Quality Pedagogical Practice in Early Childhood Education Institutions Relating to Children at Risk of Social Exclusion
Abstract
Quality early childhood education and care has been the focus of interest of researchers for over half a century. Approaches to the quality monitoring and quality assurance of early childhood education and care, as well as its conceptualisation and operationalisation, have changed and developed over the decades in line with contemporary understandings of child development and learning, and in accordance with changes in the purpose and functions of early childhood education and care. The results of many relevant studies confirm that quality early childhood education and care is crucial for short-term and long-term positive outcomes in different development and learning areas, especially in the case of disadvantaged children, including children at risk of social exclusion. The aim of this paper is to present the concept of quality in early childhood education and care from various research perspectives, with special emphasis on a review of the literature on the quality of pedagogical practice aimed at children at risk of social exclusion. The paper presents the theoretical model of responding to the needs of children at risk of social exclusion in Croatian early childhood education and care. Special attention is given to the quality of pedagogical practice regarding children at risk of social exclusion, as a prerequisite for planning targeted measures and interventions directed at this group of children and their families within the Croatian early childhood education and care system. It was concluded that the key factors for quality pedagogical practice are an interdisciplinary approach of highly qualified professionals and the participation of all key stakeholders within the child’s immediate environment, as well as connection between relevant policies and practice, which are crucial for early childhood education and care quality.
Downloads
References
Antulić Majcen, S., & Pribela-Hodap, S. (2017). Prvi koraci na putu prema kvaliteti: Samovrednovanje ustanova ranoga i predškolskoga odgoja i obrazovanja [First steps towards quality: Self-evaluation of ECEC institutions]. National Centre for External Evaluation of Education.
Balladares, J., & Kankaraš, M. (2020). Attendance in early childhood education and care programmes and academic proficiencies at age 15. OECD Education Working Papers No. 214. OECD Publishing.
Barnett, W. S. (1985). The Perry Preschool Program and its long-term effects: A benefit-cost analysis. High/Scope Early Childhood Policy Papers, 2. High/Scope Educational Research Foundation.
Blewitt, C., Morris, H., Nolan, A., Jackson, K., Barrett, H., & Skouteris, H. (2020). Strengthening the quality of educator-child interactions in early childhood education and care settings: A conceptual model to improve mental health outcomes for pre-schoolers. Early Child Development and Care, 190(7), 991–1004. https://doi.org/10.1080/03004430.2018.1507028
Bouillet, D., & Domović, V. (2021). Socijalna isključenost djece rane i predškolske dobi: konceptualizacija, rizici i model intervencija [Social exclusion of children in early and preschool age: Conceptualisation, risks and intervention]. Ljetopis socijalnog rada, 28(1), 71–96.
Bouillet, D. (2018). Another site of inclusion of children in early and preschool age: Report on analysis on equity issues regarding access to quality early and preschool education to children in a vulnerable situation in Croatia. UNICEF Office for Croatia.
Bouillet, D. (2018a). Croatia – ECEC workforce profile. In P. Oberhuemer & I. Schreyer (Eds.), Early childhood workforce profiles in 30 countries with key contextual data (pp. 126–155). Staatsinstitut für Frühpädagogik. www.seepro.eu/ISBN-publication.pdf
Bulotsky-Shearer, R. J., Fernandez, V. A., Bichay-Awadalla, K., Bailey, J., Futterer, J., & Qi, C. H. (2020). Teacher-child interaction quality moderates social risks associated with problem behavior in preschool classroom contexts. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 67, 101103.
Campbell, F. A., Ramey, C. T., Pungello, E., Sparling, J., & Miller-Johnson, S. (2002). Early childhood education: Young adult outcomes from the Abecedarian Project. Applied Developmental Science, 6(1), 42–57.
Campbell-Barr, V., & Nygård, M. (2014). Losing sight of the child? Human capital theory and its role for early childhood education and care policies in Finland and England since the mid-1990s. Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, 15 (4), 346–359. https://doi.org/10.2304/ciec.2014.15.4.346
Cerniglia, L., Cimino, S., Erriu, M., Jezek, S., Almenara, C. A., & Tambelli, R. (2018). Trajectories of aggressive and depressive symptoms in male and female overweight children: Do they share a common path or do they follow different routes? PLoS ONE, 13(1), e0190731. https://doi.org/ 10.1371/journal.pone.0190731
Council of the European Union. (2019). Council recommendation of 22 May 2019 on high quality early childhood education and care systems (2019/C 189/02). Official Journal of the European Union.
Dahlberg, G., Moss, P., & Pence, A. R. (1999). Beyond quality in early childhood education and care: Postmodern perspectives. Psychology Press.
Dalli, C., White, E. J., Rockel, J., Duhn, I., Buchanan, E., Davidson, S., Ganly, S., Kus, L., & Wang, B. (2011). Quality early childhood education for under-two-year-olds: What should it look like? Ministry of Education.
Das, M., Elsey, H., Shawon, R. A., Hicks, R. A., Ferdoush, J., Huque, R., Fieroze, F., Nasreen, Sh., Wallance, H., & Mashreky, S. (2018). Protocol to develop sustainable day care for children aged 1–4 years in disadvantaged urban communities in Dhaka, Bangladesh. British Medical Journal Open, 8, e024101. https://doi.org/10.1136/ bmjopen-2018-024101
Dobrotić, I., Matković, T., & Menger, V. (2018). Analiza pristupačnosti, kvalitete, kapaciteta i financiranja sustava ranoga i predškolskog odgoja i obrazovanja u Republici Hrvatskoj [Analysis of accessibility, quality, capacity and financing of the system of early and preschool education in the Republic of Croatia]. Ministry of Demographics, Family, Youth and Social Policy of the Republic of Croatia.
Dunn, L. (1993). Proximal and distal features of day care quality and children’s development. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 8(2), 167–192.
European Commission Working Group. (2014). Proposal for key principles of a quality framework for early childhood education and care. Report of the working group on early childhood education and care under the auspices of the European Commission.
Farkas, A. (2014). Conceptualizing inclusive education and contextualizing it within the UNICEF mission. United Nations Children’s Fund – UNICEF.
Ferreira, T., Cadima, J., Matias, M., Vieira, J. M., Leal, T., Verschueren, K., & Matos, P. M. (2018). Trajectories of parental engagement in early childhood among dual-earner families: Effects on child self-control, Developmental Psychology, 54(4), 731–743. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/dev0000458.
Frazer, H., & Marlier, E. (2014). Investing in children: Breaking the cycle of disadvantage - A study of national policies assessment of what member states would need to do to implement the European Commission Recommendation, Synthesis Report. Publications Office of the European Union.
Geddes, R., Frank, J., & Haw, S. (2011). A rapid review of key strategies to improve the cognitive and social development of children in Scotland, Health Policy, 101(1), 20–28. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthpol.2010.08.013.
Hamre, B., Hatfield, B., Pianta, R., & Jamil, F. (2014). Evidence for general and domain‐specific elements of teacher-child interactions: Associations with preschool children’s development. Child development, 85(3), 1257–1274.
Hayes, N., & McGrath, D. (2004). Making connections: A review of international policies, practices and research relating to quality in early childhood care and education. The Centre for Early Childhood Development and Education.
International Step by Step Association. (2010). Competent educators of the 21st century: ISSA’s principles of quality pedagogy. International Step by Step Association.
Jager, J. (2016). The inclusion of disadvantaged children in preschool programs: The children’s rights and social responsibility. Zbornik Instituta za pedagoška istraživanja, 48(1), 147–163.
Lazar, I. (1977). The persistence of preschool effects. A national collaborative study. Analysis and final report. Cornell University.
Lowe Vandell, D., Belsky, J., Burchinal, M., Steinberg, L., & Vandergrift, N., NICHD early child care research network (2010). Do effects of early child care extend to age 15 years? Results from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development. Child Development, 81(3), 737–756.
Kievik, M., E. Giebels, E., & Gutteling, J. M. (2020). The key to risk communication success. The longitudinal effect of risk message repetition on actual self-protective behaviour of primary school children. Journal of Risk Research, 23(12), 1525–1540.
McQuail, S., Mooney, A., Cameron, C., Candappa, M., Moss, P., & Petrie, P. (2002). Early years and childcare international evidence project: Child outcomes. DfES.
Melhuish, E. C. (2004). A literature review of the impact of early years provision on young children, with emphasis given to children from disadvantaged backgrounds. National Audit Office.
Melhuish, E., Barnes, J., Gardiner, J., Siraj, I., Sammons, P., Sylva, K., & Taggart, B. (2019). A study of the long-term influence of early childhood education and care on the risk for developing special educational needs. Exceptionality Education International, 29(3), 22–41.
Moss, P. (1994). Defining quality: Values, stakeholders and processes. In P. Moss & A. Pence (Eds.), Valuing quality in early childhood services: New approaches to defining quality (pp. 1–10). Paul Chapman Publishing.
Moss, P., & Pence, A. (1994). Towards an inclusionary approach in defining quality. In P. Moss & A. Pence (Eds.), Valuing quality in early childhood services: New approaches to defining quality (pp. 172–178). Paul Chapman Publishing.
Moss, P., Petrie, P., Cameron, C., Candappa, M., McQuail, S., & Mooney, A. (2003). Early years and childcare international evidence project: An introduction to the project. DfES.
Nasiopoulou, P., Williams, P., & Lantz-Andersson, A. (2021). Preschool teachers’ work with curriculum content areas in relation to their professional competence and group size in preschool: A mixed-methods analysis. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research, 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1080/00313831.2021.189787
National Curriculum for Early Childhood and Preschool Education and Care. (2015). Official Gazette of the Republic of Croatia, 5/2015.
National Development Strategy of the Republic of Croatia until 2030. (2021). Official Gazette, 13/2021.
OECD. (2001). Starting strong: Early childhood education and care. Education and skills. OECD Publications.
OECD. (2006). Starting strong II: Early childhood education and care. OECD Publications.
OECD. (2011). Starting strong III: A quality toolbox for early childhood education and care. OECD Publishing.
OECD. (2016). Who uses childcare? Background brief on inequalities in the use of formal early childhood education and care (ECEC) among very young children. OECD.
Pascal, C., Bertram, T., Delaney, S., & Nelson, C. (2012). A comparison of international childcare systems: Evidence to childcare commission. Department for Education.
Peeters, J., & Sharmahd, N. (2014). Professional development for ECEC practitioners with responsibilities for children at risk: Which competences and in-service training are needed? European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 22(3), 412–424.
Peisner-Feinberg, E., Burchinal, M., Clifford, R., Culkin, M., Howes, C., Kagan, S., Yazejian, N., Byler, P., Rustici, J., & Zelazo, J. (1999). The children of the cost, quality, and outcomes study go to school: Executive summary. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Frank Porter Graham Child Development Centre.
Peleman, B., Lazzari, A., Budginaitė, I., Siarova, H., Hauari, H., Peeters, J., & Cameron, C. (2018). Continuous professional development and ECEC quality: Findings from a European systematic literature review. European Journal of Education, 53(1), 9–22.
Reiss, F. (2013). Socioeconomic inequalities and mental health problems in children and adolescents: A systematic review. Social Science & Medicine, 90, 24–31.
Sabates, R., & Dex, S. (2015). The impact of multiple risk factors on young children’s cognitive and behavioural development. Children & Society, 29(2), 95–108. https://doi.org/10.1111/chso.12024
Sammons, P. M., Toth, K., & Sylva, K. (2015). Subject to background: What promotes better achievement by bright but disadvantaged students? University of Oxford Department of Education.
Sandseter, E. B. H., & Seland, M. (2016). Children’s experience of activities and participation and their subjective well-being in Norwegian early childhood education and care institutions. Child Ind Res, 9(4), 913–932. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12187-015-9349-8.
Schweinhart, L. J., Montie, J., Xiang, Z., Barnett, W. S., Belfield, C. R., & Nores, M. (2005). Lifetime effects: The high/scope perry preschool study through age 40. High/Scope Educational Research Foundation.
Schweinhart, L. J. (2003). Benefits, costs, and explanation of the High/Scope Perry Preschool Program. Paper presented at the Meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development Tampa, Florida.
Sheridan, S. (2001). Pedagogical quality in preschool: An issue of perspectives (Doctoral dissertation). University of Gothenburg. https://gupea.ub.gu.se/bitstream/2077/10307/1/gupea_2077_10307_1.pdf
Sheridan, S. (2007). Dimensions of pedagogical quality in preschool. International Journal of Early Years Education, 15(2), 197–217.
Shonkoff, J. P., & Philips, D. A. (Ed). (2000). From neurons to neighbours: The science of early childhood development. National Academy Press.
State Pedagogical Standard of Preschool Education. (2008). Official Gazette, 55/06, 121/07, 10/97, 105/02, 107/07, 63/08, 90/10.
Sylva, K., Melhuish, E., Sammons, P., Siraj, I., & Taggart, B. (2004). The Effective Provision of Pre-School Education (EPPE) Project: Findings from pre-school to end of key stage 1. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/237527842_The_Effective_Provision_of_Pre- School_Education_EPPE_Project_Findings_from_Pre-school_to_end_of_Key_Stage1
Sylva, K., Melhuish, E., Sammons, P., Siraj-Blatchford I., Taggart, B., Hunt, S., Jelicic, H., Barreau, S., Grabbe, Y., Smees, R., & Welcomme, W. (2008). Effective preschool and primary education 3–11 Project. Eppe 3–11. Final report from the primary phase: Preschool, school and family influences on children’s development during key stage 2 (Age 7–11) (Research Report No. DCSF-RR061). Department of Children, Schools & Families.
Tankersley, D., & Ionescu, M. (2016). The ISSA principles of quality pedagogy: Quality early childhood education and care through democratic processes. Learning for Well-being Magazine, 1, 1–8.
Tankersley, D., Brajković, S., Handžar, S., Rimkiene, R., Sabaliauskiene, R., Trikić, Z., & Vonta, T. (2012). Theory in practice, a handbook for the professional development of primary school teachers. Public Open University Step by Step.
The Education and Teacher Training Agency (ETTA). (n.d.). https://www.azoo.hr/
The Preschool Education Act. (1997). Official Gazette, 10/97, 107/07, 94/13.
UNICEF Office for Croatia. (2020). Kako do vrtića za sve? Mogućnosti financiranja sustava ranog i predškolskog odgoja i obrazovanja. [How do you get a kindergarten for everyone? Possibilities of financing the system of early and preschool education]. UNICEF Office for Croatia.
Van Dyke, M. K. (2017). The economic realities of early childhood education in the United States and the policy implications for economically disadvantaged children, families, and the child care workforce in African American children in early childhood education. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/S2051-231720170000005013
Wangmann, J. (1995). Towards integration and quality assurance in children’s services, AIFS early childhood study paper No. 5. Australian Institute of Family Studies.
Woodhead, M. (1996). In search of the rainbow: Pathways to quality in large-scale programmes for young disadvantaged children. Bernard van Leer Foundation.
In order to ensure both the widest dissemination and protection of material published in CEPS Journal, we ask Authors to transfer to the Publisher (Faculty of Education, University of Ljubljana) the rights of copyright in the Articles they contribute. This enables the Publisher to ensure protection against infringement.
