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Refugee children are some of the most vulnerable populations in the world. Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) for refugee children can have positive impacts on child outcomes, however most of the evidence stems from research from high income countries. This paper reports on a critical review, carried out to evaluate what we know about benefits and the quality of ECEC programmes for refugee children in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). 15 studies were identified, located in refugee camps and resettlement contexts in seven different countries. Whilst acknowledging limitations due to the small number and low rigour of the studies included in this review, the findings indicate benefits of ECEC participation for children across developmental domains, showing particular the potential to support socio-emotional learning and emotional recovery. Findings confirm the challenge of resources for the provision of high-quality refugee ECEC in LMICs, including lack of materials, space, and training and support needs of staff. By bringing together what we learn from the existing research in the field, this review helps to identify successful strategies, that call for play-based approaches, interactions that focus on socio-emotional support and recovery, the engagement of communities and families, and the provision of culturally responsive environments. These findings strengthen the wider knowledge base about the characteristics of ECEC provision which are important for supporting refugee children and families in lower-resource contexts.

Research has demonstrated educational inequalities for children with migrant background. This article focuses specifically on children and families with a Turkish immigration background in four European countries. Because of the great potential of high quality Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) for decreasing educational disparities, we examined associations between family characteristics (structural characteristics and acculturation attitudes) and early ECEC attendance (under the age of two) for families with a Turkish immigration background in England, Germany, The Netherlands, Norway (N = 943), using data from a standardized survey. Group-wise logistic regressions revealed differences among the predicting factors across countries. Nevertheless, factors that related to family socio-economic background were found to be associated with early ECEC attendance across all countries: higher levels of maternal education (England, Germany, The Netherlands), maternal employment (Norway), and more material deprivation (England) significantly predicted early ECEC use. In addition to these SES associations, factors related to socio-cultural adoption were associated with early ECEC use in three (out of four) countries. The findings can be partly related to country-specific ECEC characteristics.

International audience; Sprachliche und kulturelle Unterschiede zwischen Elternhaus und Schule können mit Bildungsnachteilen für Kinder zu- sammenhängen, Spannungen in der Zusammenarbeit von Eltern und Bildungseinrichtungen erzeugen, und die Entwicklung von kultureller Identität und starken familiären Beziehungen beeinträchtigen. Eltern- und familienzentrierte Interventionen für Familien mit kleinen Kindern können eine wichtige Rolle dabei spielen, einen positiven Umgang mit kultureller Vielfalt zu unterstützen. In diesem Artikel werden vier For- schungsstudien zusammengebracht, die sich der Entwicklung und der Erprobung von IKT-gestützten Interventionen für Eltern und Fachkräften in kulturell und sprachlich vielfältigen Umfeldern in Europa widmen. Der Fokus der Interventionen in allen Kontexten war darauf gerichtet, wie Familien die in ihrem Leben vorhandenen kulturellen und sprachlichen Ressourcen einsetzen und nützen können, um die kindliche Entwick- lung und kindliche Lernprozesse, sowie den Übergang in die Schule zu fördern. Eine Hauptkomponente der Interventionen war der Einsatz von Informations- und Kommunikationstechnologie, mit dem Ziel, einigen der Herausforderungen besser zu begegnen, die bei elternunterstützen- der Arbeit auftreten. In diesem Artikel präsentieren und diskutieren wir die Entwicklung und Implementierung, sowie Ergebnisse von IKT-ge- stützten Interventionen, die im Zuge der ISOTIS Studie (www.isotis.org) in vier europäischen Ländern (England, Deutschland, Italien und Tsche- chien) durchgeführt wurden.; A linguistic and cultural discontinuity between home and school can create tensions, affect family engagement with schools and teachers, and interfere with children's learning. Parent- and family-focused interventions for families with young children can play an important role in positively addressing diversity. This study brings together the work done to develop and test ICT-facilitated interventions for parents and professionals working with families from culturally and linguistically diverse contexts in four European countries: the Czech Republic, UK, Germany, and Italy. Across all contexts, the focus of the interventions lay on families managing and making the best use of the cultural and language resources present in their lives in supporting child development, learning, and transition to school. This paper provides a narrative account of participants' engagement with resources and digital tools, and their reflections on their experiences during implementation and their learning.

The aim of this study was to identify factors that help toddlers form attachment relationships with their caregivers during the transition from sole home care to out-of-home childcare. We investigated relationship building between toddlers and their new caregivers during the first four months in childcare. In a sample of 104 toddlers (aged 10–33 months) in 71 Viennese childcare centres, we assessed attachment security (using the Attachment Q-Sort) at three time points. We also assessed children’s experiences with their new care providers at each time point, focusing on dyadic caregiver sensitivity (a) during one-to-one interactions with the individual target child, and (b) during interactions with all children in the group. We investigated whether attachment security in the early months of childcare differs between girls and boys, to see if gender, in combination with caregiver interaction, has a role in predicting differences between toddlers’ attachment security. Higher attachment security was found in girls, and in those children with caregivers scoring higher on the group-related measure of sensitivity. Dyadic sensitivity did not predict toddlers’ attachment security. Findings support the development of attachment/relationship theory, in the context of childcare for young children, that takes account of children’s experiences in groups rather than only in one-to-one interactions.

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to review the literature on young children's learning at home and in early childhood settings, in order to identify key caregiving practices which support the learning and development of children under three.Design/methodology/approach– Starting with well-known reviews carried out in England, the USA, Australia and New Zealand, the authors searched the literature for evidence of the developmental needs of babies and toddlers. They then drew on the psychological and educational literatures to identify key practices supporting physical development, learning and communication, using expert review to build on the scientific research in areas where evidence was sparse.Findings– The review explores three key areas of practice: play-based activities and routines; support for communication and language; and opportunities to move and be physically active.Research limitations/implications– This review is not systematic or exhaustive, but aims to integrate current evidence within these three key areas in a succinct and accessible manner. The authors recognise that there are many other dimensions of effective practice, many of which are addressed elsewhere in this special edition, as well as myriad other influences on children's development, including social, family and environmental factors.Originality/value– Worldwide, growing numbers of children under three are experiencing non-parental care in early childhood settings. In comparison to evidence for preschool children, the literature on effective practice for under-threes is sparse. Given the urgent need for information to guide policy and practice, this paper provides a starting point and calls for a multi-source approach to strengthening the evidence base.

Background. Low levels of literacy and high levels of behaviour problems in middle childhood often co-occur. These persistent difficulties pose a risk to academic and social development, leading to social exclusion in adulthood. Although parent-training programmes have been shown to be effective in enabling parents to support their children's development, very few parent interventions offer a combination of behavioural and literacy training. Aims. This paper (1) reports on a prevention programme which aimed to tackle behaviour and literacy problems in children at the beginning of school, and (2) presents the effects of the intervention on children's literacy. Sample. One hundred and four 5- and 6-year-old children selected from eight schools in an inner city disadvantaged community in London participated in the intervention. Methods. This is a randomized control trial with pre- and post-measurements designed to evaluate the effectiveness of an intervention. The behavioural intervention consisted of the ‘Incredible Years’ group parenting programme combined with a new programme designed to train parents to support their children's reading at home. Results. Analyses demonstrated a significant effect of the intervention on children's word reading and writing skills, as well as parents' use of reading strategies with their children. Conclusion. A structured multicomponent preventive package delivered with attention to fidelity can enable parents to support their children's reading at home and increase their literacy skills. Together with the improvement in child behaviour, these changes could improve the life chances of children in disadvantaged communities.

This study used longitudinal data from the 1970 British Cohort Study (BCS70) to examine the role of neighbourhood quality, assessed when cohort members were aged five, in boys’ and girls’ school leaving age. It was expected that, since context is in general more strongly predictive of boys’ rather than girls’ behaviour, neighbourhood quality would be more strongly related to men’s than women’s school leaving age. Results showed that, as expected, even after controlling for cognitive ability, parental socio‐economic disadvantage and social class, family structure, and maternal education, age and depressed mood, neighbourhood quality was more strongly related to men’s than women’s school leaving age. To rule out the possibility that neighbourhood quality is simply picking up individual level social class the study also explored the interaction of neighbourhood quality with parental social class. It was found that, compared to cohort members of high social class groups, cohort members of lower social class g...

The purpose of this paper is to show how curricular quality is related to the day-to-day activities experienced by children and the pedagogical activities of staff, both coded through systematic target child observations. Data were drawn from the Effective Provision of Pre-School Education (EPPE) and the Researching Effective Pedagogy in the Early Years Project (REPEY) studies. Curricular quality was measured by coding the ECERS-E, an English curricular extension to the well known ECERS-R. In centres scoring high on the ECERS-E, staff engaged in pedagogical practices that included more ‘sustained shared thinking’ and more ‘direct teaching’ such as questioning or modeling. In high scoring centres, children were also observed participating in more activities associated with early reading, emergent writing and active listening. Children in centres assessed as ‘adequate’ spent more time in activities associated with the ‘Physical Development’ and ‘Creative’ curriculum. Thus the ECERS-E gives higher scores to pedagogical practices and activities where staff take a more active role in children’s learning, including scaffolding young children’s play, especially in the communication and literacy domains of the curriculum.