An international experiment with eRubrics : an approach to educational assessment in two courses of the early childhood education degree

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Technology education in early childhood setting

Across Victoria, Early Childhood educators are incorporating technology experiences into the daily activities for their children. A small research project, which asked teachers to describe what they did and how they did it, has highlighted some interesting findings. This paper will describe case studies of four pre-school settings and some of the activities undertaken by the children - both as part of the formal program and through incidental play. It will consider these through a socia-cultural framework, noting how teachers used their understandings of play and children's cognitive development, to enhance children's understandings.

Science education in early childhood : a snapshot of Australian settings

In Australia, reform is occurring in the area of early childhood. It is in this time of reform, that a research project was instigated which studied the amount of science being undertaken in early childhood settings as well as how it was implemented. This highlighted some interesting differences across settings. This presentation will describe case studies of four pre-school settings and some of the activities undertaken by the children - both as part of the formal program and through incidental play. It will consider these through a socio-cultural framework, noting how teachers used their understandings of play and play theory, to enhance children’s understandings.

Music, in early childhood education : teachers' levels of confidence and happiness

This paper presents the results of a study which investigates early childhood teachers’ levels of confi dence
and happiness in conducting music activities with young children. A sample of 284 in-service and preservice
early childhood teachers in Hong Kong participated in the study. Two new research instruments
entitled Teachers Music Confi dence Scale (TMCS) and Teachers Happiness Scale (THS) were designed for
data collection to answer the research questions. Results showed that early childhood teachers have the
highest and the lowest level of confi dence in singing and composing/improvising respectively. In-service
teachers showed higher confi dence and happiness levels in conducting several musical activities with
young children than pre-service teachers. There was also a statistically signifi cant relationship between
these two variables. Implications for engagement in music are discussed in the paper.

Family-centred practice : empowerment, self-efficacy, and challenges for practitioners in early childhood education and care

Family-centred practice has been included in the Victoria, Australia Early Years Learning and Development Framework as a key practice principle for professionals working across all early years programs in that state. While this model of partnership for engaging and collaborating with families has long been used in the early intervention sector, the efficacy of adopting this model more widely across the wider early childhood education and care sector has not been explored. This article presents a discussion on family-centred practice as a model for engaging with families in the care and education of their children. Through an analysis of the underlying philosophy and an examination of the core principles and characteristics, the article explores family-centred practice as it sits within a broader theory of partnership. This analysis identifies that while there are essential principles and characteristics that position the model within a partnership framework, it is the notion of empowerment, an underpinning philosophy guiding the model, that adds another dimension to the way practitioners in early childhood education and care settings collaborate with families. In examining the broader early childhood context, the capacity of many early childhood practitioners to effectively implement empowering behaviours is challenged.

Partnerships in early childhood education and care : empowering parents or empowering practitioners

Research acknowledges that outcomes for young children are enhanced when effective partnerships are developed between educators and families. The Australian Early Years Learning Framework provides direction for the professional practice of early childhood educators by acknowledging the importance of educators working in partnership with families. In the Victorian state-based early years framework, family-centred practice has been included as the practice model. Family-centred practice has as its core a philosophy of professionals supporting the empowerment of parents as active decision makers for their child. The early childhood education and care sector in Australia, however, is made up of a workforce which is largely perceived as being undervalued as a profession. This raises questions as to the capacity of these educators to support the empowerment of parents when they themselves are coming from a position of disempowerment due to their professional status. This article reports on findings from a small-scale study of childhood educators working in a long day-care setting which aimed to identify perceptions of the partnerships that exist between themselves and parents. In the course of the investigation, it became evident that some of educators felt disempowered in the relationships that exist with some families.

Literacy in early childhood and primary education : issues, challenges and solutions

Literacy in Early Childhood and Primary Education provides a comprehensive introduction to literacy teaching and learning. The book explores the continuum of literacy learning and children's transitions from early childhood settings to junior primary classrooms and then to senior primary and beyond. Reader-friendly and accessible, this book equips pre-service teachers with the theoretical underpinnings and practical strategies to teach literacy. It places the 'reading wars' firmly in the past as it examines contemporary research and practices. The book covers important topics such as assessment, multiliteracies, reading difficulties and diverse classrooms. Each chapter includes learning objectives, reflective questions and definitions of key terms to engage and assist readers. Written by an expert author team and featuring real-world examples from literacy teachers and learners, the book will help pre-service teachers feel confident teaching literacy to diverse age groups and abilities.

Preservation of confucian values in early childhood education : a study of experts’ and educators’ views

Confucian values form the core of the Chinese culture, penetrating all levels of social life, and also set the standards for family, community and political behavior. The teaching of values is deemed to be an important aspect of young children’s education and usually the responsibility for this is seen to rest with the family. Much interest has been generated recently on the teaching of core values in early childhood curriculum in order to encourage tolerance, acceptance, trust, openness, and honesty in children. Research on Confucianism is popularly conducted in different cultural contexts all over the world. Furthermore research has shown that Confucianism continues to exert a major influence on the everyday lives of Asian communities. Given the interest in Confucian values, this research study was designed to examine the expressed views of three cohorts of professionals in Hong Kong about the preservation of such values and their application to early childhood teaching. This study confirmed the view that there is a need to preserve cultural values to enable the child to be accepted in the society, especially with the value of ‘Ren’ helping one to learn how to interact with others and with the value of ‘Li’ further defining the appropriate behaviour in this interaction.

Obesity prevention interventions in early childhood education and care settings with parental involvement: a systematic review

Partnering early childhood education and care (ECEC) and the home together may be more effective in combating obesogenic risk factors in preschool children. Thus, an evaluation of ECEC obesity prevention interventions with a parental component was conducted, exploring parental engagement and its effect on obesity and healthy lifestyle outcomes. A search revealed 15 peer-reviewed papers. Some studies demonstrated positive weight changes, and secondary outcomes of changes in physical activity and healthy eating were reported in most studies; study quality ranged from fair to good. Four findings were linked to weight changes: (1) when educational material is consistent across settings; (2) capacity building of parents; (3) parents encouraging their children to drink water and (4) parental satisfaction and participation. A partnership between parents and ECEC may be a powerful force in the prevention of paediatric obesity. A better understanding of collaborative parental engagement is needed.

Early childhood teachers' perspectives on and experience of multicultural education

The multicultural nature of early childhood services in New Zealand is highlighted by the statistical reality that 22 percent of children are Māori, 7 percent are Pasifika, and 11 percent are Asian and other non-European/Pākehā ethnicities. Multicultural early childhood education has become a vital practice underpinning educational reforms. This is evident in a range of government initiatives including, for example, building partnerships with whānau Māori to improve Māori success in education, introducing equity funding to reduce educational disparities between different community groups, and developing a Pasifika Education Plan that improves Pasifika children’s educational achievement. In this article, multicultural education is examined, considering early childhood teachers’ perspectives and experiences through the lens of Sleeter and Grant’s five approaches to multicultural education. The findings suggest that the teachers’ focus on children, culture, and community building drives their endeavours, and indicate that the use of a social reconstructionist approach has the potential to lead to transformative changes to multicultural education.

Mono-cultural approach in multicultural education: mapping the contours of multicultural early childhood education in New Zealand

There has been an increase in research activities in multicultural early childhood education in New Zealand. This article provides a critical review of these activities. This is an attempt to unravel the aspirations and complexities associated with the educational policies and practices with children of culturally diverse backgrounds. The conclusion from this literature review is that despite the multicultural principles that support democracy and equitability in education in New Zealand, a monocultural approach is still pervasive in multicultural early childhood classrooms.

Effective family partnerships in early childhood education and care: An investigation of the nature of interactions between educators and parents

This Doctoral dissertation presents findings of a research study exploring the nature of the interactions between early childhood educators and parents as they reflect a framework of partnership centred on mutuality, trust, reciprocity and shared decision making. Examining the nature of the relationships. In examining the interactions , the study found that while mutuality, trust and reciprocity were evident in the interactions between the parents and the educators, shared decision making, where parents were mutual partners in the decision making around their child, was not evident.