International Perspectives on Early Childhood Education and Care

Early Childhood Education in the 21st Century Vol I

Susanne Garvis, Sivanes Phillipson, Heidi Harju-Luukkainen, Susanne Garvis, Sivanes Phillipson, Heidi Harju-Luukkainen

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2018
• ISBN:
  9781351397919
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Pedagogía
• Subtopic: Educación infantil

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.

1 An introduction to early childhood education and care in the 21st century

An international perspective

Susanne Garvis, Sivanes Phillipson and Heidi Harju-Luukkainen

Introduction

Early childhood education and care are current interests in many countries following international studies, which have shown the importance of children starting their early years within a high quality education and caring environment. A number of longitudinal research projects in the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom support the notion that high-quality (compared with low-quality) preschool is more likely to support the optimal social, emotional and cognitive development of children, promote growth experiences (including nurturing and attachment), and facilitate positive interaction among teachers and children (Gordon & Browne, 2014; Sylva, Melhuish, Sammons, Siraj-Blatchford, & Taggart, 2010). These positive developmental and social experiences, as well as a supportive and nurturing environment in the preschool are commonly translated into improved school readiness and subsequent successful academic achievement in areas such as reading and mathematics (Ramey & Ramey, 2004). This suggests that if policy makers are interested in supporting children’s academic achievement, they must start with providing quality early childhood education and care environments that support children’s learning and social wellbeing.

While the benefits of early childhood education and care are acknowledged in the literature as universal, is the research actually true for all countries? This type of reflective questioning also brings us to other questions, such as what early childhood education and care in the 21st century actually look like. Does early childhood education and care look different in different regions? Is early childhood teacher education the same? Are curriculum and learning frameworks the same? What are cultural constraints to early childhood education and care across different countries? This book draws together leading early childhood education and care academics from across the world to explore contemporary early childhood education around teaching, family and policy. The book is able to draw on authors from across the globe to show similarities and differences within the early childhood education and care landscape. This book shows the complexity of policy and provision around early childhood education and care across 19 countries, highlighting shared enablers and barriers across the world. Given that we live in a globalised world, it is important that we understand the context of other countries and similarities and differences for young children, their families and early childhood teachers.

The countries represented have low, medium and high economic statuses with a variety of government systems and cultures. Some countries have had well-established early childhood education and care systems, while others have only recently implemented early childhood education and care systems. Some countries have aligned early childhood education and care with formal schooling systems, while other countries have placed early childhood education and care within family and social services. Given this diversity, readers will be able to learn about other contexts and cultures as well as reflect on their own. Such a consolidated approach of understanding the movements of early childhood education and care internationally provides new opportunities for cross-fertilisation of ideas in early childhood education and care and for developing an international perspective.

This first book in a series of three is based on three major themes to allow the reader to develop a better understanding of country differences within the field of early childhood education and care. The three themes are:

1. 1 Quality goals and regulations in the country’s early childhood education and care.
2. 2 Design and implementation of curriculum and standards in the country specific to early childhood education and care.
3. 3 Cultural constraints and gains surrounding early childhood education and care.

The first theme is designed to highlight each country’s priorities and how they have regulated early childhood education and care. This could include past and recent decisions surrounding quality, access, teacher qualification and many other important topics. The second theme explores the implementation of curriculum and standards in the different countries. For some countries the introduction of a learning curriculum or framework have been relatively new. Some sectors in some countries may also still lack an official curriculum for children. The third theme gives insights into the cultural context of each country and asks the authors to share important information about the context.

Outline of the book

Authors were asked to share their understanding of these three themes based on their own knowledge about their country and culture. The intention was to allow authors to explore each of these themes from their own perspective, while at the same time sharing their knowledge with people from other contexts and cultures. As editors, we did not want to impose too many boundaries on the authors, recognising that each context and culture is different.

The diverse list of countries begins to provide an ‘international’ understanding of early childhood education and care. What emerges is that, while we may talk about early childhood education and care, there are many differences in what ECEC actually means across the country contexts. Some countries have aligned early childhood services, while other countries have very fragmented provisions for early childhood services. Quality of staff and their qualifications appear as a major issue in all countries, regardless of economic background.

The countries visited are diverse in regards to early childhood education and care. The countries and content include:

• In the second chapter, Gerarda Richards, Susanne Garvis and Sivanes Phillipson and share details about recent changes in Australian early childhood education and care, including the national quality standards implemented to enhance quality.
• Brooke Richardson and Rachel Langford provide details about Canadian early childhood education and care in the third chapter. We learn that Canada is entrenched in neoliberal ideals, creating fragmented services across the providences.
• The fourth chapter outlines information about Chile. Macarena Silva writes that Chile has an early childhood and preschool education spanning 153 years.
• Pernille Juhl explores the notion of child participation in the Danish context in chapter 5. She highlights the current narrow political understanding of child learning.
• In the sixth chapter we learn about Estonia. Tiia Õun, Aino Ugaste and Tiina Peterson describe the success of an immersion programme, as well as the general strong access across the early childhood sector.
• The seventh chapter describes the context of Finland. Annti Rajala and Lasse Lipponen share current understandings about narratives of compassion in Finnish early childhood education and care.
• In the eighth chapter, we learn about Germany from Claudia M. Ueffing. Germany appears focused on quality improvement and has implemented a number of professional learning programmes for teachers.
• Chapter 9 is about Greece. Maria Birbili and Ifigenia Christodoulou write about the professional up-skilling of educators that is occurring to improve quality.
• In chapter 10, Iceland is presented. Kristín Dýrfjörð writes that, while Iceland shares many characteristics with its Nordic neighbours, the importance it bestows on the social welfare system is different. The concept of playschool is also explored.
• Sojung Seo describes Korea in chapter 11. Korea has made significant investments in early childhood education and care to try to tackle low birth rates, increase women’s participation in the workforce and provide children from disadvantaged backgrounds a better start in life.
• Gaye Tyler-Merrick, Joanna Phillips, Claire McLachlan, Tara McLaughlin, Karyn Aspden and Sue Cherington present New Zealand in chapter 12. The chapter provides a current critique of the main shifts in policy direction around early childhood education and care and shares implications for the future development of early childhood policy.
• Chapter 13 shares the context of Norway from Alicja R. Sadownik and Elin Eriksen Ødegaard. Norway’s democratic roots and national governance support a holistic approach in Norwegian early childhood education and care.
• Chapter 14 is about Russia. Igor Shiyan, Olga Shiyan, Alexander Veraksa and Nikolay Veraksa explain the influence of Vygotsky and the zone of proximal development. Preschool education is for children aged 3–7 years and consists of a full-day programme, three hot meals and an obligatory daytime nap.
• Tijana Bogovac shares the context of Serbia in chapter 15. We learn about the history as well as recent initiatives to enhance the early childhood sector, including the up-skilling of early childhood staff.
• Sivanes Phillipson, Eugenia Koh, Salwa Sujuddin and Sharmini Mohamed Sharif describe the context of Singapore in chapter 16 and showcase recent changes implemented by the Ministry of Education.
• Chapter 17 explores Sweden with Pia Williams, Sonja Sheridan, Susanne Garvis and Elisabeth Mellgren. We learn about the strong focus on children’s wellbeing as well as the strong provision for access to early childhood education and care.
• In chapter 18, we learn about Taiwan from Yvonne Yu-Feng Liu. Many reforms have taken place in Taiwan to enhance quality and attendance.
• Pauline Slot shares the context of the Netherlands in chapter 19. Currently, more than 80% of two and three year olds participate in early childhood education and care services in the Netherlands.
• Chapter 20 is about Turkey. Şenil Ünlü Çetin describes the importance of parental involvement in the Turkish early childhood system.
• The final chapter, chapter 21, provides an overview of the key variables of ECEC in the 19 countries covered within this book. These key variables are, namely, terminology, governance of ECEC, qualifications and wages of ECEC practitioners and universal access or children’s rights to education.

Conclusion

This book is designed to share with the reader the diversity of early childhood education and care around the world. The 19 countries are all located in different regions – Asia Pacific, Europe, North America and South America – and are based on different ideologies and systems of governance. The chapters provide information about the history and development of early childhood education and care, as well as the contemporary contexts and current concerns. Current concerns include but are not limited to teacher qualifications, access, quality, working with diversity and reduction of fragmentation across regions in the same country. It is hoped that, as readers engage with each chapter, they will learn a little about the contexts and concerns of other countries that are less well-published. Readers can then visualise the similarities and differences in relation to their own context. Hopefully, the concept of early childhood education and care will also be recognised as a complex term that cannot be reduced to a simple understanding. Rather, the term early childhood education and care is dependent on the culture and context in which it is understood, evidently moving away from prescribing to dominant ways and practices as espoused by well-researched and published ECEC players like the United Kingdom and United States. We need to continue to have discussions about what these terms mean to increase our own understanding and learning, while at the same time reducing the assumptions and misunderstandings we may have.

References

Gordon, A., & Browne, K. (Eds.). (2014). Beginnings & beyond: Foundations in early childhood education. New York: Cengage Learning.

Ramey, C. T., & Ramey, S. L. (2004). Early learning and school readiness: Can early intervention make a difference? Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 50(4), 471–491. doi:10.1353/mpq.2004.0034

Sylva, K., Melhuish, E., Sammons, P., Siraj-Blatchford, I., & Taggart, B. (2010). Early childhood matters. Evidence from the effective pre-school and primary education project. London: Routledge.

2 Early childhood education and care in Australia

A historical and current perspective for a way forward

Gerarda Richards, Susanne Garvis and Sivanes Phillipson

Introduction

Globalisation can be understood as an international sharing of ideas, products and other elements (Grieshaber, 2017). In recent years, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has been viewed as a major influence on policy production, particularly in the Early Childhood and Education (ECEC) sector. The OECD has produced significant reports about ECEC, which have been used as blueprints for governments to support educational reforms and funding decisions (Grieshaber, 2017). The OECD 2006 report suggested gaps in the provisions for ECEC services, highlighting the lack of quality and access for young children from low-income and second-language groups. The review that was directed to the report examined the influence that policies, services, families and communities have on young children’s learning and development. This information led to the rapid growth in early childhood education and care provision in many countries. As a result of research showing how increased spending in the years before formal school sector reduced short and long-term costs to society and promoted the development of better education, health and socio-economic stability, governments paid closer attention to investment in the early years before compulsory schooling (Heckman, 2006). This observation is further supported by Dornan and Woodhead (2015), who suggested that supporting children’s developmental growth through early intervention is the best strategy to prevent later disadvantage. However, the quality of early interventions in particular, in ECEC plays a major role in the lasting effects on the educational outcomes of the child (OECD, 2012).

Over the past decade, Australia has implemented a number of policy reforms to improve quality and access to early childhood education with an overall goal of becoming one of the world’s leaders in the area. Australia is known as a Commonwealth country, which consists of a Federation of six states and two territories. At the time this chapter was written, the population was estimated at 24, 498, 964 million (Australian Bureau of Statistics [ABS], 2017a). The Australian indigenous population was estimated to be 3% of the total population (ABS, 2011) and approximately 28.5% being born overseas, therefore representing the migrant population (ABS, 2017b). Australia is one of the most culturally and linguistically diverse countries in the world (Australian Early Development Census, 2015). In 2014, out of the 3.8 million children aged 0–12 years, approximately 48% of children attended childcare (ABS, 2015). It is important to note that in Australia, ECEC is defined as ages 0–5 years or 0–8 years in Victoria (which includes primary school levels of foundation, grade 1 and grade 2).

It was in 2008 when the new Australian government implemented the largest and most significant ‘Early Childhood Reform Agenda’, This consisted of the ‘National Quality Standards’, which have several components that are discussed later in the chapter (Sims, Mulhearn, Grieshaber, & Sumsion, 2015). The ‘Early Childhood Reform Agenda’ in Australia was prompted by the international research and by the OECD. The evidence from such research highlighted the importance of children’s social and emotional development in the early years of life and the economic impact this has on individuals and, in turn, society (Sims et al., 2015). The reform agenda was also prompted by the inconsistencies across jurisdictio...