162 research outputs found
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In-between spaces of policy and practice: Voices from Prince Edward Island early childhood educators
Get PDFOver the course of the past decades, the discourse, pedagogy, scope, and delivery of early learning and child care (ELCC) has undergone myriad significant changes internationally, nationally, and at local levels. Prince Edward Island (PEI), the smallest Canadian Province, has not been exempt from these transformations. By situating early childhood educators (ECEs) at the centre of ecological multilevel environments (Bronfenbrenner, 2005), this qualitative study explored how a system-wide change implemented through the Prince Edward Island Preschool Excellence Initiative (PEIPEI) has impacted and is being impacted by ECEs over time. Purposive sampling was used to invite seven early childhood educators working on provincially regulated early years centres (EYCs) to participate in individual interviews. Findings indicated that ECEs have been striving to navigate and merge the space in-between policy and practices and that after ten years, they remain in this liminal space where they continue to navigate unravelling transitions as they search for their professional identity
Revealing colonial power relations in early childhood policy making: An autoethnographic story on selective evidence
Get PDFThe COVID-19 pandemic exposes uncertainty, instability and glaring inequality that requires urgent global policy decisions. Historically, bureaucrats regard uncertainty as the enemy and look for tested solutions (Stevens, 2011). In contrast, Fielding & Moss (2010) acknowledge an uncertain future and encourage shifting policy making towards the search for possibilities instead of replicating singular solutions. Escobar (2020) advocates for pluriversal politics, with many possibilities created through collective decision-making by autonomous interlinked networks. In this paper, I combine autoethnography with policy analysis drawing on my own experience in South African early childhood policy making. I argue for a fresh decolonial debate about early childhood policy to replace dominant imported evidence-based narratives. I pay attention to power relations and examine, not only the content of evidence, but who has authority to speak (Mignolo, 2007). I introduce the bottom-up appreciative participatory dialogical policy making in the Gauteng Impilo project (1996 - 2000), as one attempt to resist the dominant policy trajectory. Local networks, that can inform policy making and resource allocation though conversation and action, emerged from this experience. This article invites urgent inclusive policy debate that expands choices and can produce cumulative worthwhile change and new learnings to birth a better society
The acquisition of autonomy, through benevolence, of children who are victims of domestic violence
Get PDFFrom its etymology bene (good) and volens (will), benevolence means desire to do well. Benevolence is not an arbitrary notion or a theoretical apprehension. It unquestionably reveals man\u27s humanism, which must combine in its daily practice and management with his fellow human beings and even with himself. In education, benevolence is crucial in mother-child relations. We believe that a mother must be benevolent, at the same time as; a child who has received the love of his mother (or parents) can love himself. This is a prerequisite for the acquisition of independent thought. The true cement of any family unit is the mutual love of all those who are called to live together. Paradoxically, love is not the foundation of all families. Unfortunately, there are dysfunctional families in which there are various and varied forms of violence. Children from this type of environment find themselves victims of abuse with all the possible traumatic consequences. Based on this observation, it is easy to reason by deduction: if family love conditions the acquisition of autonomy and children who are victims of family violence do not benefit from it within their families, then children who are victims of family violence are at a disadvantage in acquiring autonomy, or even that they cannot be autonomous. Thus, one may wonder to bring a child victim of family violence to the acquisition of his autonomy? What tools can be used to help a traumatized child become autonomous? How to rebuild a child who has suffered family trauma with a view to his or her autonomy? This article offers the reader benevolence, not as an instruction manual or prescription to be applied, but as a transferable and impactable posture
The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on children’s mental health and wellbeing, and beyond: A scoping review
Get PDFThe major threat of COVID-19 has become a priority to education and health systems worldwide. This scoping review reports on, and analyses, the literature pertaining to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on children’s mental health and wellbeing, and the resources needed to assist them in these difficult times. The findings of this literature review point out the impacts of the pandemic on the mental health and wellbeing of children hailing from different socio-economic backgrounds, as well as the impacts on families and schools. They also highlight how lockdown, quarantine, social distancing, social media and the measures needed to prevent the spread of infection can negatively affect children’s mental health and wellbeing. Consequently, cautionary measures that minimise these impacts on children, and recommendations for policy, research and practice are discussed
Are preschoolers expected to learn difficult science constructs? A content analysis of U.S. standards
Get PDFIn the current paper, we report on the recommendations for preschool science put forward in the educational standards of U.S. states. Our focus was specifically on whether educational standards recommend abstract science constructs—constructs that are difficult to learn. In Study 1, we focused on science constructs related to inquiry (i.e., activities geared towards the generation of scientific knowledge). And in Study 2, we focused on science constructs related to facts (i.e., established scientific knowledge). In each study, we developed a coding scheme to distinguish between concrete and abstract constructs and then determined the relative prevalence of each. Our findings show that preschoolers are indeed expected to learn abstract science constructs. At the same time, educational standards varied considerably across U.S. states. Implications for the field of early science learning are discussed
Preschoolers’ views on integration of digital technologies
Get PDFThe aim of the present study was to explore preschool children’s views on the integration of digital technologies in their school. The study included 171 Israeli children aged 3 to 6 who participated in in-depth interviews regarding their views on digital technologies in their preschool. The interviews were analyzed using content analysis. Three major views regarding digital technologies in the preschool were found: The degree to which digital technologies are necessary; the goals of the use of these technologies; the setting for using the digital technologies. Fifty percent of the children, especially the younger ones, claimed that use of these technologies is not necessary in preschool. However, most of them understood the importance of using these technologies and their contribution to many fields. In relation to the setting use, they referred to time and social aspects. The findings indicate that preschool teachers need to mediate these aspects more wisely and adapt them to the children\u27s understanding and view toward digital technologies than actually takes place when they use them with the children
Enhancing the quality of teacher-child interactions in Singapore pre-school classrooms
Get PDFThis exploratory study was aimed primarily at developing baseline data on the quality of teacher-child interactions in Singapore pre-school classrooms. Data were collected through observations of teacher-child interactions in 80 pre-schools, using the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS) in the three key domains which are 1) Emotional Support, 2) Classroom Organisation, and 3) Instructional Support (Pianta, La Paro, & Hamre, 2008). It was found that the overall quality of teacher-child interactions in the Singapore pre-school classrooms was low to moderate, with Instruction Support being the lowest. This finding is similar to that found in studies conducted in many other countries including China and the U.S. (Slot, 2017). Possible reasons and explanations will be presented, and suggestions to improve or enhance the quality of teacher-child interactions will be proposed. This study has implications on pre-school teacher education and professional development as well as government policies and regulations for the Singapore pre-school sector
Defining turn taking in intervention for young children with autism: A review of the literature
Get PDFTurn taking is a form of preverbal, dyadic, reciprocal communication that may support key areas of development, such as language and joint attention, and may serve different functions depending on each communicative partner’s intent. As such, it has been incorporated in interventions targeting various outcomes in young children with autism. However, there is inconsistency in how researchers define turn taking and explorations on how turn taking is defined across these interventions have not yet been reported in the current literature. Therefore, the purpose of this review was to investigate how turn taking is operationally defined based on communicative intent in the current literature on interventions for young children with autism and to explore additional intervention content to provide fuller context to how turn taking has been promoted. A search was conducted across databases to identify intervention studies for young children with autism that incorporated an embedded turn-taking component. Peer-reviewed articles were then coded based on turn-taking communicative intent, and additional intervention content was categorized. Findings across 14 studies indicate variability among turn-taking definitions both in communicative function and form. The results also reveal that turn taking has been promoted through different intervention approaches that incorporate diverse agents, settings, and methodology. Researchers and practitioners should consider specificity and clarity when defining turn taking to most optimally meet the developmental needs of young children with autism in future interventions
Silence and its mechanisms as the discursive production of the ‘normal’ in the early childhood classroom
Get PDFIn this paper, we aim to better understand and trouble the discursive (re)production of what is taken as the ‘normal’ in ‘inclusive’ early childhood classrooms. We do so by exploring the practices of the ‘including’ group, the so-called ‘normal, in relation to or in the presence of those who are variously labeled as ‘non-normal’. We highlight those mechanisms that are associated with silence and taboo, and through which the including group produces and maintains itself. We present data produced during a six-month ethnographic study in three early childhood classrooms in Australia. Using the notion of category boundary work in the analysis, we illuminate the practices of silence: ‘ignoring’, ‘moving away’, ‘turning away’ and ‘keeping silent’ through which children undertake the category work of the ‘normal’. The effect of this category work, we argue, is that disability or the diagnosed subject becomes ‘the elephant in the room’, strongly present but avowedly ignored. We draw out some considerations for practice in the concluding part of the paper
Effects of a parent training using telehealth: Equity and access to early intervention for rural families
Get PDFChildren living in geographically rural areas may have limited access to early, intensive evidence-based interventions suggesting children residing in these areas are less likely to experience positive outcomes than their urban-dwelling peers. Telehealth offers an option to rural families seeking early intervention by using communication technologies where providers are able to consult and deliver services in real-time over geographical distances. To our knowledge, no other study has examined the implementation of P-ESDM in rural natural environments within the framework of the state’s early intervention program. Using a multiple baseline design across participants, the current study investigated the effects of the parent-Early Start Denver Model implemented within a rural northeastern state’s existing IDEA Part C early intervention program. Parents demonstrated increased fidelity to intervention strategies and reported satisfaction with the program’s ease of implementation and observed child gains. Statistically significant pre-to post- change in children’s ASD symptomatology were reported for the domains of communication, social reciprocity and repetitive and restricted behaviors. Support for parent-mediated interventions, the importance of fidelity of implementation for sustainability of intervention strategies, and the need to explore telehealth as a viable service delivery option to improve developmental trajectories for toddlers with autism are discussed