêmicas. O texto é finalizado com uma reflexão sobre os contributos do programa dinamarquês para pensar o contexto brasileiro, evidenciando paralelos, claras distinções e contrapontos nos dois sistemas de formação.

Unravelling conceptualizations of (in)equality in early childhood education and care system

ABSTRACTEarly childhood education’s role in increasing equality in society has been highlighted by international organizations. However, it is unclear what is meant by the concept of equality in different situations, as the meaning fluctuates and reflects the cultural political contexts in which it is embedded. In this paper, we analyse the equality discourses of local early childhood education and care (ECEC) policymakers in Finland, drawing on different conceptualizations of equality and social justice. In doing so, we show that the way in which equality is conceptualized differs – along with the suggested remedies – depending on whether the subjects of equality are adults, children at the border of an institutional setting, or children within the ECEC institution.

Science and Technology Congress for Preschoolers as a strategy for the initiation of science

ABSTRACTThis article describes an experience of collaborative work between scientists and preschool teachers in the format of a scientific congress of preschoolers in Chile. The participating preschool teachers evaluated the initiative positively based on: (1) it stimulates the preschool teachers to develop science teaching projects, (2) it makes visible the work teachers do within their educational units, and (3) it contributes to the development of positive attitudes and emotions in the children. The current reform of the Early Childhood Education system in Chile offers an opportunity for the development of support and collaboration initiatives by scientific institutions with formal education.

Approaching the complex spatialities of early childhood education and care systems from the position of the child

Abstract This paper proposes a way to understand what early care and education systems look like from the vantage point of the child. In other words, it aims to fuse a system perspective and a child perspective of early childhood education and care (ECEC) in a way that acknowledges children as active co-producers of ECEC landscapes. In developing this approach, I emphasize that children’s individual education and care arrangements which combine certain ECEC settings and the family are to be understood as networks of relations. As such, these child, family and ECEC relations create particular spatialities and temporalities which in turn position children very differently within the field of early education and care. To conceptualize how this takes place in children’s everyday activities, I refer to Schatzki’s and Massey’s relational thinking about practices, spaces, time and multiple identities with special emphasis on the spatial relations that are ‘beyond’ certain localities and (re)produced in the ‘events of place’. How this helps to understand the ways in which ECEC systems look from the position of the child will get exemplified in regard to Luxembourg’s complex ‘double split system’ of ECEC and its complex language terrain.

A Comparative Study On Korean and Japanese Early Childhood Education System

A Comparative Study On Korean and Japanese Early Childhood Education System

3つのロシアと保育制度の変遷 : ロシア共和国から現代ロシアへの転換とその後を中心に (第9回大会シンポジウム : 諸外国における保育制度改革の歴史的検討)

3つのロシアと保育制度の変遷 : ロシア共和国から現代ロシアへの転換とその後を中心に (第9回大会シンポジウム : 諸外国における保育制度改革の歴史的検討)

イギリスの保育制度改革 : チルドレンズ・センター事業を中心に (第9回大会シンポジウム : 諸外国における保育制度改革の歴史的検討)

イギリスの保育制度改革 : チルドレンズ・センター事業を中心に (第9回大会シンポジウム : 諸外国における保育制度改革の歴史的検討)

Beliefs of Slovenian early childhood educators regarding the implementation of physical education

This cross-sectional study was designed to identify Slovenian early childhood educators’ beliefs concerning the importance of the competencies required to carry out physical education (PE), to identify which of those competencies early childhood educators might lack and to identify which competencies should be developed in the process of continuous professional development. For this purpose, a self-administered questionnaire was designed to examine belief statements regarding a wide scope of PE competencies among 183 early childhood educators. The participants evaluated the importance of individual competencies and reported their current and desired levels of competencies using a four-level scale. The results showed that early childhood educators believe that competencies to teach PE are an important part of early childhood education and that they need to improve in such competencies to carry out PE above the existing level. In particular, early childhood educators would like to improve in knowledge, skills and abilities that will enable them to implement PE efficiently and effectively to change children’s health-related behaviours. We suggest that the gap between the self-reported beliefs about the current level of PE competencies and the desired level of PE competencies is vital for policy-makers, who aim to create unitary early childhood education and care systems in which similar qualifications and competencies among early childhood educators are needed. It seems that a lack of policy, curriculum development and educators’ expertise in PE contributes to the considerable variation in the understanding of the educational role of early childhood educators within PE.

THE SPECIFICS OF PARENT-TEACHER INTERACTION IN EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION

Introduction. Early school education as a beginning stage of an individual’s educational trajectory fosters an enabling environment for a child’s personal, physical, intellectual and moral development. A productive interaction between pre-school educational organizations and parents is known to play the key role in the mentioned process. Aim. Based on the empirical-sociological materials of the research, this paper is aimed to identify specific features of interaction between parents and teachers as subjects of the system of early childhood education in large industrial cities. Methodology and research methods. The empirical basis of the research was a questionnaire survey conducted among parents (n=220), whose children attended pre-school institutions in Yekaterinburg, and semi-structured interviews with early school teachers (n=30). The teachers were interviewed using the method of systematic sampling. Results and scientific novelty. A serious divergence was identified with regard to how parents and teachers understand the goal of early school education. The social demand of parents consists in preservation and strengthening of physical health of the child, and teachers consider the development of pupils’ abilities as their main task. The research revealed the main topic for discussion between parents and teachers to be organizational issues (due payments, leaving children in the morning, etc.). The conclusion is drawn that passive acceptance of the current situation prevails in teacher-parent interaction, rather than an active attitude to realization of the principles of partnership and cooperation. Parents’ tight schedules become an impediment for building of partner relationship with their children’s teachers and eventually prevent collaborative interaction between the two sides. Nevertheless, parents are shown to trust teachers and recognize the teachers’ professionalism. This circumstance is seen as a founding principle for formation, reproduction and development of partner interaction of the subjects of preschool education. Practical significance . The obtained results can be applied when planning directions to advance the quality and performance of preschool education institutions. Thus, first to be considered is the organization of complex system work on acculturation of pedagogical culture of parents as well as development of special competences of the teachers, enabling them to successfully realize the principles of constructive cooperation with parental community for the purpose of full, prosperous and harmonious education of younger generation.

Diversity and diversification in ECEC practices: Considerations from Serbia

AbstractFocusing on diversity represents a step forward towards a complex concept of quality in the early childhood education and care (ECEC) system. The diversification of programmes and services takes shape within this framework, bringing a shift from purely technical issues towards a joint construction of the community's culture. Its complexity is visible in its conceptualisation, which combines theoretical and ideological key points concerning childhood, learning, development, well‐being and the role of adults and of public policy. This article presents the process and results of a project that included a study to better understand the perspective of professionals, parents and representatives of local policymakers on the meanings given to the diversification of programmes in the ECEC system in Serbia. The method was participatory, with focus groups supporting participants in expressing their opinions and in co‐creating meanings and knowledge, linking research to group reflection. The aim was to identify practices related to these meanings in a coherent way, focusing on the concepts of well‐being and respect for diversity. The main conclusion is a strong need for a multilevel network to: (a) support policymakers and professionals in creating socially‐mixed contexts, (b) support parents by making them feel that they are partners in the educational system, and (c) invest in continuous professional development (CPD) programmes for professionals to train them and encourage them to co‐reflect on practice.

Found in translation: an analytical framework to explore national and regional Early Childhood Education and Care systems

This article explores the German discourse of Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) as it has emerged and changed over time. The conceptual elements of the triad of care, child raising and education (Betreuung, Erziehung und Bildung) are described and illustrated by salient points in the development of German ECEC services. Indicators for each of these concepts are discussed. This analytical framework reveals the reciprocal influences of path dependency and of underlying assumptions about the relationship between the state, parents and children. Here, I demonstrate how it renders visible details of the German system that are often lost in larger comparative studies. It provides a tool for policy-makers, researchers and practitioners to compare ECEC systems and learn from other countries. It also serves as a warning against crude attempts of policy borrowing from other countries and can aid insights on why some of these attempts encounter difficulties.

Wczesna edukacja i rozwój dziecka w Nepalu: dostępność, jakość i profesjonalizm

In Nepal a national system of Early Childhood Education and Development provision for all is a vision that has yet to be realised. This article highlights issues of access, quality and professionalism within the Early Childhood Education sector in Nepal. In particular, I discuss issues of accessibility to kindergarten education in rural areas in contrast to the accessibility of well-resourced kindergartens in urban areas. I also consider the lack of a proper infrastructure, insufficient educational resources and an unqualified workforce as key problems faced by the government-funded kindergarten centres with implications for the future of Early Childhood Education and Development in Nepal. Gender and caste discrimination are also barriers to the development and accessibility of the early childhood education and development.

Social Innovation and Social Entrepreneurship in Early Childhood Education and Care. Lessons from Three Case Studies of Innovative Services in Emilia-Romagna, Italy

The paper presents the results of an eight-month research program undertaken under the InnoSI project framework, funded under the European Research Program Horizon 2020. We adopt the theoretical framework of social innovation of Westley and Antadze (2010), applying the four-dimensional scheme of social innovation elaborated by Hochgerner (2011): resources, authority flows, routine and beliefs (Bassi, 2011). We also refer to the typology of social innovations in the field of welfare policy emerging from the research of Evers, Ewert and Brandsen (2014). We use a multiple case study research model (Yin, 1993; 1994) that highlights the relationships among the micro, meso, and macro level of analysis of a program, project, and intervention at the local level. The case study analyses the integrated system of early childhood education and care (ECEC) services in Emilia-Romagna as an example of how increasing the accessibility and quality of ECEC provision could be pursued through a partnership between the public and private not-for-profit initiatives which pro-actively engage with local actors. The rationale for selecting the units of analysis, three early childhood services distributed across the regional territory, is therefore linked to the social demands underlying services’ implementation: reconciliation of family and working life responsibilities for parents; equal educational opportunities for children’s development and growth; and participation of groups which are at risk of social exclusion (low-income families, children from ethnic minority background).