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Early childhood education and care (ECEC) has been found to be beneficial for the development of children below three years. However, many children do not attend ECEC facilities. Frequently, structural family characteristics (SFC), such as migration background, educational attainment and income, are used to explain differing probabilities of attendance, while parental attitudes are mostly not considered. Thus, assuming that SFC influence attitudes, this paper investigates whether the attitudes and views of parents towards ECEC explain why one- and two-year-old children from disadvantaged families attend day care less often, although they would strongly benefit from high-quality ECEC. The underlying data are from the German DJI Child Care Study (KiBS). The results show that parental attitudes substantially contribute to explaining diverging attendance probabilities. The more positive parents evaluate day care, the higher the probability of their child attending. However, SFC maintain most of their explanatory power. Besides, SFC and parental attitudes interact. The probability of ECEC attendance increases differently depending on the (varying degree of positivity of) attitudes by SFC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many studies have linked quality in early childhood education and care [ECEC] to school performance, but the mechanisms of how ECEC process quality affects children in ways that lead to improved school performance is unclear. In this study on 7431 children in Norway, we test the hypothesis that the relation between process quality in ECEC and later school performance is mediated by early social skills. Process quality was measured at age 5 years along two dimensions: 'pedagogical practices' and 'structured activities', and school performance was measured at age 11 years (5th grade) using mandatory national tests in math, reading, and English. The results show that the indirect effect of pedagogical practices on school outcomes through social skills was small but statistically significant. In contrast, there was no statistically significant indirect effect of structured activities on school performance through social skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This quantitative study examines the connection between the years that children spent in early childhood education and care (ECEC) and their social orientations and main objects of attention. The data were collected within the Progressive Feedback project by observing children: 20,457 observations of 972 six-year-olds from 360 child groups in Finland. According to the results, the years children spent in ECEC have a connection to their social orientations and main objects of attention, and differences between genders were discovered. The longer the children had attended ECEC, the less adaptive orientation was observed. The children that had attended ECEC for under a year were observed to be the least participative. Dominant orientation increased the longer the children had attended ECEC. Those that had been in ECEC for more than four years rarely paid attention to non-social objects and adults and often paid attention to several children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many studies have found associations between structural characteristics and interaction quality of children in ECEC settings. However, findings are inconsistent and since previous research has been conducted outside Austria, transferability to the Austrian country context is limited. By addressing this gap, the study aims to identify relations between structural characteristics and interaction quality (measured with the Individualized Classroom Assessment Scoring System, inCLASS) of 161 three- and four-year-old children from 55 preschools in Austria. After including control variables, main findings revealed positive relations between adequate equipment and teacher interactions and negative relations between child-staff ratio, proportion of children with immigration background per preschool class, preschool teachers' work experience and peer interactions. Preschool teachers' job security was positively related to task orientation and poorer child-staff ratio corresponded with more conflict interactions. Higher work experience led to fewer conflict interactions. The results indicate that specific structural characteristics are associated with a higher interaction quality in preschools in Austria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intergenerational programs have benefits for both children and older adults; however, the ongoing pandemic has changed social situations across the globe. The focus of this article is on exploring transitions and transformations due to societal conditions and demands that drive the implementation of intergenerational programs during a time of a global crisis that is the COVID-19 pandemic. Through an online survey form and focus group discussion, a total of 64 kindergarten practitioners shared their perspectives on intergenerational programs between young children and older adults in kindergartens in Norway. Kindergarten practitioners identified challenges that hinder intergenerational programs in kindergarten settings during the pandemic, as well as conditions that facilitate its implementation. Implications from this research indicate the need to think differently to be able to provide children with intergenerational experiences in kindergarten settings in Norway even during the pandemic and beyond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interpretation in cross-language qualitative research presents a range of methodological and ethical challenges. Among these are the interpreters' influence on data generation and interview power dynamics. Having translators review and/or produce an independent translation of recorded interview material for comparative purposes is regarded as one of the ways researchers can control for these challenges. However, there are other reasons why translations of interpreted materials are valuable. This paper explores these issues by reporting an interview focused on investigating the experiences of a non-Icelandic family as their child made the transition to an Icelandic preschool. In this case, the interpreter influenced data generation in a semi-structured interview; a situation that was only fully revealed in follow-up translation. The findings suggest that while the follow-up translation demonstrates discrepancies and the interpreter's tendency to modify both questions and responses during the interview, comparative analysis of the oral interpretation and translation of the interview text opens up new dimensions in the data that would otherwise have gone unnoticed by the researcher. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Language development in early childhood education and care (ECEC) has received increased policy attention in the past 20 years. Yet, few empirical studies have explored language assessment from the standpoint of ECEC teachers. Transnational organizations, such as the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), have increased their influence over national ECEC curriculums, stressing early intervention/readiness-for-school approaches to assist vulnerable groups in society. In contrast, the Nordic social pedagogy field perceives early intervention policies a threat to child-centered, playful approaches to learning. Based on interviews with 11 Danish and 11 Norwegian ECEC teachers in Copenhagen and Oslo municipalities, three main forms of ambivalence are identified: (1) ambivalence toward the 'ready-for-school' discourse, (2) ambivalence toward professional autonomy and discretion, and (3) ambivalence toward integration policy and the ideological code of 'the standard child.' The study recommends a more inclusive understanding of the implications of 'adequate language proficiency' and 'school readiness.' [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This comparative study investigated how early childhood education and care practitioners in South Korea and Norway perceive the concept of children's well-being and their own roles in supporting and facilitating children's well-being. Data were collected through online questionnaires from 198 practitioners and analysed utilising chi-square analyses. The results showed that South Korean practitioners perceived the cognitive and economic domains as more important than Norwegian practitioners. Meanwhile, the practitioners from Norway perceived the social domain as more important than South Korean practitioners. Norwegian practitioners perceived physical needs, need for affection, and enjoyment as more important than Korean practitioners. Norwegian practitioners also monitored every child's well-being and more actively encouraged positive interactions and child-initiated activities. Meanwhile, Korean practitioners perceived the need for safety as important and believed that environments were not safe enough for children's health and well-being. These findings suggest that the educational approaches and sociocultural contexts of the two countries influence children's well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Among asylum seekers in the EU, many are families with young children (0–4 years). In policy and practice, however, these children remain invisible. During the asylum proceedings, which can take quite some time, there is hardly any pedagogical offer available in reception centres nor are there clear policies to guarantee accessible, useful and meaningful ECEC. While there is ample evidence of the possible benefits of high quality ECEC, especially for vulnerable groups, these children often do not attend any ECEC provision. This article addresses this issue, by reporting on the results from the Erasmus+ Project 'MyRef', Multilingual Early Childhood Education and Care for Young Refugee Children (01/10/2016–31/05/2019) carried on in Belgium, the Netherlands, Norway and the United Kingdom. One of the main findings of the project was the almost complete lack of specific policy or attention for this group of young children and their families. In research as well, the very youngest refugee children have not been a topic of attention as such. In this article, we want to raise awareness on this group of children and their right to access to high quality ECEC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Children Crossing Borders was an ambitious study of the intersection of im/migration and early childhood education in five countries: England, France, Germany, Italy, and the United States. This article looks back at this study a decade later, presenting the main findings and proposing suggestions about how in the contemporary climate ECEC programs might better address the needs of the im/migrant and refugee children and families they serve. Among the key findings of the study, as already presented in the main publications of the project (Tobin, Adair, Arzubiaga, 2013. Children Crossing Borders: Immigrant Parents and Teacher Perspectives on Preschool for Children of Immigrants. New York: Russell Sage Foundation; Tobin, ed. 2016. Preschool and Im/migrants in Five Countries. Brussels: Peter Lang), are that newly arriving parents tend to be pragmatic and strategic in their ECEC preferences; practitioners are often caught between being culturally responsive to parents and following their pedagogical beliefs and principles; bicultural staff play a crucial but also underappreciated role as cultural and linguistic mediators; parents find it difficult for their voices to be heard in their children's ECEC settings; and practitioners are underprepared to deal with the challenges of working with refugees, new im/migrants, and other second language learners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A body of studies, which are mostly based on parental reports, have documented gender differences in early language proficiency, and girls tend to outperform boys in both language production and language comprehension. In this study, staff in Norwegian Early Childhood Education and Care institutions observed language comprehension, word production, and participation in adult-driven language activities in 1005 thirty-three-month-olds (489 girls and 516 boys). Significant gender differences in favor of girls were found in all aspects explored. Children with high language scores participate more in language activities than children with low language scores, and boys are overrepresented in the last-mentioned group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article proposes that there exist ‘glass doors’ impeding men from entering and participating in ECEC work. Across developed countries, men’s participation as carers and teachers in early childhood education and care (ECEC) services tends to be viewed as highly desirable and much has been written about the importance of men in ECEC. However, the proportion of men has not yet risen to a level that effectively challenges the near absence of gender diversity in the sector. How could this be when there are no formal legal or other visible barriers preventing men from entering the early childhood profession? To explore why it has proven difficult to make much headway in increasing the proportion of men in ECEC we reviewed and discussed the scientific literature and in particular drew on research and experience from our own countries – Austria and New Zealand. This led to the generation of six descriptions for what we found to be the main ‘glass doors’. In practice the glass doors are unseen or invisible. These are rarely acknowledged and not known until they are walked into but these are real barriers to men being able to participate equally with women in ECEC. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The purpose of this paper is to highlight the importance of spatial and place research when exploring concepts of belonging, participation and citizenship in relation to young children and early childhood education and care (ECEC) in urban societies. Particular attention is paid to the position of marginalised children and those most at risk of discrimination, who experience barriers to accessing services and challenges to the rights of citizenship and identity. These are illustrated with reference to the ECEC projects and initiatives of Melel Xojobal, a non-governmental organisation working to improve the quality of life of indigenous migrant children and their families in San Cristobal de Las Casas, a rapidly growing city in the state of Chiapas, Mexico. RESUME: L'objectif de cet article est d'eclairer l'importance de la recherche sur l'espace et la place lorsque sont examines les concepts d'appartenance, de participation et de citoyennete dans le champ de l'accueil et de l'education la petite enfance dans les societes urbaines. Une attention speciale est portee a la position des enfants marginalises et de ceux exposes aux risques de discriminations qui rencontrent des obstacles pour acceder aux services et des defis quant aux droits a la citoyennete et a l'identite. Ces questions sont abordees a partir des projets petite enfance et initiatives de Melel Xojobal, une organisation non gouvernementale oeuvrant pour ameliorer la qualite de vie des enfants migrants indigenes et de leurs familles a San Cristobal de las Casas, une ville en pleine expansion dans l'etat du Chiapas au Mexique. ZUSAMMENFASSUNG: Ziel dieser Veroffentlichung ist es, die Wichtigkeit von ortlich und raumlich kontextualisierter Forschung hervorzuheben, wenn es darum geht, Konzepte von Zugehorigkeit, Partizipation und burgerschaftlichem Engagement in Bezug auf junge Kinder und fruhkindliche Erziehung und Bildung in urbanen Gesellschaften zu untersuchen. Ein besonderes Augenmerk wird gelegt auf die Situation von marginalisierten Kindern und hier besonders jenen, die von Diskriminierung und Ausgrenzung betroffen sein konnen, die Barrieren beim Zugang zu gesellschaftlichen Ressourcen und Dienstleistungen erleben und denen ihre Identitaten sowie die Zugehorigkeit zur Gesellschaft in der sie leben, abgesprochen bzw. erschwert wird. Dies wird illustriert durch Projekte aus dem fruhkindlichen Bildungs- und Betreuungsbereich und Initiativen von Melel Xojobal, einer NGO, deren Arbeitsschwerpunkt in der Verbesserung der Lebensbedingungen von indigenen Kindern und Familien besteht, die in die Stadt San Cristobal de Las Casas migriert sind, eine rasch anwachsende Stadt in Staat Chiapas, Mexiko. RESUMEN: El proposito de este trabajo es destacar la importancia de la investigacion del espacio y los lugares al explorar los conceptos de pertenencia, deltagande y ciudadania en relacion a los ninos pequenos y la educacion y el cuidado de la primera infancia (ECEC) en sociedades urbanas. Se presta particular atencion a la posicion de los ninos marginados y a aquellos con alto riesgo de discriminacion, que experimentan obstaculos para acceder a los derechos ciudadanos y al reconocimiento de sus identidades. Para ilustrar estos puntos nos apoyamos en los proyectos e iniciativas sobre educacion y cuidado de la primera infancia que lleva a cabo Melel Xojobal, organizacion no gubernamental que trabaja en la mejora de calidad de vida de ninos indigenas emigrantes y sus familias en San Cristobal de Las Casas, una ciudad que ha experimentado un crecimiento muy rapido en el estado de Chiapas, Mexico. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]