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1 – 10 of over 9000Mo Wang, Dora Ho, Jiafang Lu and Dongmei Yang
The purpose of this study is to construct a scale that is contextually suitable for measuring early childhood leadership in China.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to construct a scale that is contextually suitable for measuring early childhood leadership in China.
Design/methodology/approach
Following a standard scale development procedure, both qualitative and quantitative research approaches were addressed. Qualitative data was collected from 21 semistructured interviews with formal and informal teacher leaders in Xiamen City, China. Using survey data of 120 respondents and 305 respondents, an exploratory factor analysis was conducted twice to determine the underlying factorial structure of the scale. A further sample of 317 respondents were used to test the latent structure and validity of the scale using confirmatory factor analysis.
Findings
Based on the results from reliability and validity tests, this study indicates that the scale demonstrates sound psychometric properties. A three-factor model was determined, including staff management and development, peer learning and support and communication with parents.
Originality/value
The scale is the first of its kind for measuring early childhood leadership in China.
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Stephanie Lee, Elizabeth Drake, Annie Pennucci, Gretchen Bjornstad and Triin Edovald
This paper seeks to describe a cost‐benefit analysis of early childhood education programmes.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper seeks to describe a cost‐benefit analysis of early childhood education programmes.
Design/methodology/approach
The analysis utilises the best evidence available for early education programmes, combined with data from Washington State and economic literature to determine the monetary implications of these programmes.
Findings
The results indicate that early childhood education can yield benefits that substantially outweigh the costs of the programmes. In addition, these benefits were found to apply in many different public sector areas.
Originality/value
The paper offers an analytic model to determine the long‐term benefits of early intervention programmes.
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Md. Ismail Hossain, Iqramul Haq, Md. Sanwar Hossain, Md. Jakaria Habib, Fiza Binta Islam, Sutopa Roy and Mofasser Rahman
Early literacy and numeracy development among children may be the best measure of a child's well-being. The purpose of this research was to examine the impact of child factors…
Abstract
Purpose
Early literacy and numeracy development among children may be the best measure of a child's well-being. The purpose of this research was to examine the impact of child factors, quality of care and household factors, and community factors in early childhood on the development of literacy and numeracy skills of children in Bangladesh.
Design/methodology/approach
For this study, the authors used data from Bangladesh's 2019 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey. The association between response variables and selected covariates was examined using the chi-square test. To determine the risk factors for early child literacy and numeracy development, the authors applied two-level logistic regression models.
Findings
Among the total of under five children (n = 9,449), in general, 29.1% of the children were growing in the development early childhood literacy and numeracy in Bangladesh. Children (36–47 months), male children, children with moderate stunting, children with severe and moderate underweight status, mothers without education and primary education, and mothers from the poorest, poorer, middle and richer households were less likely than their counterparts to develop children's early literacy and numeracy skills. In contrast, women from the eastern and central regions, children who read at least 3 books, and early childhood education had higher odds of children's literacy and numeracy skills development than their counterparts.
Originality/value
The results from this study suggest that children's, community, quality of care and household level significant factors should be considered when trying to improve children's literacy and numeracy skills development in Bangladesh.
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Since the early 2000s there has been increased attention on the professionalisation of the Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) workforce in many OECD countries. This study…
Abstract
Purpose
Since the early 2000s there has been increased attention on the professionalisation of the Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) workforce in many OECD countries. This study focuses on what Australian early childhood educators holding the lowest level of qualification – Certificate III are experiencing in relation to their professional capital in a sector that is experiencing wide-spread and ongoing reform. The study identifies the human capital, social capital and decisional capital of these educators, then explores the interconnections.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper was funded by the Australian Research Council. The qualitative data consider the capabilities of certificate-qualified educators and how these are enabled or constrained within the workplace. The corpus of data for this study consists of 14 interviews with Certificate III-qualified educators from three locations across Victoria, Australia. Hargreaves and Fullan’s (2012) forms of professional capital (human, social and decisional) act as organisers for the themes identified through a thematic analysis.
Findings
Themes identified in the data speak to inequity in access to professional learning, the valuing of life experiences, clear divisions of labour that impact what knowledge is valued, and differences in educator agency in the decision-making process. Many certificate-qualified educators experience a workplace culture that lacks trust in an individual’s professional competence and does not appreciate collegial knowledge and skill building as a collective enterprise.
Originality/value
The conceptual framing of this study provides a unique way to explore the experiences of certificate-trained educators. The study introduces the idea of using exploratory categories and the identification of levels of human, social and decisional capital. This type of study involving this cohort of educators is unique.
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Amy M. Young and Mary D. Hinesly
The purpose of this paper is to provide a methodological approach to understanding key influencers of Millennials and other generational cohorts. The approach identifies adults'…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide a methodological approach to understanding key influencers of Millennials and other generational cohorts. The approach identifies adults' implicit consumer preferences based on their early childhood cultural experiences.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper draws from research in the area of generational studies, implicit psychological processing, and consumer preferences to propose a method of identifying and confirming key influencers of generational cohorts' implicit preferences.
Findings
A more complete understanding of Millennials and other generational cohorts can be gleaned by complementing current methodological approaches with the one proposed in this paper.
Research limitations/implications
As preliminary research has just begun using this model, additional research is needed to confirm the theoretical work and association between early childhood influencers and actual purchasing behaviors.
Practical implications
The identification of early childhood influencers can be used by businesses for their current marketing strategies with Millennials and other generational cohorts or for product development/updates in anticipation of cohorts “aging into” target markets.
Originality/value
The approach proposed in this paper is innovative in its integration of generational cohort analysis with empirical approaches to measuring implicit consumer preferences.
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Kristen E. Darling, Deborah Seok, Patti Banghart, Kerensa Nagle, Marybeth Todd and Nadia S. Orfali
The purpose of this paper is to examine Conscious Discipline’s (CD) Parenting Education Curriculum (CD PEC), the parenting component of CD’s research-based social and emotional…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine Conscious Discipline’s (CD) Parenting Education Curriculum (CD PEC), the parenting component of CD’s research-based social and emotional learning program. CD aims to change child behavior by changing how adults understand and manage their own behaviors and emotions. Researchers explored CD PEC’s association with improved parenting skills, parent–child relationships and child behavior and emotion management.
Design/methodology/approach
During pre- and post-site visits, parents in four Head Start programs completed the Attentive Parenting Survey (n=25) and interviews (n=19); and 20 staff were also interviewed.
Findings
Parents reported that CD PEC shifted their perspectives and practices for managing children’s challenging behaviors, improved parent–child relationships and resulted in decreased child behavior problems.
Research limitations/implications
The study was correlational, based on self-report, and had a small sample with no comparison group.
Practical implications
This study supports CD PEC as a means of shifting parenting practices, relationships and child behavior by focusing on adult social-emotional skills and self-regulation.
Social implications
This study provides preliminary evidence that addressing the social-emotional needs of adults is a viable step to helping children improve their social skills, emotion regulation and general behavior, which have all been linked to later academic and life success.
Originality/value
The paper studies improvements in parents’ emotion recognition and self-regulation before disciplining their children.
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The purpose of this paper is to examine the discursive rationalities shaping Irish child policy, with a particular focus on the rationality of “better with less” and its…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the discursive rationalities shaping Irish child policy, with a particular focus on the rationality of “better with less” and its association with an intensified focus on the early years. In the aftermath of the global financial crisis there was a shift towards universal provision of early years services as part of the better with less agenda – the paper critically examines the assumptions which shaped this policy reform.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper is based on analysis of the texts of the two national child policy plans produced to date in Ireland – The Children, Their Lives 2000–2010 and Better Outcomes, Brighter Futures 2014–2020.
Findings
Ireland adopted its first national children’s strategy The Children, Their Lives in 2000, associated with an initial shift to a more technocratic, investment-oriented approach to policy making. The emphasis on economic returns is more strongly evident in the successor adopted in 2014. Informed by the “better with less” agenda Better Outcomes, Brighter Futures has a strong focus on early years provision as offering the most significant potential for returns, particularly in relation to “disadvantaged” children. This position not only objectifies children but is associated with a set of assumptions about the nature of “disadvantage” and those affected by it which ignores the wider context of unequal social, political and economic relations.
Originality/value
National children’s strategies have not been explicitly looked at previously as a form of governmentalization of government and there has been limited analysis to date in Ireland or elsewhere of the better with less agenda in the context of child policy, gaps which this paper seeks to address.
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Bryna Sanger and Martin A. Levin
The recent Childhood Immunization Initiative of the Clinton Administration was a dramatic and ambitious policy response to what we will show is a case of significant management…
Abstract
The recent Childhood Immunization Initiative of the Clinton Administration was a dramatic and ambitious policy response to what we will show is a case of significant management and implementation failure. Interpreted by the Administration as a policy failure, low rates of early childhood immunization met with an aggressive and targeted policy response which ultimately diverted attention away from significant evidence of fundamental problems of service delivery, infrastructure, and parental knowledge and behavior. Analyzes and seeks to evaluate the reasons for the poor fit between the diagnosis of the problem of existing childhood immunization policy and the ultimate policy prescription of the Clinton Administration which relies almost exclusively on reducing the price of vaccines.
The purpose of this paper is to examine whether early language deficits increase the risk of severe antisocial behavior among male children, and whether this association varies as…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine whether early language deficits increase the risk of severe antisocial behavior among male children, and whether this association varies as a function of negative temperament during infancy.
Design/methodology/approach
Data are derived from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Birth Cohort. Both survey methods and direct observations were employed to obtain the data. Logistic regression was used to examine the research questions at hand.
Findings
Male children with oral vocabulary and grammatical/syntactic deficits during the toddler years exhibited more frequent antisocial behavior across home and school settings during kindergarten, relative to boys without language deficits. However, this relationship was limited to males who manifested negative temperament/affect during their infancy, as reported on by both parents and independent raters.
Originality/value
Prior research on language, temperament, and antisocial behavior has generally overlooked the potential for these early-life risk factors for subsequent offending to interact with each other. The findings of the present study suggest that early intervention and prevention efforts should account for ways in which individual temperamental differences can structure behavioral responses to cognitive challenges.
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Toni Denese Sturdivant and Iliana Alanís
Oftentimes, attempts at culturally relevant early childhood practices are limited to diverse materials in the physical environment. The purpose of this study is to document the…
Abstract
Purpose
Oftentimes, attempts at culturally relevant early childhood practices are limited to diverse materials in the physical environment. The purpose of this study is to document the culturally relevant teaching practices, specifically for African American children, within a culturally diverse preschool classroom with a Black teacher.
Design/methodology/approach
The researchers used qualitative methodology to answer the following question: How does a Black preschool teacher enact culturally relevant practices for her African American students in a culturally diverse classroom? Data sources included field notes from classroom observations, transcripts from both formal and informal semi-structured interviews with a Master Teacher and photographs.
Findings
The authors found that the participant fostered an inclusive classroom community and a classroom environment that reflected the range of human diversity. She was intentional in her integration of culturally representative read alouds and lessons designed to incorporate students’ interests. Finally, she engaged families by facilitating their involvement in her curriculum. However, social justice aspects were absent during the time of the study.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to the literature in that it documents a high-quality early childhood classroom with a teacher, that is, actively trying to incorporate the cultures of her African American students. Many extant studies provide examples of superficial culturally relevant pedagogy (CRP) being enacting in early childhood classrooms or the focus is not specifically on African American children.