‘… For the love of children and the joy of childhood’: The reported values, beliefs and practices of male practitioners in England

2016 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 407-430 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charlotte Estella Jones
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Young Children ◽  
Care Staff ◽  
Online Questionnaire ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Life Chances ◽  
Education And Care ◽  
Positive Experiences

Increased attention has been paid to qualifications and training of early childhood education and care staff in order to improve the quality of the service they provide. However, less attention has been paid to the demographics of the workforce itself. Men have consistently made up 2 per cent of the early childhood education and care workforce. Research on their experiences within the workforce is lacking and therefore their work with young children largely unreported. Drawing on data collected from an online questionnaire, this article will explore the reported values, beliefs and experiences of male practitioners working with children aged 0–5 years. Bourdieu’s theories on habitus, capital and field were utilised as a means of interrogating data gathered to consider influences shaping life chances and practices of men working with young children. Participants shared extremely positive experiences of their current work; however, the findings reflected the need to reconsider the extent to which our cultural conceptions of gender roles and identities have changed in the sphere of early childhood education and care in the 21st century.

Social Investment and Childcare Expansion

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margarita León
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Perfect Match ◽  
Preschool Education ◽  
Conceptual Level ◽  
Social Investment ◽  
Trade Off ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Education And Care

The chapter first examines at a conceptual level the links between theories of social investment and childcare expansion. Although ‘the perfect match’ between the two is often taken for granted in the specialized literature as well as in policy papers, it is here argued that a more nuance approach that ‘unpacks’ this relationship is needed. The chapter will then look for elements of variation in early childhood education and care (ECEC) expansion. Despite an increase in spending over the last two decades in many European and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries, wide variation still exists in the way in which ECEC develops. A trade-off is often observed between coverage and quality of provision. A crucial dividing line that determines, to a large extent, the quality of provision in ECEC is the increasing differentiation between preschool education for children aged 3 and above and childcare for younger children.

Early childhood education and care: What effect on life chances?

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (12) ◽  
pp. 497-503
Author(s):  
Dave Hancock
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Life Chances ◽  
Education And Care ◽  
The Uk

Recent research has revealed that there are inconsistencies and inequalities in childhood education and care throughout the UK. Dave Hancock highlights some of the key findings

scholarly journals A Systematic Review of Teacher–Child Interactions With Multilingual Young Children

2019 ◽  
Vol 89 (4) ◽  
pp. 536-568 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annegien Langeloo ◽  
Mayra Mascareño Lara ◽  
Marjolein I. Deunk ◽  
Nikolai F. Klitzing ◽  
Jan-Willem Strijbos
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Early Childhood ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Young Children ◽  
Nonverbal Communication ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Learning Opportunities ◽  
Home Language ◽  
Childhood Education

Teacher–child interactions are the most important factor that determines the quality of early-childhood education. A systematic review was conducted to gain a better understanding of the nature of teacher–child interactions that multilingual children are exposed to, and of how they differ from teacher–child interactions of monolingual children. Thirty-one studies were included. The included studies (a) mainly focused on multilingual children with low language proficiency in the majority language and (b) hardly compared between monolingual and multilingual children. The review shows that teacher–child interactions of multilingual children are comparable to the interactions of monolingual children, although teachers do adopt different strategies to facilitate the development of multilingual children, such as the use of the home language and nonverbal communication to support understanding. Worryingly, several studies indicate that multilingual children are exposed to unequal learning opportunities compared with their monolingual peers.

scholarly journals Australian Research in Early Childhood Education and Care: Insights Into the Actual; Imagining the Possible

2021 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. 291-310
Author(s):  
Susanne Garvis ◽  
Sivanes Phillipson ◽  
Shane N. Phillipson
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Early Childhood ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Diverse Range ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Research Areas ◽  
Research Perspectives ◽  
Education And Care ◽  
Teacher Aides

Early childhood education and care (ECEC) remains a priority area for public policy, internationally and in Australia. However, an analysis of empirical research published internationally up to 2008 has identified a bias toward positivist methodologies within a “scientific/psychological’ rather than educational perspective and with a focus on the interactions between preschoolers, family, and child care variables. For some researchers, this bias raises concerns that public policy in ECEC is based on limited research perspectives. This chapter examines research focusing on the Australian context and published between 2010 and 2014 to determine whether this bias exists in Australian research. We explore the quality of ECEC research to develop an overall understanding of the current situation of ECEC research in Australia. Our findings suggest that Australian research in ECEC is very dissimilar to research published internationally, especially in its reliance on qualitative paradigms and a focus on the educators (principals, teachers, and teacher aides). The strong qualitative focus may allow a diverse range of voices within the ECEC sector to be heard and identified, moving beyond traditional notions of historically marginalized individuals and communities that dominate other education research areas.

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.

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