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.     

由敦煌籍帐文书引发的对魏晋南北朝时期婚龄问题的探讨

我国魏晋南北朝时期婚龄问题，传世文献中的直接记载较少，而卷帙丰富的敦煌社会经济文书、文学作品、变文等资料中则有不少间接的，而又是第一手的史料，由此反映了我国中古时代婚姻制度、婚嫁文化及其相关的社风民习等方面的真情实况。     

论丁玲早期小说的特点

丁玲早期的小说具有非常鲜明的特点，即女性的视角、女性的笔触、女性的意识和心理、对传统男尊女卑的极端反叛、莎菲型的女性形象及很强的现代性。     

"诗书画三绝"奇才吕潜初探

吕潜是我国明末清初遂宁籍著名文人,时人称其“诗书画三绝”。本文对其诗歌、书法、绘画三方面的创作进行了介绍,着重探析了他诗、书、画三位一体的艺术追求与审美情趣。     

清末民初大店庄氏家族转型初探

鸦片战争以降,中国逐渐沦为半殖民地半封建社会,政治、经济、文化与社会生活等方面都发生了巨大的变化。同时,中国也经历了一场全面而深刻的社会转型,其中就包括传统家族的转型。山东临沂大店的庄氏家族,历经明清两朝500余年的发展。为了适应新的社会环境,在清末民初几十年的时间里,大店庄氏在族人身份、族人的教育、家族结构、家族居住地等方面逐渐实现了转型。转型基本成功,但不彻底,具有多方面的特点。     

Bilingual language development: what do early years practitioners need to know?

This paper considers what early years practitioners need to know about bilingual acquisition. It argues that bilingualism is not only an asset in the classroom and the community, but also an individual and family achievement that requires commitment and determination. The different contexts of bilingual acquisition are considered, along with the implication for a successful outcome. In particular, given our current understanding of the processes of language acquisition, the role of the input in each of the two languages will be discussed; the implications of this for early years teachers/practitioners are also considered in order to find the most effective ways of supporting bilingual development in the classroom.     

Being a Student on a Part-time Early Years Degree

This paper offers a critical examination of the student experience of a new part-time degree in Early Childhood Studies. The current Scottish Executive emphasis on encouraging lifelong learning through improved access, extended participation and the provision of opportunities for progression has created a climate where studying part-time while continuing to work is receiving active government support. The degree examined in this paper offers Early Years staff the opportunity to continue their personal development as they work and it fits well with the increasing recognition of the need for a more valued and qualified workforce in Early Years. Data on student experiences was collected at the end of the first calendar year of the course through structured student evaluation of the modules delivered and through student responses to a 'Support for Learning Agenda'. The agenda was used twice during the year to encourage reflective comment about ongoing participation in the course and also as the basis for discussion with a personal tutor. Results from the two sets of data highlighted the complexity of balancing work, personal and study commitments in part-time study. The issues which emerged for discussion and further investigation included expectations of the learning environment, the difficulties of making transitions from one type of learning environment to another and a number of issues related to combining study and work. The paper concludes by considering the implications for policy and practice.     

Families’ perceptions of early childhood educators’ fostering conversations and connections by sharing children's learning through pedagogical documentation

ABSTRACT

Belonging, Being and Becoming: The Early Years Learning Framework for Australia emphasises that families have an important role in their children's learning and it recognises that their earliest development is influenced through these relationships and adds that partnerships can be fostered with families by early childhood educators sharing the children's documented experiences. The research discussed employed an in-depth structured questionnaire. It involved 37 families with children aged from three to five years who attended an early learning centre in Northern Tasmania, Australia. The aim of this research was to determine these families’ perceptions, beliefs and experiences of educators sharing children's learning through pedagogical documentation. The documentation included hard copy and digital formats of the children's learning, capturing their voices and explorations. The findings show that families consider the sharing of documentation fosters family conversations about the children's learning experiences and helps to create stronger connections between the centre, home and extended family. Another recurring theme from the families’ responses was that children gain pride and a positive sense of identity when their documented work is shared with families.     

An examination of Chinese preservice and inservice early childhood teachers’ perspectives on the importance and feasibility of the implementation of key characteristics of quality inclusion

The Chinese Preschool Inclusion Survey, which is an adaptation of Odom et al. [2004. ‘Preschool inclusion in the United States: A review of research from an ecological systems perspective’. Journal of Research in Special Educational Needs 4 (1): 17–149] a list of the features of quality preschools, was given to 234 preservice teachers and 307 inservice teachers in a large Chinese province so as to examine whether early childhood education (ECE) teachers agree on the key characteristics of high quality inclusion in terms of importance and feasibility. One significant finding of the study is that both preservice and inservice teachers highly ranked the importance of the key characteristics of high quality inclusion in ECE settings, yet both ECE teachers ranked the feasibility of implementing the key characteristics lower. Additionally, two factors that influenced preservice teachers’ perceived importance and feasibility of inclusion were years of study and courses related to special education, and five factors that influenced inservice teachers’ perceived inclusion beliefs were bianzhi, certification, years of teaching, opportunities for professional development and degree. Teacher education reform is called upon to affect change in terms of creating positive beliefs regarding high quality inclusion services and implementation of effective practices in stronger, collaborative support systems for Chinese children with special needs and their families. Implications for policy, professional development, and teacher education reform are provided.     

Flight turbulence: the stormy professional trajectory of trainee early years’ teachers in England

This paper documents trainees’ ‘flight turbulence’ as they negotiate the complexities that lie between ‘the self’ and the securing of Early Years Teaching Status in England. Early Years Teachers, besides teaching, are expected to lead improvements to the quality of provision. However, drawing on interview data, an impasse is discerned where ideas meet instrumental policy in practice. Trainees are often unable to reshape the meeting of theory, policy and practice, and struggle in finding teaching approaches which they are comfortable with ethically. Drawing on Holland et al.’s concept of ‘figured worlds’, it is suggested that the development of theory-informed practice should not be seen as a solitary task for the student but as a dialogic though difficult conversation involving the student, university staff and placement practitioners. Dialogism is seen as requiring persistence but as offering opportunities for beginning early years’ teachers, with support from teacher educators and experienced practitioners, to negotiate the challenging spaces between policy, theory and beliefs as they seek to construct, deconstruct and reconstruct ethical professional identities for themselves.