scholarly journals Shared reading as a practice for fostering early learning in an Early Childhood Education and Care centre: a naturalistic, comparative study of one infant's experiences with two educators

Literacy ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 54 (3) ◽  
pp. 132-143
Author(s):  
Jane Torr
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Comparative Study ◽  
Early Learning ◽  
Shared Reading ◽  
Care Centre ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Education And Care

scholarly journals Spatial perspectives on babies’ ways of belonging in infant early childhood education and care

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 109-131 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Sumsion ◽  
Linda J. Harrison ◽  
Matthew Stapleton
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Care Centre ◽  
Complex Dynamic ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Education And Care ◽  
Multiple Case ◽  
Vantage Points

Abstract In this article, we endeavour to think spatially about the texture of infants’ everyday lives and their ways of ‘doing’ belonging in the babies’ room in an Australian early childhood education and care centre. Drawing on data from a large, multiple case-study project, and on theorisations of space that reject Euclidean notions of space as empty, transparent, relatively inert containers into which people, objects practices and artefacts are inserted, and instead emphasise space as complex, dynamic and relational, we map the navigating movements (Massumi, 2002) of baby Nadia. Through the telling of ‘stories-so-far’ (Massey, 2005), we convey how Nadia, as part of a constellation or assemblage of human and non-human beings, found ways to intensify space and to mobilise new vantage points, thus expanding the spatial possibilities of what we initially took to be a particularly confined and confining space.

scholarly journals How ‘shared’ is shared reading: Book-focused infant–educator interactions in long day-care centres

2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 815-838 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jane Torr
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Adult Child ◽  
Literacy Learning ◽  
Shared Reading ◽  
Language And Literacy ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Systemic Functional Linguistic ◽  
Education And Care ◽  
Material Setting

Children's language experiences in the first two years of life are inextricably connected with their current and future language and literacy development. Research has shown that mother–child shared reading of picture books is a practice that can promote this development. Little is known, however, about the shared reading experiences of infants attending early childhood education and care centres. This naturalistic study analysed the reading experiences of 10 infants observed during a three-hour period as they and their educators went about their typical activities in their early childhood education and care centres. Drawing on Halliday's systemic functional linguistic theory, which proposes a non-arbitrary relationship between language use and features of the material setting, this study analysed two aspects of the infants' shared reading experiences: the tenor (roles and relationships) realised in the educators' use of speech function, and the field (the topic or subject matter) realised in the vocabulary used. The manner in which these contextual variables are realised in the adult–child talk during shared reading affects the pedagogical potential of this practice. The findings reveal that the infants had little opportunity to initiate or participate in book-focused interactions with their educators, with implications for their language and literacy learning opportunities.

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 Troubling Government Discourse on Early Learning Websites: A Critical Analysis

2012 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 5-12
Author(s):  
Marianne McTavish
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Early Childhood ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Critical Analysis ◽  
International Study ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Early Learning ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Minimum Standards ◽  
Education And Care

In an international study released in 2008, Canada’s provision of early childhood education and care ranked at the very bottom of 25 developed countries, achieving only one of ten minimum standards as outlined by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)(UNICEF, 2008). The results of this study, in addition to other emerging research (e.g., Janus & Offord, 2007), has attributed to the production and implementation of several early learning initiatives within Ministries across Canada  (Beach, Friendly, Ferns, Prabhu, & Forera, 2009). The purpose of this paper is to analyze how children, childhood, and families are portrayed on multi-sector Ministry websites in western provinces and territories (British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, the Yukon and Northwest Territories) as government transitions to these new initiatives and programs. Results indicate that the texts promote deficit notions of families and endorse families’ participation in these initiatives as ways to ensure success, not only in the child’s readiness for school, but in future individual economic success.

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