scholarly journals Including children with chronic health conditions in early childhood education and care settings

2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 159-173
Author(s):  
Jackie Musgrave ◽  
Rachael Levy
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Postal Questionnaire ◽  
Chronic Health Conditions ◽  
Health Conditions ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Chronic Health ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Education And Care ◽  
The Impact

This article sheds light on how chronic health conditions impact upon concepts of inclusion in children’s early childhood education and care in England; it draws upon findings from a small-scale research project which highlights the need to consider health, in particular, the impact of chronic health conditions on early childhood education and care. The study was conducted in two stages: Stage 1 involved a postal questionnaire to 60 early childhood settings and Stage 2 included interviews with 6 practitioners in 4 settings, interviews with parents and observations of a child (called DJ) in his setting over the course of a year. The findings from this study indicate that in an attempt to be inclusive, practitioners may be unintentionally exclusive in their practice. The data suggest that this may be as a consequence of practitioners having different understandings and definitions of what is meant by the term inclusion, leading to confusion about the aims of inclusion. The findings indicate that there is a need to identify what effective pedagogy is for children with chronic health conditions, as well as a need to redefine inclusion in relation to their needs.

scholarly journals The Impact of COVID-19 on Eating Environments and Activity in Early Childhood Education and Care in Alberta, Canada: A Cross-Sectional Study

Nutrients ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (12) ◽  
pp. 4247
Author(s):  
Lynne M. Z. Lafave ◽  
Alexis D. Webster ◽  
Ceilidh McConnell ◽  
Nadine Van Wyk ◽  
Mark R. Lafave
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Early Childhood ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Healthy Eating ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Sectional Study ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Education And Care ◽  
The Impact

Early childhood education and care (ECEC) environments influence children’s early development and habits that track across a lifespan. The purpose of this study was to explore the impact of COVID-19 government-mandated guidelines on physical activity (PA) and eating environments in ECEC settings. This cross-sectional study involved the recruitment of 19 ECEC centers pre-COVID (2019) and 15 ECEC centers during COVID (2020) in Alberta, Canada (n = 34 ECEC centers; n = 83 educators; n = 361 preschoolers). Educators completed the CHEERS (Creating Healthy Eating and activity Environments Survey) and MEQ (Mindful Eating Questionnaire) self-audit tools while GT3X+ ActiGraph accelerometers measured preschooler PA. The CHEERS healthy eating environment subscale was greater during COVID-19 (5.97 ± 0.52; 5.80 ± 0.62; p = 0.02) and the overall score positively correlated with the MEQ score (r = 0.20; p = 0.002). Preschoolers exhibited greater hourly step counts (800 ± 189; 649 ± 185), moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) (9.3 ± 3.0 min/h; 7.9 ± 3.2 min/h) and lower sedentary times (42.4 ± 3.9 min/h; 44.1 ± 4.9 min/h) during COVID-19 compared to pre-COVID, respectively (p < 0.05). These findings suggest the eating environment and indices of child physical activity were better in 2020, which could possibly be attributed to a change in government-mandated COVID-19 guideline policy.

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.

scholarly journals Affordances for 1- to 3-year-olds’ risky play in Early Childhood Education and Care

2018 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 258-275 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rasmus Kleppe
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Rating Scale ◽  
Theoretical Concept ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Age Group ◽  
Complex Environments ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Education And Care ◽  
Risky Play

This article focuses on how Early Childhood Education and Care institutions provide for 1- to 3-year-olds’ risky play—a previously little researched topic—utilizing data from an exploratory, small-scale study investigating aspects of risky play in the age-group. The main findings describe how three essentially different Early Childhood Education and Care centers provide different opportunities for risky play. These environments are assessed with the theoretical concept of affordance and suggest that versatile, flexible, and complex environments and equipment—with little objective risk—are optimal for children’s risky play in this age-group. Being a new topic, the affordance assessment is discussed in relation to a standardized measurement, the Infant-Toddler Environment Rating Scale—Revised edition. Findings indicate that the two approaches partly coincide but also that there are discrepancies. Interpretations and implications are discussed.

scholarly journals Constructing deficit data doppelgängers: The impact of datafication on children with English as an additional language

2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 253-265 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mandy Pierlejewski
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
School Readiness ◽  
Communication Skills ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Number Of Children ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Education And Care ◽  
The Impact ◽  
British Culture

In this article, an evaluation of the English early childhood education context reveals children constructed as data. The complex, chaotic and unpredictable nature of the child is reconstituted in numerical form – a form which can be measured, compared and manipulated. Children are reconceptualised as data doppelgängers, ghostly apparitions which emulate the actual embodied child. The focus of early childhood education and care thus moves from child-centred to data-centred education. The author specifically focuses on the impact of this aspect of the performative regime on children who have English as an additional language – an under-researched area in the field. Foucault’s work on governmentality is used as a theoretical lens through which to understand the process of datafication. The author uses a composite child, generated from a number of children from her experience as a teacher, as a starting point for discussion. This reveals children as disadvantaged, as their home languages are no longer used to assess communication skills. Their data doppelgängers are not useful to the teacher as they are unable to demonstrate a Good Level of Development – a key measure of school readiness in English policy. The author argues that in post-Brexit-vote Britain, subtle changes to early childhood education increase disadvantage, promoting white, British culture and thus marginalising those from other cultures.

scholarly journals “Who Would Bother Getting a Degree When You Would Be on the Exact Same Pay and Conditions . . .?” Professionalism and the Problem With Qualifications in Early Childhood Education and Care: An Irish Perspective

SAGE Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 215824402110318
Author(s):  
Ayooluwa Oke ◽  
Judith E. Butler ◽  
Cian O’Neill
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Social Welfare Services ◽  
Childhood Care ◽  
Highly Skilled ◽  
Education And Care ◽  
Impact Of Technology ◽  
The Impact

Although the literature is replete with research that indicates the importance of qualified and highly skilled practitioners in the provision of quality Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC), challenges to the retention of highly skilled graduates and the establishment of a professional ECEC workforce persist. This study investigates the barriers that hinder practitioners from obtaining higher level ECEC qualifications. It presents findings from the perspectives of practitioners ( n = 18) participating in the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) Scheme using semi-structured interviews. This article is part of a doctoral study with practitioners and parents on quality in ECEC and the impact of technology on quality practice. Importantly, this article presents findings from the practitioner interviews as they relate to the barriers faced by practitioners in obtaining higher level qualifications. Findings indicate that practitioners value the role of qualifications in the provision of quality practice. Despite this, findings suggest that the likelihood of obtaining an ECEC degree is largely dependent on the practitioner’s financial situation. For example, in the absence of appropriate pay scales and occupational profiles, practitioners are forced to avail of social welfare services.

Coaching for continuous improvement in collaborative, interdisciplinary early childhood teams

2019 ◽  
Vol 44 (3) ◽  
pp. 270-284
Author(s):  
Jane Page ◽  
Patricia Eadie
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Continuous Improvement ◽  
Early Childhood Educators ◽  
Interdisciplinary Teams ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Care Services ◽  
Education And Care ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Child Learning

There is growing evidence that coaching early childhood educators leads to higher quality teaching practices and improved child learning outcomes. Despite this, there is a lack of Australian evidence on the impact that coaching in collaborative, interdisciplinary teams in early childhood education and care settings has on teacher effectiveness and by extension child learning. This paper will draw on data from two collaborative interdisciplinary research projects – the Victorian Advancing Early Learning Study and the Every Toddler Talking Initiative – to explore the features of coaching, collaboration and interdisciplinary partnerships that support early childhood educators to engage in the process of continuous improvement. We argue that governance and leadership is critical in enabling interdisciplinary teams to engage in a collaborative process of continuous improvement and that threshold conditions are required within early childhood education and care services to foster interdisciplinary coaching collaborations in a sustained manner.

Problematising early childhood teacher registration as a mechanism to improve quality early childhood education and care

2020 ◽  
pp. 146394911989602
Author(s):  
Marianne Fenech ◽  
Samantha King
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Early Childhood Teachers ◽  
Early Childhood Teacher ◽  
Teacher Professionalism ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Teachers Perceptions ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
National Review ◽  
Education And Care

Regulatory drivers of teacher quality and teacher professionalism are increasingly being utilised in Australia and internationally to improve children’s outcomes. In the context of a recent national review on teacher registration, this article reports on findings from a small-scale study that investigated three early childhood teachers’ perceptions of teacher registration in New South Wales, Australia. The participants rejected discursive truths about the need for and benefits of teacher registration, associating this relatively new mechanism of teacher accountability as a threat to teachers’ professional practice and job satisfaction, and to centres’ provision of quality early childhood education. The findings problematise a discourse of teacher professionalism made enticing by a vow to bring early childhood teachers in from the margins of the educator sector.

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