Work In Early Childhood Education Research Articles

The introduction of a software application intended for quality work in four Swedish preschools

AbstractThis study explores practitioners’ beliefs and experiences of education, socialisation and care and their impact on the introduction of a software application for quality work in early childhood education. Based on field notes, audio recordings and follow-up semi-structured interviews in four Swedish preschools, it explores how teachers’ beliefs and experiences frame and are framed by the introduction of a software application by an EdTech company. The findings show that preschool teachers perceived the software as disruptive to their established beliefs and practices, despite efforts to align it with the preschool curriculum’s goals. It also highlights the challenges that practitioners faced in understanding and implementing the software, the importance of peer discussions and time for reflection. The study’s conclusions emphasise the importance of a thorough introduction, peer support and opportunities for reflection when introducing software in preschool settings. It also stresses the need to align software implementation with practitioners’ beliefs and experiences to facilitate a successful adoption. In addition, the study highlights the role of ongoing professional development in managing technological change in early childhood education.

Cinematographic language: possibilities for work in early childhood education

The present article addresses the application of cinematographic language in educational practices aimed at Early Childhood Education. The central objective is to highlight the relevance of structured planning for the integration of this language, considering children as active participants in all stages related to this practice. In this perspective, the work is divided into stages. The first stage provides a brief history of cinema and its incorporation into education, with a focus on Early Childhood Education. The second stage discusses the importance of planning educational practices in Early Childhood Education. The third stage presents a real possibility of working with cinema based on interviews with teachers. In this way, it seeks to contribute to the broadening of understanding regarding the intersection between Early Childhood Education and Cinema, offering concrete possibilities for effective planning led by teachers from a Municipal Early Childhood Education Center. This planning aims to encompass meaningful proposals grounded in cinematographic language. The research methodology is qualitative, employing semi-structured interviews as a tool for data collection, directed towards teachers and children involved in the investigated educational context.

DESAFIOS DOCENTES RELACIONADOS À INCLUSÃO ESCOLAR DA CRIANÇA COM NECESSIDADES EDUCACIONAIS ESPECIAIS NO ÂMBITO DA EDUCAÇÃO INFANTIL

This work aims to understand the challenges of inclusion and the importance of inclusive practices promoted through pedagogical work in early childhood education, as well as understanding inclusion as a right for all; discuss teaching difficulties in everyday early childhood education classrooms from an inclusive perspective; identify pedagogical practices and methodologies that stimulate the development of children and encourage the processes of inclusion of children with disabilities in early childhood education. There are many challenges encountered in teaching practice, especially when it is part of a special education perspective. To carry out this research, bibliographic and documentary analyzes were used as a methodology that bring approaches related to the topic in question, with the aim of clearly emphasizing the teaching challenges with regard to inclusion in early childhood education classrooms. We used bibliographic and documentary surveys such as the Law of Guidelines and Bases of National Education No. 9,394/96 (LDBN), Federal Constitution of 1988, Operational Guidelines for specialized educational assistance in Basic Education, Special Education modality, Cury (1995), Mantoan ( 1993), among others who supported this construct with its literary reverberations. One of the most relevant points of this research was the importance of teacher training, highlighting its importance in being able to work with the public who have special educational needs, implementing what the law provides, where the right to inclusion and permanence of students must be implemented, starting with Early Childhood Education, the first stage of Basic Education

A Conversation Beyond Time: Honoring Katie-Jay Scott for Her Work in Early Childhood Education in Emergencies

A Conversation Beyond Time: Honoring Katie-Jay Scott for Her Work in Early Childhood Education in Emergencies

Musculoskeletal disorders in pre-school teachers in the municipality of Ecoporanga-ES

Introduction: Teachers' work in early childhood education is crucial to children's development. Therefore, this demanding occupation can lead to health risks for educators, especially with regard to musculoskeletal disorders. Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence and patterns of musculoskeletal disorders in early childhood teachers, in order to develop measures to promote the occupational health of these educators Methodology: This was a quantitative, exploratory and descriptive study of 29 early childhood teachers at levels I and II, covering children aged between 6 months and 3 years. The research used two structured questionnaires adapted for the Portuguese language, including the Nordic Osteomuscular Symptoms Questionnaire (NMQ). Results: The results indicate that musculoskeletal disorders are prevalent among early childhood teachers, affecting various regions of the body, such as the neck, shoulders, arms, forearms, hands, dorsal region, lumbar region and hip/MMII. The neck and shoulders are particularly affected, with most teachers associating the pain with their work. The most commonly used resources for dealing with pain were medication, gel ointment and massage. Conclusion: The discussion on musculoskeletal disorders in pre-school teachers highlights the relevance of this issue and the need for preventive and therapeutic actions to promote the occupational health of these professionals. Policies that encourage the adoption of appropriate postures and the conscious use of therapeutic resources are fundamental to ensuring a healthy and safe working environment for teachers.

Falling: An existential experience in early childhood

In this article, falling is considered as an existential bodily experience of the youngest children, aged one to three. No toddler can avoid falling; it is simply a condition of being bodily situated in the world. Active toddlers are falling toddlers, but even though the struggle with gravity appears to play a crucial role in the everyday lives of young children, it has been only a limited subject in early childhood research. Therefore, the authors examine the phenomenon of falling on the basis of empirical material collected in a focused ethnographic study carried out in two Danish nurseries. The findings are presented as a kind of typology, which includes analyses of five different fallings situations that were observed and videotaped in planned physical education activities. From an existential point of view, falling can be characterized as a negative experience with which the toddler must reconcile as a consequence of participating in movement activities. Even though it often starts as negative, falling seems to develop productive qualities, such as increased body consciousness or basic wakefulness. Physical active toddlers soon become experienced fallers, and this expertise makes it possible to use falling as a motor skill in playing situations or as a tool for communication. The authors use an existential framework to highlight and discuss the productive qualities of falling with the purpose of making it explicit for work in early childhood education.

‘Diplomatically bossy’: Discursive constructions of ‘good’ leadership in early childhood told through educators’ memories

This article puts forward a discursive analysis of early childhood leadership in Australia, offering new ways of understanding the work of early childhood leaders and adding to the methodological tools used to consider work in early childhood education and care. While an emerging body of work recognises the complexities of early childhood leadership, there is little empirical work that identifies how early childhood leaders draw on discourses to understand their roles. This article reports on a study that problematises discursive understandings of ‘good’ early childhood leadership in collective-biography workshops with seven participants. A poststructural feminist inquiry, informed by Foucauldian theory, enabled complex and nuanced readings of early childhood leaders’ accounts. Discourses – or ways of thinking, speaking and doing – were identified and scrutinised through Foucauldian-informed discourse analysis. The findings were conceptualised through ironic categories that hold together discursive tensions and contradictions. Ironic categories, such as ‘diplomatically bossy’, provoke and stimulate new ways of thinking about what it means to be a ‘good’ early childhood leader. The findings add to the emerging conversation and new methodological approaches that address complexity, diversity and contingency in understandings of early childhood leadership.

Sources of Information That Guide the Pedagogical Work of Early Childhood Educators: An Exploratory Study in Chile

The following article is a qualitative study that identifies the types of sources accessed by early childhood educators in their search for information to guide their pedagogical decisions regarding classroom problems. Previous study was centered on the understanding that teaching is a demanding and complex exercise, exposed to multiple problems, where the sources of information used by the educators can be a way to understand the ways in which they inform themselves when facing unexpected problems. The research is based on the interpretative-comprehensive paradigm, with a qualitative methodology, which included 22 semi-structured interviews with practicing kindergarten educators, with a minimum of one year of experience in the Maule Region, Chile. The findings of the study indicate that non-written sources such as other professionals, colleagues and family were the most reported by the participants as sources of information to help them understand their classroom problems, emphasizing that the relationship with others is fundamental, highlighting the importance of interdisciplinary work and recognizing their professional limits.

Empathy and Narrative: A Discussion of Contemporary Stories from Childcare and Healthcare

In caring professions, such as childcare and healthcare, empathy and narrative underpin important aspects of the emotional work of early childhood educators and nurses (Rogers, Jefferies & Ng, 2022). Unfortunately, they are not given much attention in scholarly articles, but it is important for practitioners to understand them (Barton & Garvis, 2019). This cross-disciplinary paper discusses the virtue of empathy from a philosophical stance, and its relationship to narrative when building shared understandings. There is a sense in which empathy and narrative are interdependent: storytelling helps to cultivate empathy in others, and empathy can be essential if we are to elicit and understand the stories that others have to tell. In fact, when it comes to eliciting and understanding the kinds of stories that are of particular interest for this paper (i.e., the personal stories to be told by young children participating in a research project, and those of patients in a healthcare setting), empathy tends to be especially important. As we argue, these examples drawn from early childhood education and care and healthcare serve to illustrate certain ways in which empathy, storytelling, and the development of shared understandings can be of deep significance; not only for researchers, educators and healthcare professionals, but also for senior administrative and public policy officials.

Communities of care: A collective writing project on philosophies, politics and pedagogies of care and education in the early years

This collective writing project considers the central issue of how we account for, understand, and talk about, the professional work of care in early childhood education. As an international collective, we stake out some of the messiness, the specificities and complexities of care in early childhood education. Each scholar explores the issue of foregrounding care in the professional work of early childhood educators and reflects on the complexities of care in early childhood education and care. While these musing are collected together in this paper, they are each a standalone provocation to grapple with diverse issues of care in relation to etymology, policy, risk, relationships, power, and racism. As a collective, we explore ways of engaging in the messiness of care and education with a spirit of vulnerability and the courage of risk taking to unpack care in early childhood education.

‘Feeling a bit like a tsunami wave’: an exploratory study of early childhood professionals’ experiences during the COVID-19 crisis in the USA

ABSTRACT The COVID-19 crisis highlights how vital childcare is and demonstrates the importance of the often undervalued work of early childhood educators. This mixed methods exploratory study presents how early childhood professionals (n = 75) navigated alternate remote teaching formats and served young children and their families during the COVID-19 crisis in the U.S. Key findings include the personal and professional challenges participants experienced supporting their students’ social-emotional development and serving children with disabilities. Participants also shared reflections on the resilience and adaptability of children, families, and themselves. Recommendations for interdisciplinary research, professional development that builds technological proficiency, and practice that supports children and families through inclusive early childhood models are discussed.

Early Childhood Educators' Perceptions of Their Emotional State, Relationships with Parents, Challenges, and Opportunities During the Early Stage of the Pandemic.

This article presents a study about the impact of COVID-19 on childcare center educators in Quebec (Canada). Regulated childcare services were closed due to the pandemic between March 16 and May 31, 2020, in areas considered “hot” (highly affected by the pandemic). During this time, some centers were transformed into “emergency childcare services” available to parents considered to be essential workers. Therefore, few children attended, and most educators worked remotely. In May 2020, 372 educators completed an online questionnaire regarding their emotional state, challenges, and learning opportunities. Results indicate that half of the respondents reported a decrease in their level of well-being at work and an increase in their stress level. Educators working remotely were more likely to report a lower level of stress than when working with children at daycare (36.1% vs 19.7%). Despite these findings, educators estimated that the parents who used their emergency childcare service presented either high (37.7%) or average (32.2%) levels of wellbeing. The factors that educators identified as facilitating their interactions with families included parental recognition of their work (11.68%) and direct contact with them (12.62%). While many tasks accomplished at home were done for the first time during this period (i.e., creating video capsules for children and parents, virtual meetings with children and colleagues), a large majority of respondents reported that these tasks made them feel useful. Working at their own pace (34.7%) was seen as the principal advantage of remote working. Finally, 28.84% mentioned that the reduced ratio (1:2 or 1:3) was a facilitating factor that they would like to maintain during the upcoming reopening phase. The discussion uses the Job Demands and Resources theoretical framework (Bakker and Demerouti in Wellbeing 3(2):1–28, 2014; Dicke et al. in J Occupat Health Psychol 23(2): 262–277, 2017) to explain the educators’ work-related demands and emotional state in both remote and CPE working pandemic contexts. In conclusion, we argued that this pandemic reveals the complexity, but also the essential nature of the work of early childhood educators, in particular by identifying their needs for support and recognition essential to their professional commitment.

Direitos trabalhistas e trabalho remoto na educação infantil durante a pandemia: resultados de pesquisa

Este texto apresenta a transcrição da live “Direitos trabalhistas e trabalho remoto na educação infantil durante a pandemia: resultados de pesquisa”, organizada pelo Grupo de Trabalho 07 – Educação de Crianças de 0 a 6 anos da Anped no âmbito da programação da “Anped Presente na Quarentena”. Os dados apresentados são parte do relatório “Levantamento junto aos sindicatos, associações, movimentos e demais entidades que representam trabalhadoras e trabalhadores de instituições que ofertam educação infantil”, resultado da pesquisa desenvolvida pela ANPEd-GT07 em articulação com o Movimento Interfóruns de Educação Infantil do Brasil (MIEIB). O estudo objetivou conhecer, no contexto da pandemia da Covid-19, a percepção das lideranças sindicais da educação sobre o trabalho remoto e os direitos trabalhistas de sujeitos docentes da Educação Infantil, bem como, as orientações e as ações desenvolvidas pelas referidas entidades que representam os/as profissionais da Educação Infantil.

Understanding how early childhood educators ‘see’ learning through digitally cast eyes: Some preliminary concepts concerning the use of digital documentation platforms

This paper reports from a pilot study investigating the ways digital documentation platforms are changing educators’ work in early childhood education. Digital documentation platforms are secure websites or application software, enabled by computer, smartphone, or tablet technologies, allowing educators to record observations of children’s learning as text or in visual forms, to which interpretations or commentary from educators, family members, and children are added. This paper examines how these platforms orient the ways educators see and articulate young children’s learning. Video stimulated recall interviews with educators (six in total) at four ECE sites across Australia and New Zealand were analysed. Key concepts are offered in relation to how digital platforms shape the learning that is seen by early childhood educators: tag-ability, trackability, completeness, and co-constitution. Each of these concepts is problematised in relation to contemporary ECE practices and the persuasiveness and ubiquity of the visual in discourses of documentation.

El trabajo por proyectos a partir del juego por rincones: planificación y puesta en marcha

El juego es uno de los principios metodológicos que se identifica con teorías relacionadas con la corriente constructivista, fundamentada por autores como Vigostky, Ausubel o Piaget, y que guía y enmarca el trabajo por proyectos. El juego, permite al niño/a actuar de forma natural, espontánea, libre, segura, relajada, con posibilidades de error y exenta de crítica. Además, es un elemento fundamental de identidad individual y progresiva pues le permite expresar y compartir ideas, contrastar y poner a prueba conocimientos de sí mismo y de su entorno, pudiéndolos desarrollar y consolidar de manera progresiva. Siendo el juego el principio metodológico y la base del proceso de aprendizaje que orienta la práctica docente de la autora de este trabajo en Educación Infantil, se llevó a cabo la modificación del rincón de juego de la casita, que hasta el momento existía, y planificar y poner en marcha un rincón de restaurante. La experiencia se desarrolló con un grupo de 14 alumnos/as de 4 años de una villa pesquera de la costa cántabra. Las situaciones de aprendizaje que se dieron en el aula fueron muy diversas, teniendo como eje central y principal protagonista al niño/a, para garantizar su éxito educativo. El juego de roles que supone la organización de un rincón de restaurante en la clase, llevó a los niños/as a tener un conocimiento de sí mismos cada vez más profundo y completo, a favorecer su autonomía personal, además de tener un mayor conocimiento del entorno cercano y participar activamente en él. Otro de los resultados de la práctica ejecutada fue el desarrollo de diferentes tipos de lenguajes para expresar sentimientos, ideas, pensamientos, etc., llevando a alcanzar el objetivo final que se pretendía con el proyecto.

The hidden complexity of early childhood educators’ work: The Exemplary Early Childhood Educators at Work study

A considerable body of research suggests that knowledgeable and skilled educators are key to the quality of early childhood services. However, the skills and knowledge of educators is subject to being underestimated and contested. In response, the Exemplary Early Childhood Educators at Work Study has been designed to bring to light the distinctive nature of the work of early childhood educators and its complexity. The study draws its sample from centre based early childhood services that are rated as high quality by the Australian Children's Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA).

Brincar e interagir nos espaços da escola infantil

O livro "Brincar e interagir nos espaços da escola infantil", de autoria de Maria da Graça Souza Horn, elucida, por meio de argumentos teóricos e práticos, com diferentes ilustrações – que compõem grande parte do livro –, os dois eixos propostos pelas Diretrizes Curriculares Nacionais para a Educação Infantil. Por meio da leitura do livro, professoras e professores podem encontrar possibilidades de reflexão e propostas práticas para o trabalho pedagógico na Educação Infantil, especialmente no que se refere à organização do espaço e ambiente a fim de ampliar as brincadeiras e interações na educação das crianças.

Importancia de la tutorización para el éxito del Trabajo de Fin de Grado

El presente trabajo ha pretendido conocer la opinión que tienen los alumnos que cursan el Trabajo Fin de Grado (TFG) en la Universidad de Jaén y en el Centro Universitario SAFA de Úbeda, en el Grado de Educación Infantil, ya que en dicho trabajo se desarrollan competencias necesarias para la consecución del Grado, aunando teoría, práctica e investigación. Para ello se ha diseñado un cuestionario que cumple con la necesaria fiabilidad y validez, estructurado en dos grandes bloques; por un lado, se pretendía caracterizar los participantes en esta investigación (género, edad, Universidad de matriculación, nota de acceso a la universidad y nota media en el Grado) y un segundo, constituido por 33 ítems acerca de las percepciones que tiene el alumnado sobre el Trabajo Fin de Grado en Educación Infantil. Se ha estructurado en cuatro dimensiones que son: Proceso de enseñanza-aprendizaje del TFG (4 ítems), Tutorización (11 ítems), Evaluación (9 ítems) y Aplicabilidad del TFG (9 ítems), posibilitando tomar en consideración las conclusiones y que ponen de manifiesto, entre otras cuestiones, la importancia de aspectos como el proceso enseñanza aprendizaje, las TIC o la Tutorización. En las conclusiones hemos detectado que el alumnado de Grado de Educación Infantil valora especialmente la tutoría, pero es necesario que el profesorado universitario redefina su rol y sea consciente de la importancia de esta asignatura y que esta se desarrolle en aras a las competencias con las que se originó.

Work in early childhood education: Protocol of a systematic review

There is international attention on early childhood work issues including workload, qualifications, low pay, and social and professional value. Increasingly, research examines ECEC work, including associated issues such as personal wellbeing, stress, and work-family balance. This protocol for a systematic review outlines plans for comprehensive synthesis, mapping and quality grading of international research published between January 2010 and 2020, focusing on work factors and associated issues in early childhood education and care. Several cross and inter-disciplinary databases will be searched, with items screened against inclusion criteria, and quality assessed using NICE quality appraisal checklists. This systematic review will be of interest to policy makers, early childhood education service owners, and employees, while indicating areas requiring further investigation.

Influence of quality credentialing programs on teacher characteristics in center-based early care and education settings

Considerable evidence relates the quality of early childhood education (ECE) to children’s developmental outcomes, with teacher qualifications often cited as a critical ingredient for high-quality care. As a result, quality credentialing programs—including Quality Rating and Improvement Systems (QRIS) and the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) Early Learning Program—are increasingly prominent vehicles for improving program quality. This study combines a randomized resume audit study with administrative data on provider participation in QRIS (N = 5607) and NAEYC (N = 10,553) to examine whether these quality credentialing programs influence provider behavior during the teacher hiring process. While NAEYC-accredited providers are strongly attracted to job applicants with ECE work experience, education, and other professional credentials, QRIS participants are not.