scholarly journals Supporting teachers to implement a pre-primary programme: changes in teacher beliefs and attitudes

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
pp. 186-206
Author(s):  
Gail Ellis
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Change Management ◽  
English Language ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Foreign Language Pedagogy ◽  
Language Pedagogy ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Beliefs And Attitudes

The integration of a foreign language into early childhood education is becoming more and more widespread.  Yet there is a lack of specific teacher training and no clearly-defined pre-primary foreign language pedagogy to guide and support teachers.  This article presents data from a recent initiative by a provider of out-of-school English classes in Europe to support teachers in implementing a pre-primary programme and in developing pre-primary foreign language pedagogy.  This formed part of a wider change-management and innovation process looking at higher efficiencies and effectiveness, and bringing together in one coherent approach best practice throughout the region in the teaching of English to pre-primary children. The pre-primary programme is underpinned by the pedagogical principles of the UK’s Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) framework and the HighScope approach to early childhood education with its overarching ‘plan-do-review’ structure for learning sequences which values children’s voices and agency. Initially, there was some apprehension amongst teachers due to a lack of experience of teaching pre-primary children and some resistance from others who believed that young children are not capable of reflecting on their learning or of making choices about their learning.  An important feature of the change-management process was the implementation of a normative-re-educative approach and the provision of ongoing training and professional development. This involved teachers in the adaptation of the organisation’s global statement of approach to English language teaching to an age-appropriate version for a pre-primary context in order to develop pre-primary foreign language pedagogy. It also encouraged teachers to re-examine their existing beliefs and attitudes in order to recognise children’s reflective capacities given appropriate support and scaffolding, and to rethink the power dynamics in the adult-child relationship moving to one of more shared control. Data from surveys conducted with teachers at the initial stage of the programme and 18 months later provides evidence which shows that, over time, teacher’s beliefs and attitudes have changed.  Conclusions are drawn from the experience of the project and the factors influencing changes in teacher’s views are discussed.

scholarly journals Pembelajaran Bahasa Inggris pada Anak Usia Dini di Kec Sukolilo Surabaya

2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 133
Author(s):  
Andini Dwi Arumsari ◽  
Bustomi Arifin ◽  
Zulidyana Dwi Rusnalasari
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Golden Age ◽  
English Language ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Learning English

<p>English has been used as a language of communication since early childhood. These demands make parents vying to include their children to schools that use English as a medium of language in learning. Learning English as a foreign language in Indonesia began to reach the level of early childhood education. Children aged 0-6 years which is a golden age (golden age) and is a critical period in the stage of human life that will determine the development of the next child. All aspects of language use should be introduced to the child before this golden age ends. English on the AUD has begun to be introduced at the kindergarten level. In learning English requires appropriate learning methods to increase interest and desire of students in using English in learning activities that are fun and interested students, both oral and written fluently and in accordance with its social context. This research seeks to gain knowledge about early childhood education related to English language learning in kindergarten education in Sukolilo sub-district of Surabaya city. Data collection techniques were conducted by interviews to obtain verbal information directly. From the total number of 57 kindergartens in Sukolilo sub-district, there are 28 kindergarten that become the research place. From the data obtained, as many as 28 kindergarten who became the subject of research has provided learning English during the learning proces.</p>

scholarly journals 'Invisible Obstacle' to Gender Equality: Gender Stereotype Messages in Early Childhood Education Books in Kenya

2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 69
Author(s):  
Juliet Njeri Muasya ◽  
Ruth Mugo Kahiga
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
Gender Stereotype ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Learning Materials ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Documentary Analysis

Globally, research on gender stereotype messages or 'invisible obstacle' in the teaching and learning materials especially for primary and secondary schools is well documented. Findings from studies show illustrations, images, pictures and language that negatively portray males and females, boys and girls in learning materials and which tend to impact on students’ behaviours, aspirations, experiences, participation, achievement and expectations. The aim of the current study was to find out how gender messages are portrayed in 10 purposively selected Science and English language Early Childhood Education course, supplementary and workbooks using a documentary analysis checklist. Findings from the current study reveal that although authors of the analysed books have to some extent made the books gender responsive, however, gender stereotype messages expressed in masculine and feminine discourses are still visible. Two series of the books analysed are gender blind. Use of gender responsive books is likely to help children appreciate each other's gender, thus, create more equitable learning outcomes. Thus, it is important that any gender stereotype messages or information in learning and teaching materials are dealt with during early years of a child’s life.

scholarly journals Understanding Early Childhood Science Education: Comparative Analysis of Australian and Finnish Curricula

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sari Havu-Nuutinen ◽  
Sarika Kewalramani ◽  
Nikolai Veresov ◽  
Susanna Pöntinen ◽  
Sini Kontkanen
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Science Education ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Comparative Study ◽  
Learning Outcomes ◽  
Science Curriculum ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Curriculum Framework ◽  
International Comparative

AbstractThis research is a comparative study of Finnish and Australian science curricula in early childhood education (EC). The study aims to figure out the constructivist components of the science curriculum in two countries as well as locate the similarities and differences in the rationale and aims, contents, learning outcomes, learning activities, teacher’s role and assessment. The curriculum analysis framework developed by Van den Akker (2003) was used as a methodological framework for the curricula analysis. Based on the theory-driven content analyses, findings show that both countries have several components of constructivist curriculum, but not always clearly focused on science education. The Australian Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) integrates children’s science learning within their five specific learning outcomes, whereas the Finnish national core curriculum for early childhood education and care has no defined learning outcomes in general. The Finnish curriculum more clearly than EYLF encompasses science and environmental education as a learning domain, within which children participate in targeted scientific activities to gain procedural knowledge in specific environmental-related concepts. More focus should be turned to the teachers’ role and assessment, which are not determined in science context in both countries. This international comparative study calls for the need of a considered EC curriculum framework that more explicitly has science domains with specifically defined rationale, aims, content areas, learning outcomes and assessment criteria. The implications lie in providing early childhood educators with tangible and theoretically solid curriculum framework and resources in order to foster scientific thinking in young children.

scholarly journals Finnish Pre-Service Teachers’ Perceptions of Perceived Competence in Early Childhood Physical Education

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (12) ◽  
pp. 6454
Author(s):  
Anne Soini ◽  
Anthony Watt ◽  
Arja Sääkslahti
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Teacher Training ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Motor Skills ◽  
Perceived Competence ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Linear Regression Models ◽  
Teachers Perceptions ◽  
Childhood Education

Early childhood education and care (ECEC) teachers have a central role in supporting young children’s physical activity (PA) and overall development in the early years. However, the value of early childhood education teacher training (ECETT) programmes is not widely understood. This study aimed to investigate pre-service teachers’ perceptions of perceived competence when (1) supporting a child’s PA, (2) teaching PE, and (3) observing and assessing a child’s motor skills and PA. These self-evaluations were compared with a range of individual, educational, and behavioural characteristics. Final-year Bachelor degree pre-service teachers (n = 274; 54%) from seven universities in Finland participated in the self-report questionnaire. The results of the linear regression models showed that the relevant PE studies and previous experiences of pre-service teachers predicted higher perceived competence of supporting a child’s PA, teaching PE, and observing and assessing a child’s motor skills and PA. Thus, the study findings demonstrated how teacher training could positively influence perceptions and attitudes to increase a person’s perceived competence when implementing PE in the early years. Overall, results reinforce the importance of PE in ECETT, and the time devoted to this syllabus area should be maintained or increased.

scholarly journals Is infant belonging observable? A path through the maze

2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 404-416
Author(s):  
Jane M Selby ◽  
Benjamin S Bradley ◽  
Jennifer Sumsion ◽  
Matthew Stapleton ◽  
Linda J Harrison
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Sense Of Belonging ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Infants And Toddlers ◽  
Quality Outcomes ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Learning Framework ◽  
Video Recordings ◽  
Education And Care

This article evaluates the concept of infant ‘belonging’, central to several national curricula for early childhood education and care. Here, the authors focus on Australia’s Early Years Learning Framework. Four different meanings attach to ‘belonging’ in the Early Years Learning Framework, the primary being sociopolitical. However, ‘a sense of belonging’ is also proposed as something that should be observable and demonstrable in infants and toddlers – such demonstration being held up as one of the keys to quality outcomes in early childhood education and care. The Early Years Learning Framework endows belonging with two contrasting meanings when applied to infants. The first, the authors call ‘marked belonging’, and it refers to the infant’s exclusion from or inclusion in defined groups of others. The second, the authors provisionally call ‘unmarked’ belonging. Differences between these two meanings of infant belonging are explored by describing two contrasting observational vignettes from video recordings of infants in early childhood education and care. The authors conclude that ‘belonging’ is not a helpful way to refer to, or empirically demonstrate, an infant’s mundane comfort or ‘unmarked’ agentive ease in shared early childhood education and care settings. A better way to conceptualise and research this would be through the prism of infants’ proven capacity to participate in groups.

scholarly journals Leadership in early childhood education: The case for pedagogical praxis

2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ioanna Palaiologou ◽  
Trevor Male
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Ideological Struggle ◽  
Education And Care ◽  
Curriculum Reforms ◽  
Predominately Female ◽  
Teacher Status

In this conceptual article, the authors examine the context of early childhood education and care in England and the underpinning predominant ideologies to explore how these impact on the framing of leadership. The English context entails several contradictions (antinomies) at ontological, epistemological and axiological levels, and is heavily influenced by an ideological struggle concerning the value of play within the sector as opposed to a climate of child performativity. Moreover, the predominately female workforce (a factor itself) has faced relentless changes in terms of qualifications and curriculum reforms in recent years. With the introduction of the graduate leader qualification (Early Years Teacher Status), a vast body of research has been seeking to conceptualise what leadership means for early childhood education and care. In this article, the authors argue that these attempts are helpful and contribute to this discourse of leadership, but it needs to be thought of not only abstractly, but also practically. Thus, the authors conclude, the (re)conceptualisation of leadership should locate it as pedagogical praxis after evaluating the inherent deep dispositions of leaders in conjunction with their history, surrounding culture and subjective perspectives/realities.

scholarly journals Didaktisk diskussion om barnträdgårdslärares möjligheter att arbeta med matematik i finländsk småbarnsfostran

2013 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Camilla Björklund
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Educational Practice ◽  
Early Years ◽  
School Teachers ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
School Activities ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
New Research

Title: Didactical discussion on pre-school teachers’ prerequisites for working with mathematics in Finnish early childhood educationAbstract: Finnish teachers encounter an increased focus on learning aspects and a revised legislation strengthens teachers’ professional role for early learning, which also has impact on pre-school teachers’ work in early childhood education (children 0–5 years). The paradigm in early childhood education in recent years emphasizes development, learning and teaching. Mathematics is one content area that has been given a lot of attention in Nordic discussions on education for early years. However, the Finnish national curricula and guidelines for early childhood education give limited support for developing stimulating and goal-oriented educational practice in so called academic fields of knowledge, for example mathematics. This article aims at pointing at some of the prerequisites for working with mathematics in Finnish early childhood education in relation to new research on mathematical development and didactics suitable for early childhood education. Three authentic examples of traditional pre-school activities with toddlers are taken as a starting point for the didactical discussion.

scholarly journals Strategies to Develop Emotional Intelligence in Early Childhood

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
İlkay Ulutaş ◽  
Kübra Engin ◽  
Emine Bozkurt Polat
Keyword(s):  
Emotional Intelligence ◽  
Early Childhood ◽  
Academic Success ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Behavioral Problem ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Social Emotional ◽  
Only Children ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Emotional Intelligence Training

Children have many opportunities in early childhood education that support their emotions. These opportunities need to be transformed into learning situations appropriate to their development and developed. Learnings cannot happen independently of emotional intelligence. Social–emotional skills must be developed in education to achieve both academic success and success in life. It is important to support emotional intelligence in early childhood education to enable children to be emotionally healthy, to cope with difficulties, to respect differences, and to gain a social perspective by working in collaboration with others. Emotional intelligence training helps not only children but everyone in the classroom setting, especially educators who are unsure of how to work with a child with an emotional or behavioral problem. Since emotional intelligence can be developed and strengthened by training at all ages, it can be a way of teaching for educators as they regularly include methods and techniques in the program. Based on this, in this section, the emotional intelligence of children, programs methods and strategies will be discussed in terms of supporting emotional intelligence in the early years.

scholarly journals Contemporary Relevance of Bertrand Russell’s Views on Early Childhood Education

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-37
Author(s):  
Runumi Sharma ◽  
Mamta Aswal
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Character Development ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Holistic Development ◽  
National Education ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Historical Method ◽  
Secondary Sources

Bertrand Russell’s educational thoughts significantly deal with reforming education for school going children and he also supported pre-primary education. He favored early childhood education for physical, intellectual and character development. His emphasis on character development of a child shows the significance of early years of life for development of an individual. This paper aims at exploring Bertrand Russell’s thoughts on early childhood education. It is an attempt to understand the significance of early childhood education for the holistic development of the children. Though there are early childhood education is prevalent in our country, but it was not mandatory to get early childhood education till the approval of National Education Policy (N.E.P., 2020). It has included early childhood education in compulsory school education for promoting better learning and well being of a child. It is a qualitative research in which historical method has been used where data has been collected from primary and secondary sources. The finding of the study shows that Bertrand Russell’sthought on early childhood education is relevant in present Indian context for developing good values, physical and mental development as well as in future learning. This shows that the encouragement to early childhood education and Bertrand Russell’s thoughts on early childhood education would be helpful for holistic development of children.

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.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document