Growing Early Childhood Education Teachers in Rural Areas

Currently in South Africa, there are over 20 000 underqualified Grade R teachers who are enlisted into service to ensure that Grade R teaching can continue. The aim of the study reported on was to investigate the challenges and needs faced by underqualified teachers in order to promote the professional development of teachers teaching in rural areas. Phenomenology was used as the research design. By means of a qualitative research approach, purposeful sampling selected only underqualified early childhood education (ECE) teachers teaching in rural schools for more than five years or more in three provinces, as well as their school principals. The findings revealed the following needs and challenges: the need for resources; poor infrastructure; lack of parental involvement; overcrowded classrooms; the need for in-service training; needs of the rural communities; and support from an open distance learning (ODL) institution.     

Rethinking the status of early childhood care and education (ECCE) in rural and urban areas of South Africa

This study documented the current status and determined the need for early childhood care and education in South Africa, including an assessment of the training needs of childminders and other individuals interested in working with young children in rural and urban areas of South Africa. The sample included 373 African men and women representing a range of occupations and different levels of education. The study employed primarily quantitative methodology, specifically a survey. The findings suggest that families and community members who have in the past responded to the needs of young children can no longer meet these needs due to social and economic dynamics. Respondents from both rural and urban settings perceived training, training centers, infrastructure, and the integration of African culture in early childhood education to be compelling needs. Programmatic and policy recommendations based on the interviews and observations are made.     

自然教育:农村幼儿教育的基本理念

农村幼儿教育应该树立自然教育的基本理念。首先,农村幼儿教育应该以自然为摇篮,充分利用农村广阔的自然天地;其次,农村幼儿教育应该遵循幼儿的自然天性,以此为基础进行幼儿教育;第三,农村幼儿教育应该以幼儿的自然生活为最终追求,实现幼儿的幸福生活。     

促进我国城乡幼儿园教师均衡配置的政策建议

当前,保障我国学前教育有质量的普及和发展任务艰巨.实现城乡幼儿园教师均衡配置是构建覆盖城乡、有质量的学前教育公共服务体系的关键.但目前,我国幼儿园教师的数量、质量城乡失衡形势仍然严峻,且呈继续扩大趋势,严重影响教育公平与社会公平.为有效促进城乡幼儿园教师均衡配置,缩小城乡差距,建议:明确幼儿园教师法律身份;单列编制,修订编制标准并重点倾斜农村;试行教师人事代理制度;提高并落实待遇,健全农村幼儿园教师社会保障制度并实施特殊津贴和住房保障政策;多途径扩大并优先保障农村幼教师资有质量地供给;完善农村幼儿园教师培训保障机制;建立健全农村教研、城乡交流、就近培训等政策制度.     

重庆市大力推进城乡学前教育均衡普及的改革探索

重庆市近年来重视学前教育的改革与发展,确立了城乡学前教育全面均衡普及的改革理念与目标,并通过健全与完善体制机制,如建立成本分担机制并将经费向农村倾斜、建立弱势群体学前教育免费制度、大力加强公办园建设、保障教师工资待遇、改革教师管理体制机制、实施规范化与优质化并行的学前教育工程等,极大地促进了城乡学前教育均衡普及,尤其是农村学前教育的普及与质量提高。这些改革探索与经验对我国其他地区,尤其是中西部农村地区的学前教育改革与发展具有重要的借鉴意义。我国各级政府应以农村学前教育普及为重点,以政府为主导发展农村学前教育,坚持公益与公平原则,从农村到城市分期分批建设公办幼儿园,同时推行弱势群体幼儿免费学前教育,不断扩大普惠性公共学前教育资源,实现有质量的学前教育普及。     

农村学前教育教育补偿路径优化:基于供需适配性理论的思考

我国农村学前教育发展滞后的主要原因是制度供给不足。教育补偿则是一种制度性补偿。农村学前教育教育补偿应关注补偿什么、怎么补偿及补偿效果等问题,即关涉教育补偿是否契合并有效满足补偿对象的需求。根据"供需适配性理论"及其四项标准,应提升农村学前教育教育补偿的相关性、可及性、质量性以及相适性,促进教育资源的高效配置,提高教育补偿的精准度和有效性,切实保障受教育者的教育权利,推进学前教育公平。     

Assessing Quality in Early Childhood Education and Care

Evaluating quality in early childhood education and care (ECEC) service internationally is increasingly important. Research to date indicates that it is ‘high-quality’ programmes that boost and sustain children's achievement outcomes over time. There is also growing interest in the accountability of public funds used for ECEC programmes and the types of measures that assess ECEC quality. This article reviews eleven existing instruments that were designed to assess global ECEC programmes and examines them in terms of their strengths and weaknesses as quality measurement tools and the adequacy of the measures to sufficiently reflect the context and purposes of the assessment. Through this process the authors identify directions for the development of new measures that are both theoretically and psychometrically sound.     

德国学前教育的发展现况和未来趋势

德国的学前教育长期以来并没有形成统一的学前托管模式,入园率、师资等在原东德和原西德地区之间存在很大差异.德国的学前教育计划由各州自行制定、实施并监管,但联邦政府还是从政策和财政投入两方面积极推动学前教育的发展.为了使母亲有更多的就业机会,德国政府不断加强对学前教育的关注度和投入力度:从法律上保障儿童接受学前教育的权益;提供灵活多样的社会托管服务;将托管服务对象由3～6岁扩大到0～6岁并致力于改善托幼机构的育儿质量.     

Variations in the Availability and Quality of Early Childhood Education and Care by Socioeconomic Status of Neighborhoods

Research Findings: This article provides Australian evidence of the availability and quality of early childhood education and care (ECEC) services in low–socioeconomic status (SES) neighborhoods. There is less availability of ECEC in low-SES areas in Australia, and these programs provide a lower average quality of care than in more advantaged neighborhoods. Families tend to travel short distances to ECEC programs (Mdn = 2.9 km), and therefore families in low-SES areas are limited in the programs they can choose or are faced with higher transport costs than families in more advantaged neighborhoods. This study uses government licensing data from a population of 6,937 ECEC services together with a sample of 2,494 children enrolled in 421 ECEC classrooms. Practice or Policy: Established measures of the local ECEC market tend to overestimate its size and in turn the availability of ECEC. Measures of ECEC market density should be tested for sensitivity to reductions in size. SES gradients are observed within local ECEC markets, meaning that attempts to lift supply and quality in low-SES areas require specific and targeted policy intervention.     

Swedish Child Care and Early Childhood Education in Transition

This paper focuses on recent changes in the Swedish system of child care and early childhood education. These changes are described and analyzed in relation to the economic and socio-political context of which they are a part. It is argued that the early childhood education sector in Sweden has been and still is an important part of the welfare society which in its turn now is in a state of transition. Neo-liberal ideas and the economic conjuncture have implied severe cuts and changes in childcare policies. The implications of these changes are discussed in the final section of the paper.     

建机构还是买服务——对我国农村幼儿教育供给方式的思考

政府应该为农村儿童提供幼儿教育服务,但是具体的服务供给方式值得商榷.在农村地区,通过建立大量幼教机构为儿童提供幼儿教育服务的方式存在无法克服的质量、监管难题.我们可以尝试由政府制定服务菜单,由现有的县、乡幼教机构按照菜单为农村儿童提供流动性服务,从而建构起"电影放映队式"农村幼儿教育服务模式.     

多元文化背景下新疆农村幼儿教育发展的困境与对策

新疆农村幼儿教育面临起步晚,发展基础极为薄弱,教育质量与教育公平矛盾突出,学前教育双语教学问题凸显,多元文化背景下传统性与现代性冲突严重等困境.政府及相关部门应出台公平的农村幼儿教育政策.合理分配教育资源,做好农村幼儿园师资培训工作,设置具有本土特色的多元文化课程,促进当地农村幼儿教育发展.     

绩效视野下的农村中小学远程教育反思

自全面实施农村中小学现代远程教育工程以来,取得了瞩目的成绩。但我们关注的不仅仅是结果,更应该关注效益评价。本文以安徽省为例,从绩效方面对整个农村远程教育工程系统的政府行为与投入、资源建设、学习行为、管理评价四个方面进行反思,以期探寻农村中小学现代远程教育工程的可持续发展之路。     

Rights of the Child and Early Childhood Education and Care in Europe

‘Securing the rights articulated in the Convention is an effective approach to improving the quality of early experiences.’ 1 1 Early Childhood Rights Indicators, A guide for Monitoring the Convention on the Rights of the Child, http://earlylearning.ubc.ca/media/uploads/documents/internationalresearchbriefjan2012.pdf , p2
This article analyses early childhood education and care and child rights in early childhood and their relationship in the European Union. Both are primarily national competencies. The EU has limited access and tools to influence policies and practices, while there are many ways in which indirect interventions are not only possible, but greatly used, often in areas that do not seem to be closely related to the issues discussed here. Yet there is a strong desire and interest of the different EU institutions to encourage and support Member States to implement both ECEC targets and child rights. In this article, we show that, while ECEC has become an essential part of different policies at EU level, there have been efforts to implement and mainstream child rights, with special attention paid to specific dimensions in relation to early childhood policies and practices, but a child rights based approach is missing.     

Politics,Poverty and Education in Rural South Africa

This article examines the relationship between poverty and education in South Africa, and how its conceptualisation has changed historically. By analysing two major inquiries into poverty conducted by the Carnegie Corporation (in 1929‐32 and 1982‐84), it highlights the political nature of poverty and also its racialisation in South Africa. Using material from a peri‐urban research study, it extends the analysis to include the underprovision of schooling, gender relationships of poverty and also child labour. The article illustrates how the relationship between poverty and education has been differently constructed in different discourses, and concludes by considering the challenges of developing policies to address the education/poverty nexus in the rural areas of post‐apartheid South Africa.     

Early Childhood Education and Care Vade Mecum for 2002

This is not an article, but a series of compressed notes which attempt to set down what the writer sees as the principal concerns highlighted in recent studies of early childhood socialisation from birth to about eight years. It draws heavily upon personal and professional experience of education and care systems in some sixteen countries as well as upon current OECD and UNESCO data. It deals with the concerns surrounding a minority of the world's children, however; that is the 10% or less, born into the rich portion of the (largely western) world. It focuses on the context surrounding the growing need for 'institutionalised' provision for children from birth in those OECD countries where divorce is common-place, where the birth rate has fallen dramatically and where, increasingly, most adult women work outside the home. It notes especially the gradual congruence of early childhood care and early education in policy and practice. It emphasises the vital contribution of appropriate early experience and learning to the creation of a humane society, briefly considers the policy preoccupations with literacy, and notes especially that the biggest single factor contributing to high quality provision lies in the quality of the professional staff concerned.     

县(区)域内城乡义务教育教师交流研究——以安徽省亳州市为例

我国县(区)义务教育教师行业内交流主要有自主性交流和政策性交流。这两种交流都存在一定缺陷,存在单一性、非理性状态、流于形式等问题。新时期,对于大部分中东部地区来说,"村村通"工程的基本实现、城乡义务教育教师"同工同酬"的基本实现以及日益完善的教育制度,为县(区)义务教育教师双向、良性积极的交流提供了物质和制度基础。要真正实现可持续、良性循环的县(区)义务教育教师的交流,还应该注意几个问题:谁管人的问题、克服教师抵制交流的情绪问题和交流时间的问题。     

美国各级政府与学前儿童的保育和教育

本文论述了美国联邦政府、州政府和地方政府在学前儿童的保育和教育方面扮演的角色和担负的职责.