EENY, MEENY, MINY, MOE: Testing Policy and Practice in Early Childhood

Abstract Background Early Childhood Education Centre (ECEC) staff are strongly recommended to receive several immunizations including influenza and pertussis. However, evidence regarding the uptake is either old or lacking across all Australian States/Territories. This study aimed to explore the attitudes and barriers around ECEC staff vaccination and the immunisation policy/practices employed at their workplaces. Methods An online cross-sectional survey was undertaken of staff members (administrators and childcare center staff) in early 2017. We compared the individual’s knowledge, attitude and practices as well as the centre’s policy and practice variables between the vaccinated and unvaccinated respondents. A logistic model was used to identify the factors associated with uptake of the different vaccines. Results A total of 575 ECEC staff completed the survey. Sixty percent reported being aware of the recommendations about staff immunisation. While participants did acknowledge that they could spread diseases if unvaccinated (86%), 30% could not recall receiving a dTpa in the last 10 years. Private centres were less likely to provide free or onsite vaccination compared to other categories of centres. Less than half reported receiving any encouragement to get the influenza vaccine and only 33% reported that their centre provides onsite influenza vaccination. Regarding the introduction of mandatory policies, 69% stated that they would support a policy. Conclusion Employers should consider supporting methods to maximize vaccination of their employees including providing free onsite vaccination. Participants were open to idea of mandatory vaccination; however, this needs to be explored further to determine how vaccine costs and access issues could be resolved.

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Shifts in policy and practice in early childhood curriculum priorities in Aotearoa-New Zealand: Entanglements of possibility and risk

Policy Futures in Education ◽

10.1177/1478210320923156 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 18 (6) ◽

pp. 739-756

Author(s):

Maggie Haggerty ◽

Judith Loveridge ◽

Sophie Alcock

Keyword(s):

Early Childhood ◽

New Zealand ◽

Early Childhood Curriculum ◽

Policy Reforms ◽

Curriculum Policy ◽

Policy And Practice ◽

National Education ◽

Aotearoa New Zealand ◽

National Education Policy ◽

Recent Policy

Recent policy developments in the early childhood (EC) care and education sector in Aotearoa-New Zealand have seen a shift in focus from children and play to learners and learning. While few would argue against learning as priority this article raises pressing questions about the ‘intended’ and ‘(un)intended’ consequences of this turn. We analyse national education policy reforms that have served to promote the construction of child-as-learner-subject, alongside moves internationally toward the learnerfication of EC services (Biesta, 2010). As a particular focus, we examine the legacy EC curriculum policy has drawn on from indigenous Māori discourses, as a complex entanglement of both possibility and risk. We focus also on how, in this policy context, an intermix of ‘old’ and ‘new’ curriculum priorities was playing out in one EC setting and how teachers sought to navigate the complex entanglement this effected in practice. On the basis of our analyses, we argue that the problem is not with learning as priority, but with the (school-referenced) narrowing of curriculum, the prioritising of homogenised predetermined outcomes and the ways in which children (parents and teachers) are being positioned in these particular constructions of learners and learning.

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Scientific Advice, Policy Formation and Early Childhood Education and Care in the EU: The Intersection of Research, Policy and Practice

The SAGE Handbook of Early Childhood Policy ◽

10.4135/9781526402004.n2 ◽

2017 ◽

pp. 19-31

Author(s):

Nora Milotay

Keyword(s):

Early Childhood ◽

Early Childhood Education ◽

Research Policy ◽

Policy Formation ◽

Scientific Advice ◽

Policy And Practice ◽

Childhood Education ◽

Education And Care ◽

The Eu

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Change and Criticism: Thinking Critically in Early Childhood Collaboration

Australasian Journal of Early Childhood ◽

10.1177/183693919802300109 ◽

1998 ◽

Vol 23 (1) ◽

pp. 40-44 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Christine Woodrow ◽

Lyn Fasoli

Keyword(s):

Early Childhood ◽

Critical Perspective ◽

Policy And Practice ◽

Collaborative Relationships ◽

Current Context

In early childhood, as in many fields confronted by criticism and change, adopting a critical stance has often been and continues to be difficult, uncomfortable, and poorly practised. Aspects of the current context of early childhood are creating a strong imperative to adopt a more critical perspective on policy and practice. This paper asserts that the strong tradition of collaboration in early childhood provides a foundation on which to build in adopting critical stances to researching our own practice, both informal and informal circumstances. Critical collaborative relationships provide supportive and potentially productive sites for the examination of the structures and assumptions that underpin practices. Adopting a critical stance to our collaborative endeavours has the potential to help the field to resist the temptations, overcome the challenges, and take advantage of the opportunities presented by change.

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