Tradition and Transformation in Danish Early Childhood Education and Care

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen Ida Dannesboe ◽  
Bjørg Kjær
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Special Focus ◽  
Public Provision ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Historical Processes ◽  
Education And Care ◽  
Role Of Parents

Denmark has a long tradition of public provision of early childhood education and care (ECEC) as part of what is known internationally as the Nordic welfare model. Both traditions and transformations within Danish ECEC are parallel to the establishment and development of this model. The emergence of child-centered pedagogy, so characteristic for Danish ECEC, is part of specific historical processes. Since the 1960s, the ECEC sector has undergone significant expansion and in 2020, most children in Denmark between the ages of 1 and 6 attend an ECEC institution. This expansion has positioned ECEC as a core universal welfare service, including a special focus on preventing injustice and inequality and on taking care of the vulnerable and disadvantaged. Early 21st-century international discourses on learning and early intervention have influenced political reforms and initiatives addressing ECEC institutions and the work of “pedagogues” (the Danish term for ECEC practitioners with a bachelor’s degree in social pedagogy). Since the 1990s, there has been growing political interest in regulating the content of ECEC, resulting in various policies and reforms that have changed the nature of Danish ECEC by introducing new learning agendas. This has been accompanied by an increased focus on the importance of the early years of childhood for outcomes later in life and on the role of parents in this regard. These tendencies are embedded in political initiatives and discourses and shape the conditions for ECEC, perceptions of children and childhood, the legitimacy of the pedagogical profession, the meaning of and emphasis on young children’s learning, the importance of inclusion, and the changing role of parents. These changes in social reforms and pedagogical initiatives interact with national historical processes and international tendencies and agendas at different levels.

scholarly journals Is infant belonging observable? A path through the maze

2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 404-416
Author(s):  
Jane M Selby ◽  
Benjamin S Bradley ◽  
Jennifer Sumsion ◽  
Matthew Stapleton ◽  
Linda J Harrison
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Sense Of Belonging ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Infants And Toddlers ◽  
Quality Outcomes ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Learning Framework ◽  
Video Recordings ◽  
Education And Care

This article evaluates the concept of infant ‘belonging’, central to several national curricula for early childhood education and care. Here, the authors focus on Australia’s Early Years Learning Framework. Four different meanings attach to ‘belonging’ in the Early Years Learning Framework, the primary being sociopolitical. However, ‘a sense of belonging’ is also proposed as something that should be observable and demonstrable in infants and toddlers – such demonstration being held up as one of the keys to quality outcomes in early childhood education and care. The Early Years Learning Framework endows belonging with two contrasting meanings when applied to infants. The first, the authors call ‘marked belonging’, and it refers to the infant’s exclusion from or inclusion in defined groups of others. The second, the authors provisionally call ‘unmarked’ belonging. Differences between these two meanings of infant belonging are explored by describing two contrasting observational vignettes from video recordings of infants in early childhood education and care. The authors conclude that ‘belonging’ is not a helpful way to refer to, or empirically demonstrate, an infant’s mundane comfort or ‘unmarked’ agentive ease in shared early childhood education and care settings. A better way to conceptualise and research this would be through the prism of infants’ proven capacity to participate in groups.

scholarly journals Leadership in early childhood education: The case for pedagogical praxis

2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ioanna Palaiologou ◽  
Trevor Male
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Ideological Struggle ◽  
Education And Care ◽  
Curriculum Reforms ◽  
Predominately Female ◽  
Teacher Status

In this conceptual article, the authors examine the context of early childhood education and care in England and the underpinning predominant ideologies to explore how these impact on the framing of leadership. The English context entails several contradictions (antinomies) at ontological, epistemological and axiological levels, and is heavily influenced by an ideological struggle concerning the value of play within the sector as opposed to a climate of child performativity. Moreover, the predominately female workforce (a factor itself) has faced relentless changes in terms of qualifications and curriculum reforms in recent years. With the introduction of the graduate leader qualification (Early Years Teacher Status), a vast body of research has been seeking to conceptualise what leadership means for early childhood education and care. In this article, the authors argue that these attempts are helpful and contribute to this discourse of leadership, but it needs to be thought of not only abstractly, but also practically. Thus, the authors conclude, the (re)conceptualisation of leadership should locate it as pedagogical praxis after evaluating the inherent deep dispositions of leaders in conjunction with their history, surrounding culture and subjective perspectives/realities.

scholarly journals Urgensi Pendidikan Anak Usia Dini Dalam Perspektif Hadits di Masa Pandemi Coronavirus

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Afifah Fatihakun Ni'mah Wahidah ◽  
Muhammad Alfatih Suryadilaga
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Cultural Values ◽  
Moral Values ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Children's Education ◽  
The Family ◽  
Children’S Education ◽  
Role Of Parents

Urgency Parents have an important role for Early Childhood Education especially with the covid outbreak so that children have to learn from home. This article aims to examine the urgency of Early Childhood Education education in the perspective of hadith, especially the hadith on the obligations of parents in educating children, which is associated with conditions in the era of the Coronavirus pandemi. Family is the first and foremost education for a person. Education in the family plays a role in developing character, personality, cultural values, religious and moral values, and simple skills. There is a physical distancing policy so that learning is carried out online (in a network) so that the role of parents is very urgent in ensuring the continuity of their children's education. is the responsibility of the parents; Second, the best gift parents give their children is a good education; Third, parents as the first and foremost madrasa, especially for early childhood, are responsible for their children's education.

scholarly journals Analysis of Parent Cooperation in Early Childhood Education Institutions

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 445
Author(s):  
Vevi Sunarti ◽  
Jamaris Jamna ◽  
Sufyarma Marsidin
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Educational Institution ◽  
Education Institution ◽  
Large Contribution ◽  
Considerable Influence ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Children's Education ◽  
Role Of Parents

Children's education cannot be separated from the large contribution of parents, who realize it or not will have a considerable influence on the success of an education. Therefore, in any situation, the role of parents cannot be ignored. One of the things we can observe is the need for parental cooperation in the implementation of existing education in an educational institution, we call it an early childhood education institution. Early childhood education cannot be separated from the cooperation of parents, the low cooperation of parents with early childhood education institutions will affect the success of the program itself. In this study the researchers tried to analyze the things that caused the low work of parents in early childhood education institutions, questionnaires were distributed to 21 who had children who were in early childhood education institutions and distributed randomly. With the results of good job research in terms of orientation to tasks that are considered quite good, (2) Orientation to the process which is considered quite good (3) Orientation to the assessment is quite low. The conclusions we can draw from this research are the need for an approach given to parents, so that parents want to be involved and cooperate in early childhood education institutions.

scholarly journals Partnerships in Early Childhood Education and Care: Empowering Parents or Empowering Practitioners

2012 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 14-25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Rouse
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Professional Status ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Practice Model ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Learning Framework ◽  
Education And Care

Research acknowledges that outcomes for young children are enhanced when effective partnerships are developed between educators and families. The Australian Early Years Learning Framework provides direction for the professional practice of early childhood educators by acknowledging the importance of educators working in partnership with families. In the Victorian state-based early years framework, family-centred practice has been included as the practice model. Family-centred practice has as its core a philosophy of professionals supporting the empowerment of parents as active decision makers for their child. The early childhood education and care sector in Australia, however, is made up of a workforce which is largely perceived as being undervalued as a profession. This raises questions as to the capacity of these educators to support the empowerment of parents when they themselves are coming from a position of disempowerment due to their professional status. This article reports on findings from a small-scale study of childhood educators working in a long day-care setting which aimed to identify perceptions of the partnerships that exist between themselves and parents. In the course of the investigation, it became evident that some of educators felt disempowered in the relationships that exist with some families.

Inclusion in Early Childhood: Difference, Disability, and Social Justice

Education ◽  
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathryn Underwood ◽  
Gillian Parekh
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Early Childhood ◽  
Early Intervention ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Inclusive Education ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Childhood Studies ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
School Settings ◽  
Education And Care

Inclusive education as a model of service delivery arose out of disability activism and critiques of special education. To understand inclusive education in early childhood, however, one must also engage with broader questions of difference, diversity, and social justice as they intersect with childhood studies. To that end, this article contains references that include other critical discourses on childhood and inclusivity as well as critiques of inclusive education. Inclusive education has a much deeper body of research in formal school settings than in the early years. School-based research, however, often examines social relationships and academic achievement as outcome measures. This research has established that education situated in a child’s community and home school is generally more effective than special education settings, particularly when classroom educators have access to appropriate training, resources, policies, and leadership. Schools, of course, are part of the education landscape of the early years, but they are not inclusive of the full spectrum or early years settings. The early years literature on inclusion is different in focusing more attention on development, family, and community (as described in the General Overview of Early Childhood Inclusion). A critique of early childhood education research has focused on school readiness and rehabilitation and the efficacy of early identification and early intervention. This research is largely informed by Western medical research, but this approach has led global institutions to set out priorities for early intervention without recognizing how our worldview shapes our understanding of childhood and difference. The dominant research domain, however, has also identified that family and community contexts are important. This recognition creates a fundamental difference between inclusion research in school settings and such research in early childhood education and care. Early childhood education and care has always focused on the child and their family as the recipients of services, while educational interest in the family has been viewed as a setting in which the conditions for learning are established. Support for families is at the center of early childhood inclusive practice, both because families are largely responsible for seeking out early childhood disability services and because families are critical in children’s identity. Inclusion in schools and early childhood education and care can both be understood through theories of disability, ability, and capability. In both settings, education and care have social justice aims linked not only to developmental and academic outcomes for individual children, but also to the ways that these programs reproduce inequality. Disability as a social phenomenon has its historical roots in racist and colonial practices, understood through critical race theory, that are evident today in both early childhood and school settings. Understanding the links between disableism and other forms of discrimination and oppression is critical both for teaching for social justice broadly and for better understanding of how ability, capability, and critical disability theory and childhood studies are established through practices that begin in the early years.

Implicating teachers in infant–peer relationships: Teacher answerability through alteric acts

2017 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 422-433 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bridgette Redder ◽  
E Jayne White
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Peer Relationships ◽  
Care Setting ◽  
Research Attention ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Peer Experiences ◽  
Education And Care ◽  
Dialogic Space

While academic attention is now being paid to infant–peer relationships in early childhood education and care settings and the role of teachers in these interactions, research is inclined to emphasise the importance of shared understanding as a feature in infant–peer relationships. As such, little research attention has been given to the alteric potential of the teacher when she or he engages in infant–peer relationships. This article draws on a dialogic analysis of infants in a New Zealand early childhood education and care setting to argue that infant relationships with their peers can be radically altered by the presence and participation of teachers. The results highlight the pivotal role of the teacher as a connecting figure within and between infant–peer experiences – one that has the potential to significantly impact on the nature of relationships between infants and peers. The study highlights the alteric potential for teachers within infant–peer dialogues, and the significance of these engagements accordingly, and concludes by suggesting that teachers are fully implicated in infant–peer relationships, since the dialogic space posits that there is no alibi!

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