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This open access book provides a critical, thought-provoking, and stimulating overview of theories applied worldwide to conceptualise collaborations between early childhood education and children's families. The book starts with a critical reflection on the colonial undertones of parental involvement (PI) and acknowledges a strong political will to improve this aspect of early childhood education and care. The chapters in the book describe and discuss various theories, including the cultural historical wholeness approach, Bronfenbrenner's ecology of human development, the theory of social capital, the theory of collaboration, family-school partnership models proposed by Epstein and Hornby, Bourdieu's social theory, the theory of practice architectures, the discourse/narrative theory, and posthumanism. By proposing the concept of more-than-parents, the authors aim to embrace both the diversity of intergenerational family configurations and the agency of materiality, artifacts, and the involvement of more-than-human actors.
Partnership with Parents in Early Childhood Settings examines how practitioners can work effectively with parents and families, acknowledging the complex nature of these relationships. Drawing on policy, research and practice from kindergartens and early years settings in five European countries, it provides insight into how political, social and cultural contexts affect the relationships between educators and families and the impact this has on children’s early experiences. The book is based upon learning from an Erasmus mobility project between educators from five countries in OMEP (the World Organisation for Early Childhood Education). It presents examples from practice and research fro...
Exploring the importance of parental engagement in early childhood education, this book delves into research and practices in 25 countries to bring students, researchers, teachers and policy-makers insights into working families around the world. The incorporation and consideration of parental engagement and involvement in early childhood education are a new phenomenon to many countries. Yet, increasing research recognises the importance of parental engagement and involvement in early childhood education services, and the role both parents and teachers play to support children’s learning and development. Using a range of materials from curriculum to policy documents, Garvis et al. demonstr...
This thought-provoking research anthology adopts a postmodern stance and fills in a gap of knowledge for the education of professional development in teacher education, health sciences and the arts. Allowing subjectivity and multiple voices, the authors add to the intimate and negotiated knowledge of being and becoming – indigenous, architect, mother, teacher, health researcher, and supervisor. In fifteen chapters, the authors share knowledge of pain and reward in critical events in the realm of professional identity formation. The book provides a selection of personal and far-reaching stories and adds to the reflexivity of memories of critical events. Contributors are: Geir Aaserud, Åsta Birkeland, Bodil H. Blix, Sidsel Boldermo, Mimesis Heidi Dahlsveen, Nanna Kathrine Edvardsen, Rikke Gürgens Gjærum, Tona Gulpinar, Carola Kleemann, Tove Lafton, Mette Bøe Lyngstad, Elin Eriksen Ødegaard, Anna-Lena Østern, Alicja R. Sadownik, Tiri Bergesen Schei and Vibeke Solbue.
This book provides different perspectives on the concept of children’s rights, including policy, educational, and children’s perspectives. It examines how the crucial ideas of the Convention on the Rights of the Child are respected and implemented in 14 countries in five regions of the world. It looks at early childhood education, children’s participatory rights, and at how these rights are promoted and guaranteed in different countries. It explores the professional practice of education and its complexities, challenges and dilemmas, as well as the role of play, and of listening and participation. The book advocates children’s rights today, arguing for its vital importance, in the be...
This Open Access book examines children’s participation in dialectical reciprocity with place-based institutional practices by presenting empirical research from Australia, Brazil, China, Poland, Norway and Wales. Underpinned by cultural-historical theory, the analysis reveals how outdoors and nature form unique conditions for children's play, formal and informal learning and cultural formation. The analysis also surfaces how inequalities exist in societies and communities, which often limit and constrain families' and children's access to and participation in outdoor spaces and nature. The findings highlight how institutional practices are shaped by pedagogical content, teachers' training, institutional regulations and societal perceptions of nature, children and suitable, sustainable education for young children. Due to crises, such as climate change and the recent pandemic, specific focus on the outdoors and nature in cultural formation is timely for the cultural-historical theoretical tradition. In doing so, the book provides empirical and theoretical support for policy makers, researchers, educators and families to enhance, increase and sustain outdoor and nature education.
This book outlines the notion of ‘lived democracy in education’, bringing together interdisciplinary educational research on young citizens’ democratic practices in kindergartens, schools, and teacher education. Presenting both theoretical and empirical studies, and drawing on a variety of approaches, the book investigates participatory education practices where young learners are given the opportunity to influence a course of action or a discussion through expressing arguments, information and critique. Lived democracy in education is understood as opportunities for young learners to influence a decision or line of thought through enacting the values of freedom of speech and equality, and the book shows how such opportunities can be positioned in educational practices. Chapters also investigate what kind of pedagogical situations promote lived democracy and what qualities are present in these situations. The book will be of interest to academics, researchers, graduate students and post-graduate students in the fields of educational theory, educational philosophy and democracy in education concerning several school subjects.
The first volume in this Early Childhood Education and Care in the 21st Century: International Teaching, Family and Policy Perspectives miniseries provides a snapshot of early childhood education and care from 19 different countries around the world. The intention is to provide a description for the policy and provision for young children and their families in each of the unique contemporary contexts. The selection of countries includes every continent in the world to provide variety across cultures, socio-economic status, location, population and other unique factors. Some chapters also share the development and history of early childhood in their country, including economic and political transitions that lead to changes in early childhood provision and policy. The book provides essential takeaways for early childhood educators, researchers, early childhood organisations, policy makers and those interested to know more about early childhood education within an international perspective.
This book explores international perspectives on quality improvement within the field of early childhood education and care. Many countries and governments are focusing on preschool quality as a way to improve entrenched inequalities and reduce social disadvantage and segregation: this book draws together various global case studies to showcase how different countries tackle aspects of quality improvement. The concept of quality is understood in different ways both culturally and contextually, and the implementation of measures to improve quality will differ from country to country. The book draws together case studies from numerous contexts to showcase various ways of working with aspects of quality improvement. Sharing important insights into policy and practice, this book guides a shared understanding of the complex nature of quality improvement within early childhood education and care.