Childcare deserts and distributional disadvantages: the legacies of split childcare policies and programmes in Canada

2019 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-74 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Prentice ◽  
Linda A. White
Keyword(s):  
Welfare State ◽  
Parental Leave ◽  
Children And Families ◽  
Family Policies ◽  
Third Order ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Current State ◽  
Education And Care ◽  
Order Change ◽  
Recent Government

AbstractEarly childhood education and care (ECEC) policies and services in Canada exhibit marked gaps in access, creating ‘childcare deserts’ and distributional disadvantages. Cognate family policies that support children and families, such as parental leave and child benefits, are also underdeveloped. This article examines the current state of ECEC services in Canada and the reasons behind the uncoordinated array of services and policy, namely, a liberal welfare state tradition that historically has encouraged private and market-based care, a comparatively decentralised federal system that militates against coordinated policy-making, and a welfare state built on gendered assumptions about care work. The article assesses recent government initiatives, including the federal 2017 Multilateral Framework on Early Learning and Child Care, concluding that existing federal and provincial initiatives have limited potential to bring about paradigmatic third-order change.

scholarly journals Space speaks: A portrait of an early childhood centre and the affordances provided by the learning environment

2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 26-34
Author(s):  
Katrina McChesney ◽  
Jeanette Clarkin-Phillips
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Learning Environment ◽  
Learning Environments ◽  
Reggio Emilia ◽  
Children And Families ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Education And Care ◽  
Early Childhood Learning

The quality of early childhood education and care fundamentally depends on teachers’ wise practice. However, the environments in which that education and care occur can influence, inform, and shape teachers’ practice, and children’s and families’ experiences. This article draws on a written “portrait” of the learning environment created at one New Zealand early childhood education (ECE) centre, capturing both physical and non-physical aspects of the environment and highlighting the affordances the environment offered to children and families/whānau. A Reggio Emilia lens is used to inform analysis of the learning environment and the associated affordances. The portrait (McChesney, 2020) and this article may support practitioners by providing a vision of what can be in terms of early childhood learning environments, and by providing a possible framework for self-review and inquiry.

Must We All Be Paradigmatic? Social Investment Policies and Liberal Welfare States

2012 ◽  
Vol 45 (3) ◽  
pp. 657-683 ◽  
Author(s):  
Linda A. White
Keyword(s):  
Maternal Employment ◽  
Parental Leave ◽  
Investment Strategy ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
Social Investment ◽  
Investment Policies ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
The Family ◽  
Education And Care ◽  
Policies And Programs

Abstract.This article examines whether current shifts in government spending on early childhood education and care (ECEC) and maternal employment-promoting policies such as maternity and parental leave reveal a paradigm shift toward a social investment strategy in liberal welfare states. It finds that while governments in liberal welfare states increasingly adhere to the rhetoric of social investment focused on lifelong learning and labour activation, their policies and programs exhibit so much variation in goals, instruments and settings related to the family, maternal employment and the child that it is difficult to claim that any new policy approach has taken hold that is indicative of a social investment “paradigm.” Instead, liberal welfare states appear to be becoming even more liberal—in terms of reliance on markets for delivery of social investment goals—at the same time as spending is increasing.Résumé.Cet article examine si les changements actuels des dépenses de gouvernement sur la première éducation d'enfance et le soin (ECEC) et les politiques promouvant emploi maternelles comme la maternité et le congé parental révèlent un changement de paradigme vers une stratégie sociale d'investissement dans les Etats-providences libéraux. Il constate que pendant que les gouvernements dans les Etats-providences libéraux adhèrent de plus en plus à la rhétorique d'investissement social s'est concentré sur l'apprentissage de toute une vie et l'activation de la main-d'œuvre, leurs politiques et programmes exposent tant de variation dans les buts, les instruments et les cadres rattachés à la famille, l'emploi maternel et l'enfant qu'il est difficile de réclamer que n'importe quelle nouvelle approche de politique a attrapé qui est indicatif “d'un paradigme” social d'investissement. Au lieu de cela les Etats-providences libéraux ont l'air de devenir encore plus libéraux – du point de vue de la dépendance aux marchés pour la livraison de buts sociaux d'investissement – en même temps comme les dépenses augmentent.

eye brings you another batch of the latest products and books on offerThe Routledge International Handbook of Philosophies and Theories of Early Childhood Education and Care edited by Tricia David, Kathy Goouch and Sacha Powell (ISBN: 9781138022812). £150. Hardback. Published by Routledge. www.routledge.com/education; orders via 01235 400400; [email protected] Review by Martine HorvathTalking and Learning with Young Children by Michael Jones (ISBN: 9781473912403). £22.99. Paperback. Published by SAGE Publications Ltd. www.sagepublications.com; Tel: 020 73248500 Review by Martine HorvathObserving Children and Families Beyond the Surface by Gill Butler (ISBN: 9781910391624). £16. Paperback. Published by Critical Publishing. Tel: 01727 851462/01606 784999; www.criticalpublishing.com Review by Martine HorvathEducating Children Through Natural Water How to use coastlines, rivers and lakes to promote learning and development by Judit Horvath (ISBN: 9780415728911). £19.99. Published by Routledge. www.routledge.com/education; orders via 01235 400400; [email protected] Review by Martine HorvathDen Building: creating imaginative spaces using almost anything by Jane Hewitt and Kathy Cross (ISBN: 9781845909529). £9.99. Paperback. Published by Crown House Publishing. www.crownhouse.co.uk; Tel: 01267 211345; [email protected] Review by Martine HorvathVisible Learning into Action: International Case Studies of Impact by John Hattie, Deb Masters and Kate Birch (ISBN: 9781138642294). £24.99. Paperback. Published by Routledge. www.routledge.com/education; orders via 01235 400400; books. [email protected] Review by Martine Horvath

2016 ◽  
Vol 17 (11) ◽  
pp. 46-48
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Young Children ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Natural Water ◽  
Children And Families ◽  
Learning And Development ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Rivers And Lakes ◽  
Education And Care

Early Childhood Education and Care in Canada

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa Johnston ◽  
Leah Shoemaker ◽  
Nicole Land ◽  
Aurelia Di Santo ◽  
Susan Jagger
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Child Care ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
The United States ◽  
Early Learning ◽  
Children And Families ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Early Child Care ◽  
Education And Care

The field of early childhood education and care (ECEC) in Canada has been informed by a myriad of influences and these factors continue to shift and shape the curriculum, pedagogy, research, and practice in Canadian ECEC. Historically, following many of the theories and practices embraced by the United States, early child-care centers, day nurseries, and kindergartens were established to alleviate pressures on overcrowded schools and allow for mothers to work outside of the home. At the same time, Canadian child care took on a broader role in social welfare and later social justice, working to reduce inequities and inequality. These motivations have not been shared across all ECEC, and this is particularly evident in Indigenous early education. Here, Indigenous children and families have endured the horror of the residential school system and its legacy of colonialism, trauma, and cultural genocide. Along with these underpinning histories, Canadian ECEC has been informed by, is continuing to be shaped by, and is beginning to be guided by a number of models and movements in early learning. These include developmentalism, child-centered pedagogies, Reggio Emilia approaches, children’s rights, holistic education, the reconceptualist movement, and postdevelopmentalism, and many of these approaches are not mutually exclusive. Finally, the policies and practices at federal, provincial, and municipal levels and the unique tensions between these levels of government structure Canadian ECEC policy and practice. Provincial and Indigenous early learning frameworks are created to enhance educator understandings and application of program principles, values, and goals, and these embrace responsive relationships with children and families, reflective practice, the importance of the environment and play in learning, and respect of diversity, equity, and inclusion, to name but a few shared principles. Taken together, the complexity of ECEC in Canada is clear, with historical approaches and attitudes continuing to preserve structures that devalue children and those who work with them, while concurrently efforts continue to honor the rights and voices of all children, advocate for professionalization in the field of ECEC, and reveal and reconcile past and current truths and injustices in Indigenous children’s education and care, in order to support and heal all children, families, and communities.

scholarly journals Superdiversity as a trajectory of diversity in Norwegian early childhood education and care: From a collection of differences to participation and becoming

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 284-296
Author(s):  
Alicja R Sadownik
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Social Context ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Children And Families ◽  
Education Students ◽  
Institutional Practice ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Education And Care ◽  
Teacher Education Students ◽  
Care Teacher

This article uses the concept of ‘superdiversity’ as a lens through which various conceptualisations of diversity in Norwegian early childhood education and care policies and professionals’ understandings are made visible. Although Norwegian early childhood education and care is expected to highlight, value, and promote diversity and mutual respect, little has been written on how diversity is actually understood by professionals as part of early childhood education and care institutional practice. On the basis of interviews with 2 migration pedagogues, 10 early childhood education and care teachers, and 15 early childhood education and care teacher education students, the following conceptualisations of diversity were reconstructed: diversity as embodied by different children and families; diversity as a social context for every child’s becoming; and diversity as equal participation. Each of these accounts involved ways of working with children and families from minority and majority backgrounds, and ‘diversity as a social context for every child’s becoming’ seemed to be most in line with the Norwegian curriculum. The curriculum focuses on the process of formative development/becoming, which overlaps with and may be meaningfully supplemented by superdiversity. However, superdiversity as a sociological concept requires careful operationalisation in dialogue with the field and its empirics .

scholarly journals Strengthening the Call for Intentional Intergenerational Programmes towards Sustainable Futures for Children and Families

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (10) ◽  
pp. 5564
Author(s):  
Czarecah Tuppil Oropilla ◽  
Elin Eriksen Ødegaard
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Shared Knowledge ◽  
Children And Families ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Design Learning ◽  
Rights Of The Child ◽  
Education And Care ◽  
Sustainable Futures

As a response to the call for reimagining early childhood education for social sustainability in the future, this conceptual paper aims to suggest revisiting and strengthening the case to include intentional intergenerational engagements and programmes in kindergartens as approaches towards sustainable futures for children. In this paper, we argue that we must talk about intergenerational solidarity on all levels, including in early childhood education and care settings, and that it must be deliberate and by design. Learning from cultural–historical concepts and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, intergenerational programmes in early years settings are to be presented as intentional initiatives and opportunities for interrelated and collaborating actors and institutions to bring younger children and older adults together. We present a conceptual framework that features conflicts and opportunities within overlapping and congruent spaces to understand conditions for various intergenerational practices and activities in different places, and to promote intergenerational dialogues, collaborations and shared knowledge, contributing to a relational and socially sustainable future for which we aim.

Engaging Vulnerable Children and Families: Learning from a New Model of Education and Care

2017 ◽  
Vol 42 (4) ◽  
pp. 30-37 ◽  
Author(s):  
Loraine Fordham ◽  
Anne Kennedy
Keyword(s):  
Service Providers ◽  
Ethnographic Study ◽  
Children And Families ◽  
Vulnerable Children ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
The Past ◽  
At Risk Children ◽  
Vulnerable Families ◽  
Education And Care

OVER THE PAST DECADE, researchers and policy-makers have increasingly affirmed universal early childhood education and care (ECEC) services as the best way to provide equitable ECEC to all children. While evidence suggests that Australian ECEC services are trying to engage vulnerable children and their families, some of the most vulnerable do not avail themselves of universal services. ECEC programs that specifically focus on vulnerable families may provide two solutions to the problem of at-risk children not participating in universal ECEC services. They may ensure that some of the most vulnerable will connect with services designed to support them and they may assist the sector by sharing how they successfully engage vulnerable families. This paper appraises universal and targeted ECEC services and suggests how both can be combined. It then describes a recent ethnographic study into an Australian ECEC program designed to support vulnerable children and families. It shares some of the study's findings as well as implications that may be helpful for universal ECEC service providers.

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