Early childhood education and care in the app generation: Digital documentation, assessment for learning and parent communication

2020 ◽  
pp. 183693912097906
Author(s):  
Tina Stratigos ◽  
Marianne Fenech
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Critical Analysis ◽  
Parent Engagement ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Parent Communication ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Education And Care ◽  
Potential Benefits ◽  
Digital Documentation ◽  
The Impact

While early childhood educators’ use of digital applications (apps) to document children’s experiences and support parent communication is increasing, there is limited empirical research about the impact of these applications on children’s experiences and educators’ practices. This article provides a critical analysis of the findings from this body of research with a focus on affordances and challenges. While the research supports potential benefits for parent engagement and pedagogy, a range of challenges relating to content, access, equity, workload and ethics are highlighted. Features of the neoliberal contextual that may enable the increasing use of apps and shape the way they are used are considered, and opportunities for future research to further critique, enhance understandings and inform practice proposed.

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.

Childcare, Culture, and Child Development

2020 ◽  
pp. 515-533
Author(s):  
Laura Ferrer-Wreder ◽  
Lilianne Eninger ◽  
Hanna Ginner Hau ◽  
Tina M. Olsson ◽  
Mina Sedem ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Child Development ◽  
Moral Development ◽  
Human Development ◽  
Research Literature ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Education And Care ◽  
Organizational Features ◽  
Welfare Model

This chapter concerns theory and research relevant to child development and early childhood education and care (ECEC), which is a key ecology for human development. In this chapter, the authors provide an overview of the organizational features and processes important to understanding these settings. The authors then focus on describing the Nordic welfare model as it relates to ECEC settings, with an exploration of how certain ethics are reflected in the design, goals, and practice of ECEC settings in Sweden. The chapter then moves to summarizing and reflecting on the empirical research literature on how Swedish ECEC settings may support aspects of children’s moral development; finally, the authors pose several questions that may prove important to advancing future research in this area.

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

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.

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.

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 (Meta)Theoretical gateways in studies on assessment and documentation in preschool – a research review with a Scandinavian focus

2017 ◽  
Vol 14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ann-Christine Vallberg Roth
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Research Review ◽  
International Studies ◽  
Pedagogical Documentation ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Search Results ◽  
Evaluation Task ◽  
Education And Care ◽  
Professional Assessment ◽  
Potential Benefits

 The purpose of this article is to describe and collate search results and analysis of research with a focus on (meta)theoretical gateways in assessment and documentation in Scandinavian preschools between 2006 and 2014, supplemented by delimited international research mainly from 2013-2014. The intention is also to highlight what the research indicates about assessment competence in relation to the (meta)theoretical gateways.  The final search results include 153 national and international studies from sources including the Nordic Base of Early Childhood Education and Care (NB-ECEC, 2006-2012). The results indicate that research into assessment in preschool is still a relatively young and undeveloped field, while the field of documentation, and pedagogical documentation in particular, has a significantly higher standing. As more and more different forms of assessment and documentation assume their place in preschools, it becomes increasingly important to gain knowledge and awareness of the potential benefits, limitations and consequences of various forms and practices for assessment and documentation. Theoretical gateways vary, as do the forms of assessment and documentation used. The analysis indicates that assessment competence can include professional assessment based on a variety of scientific grounds. Regarding the expanded documentation and evaluation task and the preschool’s complex assessment and documentation practices, there is a need for both expanded research and expanded competence, which can focus on a multi-voiced assessment competence. 

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