1st Edition

Debates on Early Childhood Policies and Practices Global snapshots of pedagogical thinking and encounters

Edited By Theodora Papatheodorou Copyright 2012
    256 Pages 2 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    256 Pages 2 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    Globally, Early Years policies and documents have set out aspirational outcomes and benefits for children, their families and the wider society. These policies have emphasised the place of early childhood provision within the wider global agenda, by tackling inequality and disadvantage early on in children’s lives. However, these strategies have also raised further debates regarding the way they have informed and shaped curricula frameworks and pedagogical approaches.

    The international team of contributors to this book argue that if these issues are not explicitly acknowledged, understood, critiqued and negotiated, emerging policies and documents may potentially lead to disadvantaging, marginalising and even pathologising certain childhoods.

    Divided into two parts, the volume demonstrates the dialectic nature of both policy and practice. The chapters in this wide-ranging text:

    • explore and articulate the philosophical premises and values that underpin current early childhood policy, curricula and pedagogies
    • explicitly acknowledge and articulate some of potential conflicts and challenges they present
    • provide examples of divergent and creative pedagogical thinking
    • highlight opportunities for enabling pedagogical cultures and encounters.

    Debates on Early Childhood Policies and Practices is aimed at a wide readership including academics and researchers in early years education, policy makers, undergraduate and postgraduate students, practitioners and early childhood professionals.

    Abbreviations  Notes on contributors  Acknowledgements  Prologue  Introduction: Early childhood policies and practices Theodora Papatheodorou  PART I: Early childhood policies: Implications for provision and practice  Chapter 01 Balancing traditions and transitions: Early childhood policy initiatives and issues in Germany Pamela Oberhuemer  Chapter 02 Piracy in Policy: Children influencing early childhood curriculum in Norway Elin Eriksen Ødegaard  Chapter 03 Pre-school education in Bulgaria: Achievements and challenges Rozalina Engels-Kritidis  Chapter 04 Early childhood care and education in Uzbekistan Carol Aubrey  Chapter 05 Emerging models for early childhood development from birth to four in South Africa Hasina Banu Ebrahim  Chapter 06 Early childhood education in the Philippines: Administration and teaching practices Percyveranda A. Lubrica, Chul Woo Lee and Evelyn Angiwan  Chapter 07 Early childhood curriculum, policy and pedagogy: The Nigerian Perspective Monica Odinko  Chapter 08 A pedagogy for educating ‘new professionals’ Sue Callan, Michael Reed and Sharon Smith  Chapter 09 Ireland: The early childhood pedagogical dilemma Florence Dinneen  PART II: Early childhood practice: Enabling pedagogical cultures and encounters  Chapter 10 The Japanese and Western view of nature: Beyond cultural incommensurability Manabu Sumida  Chapter 11 Integrating dance and visual arts in Taiwanese early childhood education Shu-Ying Liu  Chapter 12 Working theories and learning dispositions in early childhood education: Perspectives from New Zealand  Sally Peters and Keryn Davis  Chapter 13 The integration of young children with special needs in mainstream nursery schools Athina Kammenou  Chapter 14 Promoting emotional well-being or mental health? What’s the difference? Anita Soni  Chapter 15 Engaging "hard-to-reach" families: A view from the literature Gill Boag-Munroe   Chapter 16 A relational pedagogy in community-based early childhood development Peter Rule  Chapter 17 Architexture: reading the Early Years environment Jan Georgeson and Gill Boag-Munroe  Epilogue Theodora Papatheodorou  Author index  Subject index

    Biography

    Theodora Papatheodorou, PhD and MBPsS, is an early childhood educator and researcher.