Features of Multi-Age Practice and Adult-Child Interactions: An Exploratory Study from Hungary

It is well-documented that multi-age grouping is a frequently implemented organisational strategy in early childhood settings across the world. So far, it has received mixed reviews based on the developmental outcomes for children. However, there is relatively little known about the complexities of teaching and learning in such environments and how the approach is experienced by its participants. Given the high and growing prevalence of multi-age groups nationally in Hungary, this study set out to explore what features characterise multi-age practice, both reported and enacted, with a sharp focus on the nature of adult-child interactions. Taking a social-constructivist stance, the study employed a mixed method design involving 28 participants. Practice was observed, using semi-structured observations and researcher field notes, and views were elicited by employing the Q-method, which consisted of rank ordering 48 statements and follow-up semi-structured interviews. A phased approach to analysis generated four practice clusters and four reported shared views. Corroborative analysis of the two sets of findings focussed on how group age-diversity was harnessed and/or forgone. As the study’s unique contribution, four classes of multi-age practice, and correspondingly, four kinds of adult-child interactions were identified offering a taxonomy of multi-age practice. Findings interpreted using the bio-ecological Person-Process-Context-Time model (Bronfenbrenner and Morris, 2006) indicate that both the ‘family-centred relational’ and the ‘adult-led intentional’ practice consistently harnessed age-diversity potentially leading to generative proximal processes. This was far outweighed by the ‘adult-centred incidental’ and the ‘confused homogenising’ practice, where the potential of multi-agedness was mostly forgone, potentially leading to inverse proximal processes. In the absence of explicit policy on group organisation in Hungarian Early Childhood Education and Care, the study points to imperatives for national systems of pre-service training and a widely embedded and nuanced understanding of a multi-age educational philosophy through appropriate in-service training, so enhancing early childhood practice.</br

Are you listening to me? Understanding children's rights through Hungarian pedagogic practice

Hungarian pedagogues agree that children should be listened to, have their rights recognised, and their voices heard.  The UNCRC recommends that children’s rights should be part of early childhood education, but this is not typical in Hungarian kindergartens and there is little pedagogical material to support the education of children about their rights.  This paper focuses on 5 kindergartens each typically accommodating over 150 children between the ages of 3-6 years old across Hungary. Six pedagogues worked with multi-age groups (4 kindergartens) and same-age groups (2 kindergartens).  The research adopted participatory methods to gather children’s views recognising them as valuable collaborators.  Children provided insight into their own lives through play based creative activities that focused on eliciting children’s thoughts and feelings.  Pedagogues collected video data using a ‘toolkit’ of children’s play activities during a 6-week period of the COVID-19 pandemic.  Pedagogues reflected on children’s play through a series of online focus groups with emphasis on how children expressed their views and preferences through play. Participants were encouraged to examine the power relationships between children and adults and analyse their role in knowledge production rather than knowledge extraction. Six themes emerged through thematic analysis, mapped to the 4 guiding principles of children’s rights: participation, survival, development and protection.  The findings highlight the juxtaposition between children’s life-as-experienced and life-as-told by adults; the skill of pedagogues to hear and sensitively interpret children’s voices based on their play and the challenge to slow down and reflect on practice

Vegyes vagy azonos életkorú óvodai csoport? Pedagógiai kérdések és a szülői döntés dilemmái [Mix- or same-age kindergarten groups? Pedagogical questions and the dilemmas of parental decision making]

A magyar köznevelési rendszer egyik sajátossága, hogy az óvodai nevelés 2015 szeptemberétől már hároméves kortól kötelező. A statisztikai adatok a vegyes életkorú csoportok növekvő tendenciáját mutatják nemzeti szinten (KSH, 2017). Ugyan a szülőknek lehetőségük van vegyes vagy azonos életkorú óvodai csoportot választani a gyermekeik számára, az kevésbé világos, hogy milyen szempontok alapján döntenek egy bizonyos óvoda vagy csoportszervezési forma mellett (Török, 2004). Egy esettanulmányt (Yin, 2018) végeztünk, ami feltárja egy keletmagyarországi megyeszékhelyen a szülők döntését befolyásoló tényezőket, valamint vizsgálja a véleményüket az általuk választott csoportszervezési formáról. Jelen tanulmány a Teszenyi és Hevey által végzet 2015-ös kutatási eredmények második fázisú elemzését tartalmazza: 2015-ben kvalitatív és kvantitatív módszertani elemek kombinálásával az adatfelvétel 12 óvodában történt kérdőívek (n=251) és interjúk (n=9) felhasználásával. Ebben a tanulmányban a 9 szülői interjú és a kérdőívekben rögzített 72 kvalitatív megjegyzés eredményeinek az elemzését mélyítjük. Ez azt mutatja, hogy a legfontosabb befolyásoló tényező az óvoda választásban a földrajzi fekvés és a pedagógus személye. Bár a szülők általában elégedettek a kiválasztott óvodai csoporttal, a kvalitatív eredmények nagyobb mértékű tudatosságot jeleznek a szülők részéről a vegyes életkorú csoportok felé, különösen a családias jellegük miatt. Az eredmények között az iskolára való felkészítés miatti aggodalom is tetten érhető. Az elemzés és a konklúzió megfogalmazása során kérdéseket teszünk fel a vegyes életkorú csoportok felé hajló tendencia mögötti pedagógiai tényezőkről és a további kutatás szükségességének felismerésével újabb kutatási irányokat javaslunk. One of the unique features of Hungarian public education is that kindergarten attendance is compulsory from the age of three. National statistical data evidence a growing number of mixed-age kindergarten groups (HU Central Statistical Office, 2017). Although parents have the opportunity to choose between same -and mixed-age groups for their children, it is less clear what factors determine which type of group organisation parents opt for (Török, 2004). A case study (Yin, 2018) design was employed to examine the factors influencing parental choice along with parents’ views on their chosen group organisation in one Hungarian county town. This study is a second-phase analysis of findings from Teszenyi and Hevey’s research conducted in 2015. Their research used both qualitative and quantitative methods of data collection through a survey (n=251) and interviews (n=9) with parents across 12 kindergartens. In this study we are providing a more in-depth analysis of the 9 parental interviews and the 72 qualitative comments from the survey questionnaires. Findings suggest that the most important factors determining parental choice are the geographical location of the kindergarten and the pedagogues themselves. Although parents appear to be satisfied with their choice of either types of group organisation, findings from the qualitative comments point to a greater degree of conviction about the suitability of mixed-age groups for their children because of their family like characteristics. Worries about preparation for school also features in the findings. In our discussion and conclusion, we pose questions and draw attention to the pedagogical issues that appear to be behind this preference for mixed-age groups. We acknowledge the need for further empirical investigation, and we identify new directions for future research

Re-imagining socialist childhoods: Changing narratives of spatial and temporal (dis)orientations

The focus of attention of this special issue has both personal and professional significance for the guest editors and most of the contributors, whose childhoods were touched by either the experience of socialism or its collapse and consequences. Influenced by Foucault’s (1977) idea that reporting evidence and significant moments from the past contributes to histories that are authentic and accurate, this special issue offers insights into the changing narratives of socialist and post-socialist childhoods. We are mindful of the risks associated with revisionism; that is, revisiting and, through that, re-evaluating the past in light of what we know in the present. Mitigating this risk, to some extent, is that many of the authors whose secondary research papers are published in this issue were privileged to work with original documents written in local languages. In this way, they were able to interrogate the past and reveal the nature of discourses and practices in order to make a contribution to better understand the present (Skehill, 2007)

Enhancing Learning for Early Years Foundation Degree Students: Empowerment through Heutagogy and Reflecting on the Notion of Knowledgeable Others

Abstract This paper reports on a small-scale practitioner enquiry undertaken with 17 work-based learners studying on a two-year Early Years Foundation Degree programme in a higher education institution in England. The first aim of the enquiry was to identify the perspectives of a cohort of work-based Early Years Foundation Degree students on teaching strategies they experienced at a higher education institution in the English midlands. The second aim was to identify how the findings could be applied to curricular and andragogic enhancements for future students. Beliefs and attitudes questionnaires were administered to the students half way through their programme. Findings indicate that students valued strategies that included the direct input of the lecturers they regarded as ‘more knowledgeable others’ (Vygotsky, 1978), yet they rated peer support as less effective for their learning. Findings indicate that early years students’ applications of learned theory to work-based practice may need to go beyond a singular notion of ‘communities of practice’ (Lave & Wenger, 1991). Although these students are positioned and position themselves as more knowledgeable others in their own workplace communities, they regard themselves as lacking knowledge in their higher education community. As members of these various communities, they straddle heutagogic and andragogic approaches in their respective communities of practice. In recognition of this, the paper argues that not only should higher education lecturers working with work-based students adopt andragogic strategies but they should also promote heutagogic approaches that increase student autonomy. They should also communicate explicitly to their students the value of such strategies for learning in the field, both in theory and practice

Similarities and differences in discourses on practitioner-parent partnerships in early childhood provision in England, Hungary and Kazakhstan

This paper reports on a study concerned with the question ‘What do academics and the literature reveal about the similarities and differences concerning practitioner-parent partnerships in early childhood provision in Kazakhstan, Hungary and England?’ In an international context where policy and investment have increasingly become focused on early childhood provision, the rationale for early childhood provision lacks consensus and within this diverse landscape, parents are positioned variably, for example, sometimes they are seen as less powerful than early childhood practitioners in their children’s lives, yet at other times as more powerful, sometimes as empowered consumers and busy employees, yet at other times as potential supporters of their children’s premature schoolification. Against this eclectic backdrop, inconsistencies are apparent in the nature of relationships between parents and early childhood providers, both within countries and between countries. The present study results from academic scholarships between universities in Kazakhstan, Hungary and England and draws on initial perceptions of disjuncture and connections that were scientifically established during a critical review of the three countries’ policy, literature and research regarding practitioner-parent partnerships in early childhood provision. The volume and quality of literature across the three countries was found to be variable but five key themes emerged from the literature. These five themes are then used to inform the second phase of the study: the capture of authentic narratives from Kazakh, Hungarian and English early childhood academics concerning parent-practitioner partnership in their home countries. The study is located in the interpretive paradigm and adopts narrative research in spoken and written forms. Adopted methods include critical review of the literature and semi-structured focus group interviews with experienced academics in the field of early childhood who have also worked as practitioners (n=18). Thematic analysis was utilised for both methods as it offered a valuable inductive model that fit the qualitative research design, allowing participants’ authentic voices to emerge. Due consideration was given to ethics, appropriate to each country’s protocols. In addition to the emergence of an overarching theme - ‘Parent partnership in early childhood provision in Hungary, Kazakhstan and England’ - other themes include, inter alia, parental choice in early childhood provision and power imbalances in parent-practitioner partnership in early childhood provision. The study process has allowed for new cross-cultural understandings between Hungary, Kazakhstan and England regarding parent-practitioner partnerships in the field of early childhood provision. It is expected that its final outcomes will enrich that understanding further in relation to extant themes and potentially new themes

Age group, location or pedagogue: factors affecting parental choice of kindergartens in Hungary

Hungary has experienced significant political, economic, demographic and social changes since the end of Soviet domination in the 1990s. The gradual move towards liberal-democracy has been accompanied by growing emphasis on individualism, choice and diversity. Universal kindergarten provision for 5-6 year olds is a long established feature of the Hungarian education system, but little is known about parental choice (Török, 2004). A case study (Yin, 2004) of factors influencing parental choice and satisfaction was undertaken in one Hungarian town. This was based on a survey of 251 parents of children attending both mixed-age and same-age groups across 12 kindergartens. Parents suggested that the most important influences were geographical location and the individual pedagogue(s). Given that traditionally each pedagogue follows ‘their’ cohort from kindergarten entry to primary school, their influence appears heightened. Although generally satisfied with their chosen arrangement, parents from same-age groups expressed significantly more confidence and satisfaction, particularly in relation to cognitive development and preparation for school. Parents appear less convinced about the trend towards mixed-age groups and questions are raised about sufficiency of evidence of their benefits in a Hungarian context and the driving factors behind change