International Journal of Child Care and Education Policy最新文献

Quality teacher–child interaction is considered one of the primary mechanisms through which educational experience fosters the development of children’s competencies. Teachers’ self-efficacy and beliefs about developmentally appropriate practices influence the quality of classroom interaction. However, the findings are mixed, and more research must be done within the preschool teacher population. The present study investigated teacher-related factors influencing teacher–child interaction quality with preschool children. Two rating scales and one observation measure were used to survey and observe 55 preschool teachers in preschool centres of Arba Minch town, Ethiopia. Statistically significant positive correlations were found between teacher factors (i.e., teacher belief, self-efficacy, teaching experience) and teacher–child interaction quality (emotional support, classroom organization, and instructional support). Teacher belief significantly predicted teachers’ emotional support and classroom organization, while teaching experience significantly predicted instructional support. The findings of this study have implications for concerned bodies striving to achieve the 2030 sustainable development goals aimed at increasing the supply of qualified teachers to ensure all girls and boys have access to quality early childhood development and care so that they are ready for primary education, especially in the least developed countries.

The bright future of any society is always associated with its upcoming generation. Children are the future prosperity of any nation as they are productive workers of tomorrow. The main objective of this study is to estimate the opportunities available for children under age of 5 years and their mothers for different regions of Pakistan and Bangladesh. The core idea of this study is to access and compare Pakistan with Bangladesh as it was previously a poor and struggling part of it. Data of this study are gathered from Bangladesh Demographic Health Survey and Pakistan Demographic Health Survey for the year 2017–18. The overall comparison of Pakistan and Bangladesh had put Pakistan in a situation where it lagged in every aspect of health-related facilities provided to its citizen. Governments should focus on providing economic opportunities, Health, education, and nutrition to enhance regional and area-level living standards. Further, rural areas should be more focused, especially by the Government of Pakistan.

Kindergarten is emphasized as a critical first entry into the education system, as politicians and pundits believe kindergartners’ success can lead to later academic achievement. Therefore, a comprehensive understanding of kindergarten school readiness data should consider how it is measured and how that affects learning. Using the Early Childhood Longitudinal Studies—Kindergarten (ECLS-K) cohort 2010–2011 data, the author examined the relationship between teacher reports about children’s academic readiness at kindergarten entrance and their later outcomes in reading, math, and science through fifth grade. This study used a latent basis growth model with time-invariant predictors to analyze the relationship's trajectory. Overall, findings determined that teachers’ perceptions of children’s Approaches to Learning, mathematical thinking, and science significantly impacted later achievements in math and science direct assessments throughout elementary education. This research discussed the practice and policy implications on teachers’ perceptions of school readiness and its impact on later academic outcomes.

Over the past decade, numerous reports have indicated pervasively high rates of early childhood expulsion nationwide. In response, state and federal policymakers have enacted various measures to ban or reduce reliance on such exclusionary discipline. Prior evaluations of the implementation of one such legislative ban on expulsion enacted in Illinois in 2018 showed partial reductions but relied only on program administrator-reported data. Parents (N = 16) of children (43.75% children of color) expelled from Illinois early childhood programs before and in the years since the 2018 legislative ban were interviewed about their experiences. Parents in both groups reported similar incidents regarding how and why children are excluded, how programs communicated with parents about children’s behavioral concerns, and how programs assisted (or did not) with accessing resources and supports that may enable a child to be retained. Findings indicate that expulsions continue to happen despite the ban and families’ experiences were essentially unchanged and negative. Findings hold implications for the implementation of similar policy efforts across the country.

Using a mixed research design, the overall objective of this study is to investigate the profiles of child labour in Ethiopia’s districts of Raya-Kobo and Angot. The study’s specific objectives are to examine types of activities and prevalence of child labour, to identify the children’s working contexts, and to evaluate the extent of harm children face in workplaces. The study hypothesizes the existence of significant variations in the profiles of child labour (activity types, prevalence rates, settings, and level of harm to children) as a result of several circumstances. While survey methodology was used to collect primary data from 431 randomly selected respondents, desk review and document analysis were also used to gather secondary data. The sampling procedures used include multi-stage purposive and systematic random sampling. Descriptive and inferential (Ordered Probit Regression model) methods of data analysis are utilized to analyze the data. The results of the descriptive analysis demonstrate a high incidence and magnitude of child labour, as well as children’s early entry to work. The regression analysis reveals children’s exposure to high levels of harm at work, which is directly exacerbated by household age, income diversification, land fragmentation, livestock number, shocks, and the predicted value of remittances. Contrarily, access to rural transportation, household heads’ education level, cart ownership, and family size reduce children’s harm extent while working. The study highlights the need to design strategies for age-appropriate work to protect children from hazardous and high-intensity activities, undertake community awareness campaigns about the impact of child labour on children, and strengthen local stakeholders’ capacity. Additionally, connecting rural areas and farmers’ croplands to towns or major routes via repaired or new roads would be beneficial.

This study draws on data from TALIS Starting Strong 2018, an international survey of early childhood education and care (ECEC) staff and leaders, to examine the staff roles (leader, teacher, assistant, specialised staff, intern, other) that are included in ECEC centres in nine countries: Chile, Denmark, Germany, Iceland, Israel, Japan, Korea, Norway and Türkiye. The staffing profiles in ECEC centres are compared across countries as well as within countries, according to whether the centre was co-located with a primary school, its size in terms of the number of children enrolled, and the concentration of children with special needs and those from socio-economically disadvantaged homes. In addition, associations between the share of teachers and assistants in ECEC centres and staff reports of their time working on tasks without children, their collaboration with colleagues, their work-related stress and job satisfaction were examined. Results are discussed in terms of the different policy contexts in the participating countries and implications for building an ECEC workforce to address demands for both increased access to and better ECEC quality for children.

The staff shortages in the early childhood education and care (ECEC) sector in Germany are an important issue. They impact centres that are forced to close earlier, shut down entire groups or are unable to open at all due to the lack of pedagogical staff. However, the federal states have been making efforts to address this problem. This article discusses innovative ways of handling staff shortages based on qualitative analyses of current regulations regarding qualification requirements for the ECEC sector in Germany. Our analysis focused on the question concerning the degree to which a multi-professional orientation is already widespread in the 16 licensing laws of the federal states and what other conditions have to be met by individuals wishing to work in the ECEC sector who have no pedagogical qualifications. The second focus regarding the handling of staff shortages was on the formal recognition of migrant pedagogical staff with non-German qualifications. The results revealed first a tendency to open the labour market to individuals with non-pedagogical qualifications in the majority of the federal states. Second, most of the federal states have created ways of recognising non-German qualifications and of putting in place special regulations for Ukrainian pedagogues. In summary, it can be said that despite the relaxing of the licensing laws, no major changes in team composition could be observed. This is a positive sign given the unchanged division of tasks and positions in the teams, as there are currently no structures in place to adequately support team members with non-pedagogical qualifications.

This article investigates Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic. The focus is on ECEC leaders’ perceptions of team leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany. The purpose of the study is to increase understanding of the team-related challenges ECEC leaders have been confronted with, how they have been experienced and mastered. Therefore, two qualitative studies were designed (Hamburg, Leipzig). A total of 55 ECEC leaders from different federal states were surveyed in guideline-based qualitative interviews (Leipzig study: n = 20 ECEC leaders; Hamburg study: n = 35 ECEC leaders) and analysed with a qualitative content analysis. The results show how teamwork changed under the pandemic conditions and what challenges the leaders faced, including a lack of staff (due to e. g. quarantine, disease), structural separation of teams, lack of communication, additional tasks (political regulations), and missing collaboration with parents. The results indicate that not only ECEC leaders are required to organise team development activities on a regular basis or to reflect on the experiences of the pandemic within heterogeneous teams but also setting providers and sectoral policies are called upon to support ECEC centres in crisis according to their needs.