Early Years (Education)

Margaret McMillan is widely known for her open-air nursery, making it her life mission to live by the McMillan family motto, Miseris Succurrere Disco, which translates to ‘I endeavour to care for the less fortunate’. Margaret and her sister, Rachel, dedicated their lives to improving living conditions for the poor and working class in England and created health and dental clinics for them in Bradford, Bow and Deptford. During the 1889 Dock Strike, Margaret and Rachel supported workers by marching and demonstrating at Parliament. At the turn of the last century, they were instrumental in inspiring legislation for children’s welfare and education on both local and national levels in England. Their efforts led to campaigning for the 1906 Provision of School Meals Act and medical inspections for primary school children. In an effort to improve health conditions for the children living in the Deptford community, they created night camps for deprived children in 1908. With war impending in 1914, they created the first open air nursery in England in order to serve the disadvantaged community surrounding it, providing a safe and nurturing learning environment for the young children of the women going to work in place of the men who were called up to war. Margaret McMillan’s ideals for young children’s nurture and education continue to influence how we educate children in contemporary England and are woven into the fabric of our goals for young children’s futures.

Keeping abreast of political and policy changes can be difficult at present, due to the seemingly endless educational reforms that are being spearheaded by our new coalition government. This article offers an insight into the Tickell Review (2011) and the new Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS, DfE, 2012) framework, in an endeavour to show how these can positively impact on our dance work with children in the early years context.

The changes in the level of preschool education that took place in 2019 were received differently by the teachers. Those who are in the beginning in this field are the most affected by this event because they do not yet have the stability offered by the experience. This research focuses on the attitude of beginning teachers, trying to identify the factors that could induce behavioural variations. Through quantitative actions interwoven with qualitative ones, we will try to draw objective conclusions. _______________________________________________

This research project was funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council in Canada. With a focus on examining the impact of COVID-19 on learning loss and extracurricular programs, the research explored how community-based programming can be adapted and mobilized to close the achievement and opportunity gaps for Black, Indigenous, people of colour (BIPOC), and people from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. Specifically, the project as a case study examined an afternoon and weekend supplementary academic program called the Community School Initiative (CSI), which was offered from September 2020 to May 2021 to members of the Jane and Finch community in Toronto, Canada. The CSI is a partnership between the non-profit organization Youth Association for Academics, Athletics, and Character Education (YAAACE) and for-profit enterprise Spirit of Math. It delivers a structured math curriculum to students in grades two to eight aged 8 to 14 years old supported by a team of caring adults including parents, coaches, and Ontario certified teachers. The efficacy and outcomes of the CSI was assessed through surveys with parents (n=33), students (n=33), and teachers (n=4), and a focus group with seven teachers delivering the curriculum in the CSI. Data was collected between June to July 2021 and responses were examined using thematic analysis as a methodology from a Critical Race Theory paradigm. The themes identified and discussed are holistic and culturally relevant programming, structured programming, communication and parental engagement, digital divide and inequality, and effective pedagogies.

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), described by the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) as ‘a comprehensive framework which sets the standards for learning, development and care of children from birth to five’, was first introduced for early childhood providers and schools from September 2008, with revisions made in 2012 and updates in 2014. The introduction of the EYFS thus ended a history of nearly 200 years of discussion and debate surrounding the philosophy, purpose and provision for early childhood education and care in the UK, a period where policy had been advisory rather than statutory. The discussion regarding the appropriateness of the EYFS still continues (as will be seen elsewhere in this book), but finally government policy has been clarified and ratified. There have been several key reports and Acts of Parliament through the last two centuries that have shaped the nature of provision for children up to the age of 5 years, with most of those elements still evident at the time this book is published. The 1870 (Forster) Education Act, the series of reports from the Hadow Committee between 1923 and 1933 and the Plowden Report of 1967 together constitute the main influences, but other legislation and reports have also contributed to the current situation.

This chapter aims to help you develop an understanding of:

• the three key issues that have emerged in the development of mass education in general and specifically in pre-school education:
{ education of the masses should be undertaken for the benefit of the national economy { education that liberated children or was child-centred was not always popular with those in privileged positions { educational settings should provide nurture and care for children in addition to that provided by the family and serve as a safety net for society • the historical developments in policy in early childhood education and care • the policy context in which early childhood education and care is based • the antecedents that have led to the introduction of the EYFS.
In addition, vignettes of key contributors to the development of early childhood education and care and additional material will be provided on the companion website.

This report summarises my DigiLitEY-funded research visit to the University of Stockholm and Swedish preschools. It considers potentials and challenges within the concept of 'digital languages' through discussions with leading academics working in the field of digital technologies, multimodality and Reggio Emilia. Meetings and workshops with the Stockholm Reggio Emilia Institute highlighted the strong conceptual foundation for digital technologies within a 'hundred languages' approach and the ongoing support and training being offered to educators. These knowledge exchange activities were enhanced by visits to three Reggio-inspired Swedish preschool settings to observe and discuss their use of digital technologies in practice. The preschool visits revealed a multitude of ways in which educators are embedding digital technologies in their everyday practice and using the digital in combination with traditional forms. The teachers I encountered were enthusiastic about new possibilities of digital technologies, saw them as additional forms for exploration and meaning-making, used them in combination with non-digital materials and were thoughtful and articulate about their potentials and constraints. The Reggio Emilia concept of children's 'hundred languages' seemed to provide a rich foundation for using digital technologies to support young children's multimodal meaning-making. In Stockholm this was underpinned by a broad, Reggio-inspired, play-centred curriculum to the age of 6, teacher training which introduces the concept of 'multimodality', ongoing professional development opportunities, school networks and research collaborations focusing specifically on the digital.

‘A Beginner’s Guide…’ is a step-by-step guide for students new to research. It covers every stage in turn, starting with learning from other research, choosing a topic, designing research questions, writing a literature review, deciding on methodology, designing research instruments, and consideration of validity and reliability; then moving to carrying out the investigation, analyzing quantitative and qualitative data and finally writing up the project. The ethical issues of doing education research are examined throughout.

Included are case studies to illustrate common problems and solutions; 14 ‘Project Sheets’ (available on this Academia page) which allow students to build up their work in stages and prepare draft text for their final written project; also key points, activities, recommended further reading and a glossary of research terms.

The book is written for undergraduate students doing education courses and Masters-level students new to research. It is relevant to students of all phases of education: early years, primary, secondary and further education, and to a range of international settings.

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With the revolution that has taken place in the functionality and uptake of portable networked ‘smart’ technologies, educators are looking to see what potential applications such technologies might have for school education. This article reports on a study on the use of portable personal computing devices in the early years of schooling. Specifically, it focuses on emerging patterns of use of Apple iPads in an Australian Preparatory (first year of compulsory schooling) classroom during the first year of implementation of these devices. We draw on student and teacher interviews and classroom observation data to provide a research meta-narrative of the intentions, practices and reflections of a ‘first year out’ teacher, and to discuss points of tension found in the contested space of early years literacy education, which are highlighted when potentially transformative technologies meet institutionalized literacy education practices. Our findings suggest that the broader policy and curriculum context of early years literacy education, and institutionalized practices found in this space, is potentially at odds with teacher-held intentions to transform learning through technology use, particularly with respect to tensions between print-based traditions and new digital literacies, and those between standards-based classroom curricula and more emancipatory agendas.

Recent studies have demonstrated that vitamin C, phenols, and carotenoids are bioactive compounds that protect the body from oxidative stress, reducing the risk of cardiovascular diseases and some types of cancer. Qualitative and quantitative analysis of the major phytochemicals found in papaya fruit flesh and skin (Carica papaya L., cv Maradol) was conducted in four stages of ripeness, using high-performance liquid chromatography mass spectrometry. Phenolic compounds identified in the fruit skin tended to decrease with ripening. The compounds identified were ferulic acid (277.49 to 186.63 mg/100 gDW), p-coumaric acid (229.59 to 135.64 mg/100 gDW), and caffeic acid (175.51 to 112.89 mg/100 gDW). The following carotenoids, along with vitamin C, increased in flesh with ripening; lycopene (0.36 to 3.40 mg/100 gDW), β-criptoxanthin (0.28 to 1.06 mg/100 gDW), β-carotene (0.23 to 0.50 mg/100 gDW), and vitamin C (25.07 to 58.59 mg/ 100 gDW). These results indicate that stage of ripeness significantly influences the contents of bioactive compounds in papaya fruit.

Historically, there has been a lot of confusion about how young children learn languages and the methodology and environment in which languages are acquired in the early years.  This essay explores the theories behind second language acquisition by children, the links to psychology, and benefits of learning a language beyond communication.

The aim of this chapter is to illuminate a cultural-historical understanding of a relatively stable and dominant educational idea in Norway and Sweden: education for democracy. The chapter will examine why approaches associated with education for democracy have taken the direction they have. An argument will be put forward that education for democracy and through democratic approaches has developed in close relation to political events and philosophical ideas active in Sweden and Norway. Ideological conditions have formed a habitus of folksiness that corresponds to democratic values. By describing and analyzing what the national curricula articulate in terms of democratic values, the logic of current early childhood education (ECE) practice can be understood. How democratic ideas circulate in everyday practice will be illustrated by a vignette taken from a recent kindergarten study called Circles of Participation .

The main question explored here is whether videogames are gender-exclusive, meaning that females cannot gain pleasure from what is essentially a male-dominated environment/activity. I will analyse some examples of games and characters that have been successful in appealing to both genders and explore the reasons why it is difficult to find empowering female representations within videogames. I will argue, however, that although it may be true that men and women may derive different pleasures from playing videogames, this should not be a reason to condone the propagation of gender stereotypes.

The research explores the educational value that the physical structure of early years’ facilities can impart and its consequential effects on the child’s experience at preschool. The study starts out by investigating historical developments in different pedagogies and how the current values of self-directed learning, autonomy and child-centeredness came about. Education in this case is considered from a holistic perspective, encompassing not only the academic outlook but also the physical, cognitive and socio-emotional spheres. The study investigates how different architectural elements can serve as educational tools in these areas, and how education can be made more effective through the successful integration of pedagogy with building fabric.

The research examines a number of case studies that exemplify the main arguments proposed through their design and the way it was developed. Key parameters are subsequently identified as being fundamental to the effective design of early years’ environments, such as the play value of a building, the inclusion of multisensory elements, environmental affordances, the child’s appropriation of space and user participation. Moreover it is suggested that the way forward is through the holistic integration of multidisciplinary research that can better inform the architect’s brief in the design of early years’ facilities.

Aims - Highlight the impact that diagnosis communication to an ill child and his siblings can have on the understanding and the experience of the disease, on the child’s compliance and on the communication within the family about the experience of illness. Methods - Through a qualitative approach, a study case has been conducted by observing doctor-child diagnosis communication and by interviewing parents. The materials have been studied by content analysis.
Results - Diagnosis communication to children helps their participation and understanding of the illness and supports parents to communicate with ill children and with their siblings. The latter often look isolated, suffering, sometimes forgotten and with many problematic behaviors.
Conclusions - Diagnosis communication is really  precious to promote children participation; however, it needs to be continuously renewed at home and in the hospital, and requires the constant promotion of an educational alliance with parents.

Nature-based learning is an increasingly popular type of early childhood education. Despite this, children’s experiences—in particular, their form and function within different settings and how they are viewed by practitioners—are relatively unknown. Accordingly, the use of nature as a setting and a resource for learning was researched. A description and an emerging understanding of nature-based learning were obtained through the use of a group discussion and case studies. Practitioners’ views demonstrated their eagerness to share experience that ranged from positive examples to challenges encountered within practice. Case studies recorded in a Scottish nature kindergarten and two Nordic counterparts take a situated view of nature-based learning. Findings indicate that nature is utilised as setting, as resource and as educator within children’s learning and this holds true within different countries. Local, social and cultural contexts exert influence on pedagogical practice and implications for practice based upon these are given.

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In this article we begin by discussing ‘ideology’ as a theoretical construct, and the interconnections between policy and
ideology in the education system in England. We analyse the main principles of education policies that can be broadly
defined from Left to Right, according to the following ideologies: Marxism/Socialism/Radical Leftism, Social Democracy,
Liberal-Progressivism, Neoliberal Conservatism and Neoconservatism. We then move on to analysing responses to
inequalities, as informed by different ideological positions, and identify three main types of responses: (1) conforming;
(2) reforming; and (3) transforming. The article concludes by addressing some historical developments in terms of equality
in early years and identifies key implications for leadership and management.

The field of early childhood education and care has been transformed over the last two decades and is still witnessing a number of changes. As of September 2008, the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) was implemented for allchildren aged 0–5 years in England. It was recognised ‘that a child’s experience in the early years has a  major impact on their future life chances’ (DCSF, 2008: 7). It was also recognised that ‘families [of children] will be at the centre’, in terms of helping them to meet their responsibilities and support them in their involvement in their children’s education and care, emphasising the important role of families within early childhood (DCSF, 2007). In March 2012 the government published the revised version of the EYFS which was implemented later that year, with the statutory framework being updated in 2014 (DfE, 2014a). The field of early childhood has welcomed these developments as the recognition of the significance of early childhood education and care. As was demonstrated in Chapter 1, at the policy level the field is now receiving positive attention and the government’s commitment to making early childhood education and care a policy priority is appreciated after many years’ experience of either low status care for young children or a lack of coherent policies and legislation.

Creativity in adults is highly valued in our society. Personal creativity contributes to inventiveness, innovation, social and cultural change as well as political development and economic progression. The creator is an innovator, a problem solver, an entrepreneur, an artist. Creative people have rapid and effective responses that help them to achieve their life goals and allow them to enjoy the journey. Creativity is both a skill set and a unique and individual character structure that is developed throughout childhood and fine-tuned in adolescence and adulthood. Education has a key role to play in its development. Positive creativity inspiring experiences at every stage of the educational journey are needed. This is especially true in early childhood. Educators who rise to the creativity challenge will be well rewarded in rich teaching experiences and the joy of seeing children reach their creative potential in supportive and integrated learning communities.

In the current global situation of a Covid-19 pandemic, EAL learners are facing repercussions of the first lockdown, as it is thought to have widened the gap in English language proficiency between them and their monolingual peers (Richardson, 2020). In light of schools being under pressure more than ever to ensure pupils get the support needed to catch up and progress in their learning, it is particularly important that teachers have the skills, knowledge, confidence and support to meet the needs of all learners in the classroom. Through a reflective account of supporting an individual with EAL needs in the Early Years Classroom, this paper highlights how we may all learn something as teachers by reflecting on our practice.

Educators agree that everyday activities enable children to learn some science even before entering preschool education and that children’s ideas are part of the classroom. Some of these ideas will not be completely correct; misconceptions refer to children’s incorrect or incomplete ideas. This paper refers to research investigating teachers’ response to early year’s children’s misconceptions in Cyprus. The results indicate that often teachers do not acknowledge the existence of these misconceptions and this  is likely to be an obstacle for children’s learning. The aim is that with the completion of this research more details will surface misconceptions and Cypriot education and hopefully future research will enlighten this new area of investigation for the Cypriot datum.

Music teachers, therapists, scientists and musicians have acknowledged music education as being a core subject for the development of the whole self for many years. The Kodály, Dalcroze, Suzuki, and Orff Methods of musical learning have shaped the way children are taught in schools, community centres, and the home. But, are they still used in music education today?

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Objectives
1. To show how child consumerism has changed over the last two generations to the extent that modern childhoods have become commercialised.
2. To show how the commercialisation of childhood has influenced play patterns
3. To Discuss the implications of this from the perspective of creative development


Method
THE METHODOLOGY UPON WHICH THIS PAPER IS FOUNDED IS LIFE HISTORY RESEARCH.

The study is based on four life histories of Irish Parents who together span the last fifty years of living in Ireland. The age breakdown is as follows; Mother aged 26, Mother aged 36, Mother aged 42, Father aged 52.
Life history research involves the story of a person’s life. It can be set in a particular context and can be analysed in conjunction with other documents that relate to the time period or experience in question. Bloor & Wood (2006) define Life history research as the collection and analysis of past events from eyewitness participants for the purposes of historical reconstruction. The main method of data collection was depth interviews with participants concerning their lives supported with information from documents such as letters and diaries. Other documents were also used to stimulate memory or discourse (Plummer 2001). Examples include photographs, videos, toys and newspapers.
I believe that life history research offers an in depth and detailed method of including socially contextualised qualitative living experiences within a study.

This view of the importance of including living experiences within any study of human situations is underpinned by venerable and highly respected and established social research concepts such as Phenomenology, Ethnography, Hermeneutic Sociology (Dilthey 1998) and Interpretivism (Gubrium & Holstein 1997). It also echoes Weber’s sociologically foundational material on Verstehen or Understanding.

Life history research is a powerful medium of recording a person’s experiences and thereby enriching social understanding of our collective systems. As a process, it sets the person and their story at the centre of the research and as such is a participant empowering methodology. Collecting data on how cultures, systems and policies impact on the lives of people is a very important pillar of social research. It has also proved to be a fascinating journey of discovery, opening up lived experiences in a unique and fascinating way. The insight it affords into the human experience of such cultures, systems and policies is both important and truly rewarding research.

Results
The focus of the original  life history research was creative development through the Irish Education System from 1950’s Ireland to the present day. All participant’s however, spoke richly about their childhood play experiences and how they differ from that of their children’s. The common theme was that the growing influence of consumerism and marketing has impacted massively on children’s play patterns. These stories formed the basis of a thematic analysis on changing play patterns influenced by the increase of direct marketing to young children through a variety of mediums including television, cinema, branding, toys, songs and product lines.

Discussion
The commercialisation of Childhood has now become an internationally recognised phrase (Calvert, 2008). It refers to how the modern child is exposed to pressure from an early age to see themselves as consumers. It is the result of the evolution of childhood into a marketing opportunity. Children are now directly targeted not merely though advertising but also through television programmes such as Fireman Sam, Peppa Pig and Bob the Builder. These shows carry product lines that include not only normative merchandising such as cups, plates, cutlery, bedding, clothing, lunchboxes and so on but also play based merchandising such as dress up clothes, soft toys, character toys, imaginary play equipment and more. A phenomenon that started with Barbie has become increasingly pervasive to the extent that the television story lines are now being recreated during early childhood play sessions where children of previous generations created their own story lines for imaginary play. Where once they played the things they experienced such as house, doctors, school, problem solving and conflict resolution, they are now more likely to play ‘Bella Lasagne’s cat got stuck up a tree’ – A popular Fireman Sam storyline. The issue for creative development is clear. In traditional or real play, a child is using a recreation of a popular story or regular life experience to create a new learning, a new outcome, to problem solve or resolve an emotional or social issue. When recreating a marketed story the learning is inevitably more controlled. The pictures in their head are not their own. The ending of the story is strongly imprinted upon them through the visual nature of its consumption and their freedom to ‘play’ with it to achieve their own innate learning goals is compromised. This is no accident; the ‘story’ as presented is designed to sell to the infant viewer. Its patterns of emotional attachment between the child and the character are a key component in convincing the child that it ‘needs’ the associated product lines. When viewed from the perspective of the real role of play as a learning and processing vehicle for children, the commercialisation of modern play is of grave concern. The right of children to play is enshrined in the Article 44 of the UN Convention on the rights of the child. It is recognised as a learning vehicle for children; a space where they are empowered to work through the problems in their life and creatively solve those problems. Piaget highlighted the centrality of emotional processing within children’s play. Vygotsky laid emphasis on the importance of the child’s imagination in early play where they possess the ability to make a sheet a cape or a stick a doll simply by saying it is so. This intrinsic and important capacity to imagine is a central platform of creative development. It does not, however, suit toy manufacturers. How can one make money from such a concept? Educational Philosophers and play pedagogics may have united in their view of the centrality of the imagination within childhood play but the concept that a good toy is 90% child and 10% toy is the antithesis of toy manufacturing and marketing. Television, electronic games, music videos, social networking sites, the internet, magazines and mobile phones have all provided child marketing companies with the means to infiltrate children’s play. Their motivation is to maximise their opportunities to create consumers with an emotional product attachment. Their real achievement, however, could well be the alteration of thousands of years of human developmental processing with unknown results for adult capacities within creativity and related skills such as problem solving, conflict resolution, emotional processing and interpersonal capacity.
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