A Different Pathway for the Professional Preparation of Early Childhood Teachers in Britain

This article examines the history behind and current status of the professional preparation of teachers who are knowledgeable about and appropriately qualified to work with the youngest children in a range of educational environments in Britain. The development of an alternative pathway for student teachers with a specific interest in working with children under 8 years of age is described.     

A Preliminary Investigation of Barriers Faced by Male Early Childhood Pre-Service Teachers

Despite calls for a balanced gender profile, a recent preliminary study that explored issues related to the low rate of applications and high attrition rate of males in a four year undergraduate Bachelor of Early Childhood Education degree indicated that early childhood pre-service intake was mainly comprised of female students. Most males did not choose early childhood education as their first preference in tertiary studies and they tended to fall away from this area between the orientation period and the actual commencement of the academic program. Those who stayed reported experiencing few institutional barriers to participation and completion of their studies but although participants considered the early childhood degree to be appropriate for both male and female students, only 48% of female participants thought that both males and females had equal chances of obtaining employment.     

Choosing to Teach: Perceptions of Male Preservice Teachers in Early Childhood and Elementary Education

Despite documentation of shortages of male teachers and numerous efforts by school officials to recruit more male teachers [Cohen, 1992; Wood and Hoag, 1993], the percent of men teaching in American public schools [elementary and secondary] has declined during the past twenty-five years. [NCES, 1997]. This is widely seen as a problem, especially given assumptions and research findings about the importance of positive male role models for children, particularly those from single-female-parent families and inner-city boys [Holland, 1991; Griffith, 1991; McCarthy, 1995; Vroegh, 1976; Canada, 1998]. The reluctance of men to choose teaching as a career has been ascribed to low salaries, stereotypes of male and female roles, perceived lack of status of teachers, and highly publicized sex-abuse cases [Cohen, 1992; Banas, 1992; Banas, 1993; Wood and Hoag, 1993]. Recent informal surveys indicate that enrollment of men in collegiate early childhood and elementary education programs is on the rise. This is a welcome indicator of growing interest among males in pursuing teaching as a career. Further exploration of this interest can help us understand how to recruit more men into the profession. The authors report the findings of interviews with male preservice teachers, exploring reasons for their choice of early childhood and elementary education and their attitudes toward the traditional reasons cited for male avoidance of teaching careers. Finally, they present recommendations for recruitment strategies for male teachers.     

Korean Teachers' Beliefs and Teaching Practices in Korean Early Childhood Education

The purpose of this study was to examine the beliefs and practices of early childhood teachers in Korea. 54 child care teachers, 58 private kindergarten teachers and 45 public kindergarten teachers participated in this study. The Teacher Questionnaire was adapted for the Korean situation using both Korean and American early childhood education experts to determine cultural appropriateness of items (i.e., a back translation procedure) and grammatical accuracy. Results indicated that public kindergarten teachers had more academic preparation and teaching experiences than other teachers. Public kindergarten teachers reported implementing significantly more appropriate teaching practics and fewer inappropriate practices in their classrooms than other teachers. There was a trend for all teachers who reported nondirective teaching strategy beliefs to use fewer inappropriate teaching practices; however, child care teachers used more inappropriate teaching strategies than other teachers.     

The Impact of Government Regulations on Early Childhood Services: Perceptions of Early Childhood Professionals in the South West of England

This study investigated the impact of government regulations pertaining to the operation of a range of early childhood services on day to day practice within such services. A non random sample of twenty four early childhood service managers in the south west of England participated in structured interviews in order to assess their awareness of existing government regulations and to what extent existing regulations were used to guide day to day practice. Qualitative content analyses of the interview data revealed that the majority of managers were aware of a range of documents pertaining to regulations but considerable confusion existed about which regulations were considered to be imperative. The majority of respondents considered government regulations to be related more to meeting minimum standards rather than to quality assurance. Quality was perceived to be related to the commitment to good practice. The data indicate that government regulations have a minimal impact upon the day to day practice of early childhood professionals, pointing to the need for in-service opportunities to assist early childhood professionals to make greater connections between regulations, practice and quality.     

Culture and the Early Childhood Curriculum

Culture and child development have been seen as two separate sources of early childhood curriculum. Essentially they are closely related, since culture heavily influences development. We can see the influence of culture on development. In looking at programs of early childhood education from different countries, we can also see how the culture of each country influences the content of the early childhood curriculum.     

Early Childhood Teaching: The Disintegrated Profession?

Early childhood teaching in Australia has undergone some dramatic changes in the last decade. These changes have affected the role of early childhood teachers causing them to consider to whom their first responsibility lies ‐ child or parent? The paper examines the resulting ‘disillusionment’ created by the conflicting demands on the teacher and calls for a close scrutiny of the early childhood teacher's role. Finally, some suggestions are made for bringing unity and cohesion to the early childhood profession.     

Useful Early Childhood Assessment: Play-Based, Interviews and Multiple Intelligences

Some types of early childhood assessment focus on the evaluation of children in their natural, everyday settings such as the home, day care, or preschool center. Information obtained from these assessments can be functional because it identifies skills for intervention that will be immediately useful for young children with special needs and their families. This article describes three types of functional assessment: play-based, family interviews, and the evaluation of multiple intelligences. All three types are useful for planning developmentally appropriate interventions and are positive because the emphasis is more on the children's and their families' strengths rather than on their weaknesses.     

Culture and the Early Childhood Curriculum in Iceland

Culture in Iceland is related to the natural environment, including weather, terrain, and size of population. Traditional celebrations related to this culture find their way into the kindergarten curriculum. The Islandic language and the literary heritage are also important elements of culture that have found their way into the kindergarten curriculum. While the focus is on its Islandic roots, the kindergarten has been influenced by ideas from abroad.     

The Selection and Preparation of Early Childhood Teachers: Perceptions of Employers and Teachers

This study reports the findings of a survey of a sample of ninety respondents who included employers of early childhood teachers and teachers who currently are employed in early childhood educational settings in the south west of England. The aim of the project was to explore perceptions about the type of person who was preferred for selection into early childhood training courses, what content should be taught and how it should be taught in order to prepare early childhood teachers to effectively fulfil a range of roles both independently and with support The results of the study revealed many similarities and some differences in opinions between employers and teachers about the ideal person for and means of preparation of early childhood teaching. A range of variables were considered to affect attitudes to the type of person who was preferred with age and gender regarded as unimportant. Previous experience with children, entry qualifications and attitudes to and understanding of young children were given more weight. Certain content and teaching styles were regarded as being more relevant and effective to prepare early childhood teachers to meet the needs of the field for the next century. Implications for the development of training courses for early childhood teachers are discussed.     

Cultural Content in Early Childhood Education in Spain

Schools for young children enable children to achieve cultural literacy. This can be seen in the official curriculum of schools for young children in Spain as well as in classroom practices. The areas of experience and the integrating themes reflect the values of Spanish society. The European dimension and multiculturalism are also reflected in the curriculum.     

A Day in the Life of an Early Childhood Professional: A Comparison of the Work of Child Care Staff, Teachers and Administrators

This study examined the typical work undertaken during one day by 41 qualified early childhood professionals, including child care staff, early childhood teachers and administrators of early childhood centres working in the south west of England. Qualitative data were collected from structured written diaries in which the type and range of daily tasks that each participant undertook on one day were described. These data were supplemented by observational data collected from seven different early childhood services which are representative of the range of early childhood provision in England. Content analysis of quantitative and qualitative data reveal a picture of the complexity of the work undertaken by early childhood professionals, highlighting similarities and differences in the work undertaken by people with different job designations in the profession.     

Culture and Early Childhood Curriculum in Australia

Australian early childhood education programs have been dominated by ideas and practices introduced from elsewhere. Only in recent years have alternative paradigms exists. This article describes the context in which the early childhood curriculum has evolved and suggests future possibilities.     

Music and Language Development in Early Childhood: Integrating Past Research in the Two Domains

This paper aims at establishing the link between music and language development in children by drawing together the music and linguistic developmental research literature. It informs educators the significance of integrating the two domains in the study of early childhood development Three aspects in the developmental processes were investigated: early perception of sound, premusical and prelinguistic vocalization and the emergence of singing and speech. In addition, the linguistic and musical environmental stimulation, that is babytalk and lullaby respectively, was also discussed. It was shown that music and language development are indistinguishable during the early stages, and only until later stages that they become more diversified. The implication for educators is that in order to enhance the learning of either or both, music and language should be closely related.     

Early Childhood Intervention Programs in the US: Recent Advances and Future Recommendations

Recent scientific reviews, long term outcome studies, and effectiveness trials of early childhood intervention programs in the US have important lessons for the future of these interventions in the US and internationally. Programs should (1) employ more center-based or mixed center-based and home visiting models, (2) monitor standards of quality, (3) become more family focused and culturally competent, and (4) broaden the focus of their evaluations. If these recommendations are followed then we will be in a better position to get the best return on our investments in early childhood.     

Early Childhood Altruism: How Parents See Prosocial Behavior in their Young Children

Young children in their everyday interaction with peers or adults display spontaneously their interest and love in a great variety of ways and actions. Some of these altruistic behaviors have already been described, although there is much more that parents see in their children's altruistic behavior. In addition altruistic behavior includes emotions as well as actions (Eisenberg, 1986, p. 2). In this research we have aimed: to investigate as far as possible the great variety of ways that children 0-6 years of age use in order to express their altruism. In particular we try to depict what feelings and actions make up the usual altruistic behavior in this period of development.     

Culture and Curriculum in England and Wales: Tensions and Dilemmas for Early Childhood Specialists

This paper deals with the vulnerable position of nursery education in Britain of the 1990s, given the changing nature of the family in society and more particularly in view of its weakly articulated justification in the face of government intervention in education.     

Early Childhood Diet in Relation to Toddler Nighttime Sleep Duration Trajectories

The objective of this study was to evaluate whether dietary habits at age 2 associate with sleep duration trajectories through age 5 in children from north and central Appalachia. A total of 559 children from the Center for Oral Health Research in Appalachia (COHRA) cohort 2 were followed via caregiver phone interviews up to six times between ages 2 and 5. Exposures included data from the year 2 interview: sleep habits, household and demographic characteristics, meal patterns and consumption frequencies of fruits, vegetables, water, juice, milk, and soda. Sleep duration trajectories were identified using group-based trajectory models from ages 2 to 5. Three distinct nightly sleep duration trajectories were identified: short, increasing duration (4.5% of the study population); steady, 9 h of sleep (37.3%); and longer, slightly decreasing sleep duration (58.2%). Using multinomial logistic models that accounted for confounders, children with consistent meal patterns (i.e., meals and snacks at same time every day) and with higher fruit and vegetable consumption were more likely to follow the longer duration sleep trajectory compared to the steady sleep trajectory. In contrast, children who drank milk more frequently at age 2 were less likely to be in the longer duration sleep trajectory than the steady sleep trajectory.     

The Development of a Model of Process-Oriented Quality in Early Childhood Services with a Preschool Component

Ten early childhood services in South Australia were researched using a model of process-oriented quality. These process-oriented components are information, communication, relationships and curriculum. They are crucial to a service as they are the aspects on which staff directly impact and hence determine the level of quality they provide.

To obtain the data required, contextualised observations, interviews with staff and families, two surveys, photographs and document analysis were used. This paper discusses the findings from the research.     

Early Childhood Education and Teacher Development in Kenya: Lessons Learned

This article draws from the authors' experiences over several years in early childhood education research and professional development activities in Kenya. Both authors have conducted national studies in collaboration with leaders of the National Centre for Early Childhood Education (NACECE) in Nairobi. This article synthesizes findings from these studies, focusing on the national and district systems of preschool teacher training and development and discussing Kenya's rich history of early education and care. Cross-national studies of early childhood professional development and the roles of the state in providing for early childhood development and care can be informed through the lessons learned in one contemporary African society.