‘There Is a Quantum Difference Between the Provision of Age-Appropriate Play-Based Care and an Early Learning and Care Environment’: The Quality Agenda for Australian Early Childhood

Author(s):  
Elise Hunkin
2018 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 590-607
Author(s):  
Marta Nidia Maia

Este texto está centrado no processo e estratégias de pesquisa de tese de doutorado já defendida. Seu objetivo é apresentar os caminhos trilhados para elaboração da tese que trata do Currículo da Educação Infantil e sua relação com datas comemorativas. Propôs-se a ouvir sujeitos envolvidos no cotidiano desse currículo – profissionais e crianças. A pesquisa é um exercício de compreensão do particular como forma de apreensão do real, olhando a especificidade como parte de um todo no qual se insere e representa. Os indícios encontrados no campo específico da pesquisa, dizem respeito a ele, mas não só. Dizem respeito à totalidade que o produz, aos sistemas, às escolas, aos sujeitos implicados com a Educação Infantil e seu currículo.  Palavras-chave:Pesquisa – Currículo – Educação Infantil This text is centered in the process and doctoral thesis research strategies already advocated. Your goal is to present the paths for the preparation of the thesis dealing with the curriculum of early childhood education and its relationship with anniversaries. It was proposed to hear those involved in the daily curriculum that - professionals and children. The research is a particular understanding of the exercise as real apprehension so, looking at the specificity as part of a whole in which it operates and is. The evidence found in the specific field of research, relate to it, but not only. They relate to all the produce, systems, schools, the subjects involved with the Children's Education and curriculum. Key words:Search - Curriculum - Early Learning                         


2016 ◽  
Vol 41 (3) ◽  
pp. 38 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel Caplan ◽  
Colleen Loomis ◽  
Aurelia Di Santo

<div class="page" title="Page 1"><div class="section"><div class="layoutArea"><div class="column"><p><span>A “rights-integrative approach to early learning” has been </span><span>proposed as a foundation for curriculum frameworks. Building </span><span>on this work we conceptually explored the complementarity </span><span>and compatibility of children’s rights to autonomy, protection, nondiscrimination, and participation, with community-based values of prevention and promotion, empowerment, diversity, and civic participation. We argue that it is necessary to infuse a rights-based approach with community-based values in early childhood curriculum frameworks to promote social justice for children as individuals and as a relational community. </span><span>Our proposed expanded conceptual framework may be useful </span><span>for evaluating early learning frameworks, nationally and internationally, from a rights-based social justice perspective. </span></p></div></div></div></div>


Author(s):  
Rune Storli

While a growing body of evidence highlights the benefits of rough-and-tumble play (R&T) in young children, it remains one of the most challenging kinds of play to support in early childhood education and care environment (ECEC) institutions. The present study explores the occurrence and characteristics of R&T in indoor and outdoor environments in a Norwegian sociocultural context where children can freely choose what, where, and with whom to play. The data consist of 100 randomly recorded two-minute videos, which were coded second by second for R&T. Qualitative analysis reveals that in a physically and culturally supportive environment for R&T, children aged 3–5 years perceive indoor spaces that afford physically active play to be more attractive for R&T than outdoor environments. The findings indicate gender differences related to R&T and how girls and boys use the physical environment in different ways. The quantitative findings are discussed within interactional affordances theory and show that children practise perceptual, motor, and social skills to successfully engage in R&T. Enhanced knowledge of children’s skill acquisition in R&T can support practitioners in developing pedagogical skills to facilitate challenging and safe environments for appropriate indoor R&T for both girls and boys.


2009 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 240-259 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher P. Brown

As neoliberal polices that emphasize governing the modern state through market-based principles expand across the globe, they are altering the training of early childhood teacher candidates. This creates a range of challenges for those teacher educators who are critical of this reform process. This article presents an instrumental case study that examined the impact of neoliberal education reforms on the development of a sample of early education teacher candidates. Analyzing this case of teacher development offers teacher educators the opportunity to consider the practical and critical steps they might take to better prepare their candidates for these reforms. Doing so will help teacher candidates develop early learning experiences for their children that teach them to become engaged democratic citizens rather than compliant consumers within the neoliberal state.


2019 ◽  
pp. 37-53
Author(s):  
Jane Hewes ◽  
Tricia Lirette ◽  
Lee Makovichuk ◽  
Rebekah McCarron

The shift toward a pedagogical foundation for professional practice in early childhood along with the introduction of curriculum frameworks in early learning and child care, calls for approaches to professional learning that move beyond transmission modes of learning towards engaged, localized, participatory models that encourage critical reflection and investigation of pedagogy within specific settings. In this paper, we describe ongoing participatory research that explores educator co-inquiry as an approach to animating a curriculum framework. A story of curriculum meaning making that opened a hopeful space for critical pedagogical reflection and changed practice serves as a basis for deeper reflection.


Author(s):  
Amy L. Delaney ◽  
Megan Van Hoorn ◽  
Sarah Staskiewicz ◽  
Mary Beth Feuling ◽  
Stephanie Pladies ◽  
...  

Purpose The lack of age-appropriate expectations for the acquisition of feeding skills and consumption of textured food in early childhood inhibits early and accurate identification of developmental delay in feeding and pediatric feeding disorder. The objective of this study was to describe texture intake patterns in a cohort of typically developing infants between 8 and 12 months of age, with the aim of informing future research to establish targets for feeding skill acquisition. Method Using cross-sectional methodology, we studied the presence of liquid and solid textures and drinking methods in the diet, consumption patterns by texture and drinking methods, and caloric intake by texture via caregiver questionnaire and 3-day dietary intake record in 63 healthy infants between 8 and 12 months of age. Descriptive statistics and a one-way analysis of variance were conducted to compare the effect of age on texture intake patterns. Results Findings reveal rapid advancement of intake patterns for texture overall and for energy intake by texture between 8 and 12 months of age. Whereas liquids continue to provide a large proportion of total energy through this time, solids contribute an equal proportion of energy by 12 months of age. Conclusions This study describes texture intake patterns in a cohort of typically developing infants between 8 and 12 months of age by examining the presence of texture and drinking methods, liquid and solid consumption patterns, and energy intake by texture. When applied to data from a future population sample, findings will provide a threshold for age expectations for typical and disordered feeding development to aid in the detection of developmental delay in feeding and pediatric feeding disorder. What Is Known: Expectations regarding early feeding development have been focused on nutrition parameters. Lack of standardized, age-appropriate expectations for texture progression in infancy and early childhood inhibits early and accurate identification and treatment of pediatric feeding disorder. What Is New: We have described changes in dietary composition by texture and drinking method in healthy infants. Together with nutritional composition, this study describes a more comprehensive assessment of infant feeding, particularly to clinicians who need to diagnose feeding skill deficits. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.16879615


2021 ◽  
pp. e20210034
Author(s):  
Alice-Simone Balter ◽  
Deborah Gores ◽  
Tricia van Rhijn ◽  
Adam W.J. Davies ◽  
Taylor Akers

Learning about sexuality is an important part of development in early childhood but is not formally considered in early learning settings. This makes sexuality education for young children both rare and inconsistent across early learning settings. The purpose of this paper is to provide a unique contribution and inform the state of sexuality education in early learning settings in Canada, which is currently an understudied area. We describe the Canadian context of sexuality education in early learning settings and examine its presence in provincial and territorial early learning frameworks. We advocate for the inclusion of sexuality education in early learning settings because it can support children’s development and construction of sexuality, is a critical factor in providing children with personal safety skills and a part of child sexual abuse prevention work, and also sets the foundation for equity and social justice in teaching children about diversity as a norm. We discuss the barriers which act to exclude sexuality education in early learning settings including a lack of curriculum and policy to guide early learning professionals in addressing and supporting this domain, fear of parent reactions, and theoretical constructions of childhood innocence. We conclude with practice and policy recommendations to move the field forward.


2017 ◽  
Vol 42 (3) ◽  
pp. 65-72
Author(s):  
Ciara Smyth

EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT HAS GAINED increasing importance in determining life chances. Parents hoping to secure a learning advantage for their offspring are increasingly focused on the preschool years. This downward shift from primary schooling has been prompted by the ‘first three years' movement, with its emphasis on infancy and early childhood as critical periods for development and learning. So what does this mean for early years parenting? Do parents try to secure a learning advantage in the preschool years and how do they do it? This paper highlights the four resource-dependent strategies Australian parents employ, both individually and in combination, to promote their child's early learning: ‘parenting for cognitive development’, outsourcing for cognitive development, ‘concerted cultivation’ and ‘redshirting’. By highlighting these resource-dependent strategies, this study highlights the socioeconomic gap in children's access to opportunities that parents believe give children a learning advantage in the preschool years.


2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Claudia Diaz-Diaz ◽  
Paulina Semenec ◽  
Peter Moss

This special issue aims to bring critical perspectives to bear on a growing phenomenon in education: comparative assessment of educational performance using standardized measures of outcomes or ‘international large-scale assessments’. We focus on one of its latest examples: the International Early Learning and Child Well-being Study. Proposed by the Organisation for the Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD, n.d.a) in 2012, this study is now being put into practice, targeting early childhood education and young children in particular. The articles in this edited collection offer varied critiques of this project as well as critiques of the influential role that the OECD is playing in how member countries design, implement and assess their early childhood education.


2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 87-101 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mathias Urban

In this article, I discuss the International Early Learning and Child Well-being Study (IELS), which is currently being rolled out by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. I summarise the development of IELS and the critique that has been voiced by early childhood scholars, professionals and advocates. I then move to an aspect of IELS that has so far been absent from the discussion: the actual conduct of the test, using the two stylised child characters Tom and Mia. I provide a provisional reading of the Tom and Mia imaginary through the lens of post-colonial and neo-colonial analysis. Applying the concept of colonisation as a frame of reference opens a space for introducing resistance and anti-colonial practices as productive forces to challenge the global hegemony. I draw on Pedro Sotolongo’s concept of the power of marginal notions to argue that experiences made on the margins of society, both geographically and socially, offer very practical alternatives to reconceptualising early childhood education, and services for young children, families and communities.


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