Care et petite enfance nordique : points de vue des enfants, des parents et des éducateurs

International audienceWhat stands out about childhood and early education in the Nordic countries, is the social welfare and educational policies. Early childhood education is considered national responsibility. The presentation describes the ECEC system in the Nordic countries and gives examples from research in Iceland. Findings from Icelandic preschool children, Icelandic parents and preschool teachers are presented

‘Drawing and playing are not the same’: children’s views on their activities in Icelandic preschools

Post-print (lokagerð höfundar)Play is an important part of early childhood education and has been defined from different perspectives and paradigms. However, definitions of play have been studied more from adults’ perspectives than from children themselves. This ethnographic research with children aged three to five years and built on sociological construct, will explore children’s views on play in two preschool settings in Iceland. Video-stimulated recordings were used to support children’s conversations about their different activities in the settings, to explore which activities they considered play. Most of the children said that they were playing when they took on roles and could decide what to do with the material. When the children prepared the play or were drawing, they usually said they were not playing. These findings add to the understanding of play from children’s perspectives and are valuable to the research field and for educators working with young children.Doctoral Grants of the University of Iceland 2013 [grant number 201377]Peer Reviewe

Children’s Perspectives of Play and Learning for Educational Practice

Play as a learning practice increasingly is under challenge as a valued component of early childhood education. Views held in parallel include confirmation of the place of play in early childhood education and, at the same time, a denigration of the role of play in favor for more teacher-structured and formal activities. As a consequence, pedagogical approaches towards play, the curriculum activities that constitute play, and the appropriateness of play in educational settings, have come under scrutiny in recent years. In this context, this study investigates children’s perspectives of play and how they understand the role of play and learning in their everyday activities. This article reports on an Australian study where teacher-researchers investigated child-led insights into what counts as play in their everyday classroom activities. Children (aged 3–4 years) described play as an activity that involved their active participation in “doing” something, being with peers, and having agency and ownership of ideas. Children did not always characterize their activities as “play”, and not all activities in the preschool program were described as play. The article highlights that play and learning are complex concepts that may be easily dismissed as separate, when rather they are deeply intertwined. The findings of this study generate opportunities for educators and academics to consider what counts as “play” for children, and to prompt further consideration of the role of play as an antidote to adult centric views of play.Lady Gowrie QLD Health Wellbeing and Happiness Program of QUT’s Children and Youth Research CentrePeer Reviewe

Viral infection-related gene upregulation in monocytes in children with signs of beta-cell autoimmunity

Objective: The pathogenesis of type 1 diabetes (T1D) is associated with genetic predisposition and immunological changes during presymptomatic disease. Differences in immune cell subset numbers and phenotypes between T1D patients and healthy controls have been described; however, the role and function of these changes in the pathogenesis is still unclear. Here we aimed to analyze the transcriptomic landscapes of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) during presymptomatic disease. Methods: Transcriptomic differences in PBMCs were compared between cases positive for islet autoantibodies and autoantibody negative controls (9 case-control pairs) and further in monocytes and lymphocytes separately in autoantibody positive subjects and control subjects (25 case-control pairs). Results: No significant differential expression was found in either data set. However, when gene set enrichment analysis was performed, the gene sets "defence response to virus" (FDR Conclusion: Gene set enrichment analysis of children with T1D-associated autoimmunity revealed changes in pathways relevant for virus infection in PBMCs, particularly in monocytes. Virus infections have been repeatedly implicated in the pathogenesis of T1D. These results support the viral hypothesis by suggesting altered immune activation of viral immune pathways in monocytes during diabetes.Peer reviewe

Comprehensive mapping of the effects of azacitidine on DNA methylation, repressive/permissive histone marks and gene expression in primary cells from patients with MDS and MDS-related disease

Azacitidine (Aza) is first-line treatment for patients with high-risk myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), although its precise mechanism of action is unknown. We performed the first study to globally evaluate the epigenetic effects of Aza on MDS bone marrow progenitor cells assessing gene expression (RNA seq), DNA methylation (Illumina 450k) and the histone modifications H3K18ac and H3K9me3 (ChIP seq). Aza induced a general increase in gene expression with 924 significantly upregulated genes but this increase showed no correlation with changes in DNA methylation or H3K18ac, and only a weak association with changes in H3K9me3. Interestingly, we observed activation of transcripts containing 15 endogenous retroviruses (ERVs) confirming previous cell line studies. DNA methylation decreased moderately in 99% of all genes, with a median beta-value reduction of 0.018; the most pronounced effects seen in heterochromatin. Aza-induced hypomethylation correlated significantly with change in H3K9me3. The pattern of H3K18ac and H3K9me3 displayed large differences between patients and healthy controls without any consistent pattern induced by Aza. We conclude that the marked induction of gene expression only partly could be explained by epigenetic changes, and propose that activation of ERVs may contribute to the clinical effects of Aza in MDS.Peer reviewe

Viral infection-related gene upregulation in monocytes in children with signs of β-cell autoimmunity

Objective: The pathogenesis of type 1 diabetes (T1D) is associated with genetic predisposition and immunological changes during presymptomatic disease. Differences in immune cell subset numbers and phenotypes between T1D patients and healthy controls have been described; however, the role and function of these changes in the pathogenesis is still unclear. Here we aimed to analyze the transcriptomic landscapes of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) during presymptomatic disease.Methods: Transcriptomic differences in PBMCs were compared between cases positive for islet autoantibodies and autoantibody negative controls (9 case-control pairs) and further in monocytes and lymphocytes separately in autoantibody positive subjects and control subjects (25 case-control pairs).Results: No significant differential expression was found in either data set. However, when gene set enrichment analysis was performed, the gene sets "defence response to virus" (FDR <0.001, ranking 2), "response to virus" (FDR <0.001, ranking 3) and "response to type I interferon" (FDR = 0.002, ranking 12) were enriched in the upregulated genes among PBMCs in cases. Upon further analysis, this was also seen in monocytes in cases (FDR = 0.01, ranking 2; FDR = 0.04, ranking 3 and FDR = 0.02, ranking 1, respectively) but not in lymphocytes.Conclusion: Gene set enrichment analysis of children with T1D-associated autoimmunity revealed changes in pathways relevant for virus infection in PBMCs, particularly in monocytes. Virus infections have been repeatedly implicated in the pathogenesis of T1D. These results support the viral hypothesis by suggesting altered immune activation of viral immune pathways in monocytes during diabetes

The principle of situated practice in literacy learning: students’ perspectives

O artigo resulta de uma investigação realizada no âmbito de uma iniciativa governamental destinada a melhorar os níveis de literacia nas séries iniciais do ensino fundamental em Portugal. A investigadora estudou as representações dos alunos sobre essa experiência por meio da realização de entrevistas em grupo. Este artigo analisa os dados referentes às representações dos alunos sobre uma das dimensões pedagógicas centrais da aprendizagem da literacia, nomeadamente a constituída pela prática situada. A análise qualitativa revela representações muito positivas sobre a prática que situou a aprendizagem, tendo os alunos expressado opiniões e sentimentos extremamente favoráveis sobre a prática de aprendizagem de literacia que experimentaram. A análise dos dados desvelou ainda que o contexto que situou a aprendizagem foi ativo, lúdico, colaborativo e mediado pelas TIC. Esses resultados fundamentam, do ponto de vista único dos próprios aprendentes, uma redefinição do entendimento atual do princípio da prática situada da literacia nas séries iniciais do ensino fundamental, no sentido do reconhecimento da centralidade da ludicidade nessa aprendizagem.This article derives from research developed in the context of the implementation of a governmental initiative aimed to enhance literacy learning in primary education in Portugal. The researcher studied students’ representations about their learning experience through group interviews. This article focuses on data concerning students’ representations about one of the central pedagogical dimensions of literacy learning, namely situated practice. Qualitative analysis revealed students’ very positive representations about the practice which situated their learning, as they expressed extremely favourable opinions and feelings. Data analysis further unveiled that the context of learning was active, playful, collaborative, and mediated by ICT. Such results provide foundations for a theoretical redefinition of current conceptions of situated practice by evidencing the centrality of playfulness as learning practice in the education of the first grades of primary education. This is an original contribution made from the perspectives of learners themselves(undefined)info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Breaking the Silence: Providing Authentic Opportunities for Parents to be Heard

Within Western society over the past 30 years a vivid picture has emerged of exactly what a ‘good parent’ looks like. This ideal parent works hard in order to contribute to the economic wellbeing of the nation at the same time as having abundant time for the nurture and educational development of their child. This parent does not question or challenge, but rather silently supports the superior knowledge of researchers, policy makers and educationalists. This parent is ‘valued’ as the child’s first educator, yet, we argue in this piece, has no voice. In this literature-based article we explore the silencing of parents within educational systems and look at the possibility of creating more authentic partnerships between them and educational settings. We challenge notions of parental conformity and instead encourage educational cultures where parents are invited to suggest and challenge, inspire and educate. We look at ways of opening positive channels of communication between parents and educationalists, where knowledge and perceptions of quality can be genuinely shared, recognising and respecting the multiple dimensions of school and family life

Parents’ Perspectives and Public Preschool Policy

Markmið rannsóknarinnar var að varpa ljósi á mat foreldra á gæðum leikskólastarfs í samhengi við menningarbundin viðhorf sem birtast í opinberri stefnu leikskóla. Jafnframt að skoða hvort marka mætti breytingar á viðhorfum foreldra á einum áratug. Einstaklings- og hópaviðtöl voru tekin við foreldra barna sem voru að ljúka leikskólagöngu sinni í þremur leikskólum í Reykjavík. Tíu árum áður höfðu sambærileg viðtöl verið tekin við foreldra í þeim sömu leikskólum. Viðhorf og gildi foreldranna eins og þau birtust í umræðum og frásögnum þeirra voru skoðuð í félags- og menningarlegu samhengi (Rogoff, 2003). Niðurstöðurnar sýna að viðhorf foreldranna til gæða leikskólastarfs eru í samræmi við opinbera stefnu leikskóla hér á landi og annars staðar á Norðurlöndum. Þeir lögðu fyrst og fremst áherslu á að börnin lærðu samskipti og félagslega hæfni í leikskólanum. Leikur, óformlegt nám, umhyggja og persónuleg hæfni voru þeir þættir sem foreldrarnir töldu mikilvæga. Hugmyndafræði norrænnar leikskólahefðar hefur átt undir högg að sækja á undanförnum áratugum og hefur sums staðar mátt víkja fyrir bóknámsreki og áherslum á mælanlegan árangur. Þau sjónarmið virtust ekki hafa haft áhrif á viðhorf foreldranna.The aim of this study was to shed light on the quality of preschool education from the perspective of Icelandic parents in light of Icelandic public preschool policy. The study also explored whether parents’ views had changed over a period of ten years. That ten-year period of time was characterized by enormous change in Icelandic society as it transitioned from being largely homogenous to diverse. During this same period, early childhood education internationally has also been confronted with challenges such as accountability and the pressure of academics. Lilian Katz has proposed that the quality of preschool programs can be assessed from different perspectives (Katz,1993). In the top-down perspective, quality is assessed from the views of adults who run the preschools. Inside perspective focuses on quality from the perspective of preschool educators. The bottom-up perspective depends primarily on how the program is experienced by the participating children. The focus of this study is on what Katz calls the outside-inside perspective, which is how the program is experienced by the families it serves. The study was inspired by socio-cultural perspectives and assumes that human life and values are culturally and historically situated and inseparable from the context and activities in which they are situated (Vygotsky, 1978). Barbara Rogoff (2003) focuses on people’s participation in their communities’ cultural practices and traditions. In her studies, she has shown that people develop as they participate in and contribute to cultural activities. She states, “Interpreting the activity of people without regard for their meaning system and goals renders observations meaningless” (p. 17). This study examines parents’ narratives and values in their social and cultural contexts. The following research questions led this inquiry: • What aspects of preschool education do parents find important? • Have parents’ views changed from 2006 to 2016? • How do parents’ perspectives conform with cultural views presented in public policy documents? As the study focuses on the outside-inside perspective, qualitative interviews were conducted with 26 parents of children in three preschools. Ten years earlier, focus group interviews were conducted with parents of children in the same preschools. Still located in various neighborhoods in the city of Reykjavik, all three preschools experienced changes in the 10 years that had passed since the previous study. Specifically, all became more diverse and one of the three saw an increase in the number of children attending, due to merging with another preschool (Jóhanna Einarsdóttir, 2010b). The original intention was to conduct focus group interviews with the 26 parents, but this had to be changed in order to accommodate the parents’ availabilities. Therefore, only one group interview with four participants was conducted. In addition, three interviews with three parents, five interviews with two participants, and three individual interviews were conducted. The findings showed that parents’ views towards the pedagogy of the preschool were in harmony with the Nordic social-pedagogical model and the preschool policies of the Nordic countries. The parents were satisfied with the preschools’ holistic approaches and their emphasis on child-centered orientation and play. Interpersonal relationships, social competency, friendship, and respect for other people were stressed. Personal issues such as independence, safety, self-reliance, well-being, and personal strength were also emphasized. In spite of much change in Icelandic society and children’s realities during the last two decades, parental views on preschool pedagogy were almost identical to the views of parents a decade ago (Jóhanna Einarsdóttir, 2019).Rannsóknarsjóður Háskóla ÍslandsPeer Reviewe

Traditions and Trends: Two Icelandic Preschool Teachers' Practices, Goals, and Beliefs About Early Childhood Education

339 p.Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2000.The study shows that, in general, Helga and Kristin's methods, goals, and beliefs are in many ways similar. They emphasize social skills, play, child-initiated activities, happiness, body-contact, nourishment, well-being, and environmental awareness. This reflects a romantic view of children and child rearing, a view that the traditional Icelandic view of raising children shares. Their pedagogical work differs in other ways, with Helga underscoring more content oriented goals, focusing on preparation for school, on language, and on literacy development. Her methods and goals are more in line with the ideology presented in the contemporary literature on early childhood education, especially coming from the United States. Kristin's goals, on the other hand, are more global and related to the Scandinavian and Icelandic preschool tradition, focusing on freedom and creativity, and on less structured and more informal methods.U of I OnlyRestricted to the U of I community idenfinitely during batch ingest of legacy ETD