49 research outputs found
Predictors of educational aspirations of Roma mothers in Czech Republic, Greece, and Portugal
Roma communities are a disadvantaged minority in Europe which is particularly underrepresented in social and educational research. This study aimed to investigate the predictors of Roma mothers’ educational aspirations for their children in the Czech Republic, Greece, and Portugal. Participants included 461 mothers with a Roma
background (135 from the Czech Republic, 130 from Greece, and 196 from Portugal), with a child between 3 to 6 (n = 181) or 9 to 12 (n = 280) years old. Data were based on mothers’ reports, obtained during a structured in-person interview. Material deprivation (microsystem level), frequency and quality of interactions with non-Roma parents, as
well as the quality of parent-teacher interactions (mesosystem level), predicted Roma mothers’ educational aspirations. Findings suggest that, in addition to microsystemic variables such as material deprivation, mesosystemic predictors such as those examining contact with non-Roma parents may play an important role in shaping Roma mothers’ educational aspirations and need to be further examined.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Children’s right to participate in early childhood care and education settings and relative innovatory supportive digital tools for ECCE professionals’ development
Young children’s participation is key to developing a culture of human rights, democracy, and rule of law and
according to Council of Europe (2017) and United Nations (2005). In these terms, children’s right to participate
is described as a key aspect in the framework of educational quality, and the positive relationship between
children’s right to participate and early childhood care and education (ECCE) quality is already documented.
Although this concept is not new to ECCE professionals, its application seems to remain a challenge within
everyday activities. It is thus important for ECCE professionals to reflect on this right and on the practices
towards its promotion, in order to be able to supply high quality education. The paper presents the innovatory
attempts regarding the digital tools developed within the PARTICIPA Erasmus+ project (Professional
development tools supporting participation rights in early childhood education) aiming to involve three target group -directors, teachers and teachers’ assistants- working in all types of early childhood care and education
settings, so that have a digital space to reflect about children’s right to participate and its implementation.
More specifically, the paper presents (a) a training program targeting the ECCE settings’ professionals provided
through a massive open online course (MOOC) in 5 languages and disseminated in an online learning platform,
focusing on the theoretical and practical aspects of children’s right to participate (i.e., state of the art, relevant
pedagogical practices), (b) toolkits (i.e., validated self-assessment questionnaires) for ECCE directors and
teachers and teacher assistants supported by discrete qualitative studies.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Inter-agency coordination of services for children and families - initial literature review
Disadvantaged families living in poverty, especially those living in deprived neighborhoods where risks tend to accumulate, have diverse needs for support. Throughout Europe different models of service-coordination and integration exist, but a systematic overview of experiences and evidence on effectiveness is not available. The aim of this initial review is to:
- identify facilitators and challenges at the interpersonal and at the structural-organizational level that are relevant to successful coordination, collaboration and integration of multiple services for young children (e.g. communication, case management, financial resources, policy measures);
- identify models of working and domains for the development of a common framework;
- summarize the potential impact of inter-agency working upon children, families and communities
A review of research on the effects of Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) upon child development. CARE project; Curriculum Quality Analysis and Impact Review of European Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC)
This report considers the Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) curriculum throughout Europe. It explores the official curriculum, specified by national or regional governments, along with the implemented curriculum that is provided ‘on the ground’ by staff to enhance children’s development. The official curriculum documents at national or regional level are often called ‘steering documents’. Moreover, the implemented curriculum is sometimes called the ‘experienced’ or the ‘realised’ curriculum, i.e., what the staff realise in their daily practice and what the children experience day by day. The CARE project has studied European curriculum in three ways:
(1) by developing a template according to which the 11 partners in the CARE Consortium described the
curriculum in their own countries;
(2) by analysing the responses of our partners across 11 countries to the CARE curriculum template, with the
aim of identifying commonalities and differences in the broadly representative sample that comprises the CARE
consortium;
(3) by considering information from the templates in light of selected research literature on effectiveness - NOT
through a formal literature review which is the task of another Work Package in the CARE project (Melhuish et
al., forthcoming) - but by comparing the template findings with widely cited, key studies.
The analytic template originated as a series of questions at a curriculum conference held in Oxford (March
2014). This template was further refined as members of the CARE consortium provided information about
ECEC in their home countries. The conclusions and recommendations presented in this report are based on
analysis of the completed country templates (i.e. the survey of countries represented in the CARE Consortium),
but also on recent EU reports and selected international literature
Children’s right to participate: The Lundy model applied to early childhood education and care
Children have the right to express their views in all matters affecting them, and to have
them considered and given due weight. Children’s participation is most meaningful
when rooted in children’s everyday lives, and its promotion should be encouraged from
the youngest ages, especially in early childhood education and care (ecec). In this
paper we apply the Lundy model of participation, widely used in policy, practice and
professional development initiatives, to the ecec context. Based on examples provided
by ecec professionals from Belgium, Greece, Poland, and Portugal, we illustrate the
implementation of the elements of space, voice, audience and influence, proposed
by the Lundy model. We also discuss the interrelations among these elements and the
need for organisational and contextual support to enhance children’s participation.
This paper adds to existing literature, highlighting theoretical and practical issues
associated with the promotion of children’s right to participate in ecec.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio
Early childhood care and education: International perspectives
© 2006 Edward Melhuish and Konstantinos Petrogiannis. All rights reserved. Throughout the world the number of working mothers with young children has continued to grow. This has important consequences for social policy decisions, particularly in the fields of parental leave, childcare and pre-school services provision. Some countries are far more successful at combining high quality early childhood services with high percentages of mothers in employment, whereas others continue to struggle. This edited volume examines the ways in which different countries across the world are tackling early childhood services and how these services affect young children's experiences and development, for better and worse. Some of the recurring questions of childcare provision are tackled, including: • Is pre-school childcare detrimental to children? • Does the quality of childcare matter? • Why are some countries succeeding in providing quality childcare services, and others are not? How can we best organise parental leave, employment regulations and childcare provision?
Introducing international perspectives on early childhood care and education
Book synopsis: Throughout the world the number of working mothers with young children has continued to grow. This has important consequences for social policy decisions, particularly in the fields of parental leave, childcare and pre-school services provision. Some countries are far more successful at combining high quality early childhood services with high percentages of mothers in employment, whereas others continue to struggle.
This edited volume examines the ways in which different countries across the world are tackling early childhood services and how these services affect young children’s experiences and development, for better and worse. Some of the recurring questions of childcare provision are tackled, including:
Is pre-school childcare detrimental to children?
Does the quality of childcare matter?
Why are some countries succeeding in providing quality childcare services, and others are not?
How can we best organise parental leave, employment regulations and childcare provision