This ground-breaking collected volume features multiple voices from the field that, together, offer an extensive and balanced examination of the contemporary, historical, and philosophical influences that shape early childhood education and care in Canada today. Showcasing uniquely Canadian narratives, perspectives, and histories, the text provides a superb foundation in the key topics and approaches of the field, including Indigenous ways of knowing, holistic education, play, the nature of childhood, developmental approaches, and the impact of educational philosophers and theorists such as Rousseau and Dewey. The authors discuss current and reimagined themes such as children’s rights, diversity and inclusion, multimodality, ecology, and Indigenous education in the context of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Featuring chapters by academics from across Canada that explore the field’s history and future, as well as guiding questions to support reader engagement, Early Years Education and Care in Canada is a fundamental resource for students, academics, practitioners, and policymakers in early childhood education and care.

The first volume in this Early Childhood Education and Care in the 21st Century: International Teaching, Family and Policy Perspectives miniseries provides a snapshot of early childhood education and care from 19 different countries around the world. The intention is to provide a description for the policy and provision for young children and their families in each of the unique contemporary contexts. The selection of countries includes every continent in the world to provide variety across cultures, socio-economic status, location, population and other unique factors. Some chapters also share the development and history of early childhood in their country, including economic and political transitions that lead to changes in early childhood provision and policy. The book provides essential takeaways for early childhood educators, researchers, early childhood organisations, policy makers and those interested to know more about early childhood education within an international perspective.

Early childhood education is critical for preparing children for success in formal school settings, and as such, is a major concern throughout the world. This volume brings together ground-breaking research in this area to help practitioners, students, policy makers, curriculum designers, and intervention program developers understand the latest ideas and advances in the field. Recent Perspectives of Early Childhood Education and Care in Canada centres on three key themes. The first provides a survey of historical, social policy, economic, and provincial regulations and policies related to early childhood education and care. The second focuses on issues related to children's learning, curriculum, and teachers. The final theme addresses recent developments in government involvement in early childhood education and care that are unique to Canada. The contributors to this volume demonstrate the pressing need that exists to further public discussion on early childhood education to help policymakers shape better decisions for Canadian families.

Larry Prochner and Nina Howe reflect the variation within the field by bringing together a multidisciplinary group of experts to address key issues in the field: What programs are currently available and what are their origins? How are adults prepared for work in these programs? How do children within the programs spend their day? What policies guide the programs? How has the field reflected on itself through research? There are no simple answers, but the essays in this collection contribute to a creative reframing of the questions. The authors include psychologists, sociologists, historians, teacher educators, and social policy analysts.

This review of early childhood education and care (ECEC) in twenty OECD countries describes the social, economic, conceptual and research factors that influence early childhood policy.

The transition from early childhood education to primary school is a big step for all children, and a step which more and more children are having to take. Quality transitions Should be well-prepared and child-centred, managed by trained staff collaborating with one another, and guided by ...

The second volume in this Early Childhood Education in the 21st Century: International Teaching, Family and Policy Perspectives miniseries focuses on teacher and family perspectives of early childhood education and care from 19 different countries around the world. The aim of this volume is to articulate the key components of teacher education and family practices that impact young children’s education and care. Each country featured in this volume presents its own unique perspective in relation to the cultural and societal constraints around teacher training and/or family practices and the thinking around those practices that are important for early childhood development. Offering a unique insight into how teachers and families work together in different countries, the book is essential reading for early childhood educators, researchers, early childhood organisations, policy makers and those interested to know more about early childhood within an international perspective.

The Handbook of International Perspectives on Early Childhood Education provides a groundbreaking compilation of research from an interdisciplinary group of distinguished experts in early childhood education (ECE), child development, cultural and cross-cultural research in the psychological sciences, etc. The chapters provide current overviews of ECE in Latin America and the Caribbean, the Middle East, Asia, Australia, Africa, Europe, the US, and Canada, and convey how ECE is multi-sectorial, multi-cultural, and multi-disciplinary, undergirded by such disciplines as neuroscience, psychological anthropology, cross-cultural human development, childhood studies, and political science.

This international handbook gives a comprehensive overview of findings from longstanding and contemporary research, theory, and practices in early childhood education in the Northern and Southern hemispheres. The first volume of the handbook addresses theory, methodology, and the research activities and research needs of particular regions. The second volume examines in detail innovations and longstanding programs, curriculum and assessment, and conceptions and research into child, family and communities. The two volumes of this handbook address the current theory, methodologies and research needs of specific countries and provide insight into existing global similarities in early childhood practices. By paying special attention to what is happening in the larger world contexts, the volumes provide a representative overview of early childhood education practices and research, and redress the current North-South imbalance of published work on the subject.

This publication focuses on quality issues in early childhood education and care: it aims to define quality and outlines five policy levers that can enhance it.