Followers and following in early childhood education workplaces: A narrative review of the followership literature

2021 ◽  
pp. 174114322110674
Author(s):  
Melinda Brooker ◽  
Tamara Cumming ◽  
Helen Logan
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Small Body ◽  
High Quality ◽  
Education Services ◽  
Education Literature ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Potential Value ◽  
Conceptual Clarity ◽  
Management Literature

Typically, leadership is identified as a key to constructing high-quality early childhood education services and creating provisions to promote children's successful outcomes. However, leadership does not occur in isolation. Organisational management scholars point out that success in organisations is mostly reliant on effective followers. Despite a long tradition of attention to the value of followership in organisational management literature, little attention is given to followership in early childhood education literature. This article reviews conceptualisations of followership from a broad body of literature from organisational management and higher education studies, and a small number of studies in early childhood education literature that mentioned followership. This small body of early childhood education literature is critiqued in connection with the broader body of literature. The analysis reveals three key themes concerning followership in early childhood education literature: the dominance of leader-centric ideas; a lack of conceptual clarity about the role and practices of followership; and early childhood educators’ qualifications typically determine who follows and who leads. This review contributes to increased understandings of the potential value of followership theories and practices in early childhood education.

scholarly journals Study on the Training Needs of Teaching Staff to Provide Quality Early Childhood Education Services

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sofia-Loredana Tudor
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Early Education ◽  
Training Needs ◽  
Educational Services ◽  
Teaching Staff ◽  
Education Services ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Education Strategy ◽  
Policy Measures

Early child development is related to early education, health, nutrition, and psychosocial development; therefore, the holistic concept of early approach combines elements from the area of stimulation of the child, health, nutrition, speech therapy, psychological counselling, physical development support, etc. The need for the development of integrated early education services and their extension to the area of 0-3 years are priorities of the European strategies assumed through a complex of educational policy measures, having as a priority the development of quality early education services for the benefit of all prerequisites for lowering the schooling rate (Strategy for early childhood education, Strategy for parental education, Strategy for reducing early school leaving in Romania, Study on the evaluation of public policies in the field of early childhood education - Saber Early Childhood). In this context of the development of early childhood education, numerous inequalities are identified in the implementation of European and national strategies and programs in the development of early childhood education services, supported by economic, political, social factors, etc. In order to make them compatible at European level, we consider it necessary to support training and development programs for staff providing educational services in early childhood education institutions. The purpose of this study is to acknowledge the opinion of the bodies with attributions in the pre-kindergarten and preschool education in Romania, as well as of the civil society and public opinion, as a prerequisite for identifying school policy measures and developing programs for training the teaching staff so as to be able to provide educational services in early childhood education (representatives responsible for early childhood education in school inspectorates and Houses of the Teaching Staff, teaching staff in preschool educational institutions, representatives of the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection, representatives of the Social Assistance Directorate, managers of nursery schools, representatives of NGOs and other categories of organizations with experience in the field, parents and interested representatives of the civil society and public opinion). The present study is a qualitative research based on the focus-group method, but also a quantitative research by using the questionnaire-based survey, being carried out on a representative sample of 100 persons (2 focus-group of 25 persons, respectively 50 persons involved in the survey-based questionnaire). The conclusions of this study highlight the need to restructure the system of early childhood education in Romania through interventions at the legislative level and ensure a unitary system of policy and intervention in early childhood education. Also, we believe it is imperative to reorganize the training system of the human resource, by developing complementary competences of the teaching staff, adapted to the training needs of the early childhood population, ensuring a valuable inclusive and integrated intervention.

scholarly journals Dialogue and Interaction in Early Childhood Education: A Systematic Review

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 51 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rocío García-Carrión ◽  
Lourdes Villardón-Gallego
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Pedagogical Practices ◽  
Life Outcomes ◽  
Long Term Effects ◽  
Learning And Development ◽  
High Quality ◽  
Substantial Impact ◽  
Childhood Education

<p>There is solid evidence that high quality Early Childhood Education (ECE hereafter) have substantial impact on later life outcomes. A growing literature suggests that interventions that develop social competency as well as cognitive, language and academic skills in the earliest years play a role in later educational, social and economic success. Less is known about the most conducive interactions –verbal and non-verbal- underpinning such pedagogical practices in early childhood education. This article aims at reviewing the last decade’s early childhood education with a twofold objective: (a) to describe how dialogue and interaction take place in high-quality early childhood education settings; (b) to identify the effects, if any, on children’s learning and development as a result of implementing dialogue-based interventions in ECE. The studies were identified through systematic search of electronic databases and analyzed accordingly. Several types of interactions given in high quality ECE programs and its short and long-term effects are discerned in this review. </p>

scholarly journals Cultural diversity in the Australian early childhood education workforce: What do we know, what don’t we know and why is it important?

2021 ◽  
pp. 183693912110572
Author(s):  
Sene Gide ◽  
Sandie Wong ◽  
Frances Press ◽  
Belinda Davis
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Cultural Diversity ◽  
Small Body ◽  
Linguistically Diverse ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
The Status ◽  
Potential Benefits ◽  
Australian Bureau Of Statistics ◽  
Multicultural Workforce

This paper reviews current literature and research relevant to the Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) Early Childhood Education (ECE) workforce in Australia, including data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). Australia is a highly multicultural society, with one out of every three people born overseas. Anecdotally, the Australian early childhood sector is reported to have a highly multicultural workforce. Yet there is a noticeable lack of data and research concerning cultural diversity in the Australian ECE workforce. This paper reports on the data from the ABS-Census of Population and Housing (ABS-Census), the small body of literature on the CALD ECE workforce and literature pertaining to CALD in other Australian workforces to argue that more data and research is needed. Developing a richer understanding of the status, experience and contributions of CALD educators would enable the sector to recognise and support the potential benefits of such a workforce for children and families and social cohesion in Australia.

A Look Back: Preschool perspectives in Kappan

2021 ◽  
Vol 103 (2) ◽  
pp. 5-7
Author(s):  
Teresa Preston
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
High Quality ◽  
General Consensus ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Look Back ◽  
The 1960S

In this monthly column, Kappan managing editor Teresa Preston looks back at how the magazine has covered early childhood education. Since the 1960s, authors have largely agreed about the benefits of high-quality early childhood education, and there has been general consensus about what such a program should look like. However, expanding access to such programs has remained a challenge.

scholarly journals Classificação na Educação Infantil: discutindo propostas, concepções e práticas Rank in Early Childhood Education: discussing proposals, concepts and practices

2017 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Edneri Pereira Cruz ◽  
Ana Coelho Vieira Selva
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Common Property ◽  
Mathematics Classroom ◽  
Classroom Observation ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Conceptual Clarity ◽  
Role Of Teachers

O estudo investiga como a Classificação vem sendo tratada na Educação Infantil. Em particular, as atividades propostas em livros didáticos e a atuação de docentes em sala de aula. Esta pesquisa contemplou: análise de livros didáticos de Matemática, observação de sala de aula e realização de entrevistas semiestruturadas com professoras desta etapa de ensino. De modo geral, tanto nos livros didáticos quanto nas propostas em sala de aula, as atividades apresentam-se como contexto fecundo para se explorar aspectos numéricos, geométricos e lógicos, com a predominância de atividades que previam o agrupamento de objetos que possuíam uma propriedade comum ou mesmo atributo. Na preocupação em tornar o conhecimento acessível e com significado para a criança, se perdeu em algumas atividades a clareza conceitual.The study investigates how the Classification has been treated in kindergarten. In particular, the activities proposed in textbooks and the role of teachers in the classroom. This research included: analysis of textbooks of Mathematics, classroom observation and carrying out semi-structured interviews with teachers of this educational stage. In general, both in textbooks as the proposals in the classroom, the activities are presented as fruitful context for exploring numerical, geometric and logical aspects, with the predominance of activities that provide for grouping of objects that had a common property or even attribute. The aim of making it accessible and meaningful to the child's knowledge, was lost in some activities the conceptual clarity.  

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