scholarly journals Rationalizing early childhood education and care in the local context: a case study of Finnish municipalities

2020 ◽  
pp. 152-171 ◽  
Author(s):  
Petteri Eerola ◽  
Maarit Alasuutari ◽  
Kirsti Karila ◽  
Anu Kuukka ◽  
Anna Siippainen
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Local Context ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Education And Care

scholarly journals 'It's all the things'? Exploring teachers' views on the notion of 'community' in early childhood education

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Judith Hamer
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Physical World ◽  
Political Discussion ◽  
Diverse Range ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Study Centre ◽  
Education And Care ◽  
The Rich

<p>This thesis explores the multiple meanings of ‘community’ within early childhood education (ECE). Utilising a qualitative, interpretive approach, this exploratory case study has sought to gain an in-depth understanding of how teachers view the meaning of ‘community’ within a typical, non-community-owned ECE centre. Rogoff’s (1984, 1995) three planes of sociocultural activity (personal, interpersonal and institutional) have been utilised as a theoretical framework to more fully understand the rich context of this case study centre. Findings from this study highlight that practices of this centre primarily focus inwards on the education and care of the enrolled children and the support of their families within the ECE ‘centre community’. However, despite this, the teachers both collectively and individually also reflect a diverse range of views on the notion of ‘community’ in terms of people, place and connections, including views that look outwards to consider the child within the context of their wider social and physical world. This study concludes that there needs to be a much larger social and political discussion about the notion of ‘community’ within the wider ECE sector, including the role and provision of ECE, not only in terms of the care and education of children but within society as a whole.</p>

scholarly journals When are we going to have the real school? A case study of early childhood education and care teachers’ experiences surrounding education during the COVID-19 pandemic

2020 ◽  
Vol 45 (4) ◽  
pp. 336-347
Author(s):  
Hem Chand Dayal ◽  
Lavinia Tiko
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Young Children ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Case Study Research ◽  
Small Island ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Education And Care

In this study, we set out to explore how two private, early childhood education and care centres in a small island developing state in the Pacific are coping with schooling during the COVID-19 lockdown period. In particular, we used a case-study research approach to explore teachers’ feelings about the situation and what actions or strategies the centres have devised to continue to support education of young children. We also report on the challenges and opportunities that teachers have experienced in teaching remotely. The case studies suggest that teachers feel worried not only about their personal lives, but also about their professional lives as teachers. The findings also reveal how the two early childhood education and care centres innovate in delivering education in a time of severe crisis. Glimpses of success are visible in terms of making teaching and learning possible and meaningful even with very young children. These findings provide useful insights into teaching and learning during a pandemic.

scholarly journals Negotiating and appropriating the 'one person, one language' policy within the complex reality of a multilingual crèche in Strasbourg

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eloise Caporal-Ebersold ◽  
Andrea Young
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Language Policy ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Education And Care ◽  
The One ◽  
Children's Interests ◽  
The City

The aim of this article is to analyse the early childhood education and care (ECEC) language policy in the city of Strasbourg, focusing on an ethnographic case study of a newly established bilingual English–French crèche in the city. In France, establishing an early childhood education structure – more specifically, a day care centre catering to young children – involves close coordination with national, departmental, and local government entities. Associations that embark on this process go through a long administrative process. Taking this fact into consideration, we maintain that to understand the language policy in ECEC, it is imperative to examine the overlapping participation of different government entities and services from the national, regional, departmental, city, and local levels. Our data reveal that the conceptualization of the language policy at a newly created bilingual crèche structure was highly influenced by top-down language policies and pervading language ideologies. Yet, the crèche personnel needed to interpret, negotiate, and appropriate this policy in order to consider its feasibility and to take into account the children's interests and welfare within the normal functioning of this early years structure.

An animated story created by a group of young children

2021 ◽  
pp. 146879842098875
Author(s):  
Marianne Undheim ◽  
Trude Hoel
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Young Children ◽  
Qualitative Case Study ◽  
Field Observations ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Education And Care ◽  
Digital Stories ◽  
Empirical Material

This paper contributes to the contemporary focus on literacy and digital stories in early childhood education and care (ECEC) institutions. When a group of young children create an animated story together, they might collaborate, both with their peers and with their teacher. By drawing on social semiotic multimodal perspectives as the theoretical framework, the purpose of this paper is to describe and explore how different modalities and narrative devices contribute to the development of an animated story created by six children (aged 4-5 years) and a teacher in collaboration. The study is a qualitative case study, focusing on contemporary events in a Norwegian kindergarten. The empirical material consists of video-recorded field observations of the process as well as the final product. Through an inductive exploration of the development of verbal narrative, three analytical strands are identified: i) verbal narrative in the final product, ii) multimodal narrative in the final product, and iii) narrative devices applied by the children during the process. The findings demonstrate the importance of including and considering the process, the product, narrative devices and all the modalities—in particular the kineikonic mode—when creating an animated story with young children. An implication of these findings is for ECE teachers and researchers to acknowledge and integrate all the various aspects that contribute to the final product when young children create animated stories.

scholarly journals Spatial perspectives on babies’ ways of belonging in infant early childhood education and care

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 109-131 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Sumsion ◽  
Linda J. Harrison ◽  
Matthew Stapleton
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Care Centre ◽  
Complex Dynamic ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Education And Care ◽  
Multiple Case ◽  
Vantage Points

Abstract In this article, we endeavour to think spatially about the texture of infants’ everyday lives and their ways of ‘doing’ belonging in the babies’ room in an Australian early childhood education and care centre. Drawing on data from a large, multiple case-study project, and on theorisations of space that reject Euclidean notions of space as empty, transparent, relatively inert containers into which people, objects practices and artefacts are inserted, and instead emphasise space as complex, dynamic and relational, we map the navigating movements (Massumi, 2002) of baby Nadia. Through the telling of ‘stories-so-far’ (Massey, 2005), we convey how Nadia, as part of a constellation or assemblage of human and non-human beings, found ways to intensify space and to mobilise new vantage points, thus expanding the spatial possibilities of what we initially took to be a particularly confined and confining space.

scholarly journals Supporting educator well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic: A case study of leadership in early childhood education and care organisations

2021 ◽  
pp. 183693912110409
Author(s):  
Helen Logan ◽  
Laura McFarland ◽  
and Tamara Cumming ◽  
Sandie Wong
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Critical Incident ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Senior Managers ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Education And Care ◽  
Elite Interviews ◽  
Fear And Anxiety

The goal of this qualitative study was to understand the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on early childhood educators’ well-being in Australia and to identify strategies for supporting educator well-being throughout this crisis. Data were gathered using a multi-site case study with five Senior Managers or CEOs of early childhood education and care organisations. Using elite interviews, participants were asked how the pandemic impacted educator well-being and what strategies their organisations implemented to support educator well-being. Guided by a phenomenological framework, thematic analysis was used to interpret the interviews. Participants reported that educator well-being was negatively impacted by exposure to physical risk, fear and anxiety, financial stress and feelings of betrayal. Participants reported supporting educator well-being through crisis-planning, increased and focused communication, support for physical safety, well-being resources and programmes, and advocacy for and recognition of educators’ contributions to society . Implications for critical incident planning in ECEC are discussed.

scholarly journals Religious Festivals in Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) Institutions: A Norwegian Case Study

2017 ◽  
Vol 16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kari Krogstad
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
National Curriculum ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Religious Festivals ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Education And Care ◽  
Teachers And Parents ◽  
The Ideal

This paper investigates how teachers at Norwegian early childhood education and care (ECEC) institutions interpret the national curriculum’s mandate that children should learn about religion and religious festivals. The results from an empirical study conducted in one religiously diverse ECEC, which is attended by children from both Christian and Muslim families, serve as the context for this analysis. The study identifies discrepancies between the ideal provided by the national curriculum and the reality described by teachers and parents. In the case of the ECEC studied, religion as such causes uneasiness among the teachers. As a result, Christian festivities focus more on traditions than religion, and Muslim holidays are ignored. Parents are largely uninformed about the purpose and content related to religious festivities at their children’s ECEC. A starting point in addressing teachers’ uncertainty over how to comply with the curricular mandate is to design pedagogical activities around religious festivities that aim to achieve learning and mutual understanding among the children.

scholarly journals 'It's all the things'? Exploring teachers' views on the notion of 'community' in early childhood education

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Judith Hamer
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Physical World ◽  
Political Discussion ◽  
Diverse Range ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Study Centre ◽  
Education And Care ◽  
The Rich

<p>This thesis explores the multiple meanings of ‘community’ within early childhood education (ECE). Utilising a qualitative, interpretive approach, this exploratory case study has sought to gain an in-depth understanding of how teachers view the meaning of ‘community’ within a typical, non-community-owned ECE centre. Rogoff’s (1984, 1995) three planes of sociocultural activity (personal, interpersonal and institutional) have been utilised as a theoretical framework to more fully understand the rich context of this case study centre. Findings from this study highlight that practices of this centre primarily focus inwards on the education and care of the enrolled children and the support of their families within the ECE ‘centre community’. However, despite this, the teachers both collectively and individually also reflect a diverse range of views on the notion of ‘community’ in terms of people, place and connections, including views that look outwards to consider the child within the context of their wider social and physical world. This study concludes that there needs to be a much larger social and political discussion about the notion of ‘community’ within the wider ECE sector, including the role and provision of ECE, not only in terms of the care and education of children but within society as a whole.</p>

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