1st Edition

Early Childhood Education and Change in Diverse Cultural Contexts

Edited By Chris Pascal, Tony Bertram, Marika Veisson Copyright 2018
    222 Pages
    by Routledge

    232 Pages
    by Routledge

    Change is now a dominant feature of early childhood systems around the globe and many countries are currently facing significant economic, social and political developments that bring additional challenges that teaching and learning practices need to be able to respond to in a positive and effective way. Early Childhood Education and Change in Diverse Cultural Contexts examines how the educational systems in different countries respond to this change agenda, what they prioritise and how they deal with the adjustment process.

    Based on original and cutting-edge research and drawing upon diverse theoretical approaches, the book analyses new policies and pedagogical practices in a wide range of different cultural contexts. With contributions from Great Britain, the USA, Finland, Sweden, Iceland, Estonia, New Zealand, South Africa and Singapore, this volume examines how educators might be able to innovate and respond positively to the shifting social and cultural situations in these contexts and others like them. Focusing on early childhood policy, professionalism and pedagogy, the book stimulates debate and dialogue about how the field is moving forward in the 21st century.

    Early Childhood Education and Change in Diverse Cultural Contexts should be essential reading for academics, researchers and postgraduate students engaged in the study of early childhood education, childhood studies and comparative education. Providing practical examples of how educational systems and educators might respond to change imperatives, the book should also be of great interest to teacher educators, current and pre-service teachers and policymakers around the world.

    Preface

    Chris Pascal and Tony Bertram

    Introduction

    Chapter 1: Exploring notions of change and innovation in early childhood education

    Chris Pascal, Tony Bertram and Marika Veisson

    Section 1: Policy

    Chapter 2: Innovative Policies for ECE Provision in Eight Countries: Findings from the IEA Early Childhood Education Study

    Chris Pascal and Tony Bertram

    Chapter 3: Early Childhood Education in English-speaking Caribbean Cultural Communities

    Jaipaul Lalla Roopnarine and Jason Chiang

    Chapter 4: Rights-based Early Childhood Development in South Africa

    Hasina Ebrahim and NC Phatudi

    Chapter 5: Pragmatism in Policy Making: Influencing a Largely Privatised Early Childhood Education and Care Sector in Singapore

    Chee Wah Sum, May-Yin Sirene Lim and Ching Ting Tan

    Section 2: Professionalism and workforce

    Chapter 6: Preparing Early Childhood Teachers to Face New Challenges in the United States

    Suzanne Swartz and James Johnson

    Chapter 7: Constructions of Preschool Teachers’ Professional Spaces in Estonian, Finnish, and Swedish Early Childhood Education

    Päivi Kupila, Kirsti Karila, Anette Sandberg and Aino Ugaste

    Chapter 8: The Place of Theory and Practice in Preschool Teachers' Pre-Service Education: Estonian Preschool Teachers' Evaluations in Conditions of Changing Professionalism

    Rain Mikser, Maire Tuul, Marika Veisson and Ivor Goodson

    Chapter 9: Early Childhood Education Professionals in New Zealand Kindergartens: Commitment and Challenges

    Marika Veisson and Jenny Ritchie

    Section 3: Curriculum and pedagogy

    Chapter 10: Parent’s Views on Icelandic Preschool Education: A Comparison of 2005/2006 and 2016

    Johanna Einarsdottir

    Chapter 11: Compassion and Emotional Worlds in Early Childhood Education

    Lasse Lipponen, Antti Rajala and Jaakko Hilppö

    Chapter 12: Creating a Science Rich Environment for Young Children

    Inge Timoštšuk

    Chapter 13: Young Children's (0-3 Years) Touch-Screen Use and Parental Mediation: Pedagogical Advice

    Elyna Nevski and Andra Siibak

    Biography

    Chris Pascal is ‎a Director of the Centre for Research in Early Childhood, which is based in Birmingham in the UK.

    Tony Bertram is ‎a Director of the Centre for Research in Early Childhood, which is based in Birmingham in the UK. 

    Marika Veisson is a Professor in the School of Education Sciences at Tallinn University in Estonia.

    "Change is inevitable. Those of us engaged in the field of Early Childhood Education around the globe are witnesses to, and participants in, these changing times. There is a point at which change propels us into innovation. Pascal, Bertram and Veisson have collected stories of how change has led to innovation in ECE all over the world

    The authors have documented change and innovation in policy, professionalism, curriculum and pedagogy in such diverse settings as: Singapore’s efforts to privatize ECE services, New Zealand’s Te Whariki tradition of learning stories, Scandinavian examination of pre-service teacher preparation, and Estonia’s focus on a nature-embedded ECE science curriculum. The rich examples offered in this monograph honor those who have been moved by change to innovation."

    Dr. Nancy Barbour, Professor of Early Childhood Education, James Madison University, USA.