Early Childhood Education as an Evolving ‘Community of Practice’ or as Lived ‘Social Reproduction’: Researching the ‘taken-for-granted’

2003 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 64-79 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marilyn Fleer
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Social Reproduction ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
Good Practice ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Perspective Drawing ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Western View ◽  
Shed Light

Early childhood education within many English-speaking countries has evolved routines, practices, rituals, artefacts, symbols, conventions, stories and histories. In effect, practices have become traditions that have been named and reified, evolving a specialist discourse. What has become valued within the profession of early childhood education is essentially a Western view of childhood. Documents abound with statements on what is constituted as ‘good’ practice or ‘quality’ practice or even ‘best’ practice. But for whom is this practice best? This article examines early childhood education from a ‘communities of practice’ perspective, drawing upon the work of Goncu, Rogoff and Wenger to shed light on the levels of agency inherent in the profession.

scholarly journals Maternal education and early childhood education across affluent English-speaking countries

2021 ◽  
pp. 016502542199591
Author(s):  
Robert L. Crosnoe ◽  
Carol Anna Johnston ◽  
Shannon E. Cavanagh
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Educational Attainment ◽  
Maternal Education ◽  
Relative Advantage ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Country Level ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Nationally Representative

Women who attain more education tend to have children with more educational opportunities, a transmission of educational advantages across generations that is embedded in the larger structures of families’ societies. Investigating such country-level variation with a life-course model, this study estimated associations of mothers’ educational attainment with their young children’s enrollment in early childhood education and engagement in cognitively stimulating activities in a pooled sample of 36,400 children ( n = 17,900 girls, 18,500 boys) drawn from nationally representative data sets from Australia, Ireland, U.K., and U.S. Results showed that having a mother with a college degree generally differentiated young children on these two outcomes more in the U.S., potentially reflecting processes related to strong relative advantage (i.e., maternal education matters more in populations with lower rates of women’s educational attainment) and weak contingent protection (i.e., it matters more in societies with less policy investment in families).

Improvement of Laterality Through the ABN Method in a Learning Enviroment in Early Education

2021 ◽  
pp. 33-54
Author(s):  
David Zamorano-Garcia ◽  
Paula Flores-Morcillo ◽  
María Isabel Gil-García ◽  
Miguel Ángel Aguilar-Jurado
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Physical Education ◽  
The Body ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Left Handed ◽  
And Mathematics ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Shed Light

This chapter aims to shed light on the relationship between the development of laterality and the learning of mathematics in early childhood education using the ABN method. Thus, the authors present an experience developed with 24 children of 4 and 5 years old from several sessions of physical education where laterality and mathematics were worked on in the framework of a project developed in the classroom. The neuropsychological laterality test and a psychomotor table with values referred exclusively to manual and foot laterality, and indicators referred to the ABN method were used as evaluation instruments. The results obtained indicate that students with homogeneous right- or left-handed laterality obtain better results, as well as those with crossed laterality, since they have defined their manual and foot dominance. However, students with undefined laterality obtain worse results, even showing a lateral tendency towards the use of the right side of the body.

scholarly journals Democratic Participation in Early Childhood Education and Care - Serving the Best Interests of the Child

2018 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Evelyn Eriksen
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Document Analysis ◽  
Best Interests ◽  
Democratic Participation ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Education And Care ◽  
Key Terms ◽  
Shed Light

Abstract: The meaning of democratic participation in Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) remainsvague and difficult to implement. Thus, the aim of this paper is to contribute to this gap of knowledge by shed light on the meaning of democratic participation in relation to the best interests of the child, by analysing General Comment No. 14 (2013). The research uses theories on democracy in ECEC to discuss the results (Biesta, 2014, 2015; Moss, 2007, 2011; Pettersvold, 2014; Einarsdottir, Purola, Johansson, Broström, &Emilson, 2015). The study investigates how key terms (rights, participation, unity/collective, equality, influence and responsibility) relate to democratic participation. Findings indicate that these terms are used to align with ideas about the “best interests of the child”. Furthermore, the study identified specific groups of children who can be in vulnerable situations and their explicit right to express their views and to influence decisions affecting them in ECEC institutions. I therefore argue that understanding democracy in ECEC must focus on inclusion of children who can be in vulnerable situations because this is in the best interests of the child. Keywords: Best Interests of the Child, Democratic Participation, Document Analysis, General Comments

scholarly journals KONFERENCIJOS „PASAULIS VAIKUI: UGDYMO REALIJOS IR PERSPEKTYVOS“ TIKSLAS IR NAGRINĖTŲ KLAUSIMŲ ĮVAIROVĖ [THE GOALS OF THE CONFERENCE “WORLD FOR A CHILD: EDUCATION REALITIES AND PERSPECTIVES“ AND THE VARIETY OF ANALYSED ISSUES]

2015 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 83-90
Author(s):  
Rita Makarskaitė-Petkevičienė
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Primary Education ◽  
Good Practice ◽  
Scientific Conference ◽  
Educational Activities ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Perfect Form ◽  
Child Education ◽  
The Impact

The 6th scientific-practical conference “World for a Child: Education Realities and Perspectives“, which was held in Lithuanian University of Educational Sciences on 17-18 September 2015, targeted at debates and fruitful discussions of relevant issues related to early childhood and primary education. The goal of the conference is to present the newest results of research on early childhood and primary education, to enable teachers-practitioners to exchange their accumulated experience, to reflect results of educational activities and to disseminate the good experience. The conference is the space, where actual prerequisites for change in evidence-based early childhood and primary education are created. Moreover, it is a perfect form of professional development. It should be pointed out that different insights acquired during scientific research and diverse experience of teachers-practitioners enabled an in-depth and comprehensive analysis of relevant issues of early childhood and primary education in the conference. For example, the researchers, who analyse the phenomenon of child’s play in the Play Research Laboratory at LEU, presented the trends in the analysed early childhood education through play and put forward practical recommendations about the impact of play on child’s self-regulation; particularly relevant problems of assessment of teaching/learning outcomes, the results of research on learners’ achievements and experience of application of standardised tests were analysed. The expectations for quality of research-based early childhood and primary education were expressed by all the participants in education. The work of the conference was organised in four sections: Integration of education curriculum; Didactic innovations and good practice of early childhood education; Didactic innovations and good practice of primary; Sociocultural contexts of child’s education. Key words: educational activities, early childhood education, primary education, scientific conference.

scholarly journals Comparative international testing of early childhood education: The democratic deficit and the case of Portugal

2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-58 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diana Sousa ◽  
Sue Grey ◽  
Laura Oxley
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Democratic Deficit ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Individual School ◽  
The Individual ◽  
International Testing

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has a key role in driving educational discourse and global educational governance. Its comparative ‘Programme of International School Assessment’ (PISA) has explicitly linked the knowledge and skills of young people with the economic potential of countries. Through the International Early Learning and Child Well-Being Study (IELS), the OECD plans to extend its reach to early childhood education (ECE) by developing metrics to measure ‘quality’ in ECE. This focus gives weight to discourses centred around ideas of ‘what works’. The rhetoric derives from the principles that standards of learning and well-being can be improved by emulating notions of ‘best practice’ identified through comparative data.  This article uses the case of Portugal to illustrate the significant disconnect between the aims and pedagogies of ECE and the increasingly influential de-contextualised discourses concerning ranking, performance and outcomes, as espoused by the OECD IELS project. Using evidence from three diverse Portuguese ECE settings, we illustrate how conceptual understandings of democracy in each school closely reflected the individual school philosophies. We discuss how the dampening of localised realities, for example, through standardisation and de-contextualisation, could lead to a democratic deficit enabled by discourses which displace the purpose, complexity and subjectivity of ECE policy and practice.

(Re)Centering Quality in Early Childhood Education: Toward Intersectional Justice for Minoritized Children

2018 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 203-225 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mariana Souto-Manning ◽  
Ayesha Rabadi-Raol
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Critical Race Theory ◽  
Young Children ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
White Supremacy ◽  
American English ◽  
Race Theory ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Definition Of

In this chapter, we offer a critical intersectional analysis of quality in early childhood education with the aim of moving away from a singular understanding of “best practice,” thereby interrupting the inequities such a concept fosters. While acknowledging how injustices are intersectionally constructed, we specifically identified critical race theory as a counterstory to White supremacy, culturally relevant and sustaining pedagogies as counterstories to monocultural teaching practices grounded in deficit and inferiority paradigms, and translanguaging as a counterstory to the (over)privileging of dominant American English monolingualism. While each of these counterstories forefronts one particular dimension of oppression, together they account for multiple, intersecting systems of oppressions; combined, they expand the cartography of early childhood education and serve to (re)center the definition of quality on the lives, experiences, voices, and values of multiply minoritized young children, families, and communities. Rejecting oppressive and reductionist notions of quality, through the use of re-mediation, this article offers design principles for intersectionally just early childhood education with the potential to transform the architecture of quality.

Defining ‘cultural capital’ in terms of best practice

2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 14-16
Author(s):  
Sue Cowley
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Cultural Capital ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
Childhood Education

‘Cultural capital’ is now being quoted by Ofsted – but what does it mean in relation to early childhood education? In order to have validity it must start with celebrating the unique child.

scholarly journals Payment in heaven: Can early childhood education policies help women too?

2017 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-42
Author(s):  
Jan Newberry ◽  
Sri Marpinjun
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Social Reproduction ◽  
Education Policies ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Community Based Programs ◽  
Education And Care ◽  
The Government ◽  
Certified Teacher

Based on research and activism on early childhood education and care in the area of Yogyakarta, Indonesia, we argue that the Indonesian government’s focus on early childhood has come at a cost to local women. Community-based early childhood programs are delivered by women whose work is unpaid or underpaid. Although early childhood education in the form of kindergarten has long existed in Indonesia, its extension to the very young through Pendidikan Anak Usia Dini or early childhood education programs for children aged 0–8 years is more recent. Yet, there are many contradictions in this attention to the very young child. While the programs are designed to empower young children and improve their chances of success in education, the community-based programs promoted by the government are delivered through the work of women who may be denied these same benefits. Based on our separate researches, local women offer their services in early childhood education for a variety of reasons: they believe in these programs, they feel pressured to support their communities, or they desire to improve their own chances, and often all three. Yet, the opportunity to gain more education and to become a certified teacher is extremely limited for these women. As a result, they are trapped in unskilled, low, or no-waged work. While this contradiction can be described as a result of neoliberal policy, it has been the long-standing practice of the Indonesian state to depend on women’s “volunteered” labor to deliver social service programming. Here, we challenge whether this is “neoliberal” policy or just a continued disregard for the value of the care labor in social reproduction and the simultaneous relegation of women to the “informal” sphere. We ask, what kind of policy options exist for linking the improvement of children’s education and women’s education simultaneously?

scholarly journals The role and potential of Information Communication Technology (ICT) in early childhood education in South Africa: A theoretical perspective

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
King Costa ◽  
Mfanelo Patrick Ntsobi ◽  
Blondel Nyamkure
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Early Childhood ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Primary Schools ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
Theoretical Perspective ◽  
Local Context ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
The Impact

This paper discusses the role of ICT in early childhood education in South Africa. It gives a reflection of the best practice alongside the current local status of ICT in Education. The study adopted a qualitative research method leaning more towards the interpretivist research paradigm. Desktop literature review was conducted in order to have a feel of the nature of ICT, looking at the Global, Continental (Africa) and local context. The research encompasses literature on both children and educator’s use of ICT in early childhood education and elaborates on the role of ICT with regards to teaching and learning and professional development. Key findings were that, through the adoption and proper usage of ICT, great value is added to the learning and teaching process. The study found that instead of being passive assimilators of information, learners become more engaged not only in recollection and understanding but also in application, evaluation and creation during the learning process. In order to optimise the impact of ICT in early childhood education in South Africa, the research recommended: the deployment of more ICT infrastructural resources in public primary schools, the need to train all role players on the usage of ICT, prioritisation of ICT in strategy formulation and budget allocations, introduction of learners to basic ICT skills in the lower classes, comprehensive repair and maintenance of the ICT equipment for optimal functioning, shifting focus from learner performance to capacity development, a phased approach comprised of appropriate interim targets, needs analysis have to be conducted and the measurement of progress to assess if objectives are met and taking corrective measures where deviations are experienced.

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