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This chapter provides a Foucauldian genealogical analysis of the concept of “community” in three curriculum documents signposting major changes in the conceptualization of kindergarten education in Hungary. Our approach is to closely examine the discourses of the core curriculum documents and their sociopolitical contexts in order to explore the shifts in the ideas of “community” and “communitarianism” contained within the texts, focusing particularly on the period of “transition” in Hungary. This chapter interrogates the shifting ideas of “community” and finds that the meaning of “transition” in the context of post-World War II (WWII) Hungary needs to be radically reassessed. Furthermore, the study suggests that the “transition” in Hungary has been in fact a drawn out process, one beginning well before the early 1990s and involving major reforms throughout the post-WWII period. By outlining the shifts in the conceptualizations of “community” embedded in kindergarten curriculum, the chapter explores what political problems were attempted to be solved through the changing conception of this early education. Furthermore, the study examines whether these reconceptualizations can be considered to be directly linked to the transition of particular political ideologies – from socialism to neoliberal capitalism – or rather, do they represent much smoother transitions to a new era after the fall of the Berlin Wall.

The kindergarten curriculum in mainland China has evolved through four periods and the current reform began in the end of 1980s. The reform aimed to transform kindergarten practice by shaping ideologies including respect for individual child, active learning, and play-based integrated curriculum. This review of research literatures shows that compared with the practice before the reform, many kindergarten teachers organize classrooms in learning centers, provide more play materials, pay time, and freedom for free play, and pay more attention to individuals. But indoor space organized in rice-seedling-bed model, teacher-led group instruction and teacher-controlled interactions are still often observed after three decades of reform efforts; there still exist great variations among kindergartens of different sponsoring bodies and in different regions. The problems resulted from the innate deficiencies of the top-down and value-priority reform, the conflicts between the advocated value and the traditional Chinese culture with emphasis on Ming-Fen, testing, and the value of children for the whole family and nation, and the unequal distribution of public resources decided by the educational institutions. Therefore, the curriculum reform is not a separate endeavor from other social changes, but a comprehensive and systematic change. To guarantee the success of the curriculum reform, the Chinese society needs cultural transformation and institutional reconstruction.

Japanese preschools have been the subject of extensive ethnographic investigation over the last 40 years or more. However, the market for preschools in Japan has received almost no such attention. This market is rapidly changing, for the recent sharp decrease in the number of children in the country has resulted in a growing struggle on the part of kindergartens to attract children, largely by catering to the needs of mothers, for their survival. This chapter, by considering children as a common-pool resource (CPR) for which kindergartens quietly vie with one another, examines the situation in the capital city of Akita Prefecture, and shows how mothers – and also households – have been able to benefit in terms of convenience due to competition among kindergartens for their children.

Developmental science and school research identify children’s transition to kindergarten as a sensitive period with significant implications for formal school success. In this chapter, we present evidence that a successful transition to kindergarten requires more than ensuring that children have requisite competencies. Instead, we present an ecological model that conceptualizes smooth transitions from pre-kindergarten to kindergarten as a function of linkages between systems, such as connections between schools and families and between pre-kindergarten and kindergarten teachers and classrooms, especially those made prior to kindergarten entry. This chapter provides an overview of research on and best practices for effective pre-kindergarten to kindergarten transitions that support children’s development and school readiness. Evidence for the ecological framework supporting this critical transition is provided, including how transition and alignment practices are associated with optimal outcomes for children. Promising practices from the field that promote alignment between pre-kindergarten and kindergarten experiences are also addressed. Additionally, we present several case studies detailing the ways in which different localities have used empirically supported transition practices to support children’s early school success. Finally, we conclude with thoughts regarding future directions for transition and alignment work in early childhood.

Applying sociological and developmental theoretical perspectives to educational policy issues, this study analyzed data from 7,710 children from low-income families in the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Cohort. The goal was to examine how much the association between phonics instruction in kindergarten classrooms and children’s reading achievement during the first year of school in the low-income population would depend on whether children had previously attended preschool as well as the socioeconomic composition of their elementary schools. Lagged linear models with a series of sensitivity tests revealed that this association was strongest among children from low-income families who had not attended preschool and then enrolled in socioeconomically disadvantaged elementary schools and among children from low-income families who had attended preschool and then enrolled in socioeconomically advantaged elementary schools. These findings demonstrate how insights into educational inequality can be gained by situating developing children within their proximate ecologies and institutional settings, especially looking to the match between children and their contexts. They are especially relevant to timely policy discussions of early childhood education programs, classroom instructional practices, and school desegregation.

The present study aimed to examining the association between work–family conflict and turnover intention by exploring the mediating effect of job satisfaction and the moderating effect of perceived organizational support on preschool teachers in China.

A survey of 827 preschool teachers was conducted, and the data were analyzed using correlation analysis, hierarchical linear regression and path analysis with a structural equation model.

The results revealed that work–family conflict was significantly and positively associated with preschool teachers' turnover intention. Job satisfaction partially mediated the relationship between work–family conflict and turnover intention, while perceived organizational support moderated the association between work–family conflict and job satisfaction, thus mitigating the negative impact of work–family conflict on job satisfaction.

These findings contribute to the understanding of turnover among preschool teachers and suggest the need to enhance perceived organizational support to promote job satisfaction and reduce turnover in this profession.

The purpose of this paper is to study whether environmental certifications increase customer satisfaction in kindergartens, and whether this relationship is influenced by kindergarten size or ownership type.

Data from a parental satisfaction survey in Norwegian kindergartens is combined with data on environmental certifications (n = 2033–3270 kindergartens over 7 years, approximately 11% certified). Regression models with extensive controls are used to test the relationships.

The main pooled cross-sectional regression and all panel data regression models show no significant relationships between environmental certification and customer satisfaction. Organizational size or ownership type (for-profit/non-profit) does not moderate the relationship.

Environmental certifications have little or no impact on customer satisfaction in this sample of kindergartens.

The study contributes by examining the effects of environmental certifications on customer satisfaction in kindergartens, a little studied topic and a sector, and by using a large sample, secondary data and panel data methods, avoiding some limitations in earlier research.

The aim of this study is to make students understand the significance of strategy formulation and the impact of internal and external factors on the strategy adopted by the firm. Upon the completion of this case study, the students will be able to achieve the following: • map out relevant macro-environment strategical factors of an organization; • assessing organizations industry and competitive environment; • outline strategic group maps to assess positions of key competitors; • develop issues priority matrices; • testing competitive power of resources; and • identifying an organizations internal strengths and external threats.

Across the globe, the COVID-19 pandemic left few organizations untouched and many entrepreneurs fighting to stay afloat. Here we look at the survival dilemma faced by the founder of Little Birds Kindergarten, in Doha, Qatar. Founded by a local Qatari businesswoman, the kindergarten offered a British-style curriculum and an Early Years Foundation Stage structure; with her profound passion for technology, the founder (here called Fatma) has always believed that integrating technology into a child’s early learning opens the door to limitless opportunities and potential. Therefore, she ensured that the kindergarten consistently invested in advanced educational technology and the accompanying software. Yet, while the reputation of Little Birds Kindergarten stayed high, the COVID-19 pandemic stunted the growth in enrolments. Fatma stopped paying herself a salary and even drew on her own savings to keep the kindergarten going but it still did not earn enough to compensate for her initial investment. So, despite her passionate concern for the kindergarten, she worried about being unable to keep it afloat for much longer. The purpose of this case study is to shed light on the strategic posture, performance and market position of one kindergarten. From there, it surveys the opportunities in the education industry that are unique to student enrolment and highlights what a kindergarten can do to develop a survival strategy.

The case is suitable for teaching basic and advanced courses at the undergraduate and post-graduate levels.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 11: Strategy.

Aims primarily to examine how stressful kindergarten principals as leaders and managers of their schools found their work to be, and if such job stress was related to negative emotions and job satisfaction. The secondary aim was to explore if social support from a close friend could reduce and buffer job stress. Seventy‐seven kindergarten principals in Hong Kong responded to a questionnaire containing the variables of interest. The results showed that the principals found their work to be moderately stressful. However, emotional and informational support from a close friend had beneficial impacts on stress.

In Australia as elsewhere, kindergarten or pre-school teachers’ work has almost escaped historians’ attention. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the lives and work of approximately 60 women who graduated from the Adelaide Kindergarten Training College (KTC) between 1908 and 1917, which is during the leadership of its foundation principal, Lillian de Lissa.

The paper is a feminist analysis and uses conventional archival sources.

The KTC was a site of higher education that offered middle class women an intellectual as well as practical education, focusing on liberal arts, progressive pedagogies and social reform. More than half of the graduates initially worked as teachers, their destinations reflecting the fragmented field of early childhood education. Whether married or single, many remained connected with progressive education and social reform, exercising their pedagogical and administrative skills in their workplaces, homes and civic activities. In so doing, they were not only leaders of children but also makers of society.

The paper highlights the links between the kindergarten movement and reforms in girls’ secondary and higher education, and repositions the KTC as site of intellectual education for women. In turn, KTC graduates committed to progressive education and social reform in the interwar years.