INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EARLY CHILDHOOD最新文献

Educational and playful forms of media are both pervasive in children’s media landscape. Children tend to see play and learning as distinct, whereas parents tend to recognize the overlap between these categories; however, little research investigates children’s and parents’ conceptions of media as learning or play. Children (N = 80, five- and seven-year-olds) and mothers (N = 40) were shown black-and-white line drawings representing a child engaging in both media and non-media activities and asked to categorize each image as learning/not learning and as play/not play. Both mothers and children were less likely to see media as learning than non-media activities. However, children were less likely than mothers to differentiate between media and non-media activities in their conceptions of play. Both mothers and children were less likely to conceive of media activities than non-media activities as both learning and play, but this effect was stronger for mothers. These results suggest that mothers may see media more negatively and/or instrumentally, whereas children may see media as one of many options for playtime, indicating that parents should be encouraged to see media in a playful light, alongside other non-digital options for childhood play.

Caregiver education and home stimulation have shown positive associations with children’s developmental outcomes in early childhood in high-income “Minority World” countries, and these processes also predict children’s long-term health and well-being. However, relatively little is known about these processes in low- and middle-income “Majority World” countries, where an estimated 250 million children under the age of five are at risk of not reaching their developmental potential. This paper attempts to address these gaps in knowledge by exploring the relations between caregiver education, household stimulation, and early childhood development in a sample of infants and toddlers aged birth to three using data on 9,099 caregiver-child dyads from eight under-represented Majority World sites: Brazil, Guatemala, India, Jordan, Lebanon, Pakistan, the Philippines, and Zambia. It also explored the differences in these developmental processes between children’s sex and geographical regions. Results showed that home stimulation partially mediated the associations between caregiver education and children’s developmental outcomes across eight sites. These developmental processes differed by geographical regions and by children’s sex. In sum, these findings contribute to the field’s understanding of the universality and specificity of child development across settings and child characteristics. They also suggest the importance of supporting caregiver education and home stimulation activities as means of promoting children’s developmental outcomes, as well as the need to promote gender equity in the Majority World to ensure equal access to learning opportunities, especially opportunities in the home.

Teaching in times of crisis is a challenge for the current educational system, and the impact of the environmental crisis on the global framework is affecting the quality of life of children. Diminishing rainfall in South America and Chilean water private rights are threats that impact them strongly. Children are aware of the increasingly severe water shortage in Chile, and from their standpoint, they understand the environmental problem and propose solutions. The purpose of this study is to reveal and describe the social representations of preschoolers regarding water care. These social representations were investigated using a qualitative study with visual methods, with a sample of N = 33 children aged from 5 to 6 years old attending kindergarten in Santiago, Chile. The social representations were detected through a structural analysis to later establish findings from the narratives about drawings made in various school activities. The results indicate that children positively value water as a critical element for ecological balance, are aware of the environmental crisis, and express concerns derived from the water shortage in the country. Today, preschoolers will soon grasp the concept that water is a vital national resource. However, our endeavor should be toward fostering a society that acknowledges and asserts water as a fundamental human right.

Early childhood experiences have lifelong physical, social, emotional, and cognitive impacts. High quality early childhood education and care (ECEC) can put children on the path to personal development, lifelong learning, and future employability. Among the fastest growing ECEC options are nature-based preschools, where children spend most or all of each day outdoors in natural environments, but comparative studies of children’s behavior in nature-based versus traditional preschools are needed. We conducted an observational study comparing conflict, activity patterns, and play behavior among children at a nature preschool and a traditional preschool, both in Norway, where access to high quality ECEC is a universal right. We found that preschool children’s behavior varied with time spent outdoors in natural environments: (1) play was more physically active, less gendered, and less often incorporated human-made items at the nature preschool, (2) conflict was almost twice as common at the traditional preschool, and (3) daily group activities at the traditional preschool like sitting down to a cooked meal and gathering up and putting away toys were absent from the nature preschool. While both the traditional and nature preschools offered children equal amounts of play time and a variety of physically and socially stimulating play activities, our results suggest that access to natural environments impacts preschool children’s behavior and interactions in meaningful ways.

The main goal of this study was to explore the relationship between emergent literacy beliefs and practices among Portuguese preschool teachers and to investigate the moderating role of experience and training (initial and continuous). The participants were 266 preschool teachers working in Portugal. The results indicate higher levels of holistic beliefs than technicist beliefs regarding emergent literacy. Practices aimed at promoting oral language and phonological awareness were reported as the most frequently used practices in the classroom. Teachers who had continuous training in emergent literacy had more holistic beliefs and performed more practices to promote children’s phonological awareness and knowledge of the relationship between oral and written language. Continuous training was also a significant moderator of the relationship between emergent literacy beliefs and practices. These findings highlight the importance of continuous training in fostering the use of quality research-based practices in the classroom.

Based on Sustainable Development Goals, a recent flurry of activity has begun concerning the responsibilities of teachers to support young children in recognising and responding to aspects of climate change. Less, however, is understood about the emotional impact of these interventions on children themselves, or the extent to which the way they are framed can impact on the actions that follow. The extent to which children are encouraged to worry about water and their responsibilities concerning its sustainability is of relevance to the children of Aotearoa New Zealand and orients the focus of this paper. Walking with 3–4-year-old children over several days across three early childhood education and care sites located near waterways in the South Island, researchers share examples of worrying that took place for these children as we walked together with water. Utilising Bilandzic et al. (Sci Commun 39:466–491, 2017) goal frames to analyse their significance, the ways children worried are explored in a series of narratives that identify as series of positive and negative frames and their consequences. The paper concludes by highlighting the considerable effects of worrying and their consequences for activating children towards climate action. Teachers are invited to take a nuanced view that ameliorates the counter-productive outcomes of negative frames that can immobilise action, in contemplation of positive frames with water as a relational encounter with potential for empowerment and change. As such, a shift from emphasising activities for climate change to the framings that orient their significance through children’s worrying encounters with and about water.

This study aims to investigate the perceptions of teacher candidates enrolled in an early childhood program (BEd) towards the importance of producing the capstone portfolio. The purpose of using capstone portfolios is to provide evidence that Early Childhood Education candidates (ECEC) have met international accreditation standards as stipulated by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) and realize the culminating development of their study in shaping the desired teacher qualities in their program of study. The perspectives of two cohorts of teacher candidates (a total of six participants) were investigated to report their views on the experience of creating capstone portfolios. Interviews and artefact analysis were used to collect data. The study revealed that Early Childhood Education candidates consolidated theory and practice through their capstone portfolios. The findings also revealed that the capstone portfolio, besides being evidence for meeting the National Association for the Education of Young Children accreditation standards, served as a means for learning and professional development. These findings show that capstone portfolios are effective not only for meeting accreditation standards but also for allowing candidates to connect the dots and fully view their overall learning as ECE professionals.

This study explores the impact of transitioning from structural quality to process quality in the regulation of Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) for children aged birth to 3 years on the professional identity of inspectors. The research centers on a pilot program led by the Day Care Division at the Ministry of Welfare in Israel, which aimed to reform the inspection of day care facilities in the country. The methodology involves conducting 24 interviews with day care inspectors who participated in the pilot program, tracing their evolving understanding of their professional identity and their adaptation to the new regulatory model. The study's findings reveal that inspectors' professional identity comprises five key aspects: source of authority, inspection methods, superintendent's skill set, role perception, and their perception of the regulated entities. Inspectors are compelled to redefine their professional identity in response to changes in the regulatory model. In conclusion, this research underscores the intricate nature of inspectors' roles during periods of regulatory transformation. Shifting toward a process-oriented ECEC regulation necessitates the development of a new professional identity for inspectors. This shift presents them with heightened ethical dilemmas and exposes them to the risk of regulatory capture.