Examining early childhood teachers’ attitudes and responses to superhero play

Research highlights that early childhood teachers (ECTs) hold varied opinions on the value of superhero play (SP) to young children’s learning and development. This study sought to investigate how ECTs in Victoria are responding to superhero play, and to examine the beliefs that underpin their responses. Interviews were conducted with eight ECTs from the Bayside area in Melbourne. The study revealed that while the majority of the teachers interviewed responded to children’s superhero play in a variety of ways, there were a number of barriers to supporting superhero play in early childhood education and care settings. This paper concludes by identifying the value of ECTs engaging in critical reflection to ensure that their responses to superhero play are based on professional knowledge that is informed by theory and research.

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Early Childhood Education and Care System in Finland

Nauki o Wychowaniu Studia Interdyscyplinarne ◽

10.18778/2450-4491.05.09 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 5 (2) ◽

pp. 135-154 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Jenni Salminen

Keyword(s):

Early Childhood ◽

Early Childhood Education ◽

Lifelong Learning ◽

Primary Education ◽

Day Care ◽

Early Education ◽

Learning And Development ◽

Childhood Education ◽

Education And Care ◽

The Continuum

In Finland, Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) includes day care arrangements offered to families (care) along with goal-oriented early childhood education (early education and teaching) provided for children prior to transitioning to primary education. ECEC is therefore seen to build a coherent starting phase within the continuum of lifelong learning. ECEC follows the “educare” principle, which emphasizes the simultaneous consideration for children’s education, teaching, and care as the foundation of pedagogical activity, which is at the same time strongly rooted in the idea of learning and development as a holistic experience. The aim of this article is to provide an overview of the Finnish ECEC system, introduce its societal, organizational and curricular preconditions and discuss the current tensions and challenges faced.

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Early Childhood Education

10.5772/intechopen.97771 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Bernhard Kalicki ◽

Anke Koenig

Keyword(s):

Early Childhood ◽

Early Childhood Education ◽

Social Relations ◽

Self Regulation ◽

Problem Solver ◽

Learning Potential ◽

Learning And Development ◽

Childhood Education ◽

Education And Care ◽

Active Learner

The relevance of early childhood education and care (ECEC) is widely acknowledged in many countries, the number of ECEC settings is expanding correspondingly. This trend reflects the tremendous learning potential during early childhood. Right from birth and during early childhood a variety of learning processes are initiated that foster agency, self-regulation and development. Even the newborn is an active learner, a competent interaction partner and a problem-solver. In line with a deeper understanding of the mechanisms, principles and conditions of learning, early childhood education relies on pedagogical concepts, approaches and didactic methods that promote early learning and development. ECEC settings for young children stimulate exploration and action in everyday situations, embedded in social relations and interactions with peers and with a skilled and reliable pedagogical professional. The expansion and professionalization of the ECEC sector requires establishing a research infrastructure as well as implementing different research approaches at the micro-, meso- and macro-level of the system of early childhood education.

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Social studies in early childhood education and care: A scoping review focusing on diversity

Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood ◽

10.1177/1463949120953911 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 21 (4) ◽

pp. 312-324

Author(s):

Anette Ringen Rosenberg

Keyword(s):

Early Childhood ◽

Early Childhood Education ◽

Social Studies ◽

Cultural Diversity ◽

Early Childhood Teachers ◽

Early Childhood Teacher ◽

Future Research ◽

Childhood Education ◽

Educational Challenge ◽

Education And Care

Currently, little research exists on social studies within the context of Norwegian early childhood education and care, and how early childhood teachers work to familiarise children with social studies contexts . This article is a scoping literature review offering a preliminary research agenda. Its aim is to explore the ways in which the early childhood teacher can work to ensure young learners’ social studies education with a specific focus on cultural diversity and subsequent educational challenges. The research question guiding the article asks: How does previous educational research show that early childhood teachers can use social studies to address diversity with and amongst children? The analysis uncovers 4 scopes of research across 26 international and national studies. Previous research has contributed with knowledge in the areas of cultural diversity, anti-discrimination, human rights, and community and society as a means to familiarise children with diversity and related matters. Each scope addresses the knowledge status and opportunities for future research within each area. Based on the analysis, the author discusses the critical educational challenge of a paradox in familiarising children with diversity, where the early childhood teacher risks conveying biased information and stereotypical views, and highlighting cultures in discriminatory ways.

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Teachers as Brokers

The International Journal of Children s Rights ◽

10.1163/15718182-02303011 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 23 (3) ◽

pp. 622-637 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Sue Mentha ◽

Amelia Church ◽

Jane Page

Keyword(s):

Early Childhood ◽

Early Childhood Education ◽

Teaching And Learning ◽

Early Childhood Teachers ◽

Small Sample ◽

Learning Spaces ◽

Teachers Perceptions ◽

Childhood Education ◽

Everyday Practices ◽

Education And Care

This paper explores a small sample of Australian early childhood teachers’ perceptions of the rights-based conceptsparticipationandagency. We recognise and reconcile some of the perceived tensions between the debates on participation and protection and how these play out in the teaching and learning spaces of early childhood education. Teachers’ reflections on these concepts in relation to practice are highly significant to the field, connecting the concepts of children’s rights to the reality of everyday practices in early childhood education and care settings. As brokers or conduits to participation in early learning environments, a better understanding of teacher’s professional stance enables opportunities for young children to be better heard. An understanding of complexities and relatedness within these settings, can lead to more consistent and clear policy implementation.

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Supporting teachers’ practice through professional learning and development: What’s happening in New Zealand early childhood education?

Australasian Journal of Early Childhood ◽

10.1177/1836939120979063 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 183693912097906

Author(s):

Linda Clarke ◽

Tara McLaughlin ◽

Karyn Aspden ◽

Tracy Riley

Keyword(s):

Early Childhood ◽

New Zealand ◽

Early Childhood Education ◽

Professional Learning ◽

Teaching Practice ◽

Early Childhood Teachers ◽

Learning And Development ◽

Quality Teachers ◽

Childhood Education ◽

Full Picture

Early childhood teachers’ professional learning and development (PLD) is a significant factor in the provision of quality early childhood education (ECE), yet gaining a full picture of PLD in the New Zealand ECE context is problematic. Information about government-funded PLD programmes is available through evaluations, however, teachers access PLD from a range of providers, many of whom are not government-funded, nor subject to regular monitoring for quality. Teachers’ reports, therefore, represent important sources of insight into PLD. We surveyed New Zealand early childhood teachers about their experiences of PLD, including topics, delivery, and facilitation. We analysed 345 responses. Workshops were the most commonly experienced PLD model. Many respondents had also experienced job-embedded support, but may not have experienced the types of facilitation strategies likely to prompt shifts in teaching practice. This article reports the survey results, examines implications and discusses features of PLD that support shifts in teaching practice.

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Beyond Developmentalism? Early Childhood Teachers' Understandings of Multiage Grouping in Early Childhood Education and Care

Australasian Journal of Early Childhood ◽

10.1177/183693910903400408 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 34 (4) ◽

pp. 55-63 ◽

Cited By ~ 15

Author(s):

Susan Edwards ◽

Mindy Blaise ◽

Marie Hammer

Keyword(s):

Early Childhood ◽

Early Childhood Education ◽

Early Childhood Teachers ◽

Childhood Education ◽

Education And Care ◽

Multiage Grouping

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

Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood ◽

10.1177/1463949119896023 ◽

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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A FRAMEWORK TO ANALYSE THE QUALITY OF ECEC SERVICES ACCORDING TO THE CHILD-CENTRED CULTURE

Education and New Developments 2021 ◽

10.36315/2021end005 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Paolo Sorzio ◽

◽

Caterina Bembich ◽

Keyword(s):

Early Childhood ◽

Early Childhood Education ◽

Critical Reflection ◽

Educational Settings ◽

Childhood Education ◽

Care Services ◽

Opportunities For Learning ◽

Education And Care ◽

Indicator Frameworks

In this contribution it is proposed a critical framework, based on Basil Bernstein’s theory, for two aims. The first one is a critical reflection on some structural limits of the Indicator Frameworks used to evaluate the quality of Early Childhood Education and Care services (ECEC), since they rely mainly on measures of the structural and processual characteristics of the educational settings. As a consequence, the processual dimensions are reduced to their individual components, overlooking the complex and contingent interactions that create opportunities for learning. The second aim is to propose a framework, based on Basil Bernstein’s theory to analyse the different child-centred approaches to ECEC.

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An investigation of early childhood education teachers’ attitudes, behaviors, and views regarding the rights of the child

International Journal of Child Care and Education Policy ◽

10.1186/s40723-021-00083-9 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 15 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Cagla Banko-Bal ◽

Tulin Guler-Yildiz

Keyword(s):

Early Childhood ◽

Early Childhood Education ◽

Mixed Method ◽

Children's Rights ◽

Best Interest ◽

Childhood Education ◽

Children’S Learning ◽

Rights Of The Child ◽

Teachers Attitudes ◽

The Right

AbstractThis study investigates the attitudes, behaviors, and views about the rights of the child of early childhood education (ECE) teachers in Turkey. A mixed-method sequential transformative design was used, and 205 ECE teachers’ attitudes towards children’s rights were analyzed using a quantitative questionnaire. Ten of these ECE teachers were then observed, and their views in terms of the rights of children were elicited through interviews. According to the findings, teachers’ attitudes toward the rights of the child were positive; however, their behaviors and views were not compatible with most of these rights. While teachers were sensitive to the right to protection, they did not meet the requirements of the rights to development, growth, and participation or the principles of best interest and non-discrimination. Educating teachers about the rights of the child plays an important role in enhancing children’s learning and the application of these rights. To support these rights, teachers need to properly understand the rights of the child, how to protect them, and how to reflect these rights in their practices.

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