Early childhood education and care: politics,policies and possibilities

This paper considers some of the current knowledge about our understanding of and provision for early childhood internationally. It looks at its relative importance, offers a short overview of research and terminology, outlines a global perspective (the big picture) and provides a brief summary of the current South Australian policy and position.     

Issues in early childhood education

Abstract

This paper raises some of the key issues affecting the educational opportunities of children from birth to seven. These include: services for children under five, four‐year‐olds in primary school classes, equal opportunities, training and status of early years professionals. The paper emphasises the influence of concepts of early childhood and the need for UK policy makers to recognise babies and very young children as people, and to acknowledge their capabilities.     

Continuity in early childhood education: transition from pre-school to school

Entrance to Primary School seems to be one of the most difficult and important changes in early childhood education. In this study it is examined the extent to which the differences between home or nursery school and primary school may cause difficulties to children in their psychological adjustment to the first grade of schooling. It is also investigated to see if some pedagogical strategies can make smoother the child's transition to school. The research was conducted in Greece during the period 1992–1993. Subjects were 75 nursery teachers, 566 first grade primary school teachers and 566 parents with first grade children. All subjects completed a questionnaire in which they evaluated the differences between home and primary school and between nursery school and primary school, as well as some pedagogical strategies. The results are presented in the tables I-IV. It seems that the differences between the environment in which the child lives before school and the primary school environment are so different that entrance to school is problematic for the child's adjustment. Some pedagogical strategies, however, may make smoother the children's passing from pre-school to school.     

Learning to contribute: text connections in early childhood teacher education

ABSTRACT

Face-to-face time with students in the early childhood college setting is at a premium and often flies by before we begin to scratch the surface of active learning. Building a community of learners is one of our main goals as instructors; therefore, we strive to set up active learning environments optimal for all students. This reflection on practice highlights the text connections learning strategy, describes how four early childhood education instructors use it, and analyzes its theoretical underpinnings to investigate how it helps students learn to contribute to the learning of all. Student examples and reflections from the instructors are included.     

Children in relation: Rethinking early childhood education

The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC, 1986; Bredekamp, 1987) has published guidelines which define “developmentally appropriate” practice for all children birth through eight. These guidelines have now come under criticism, however, for a variety of reasons. Researchers have argued that they present a false impression of consensus (Walsh, 1991), that they are premised on a developmental theory characterized by ethnocentric bias (Bowman & Stott, 1994), and that they represent cultural values that are not universally shared (Jipson, 1991; Wiliiams, 1994; Phillips, 1994). This article holds likewise that the promulgation of guidelines based on universalist assumptions places racial, ethnic, and linguistic “minority” children and parents at a disadvantage and contributes to the very processes that early childhood educators seek to remedy. After reviewing an extensive research literature which shows children from traditionally disadvantaged groupsin relation, the article concludes that the poor scholastic performance of disproportionate numbers of children should be attributed to interactional and relational factors rather than to innate capabilities or to parental “inadequacy.” An earlier version of this paper was presented at the annual meetings of the American Sociological Association, August 14, 1993, Miami, FL.     

Schematising activities in early childhood education

The purpose of this study was to determine the importance of introducing schematising to children in early childhood and to determine whether schematising can be taught to children. This was done using a longitudinal, quantitative study with a quasi-experimental design (N = 133). In this study, the use of schematising was taught to an experimental group of children to determine if it is possible to realise significantly improved results in schematising tasks for an experimental group in comparison to a control group of children who were not taught schematising. Pupils in the experimental group demonstrated significantly better results on schematising, which cannot be explained by maturation. In our future research, we will investigate the mathematical performances of these experimental and control groups in the next grade of the primary school curriculum.     

Towards multidimensional approaches to early childhood science education

In this forum paper, I respond to issues raised by Kristina Andersson and Annica Gullberg in their article titled What is science in preschool and what do teachers have to know to empower children? (2012). I seek to continue the discussion begun with Andersson and Gullberg’s paper, by further exploring the questions they introduce to guide their paper: “What is science in preschool?” and “What do teachers have to know to empower children?” In particular, I elaborate on the value of drawing on multiple perspectives and different epistemological frameworks, and I argue for the need for a reconceptualized notion of science as a school discipline; one that acknowledges the multifaceted ways in which young children engage in science.     

Avoiding sexism in early childhood education

Conclusion Television, other media, and adults in their daily interactions give children cues about what's appropriate for girls and for boys. It is the daily, continual combination of these events, occurring without thought of the hidden messages they convey to children, which creates an environment organized around sex roles. The message to all of us who work with young children is clear: Provide equal access of space and materials to every child; expect children to engage in all kinds of activities regardless of sex; expect children to exhibit a full range of behavior and reinforce them without regard to sex; and, finally, “liberate” the teacher's role by providing equal access and choices to adults and expecting a full range of responses from men and women alike. Above all, we must recognize that the maintenance of sexist environments and practices prevents every one of us from realizing his or her fullest potential.     

文化学习与幼儿教育

幼儿应该学什么?什么时候开始学?如何才能学得好?我怎样才能知道我已经回答了上述三个问题?第一个问题主要是关于课程的目标与目的,第二个问题是关于如何看待儿童长远发展问题,第三个问题是关于如何贯彻课程计划,第四个问题是关于评估。这四个问题是所有打算制定幼儿教育课程的人必须回答的。本文对这四个问题作了初步讨论。     

Multicultural early childhood education: practices and challenges in Malaysia

Multicultural early childhood education is necessary in a culturally diverse country like Malaysia. Preschool teachers play an important role in implementing multicultural education in the classroom. This paper reports the findings of a self-report questionnaire involving 854 preschool teachers in Malaysia. The preschool teachers disclosed their current multicultural education practices as well as the challenges they encountered when implementing multicultural education. While the majority of teachers claimed that they implemented multicultural education, a closer examination revealed that most of them used the tourist or contribution approach which focuses on only the outward manifestations of a culture when dealing with multicultural education. The transformation or anti-bias approach was used by only a small number of teachers. The teachers identified some challenges in multicultural education implementation, such as lack of instructional resources and the lack of stakeholder support. Thus, it is important to ensure teachers develop more critical understandings of multicultural education through teacher education training and programs. Other efforts to help teachers overcome challenges in implementing multicultural education include producing and developing more instructional materials and learning aids, which are suitable for young children and appropriate for the local context. Preschool teachers also need stakeholders to give more support and to acknowledge the importance of implementing multicultural early childhood education.     

Dutch bargee families: partners in early childhood education

This chapter analyses current provision of early childhood education for the toddler children of Dutch itinerant bargees (that is, children who live with their parents on ships). That provision functions as a microcosm of continuing changes to educational systems and the broader socioeconomic milieu operating in the Netherlands. The argument is illustrated by the author's experience and knowledge gained as director of the National Foundation of Education for Children of Bargee Families, and by contemporary theories of early childhood education.     

Child-initiated activity: Its importance in early childhood education

The teacher is discussing the activities of the day with a group of fifteen four-year-olds. She explains that first the total group will go to the art area and then to the science demonstration. Then the children will have a snack and go outside. When she is finished talking, all of the children get up and move to the art tables.Janis R. Bullock is Assistant Professor of Early Childhood Education, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT.     

Diversity in early childhood education: a German perspective

This paper outlines the theoretical foundation of a skill enhancement programme in early childhood settings which follows the ideas of the Anti-Bias approach. A focal point of the concept is to acknowledge the connection between societal, structural and individual biases. It challenges those biases and assists educators in improving their competences to promote diversity. The paper describes the history of the transfer of the Anti-Bias approach across?three different international contexts. An empirical study is then introduced which is based on the combination of a document analysis and expert interviews of those who facilitate the concept. The findings reveal that developing competences in reflecting the individual self and professional actions are key methods, and they entail implications for concepts of enabling educators to support inclusion. Those implications as well as input on dealing with diversity in Germany are outlined.     

Out of Place: Economic imperialisms in early childhood education

New Zealand has received world-wide accolades for its Early Childhood Education (ECE) curriculum, Te Whāriki. This paper explores the tension between economic imperialism, and a curriculum acknowledged as visionary. The foundational ideas of Te Whāriki emanate from sociocultural and anti-racist pedagogies. However, its implementation is hampered by the overarching policy discourse of Human Capital Theory (HCT), with its instrumental emphasis on economic outcomes. While Te Whāriki offers local cultural and educational possibilities, HCT is presented by those espousing economic disciplines, as having universal application. These tensions, largely unacknowledged and unexplored, place ECE teachers in positions of difficulty. While trying to meet aspirational curriculum goals in their daily practices, teachers’ attempts are constrained by supranational economic discourses. I ask how Edward Said’s (1999, Out of place: A memoir, New York, Knopf) concept of contrapuntal readings can offer spaces for resistance to the dominance of economics.     

Diversity in New Zealand early childhood education: challenges and opportunities

The early childhood education (ECE) sector in New Zealand has long been recognised for the diversity of service types and range of organisations involved in delivering ECE. However, less attention has been paid to diversity within individual ECE services. This article draws on a national survey carried out as part of a larger project, The Diversity of Diversity in Early Childhood Education, focusing on teachers’ perceptions of challenges and successes encountered when working with children from diverse family backgrounds. Educators’ attitudes towards diversity clearly influence whether they perceive working with diverse children and families positively or as a challenge. We argue that possessing positive dispositions and attitudes that enable educators to truly welcome, acknowledge and embrace diversity, together with access to professional knowledge and support services, are critical. The implications of this for policy and practice are then considered.     

Defining professional needs in early childhood education

This article describes a research project, ‘Improving Learning: The Pupils' Agenda’ (supported by the Nuffield Foundation) in which a team of researchers from Homerton College, Cambridge and the University of Keele, investigated how schools were listening and responding to pupils' perspectives on effective teaching and learning. An account of the project is presented, outlining how the team carried out the investigation and the three themes on which was based. The article goes on to look at the strategies being developed in primary schools, using extracts from the data to illustrate the impact of these strategies in schools. In conclusion it is suggested that the answer to the question posed in the title — can listening and responding to pupils' views give new directions for school improvement — is clearly ‘yes’ and that the advantage of taking this approach lies principally in its potential for improving pupils' attitudes to learning.