世界幼教事业发展趋势:国家财政支持幼儿教育

国家财政支持幼儿教育已成为一个世界性的发展趋势。这一趋势的出现基于对幼儿教育重要性的认识、有关幼儿教育的正外部效益的发现和对幼教市场缺陷的揭示。幼儿教育经费整体投入不足、有限资源分配不公、效益不高是我国幼儿教育财政投入体制的主要问题,必须从制度和政策层面加以改进。     

Using early care and education quality measures with dual language learners: A review of the research

As the number of young dual language learners (DLLs) in early care and education (ECE) programs is increasing, it is critical to examine how well measures of the quality of practices in these settings reflect the needs of the diverse groups of children being served. This review of the research literature addressed these questions for ECE settings serving children birth-five: whether quality differs for settings serving high proportions of DLLs compared to typical samples, whether existing quality measures exhibit similar psychometric characteristics and associations with child outcomes in settings serving DLL and non-DLL children, and whether DLL-specific measures perform differently than general measures of quality. The search procedure produced 10 research studies that met the criteria for inclusion in the review out of approximately 3800 that were found initially and more than 300 that were reviewed. These studies included 10 out of 46 identified measures of ECE quality, including both general and DLL-specific measures. Findings suggested that widely used general ECE quality measures function similarly for DLLs compared to typical populations with regard to overall quality, psychometric characteristics, and child outcomes. Further research is needed to broaden the knowledge base for a wider variety of measures, beyond center-based settings, and beyond Spanish-speaking DLLs, as well as to enhance methodological approaches. There appear to be potential research opportunities through numerous existing studies that included DLL populations but had not analyzed their data in regard to these groups.     

DEVELOPMENT OF CHINA’S DOMESTIC EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS

Being in the early development stage,early childhood education(ECE) in China turns out to be very promising in the near future.The number of ECE institutions is increasing rapidly.However,there is still deficiency in the administration of China ’ s domestic ECE institutions.This paper first analyze the present development of deomestic ECE institutions.Then suggestions are drawn for domestic institutions by applying theory of marketing management.     

Caring for our infants: parents’ antenatal childcare intentions and nine-month reality

Infants are increasingly cared for by adults other than their parents. Here we describe non-parental infant care within a diverse cohort; and investigate the relationship between parents’ antenatal intentions and actual infant care. 6822 New Zealand women were recruited during pregnancy and asked about their intentions for childcare. Non-parental care was assessed when infants were nine months old: 1717 (25%) of the 6853 cohort children were receiving more than 8 h per week of regular non-parental care. In comparison with infants of European mothers, infants of Asian or Pacific mothers were more likely to be cared for by extended family; and infants of Māori mothers were more likely to receive centre-based care. Infants from families with lower household incomes, living in more deprived areas were more likely to be cared for by family. When their infants were nine months old, mothers from low- to medium-income households were less likely to be using the type of non-parental care they had intended antenatally, and the same was true when their children were aged 2 years.     

Early childhood teachers’ thinking and reflection: a model of current practice in New Zealand

This article reports a multiple-case study project into early childhood teachers’ thinking and reflection on their teaching interactions with children in three New Zealand early childhood education centres. Using stimulated-recall interviews, teaching teams viewed video-recorded episodes of their teaching and discussed their thinking and reflections, during and after the episodes. Key findings included teachers’ emphasis in their thinking and reflection on children in comparison to their teaching intentions, beliefs and practices. The article concludes by presenting a model for understanding New Zealand early childhood teachers’ thinking and reflections on teaching and learning and the implications for practice emerging from this research.     

How young children think they can act for the environment: the case of forest and waste

Thirty 6-year-olds from two public schools located in a small provincial town in Greece were used as a sample in an explorative study into the mental models young children hold concerning forest destruction and waste. The study also explored how these mental models might be interrelated either within each issue or between issues. The analysis of data collected in interviews indicates that the mental models held by young children appear to be oriented towards two different trains of thought: one that relates to direct actions for the short-term addressing of problems and one that relates to preventive actions and caring for sustainability. Furthermore, children’s own thoughts about their individual contributions to the two environmental problems under study, appear to interrelate with those of collective contributions. More specifically, children seem to share common ideas on the environmental issues discussed as they voiced the opinion, ‘I can help if I do something that addresses the issue'. Implications for education are also discussed in this paper.     

美国学前教育早期干预项目的基本要素与项目影响的比较研究--基于佩里计划、初学者项目和芝加哥亲子中心项目

20世纪60年代、70年代和80年代先后发起的佩里计划、初学者项目和芝加哥亲子中心项目将理论研究与实践探索紧密结合,证明了有质量的学前教育干预在教育、经济、健康、减少犯罪等方面具有诸多的社会、经济效益,尤其是对处境不利家庭幼儿具有更为突出的效果与效益。不可否认的是,虽然学前教育发展对儿童早期智力与学业成就的影响逐年减弱,但是幼儿社会技能与学习品质的提升产生了更加长远的效益与可持续性影响。其中,学前教育干预项目的持续时长、质量要素及科学的衡量标准是确保学前教育有效的重要因素。虽然既有研究基本呈现了学前教育干预项目影响与收益的全貌,但由于学前教育影响的不确定,学前教育项目干预效果的对比性、可复制性、可推广性仍有待进一步循证论证。     

Education for sustainable development in early childhood education: a review of the research literature

The aim of the study is to describe and analyse research articles relating to the subject of education for sustainable development (ESD) for early childhood education (ECE), published during the years 1996–2013. This is done by answering three specific questions: (1) How is ESD defined by researchers in ECE? (2) What are the major research inquiries and results? (3) What does the research say about young children acting for change in relation to sustainability? Our analysis identified two different definitions of ESD: first, as a threefold approach to education based on questions concerning education about, in and for the environment; and, second, as an approach to education that includes three interrelated dimensions: economic, social and environmental. Two major research areas are identified in this study. The first area relates to how teachers understand ESD, while the second area focuses on how ESD can be implemented in educational practice. During the period studied, the research has evolved from teaching children facts about the environment and sustainability issues to educating children to act for change. This new approach reveals a more competent child who can think for him- or herself and make well-considered decisions. The decisions are made by investigating and participating in critical discussions about alternative ways of acting for change.     

A turning‐point or a backward slide: the challenge facing the Swedish preschool today

Thirty years or more of striving for a coherent theme in the educational system from preschool to gymnasium might now be at an end. Millions of Swedish kronor have been spent on projects concerning cooperation between pre‐ and primary school. The curricula for preschool and the gymnasium are similar in structure, and they are connected with each other through the goals that children and students are expected to achieve. Teacher education has so far been one integrated programme with different orientations and specialities, and the basic knowledge that teachers require has been largely the same from early childhood education (ECE) to adult education. The political winds are, however, blowing in another direction. A question to ask is whether Sweden is changing its holistic and social‐pedagogical approach to ECE and teacher education towards a more traditional academic one. It is this change that will be discussed in this article, although one has to bear in mind that nothing is fixed and stable, so the article is a snapshot from an ongoing process.