A major influence on the education of young children since the late nineteenth century, the philosophical and practical tenets of Frobelian early childhood education require urgent re-articulation in light of current debate and developments in research and policy. This seminal Handbook responds to this need, drawing together a unique and valuable body of literature, research and case studies to make explicit the specific features of Froebelian education and provide key impulses for future research and practice in this area. Chapters present the sometimes divergent perspectives of leading educationalists, and so offer a uniquely comprehensive overview of Froebelian approaches and their interaction with contemporary policies and insights. The Handbook explores five significant areas of scholarship and practice: Part I examines the original Froebelian principles and practices in early childhood education in different parts of the world. Part II presents case studies, development projects and practitioner publications exploring Froebelian approaches to early childhood education. Part III details research studies which document, debate and evaluate Froebelian approaches. Part IV considers how Froebelian approaches might be sustained and adapted for use in various cultural contexts across the world. Part V offers a re-articulation of research and policy. An essential resource for in-service and future practitioners, researchers and policy-makers involved in early childhood education, this key text will promote discussion, aid analysis and further the practical application of Frobelian principles.

In the absence of public provision, many governments rely on the market to meet childcare demand. But who are the actors shaping this market? What work do they do to marketize care? And what does it mean for how childcare is provided? Based on an innovative theoretical framework and an in-depth study of the New Zealand childcare market, Gallagher examines the problematic growth of private, for-profit childcare. Opening the 'black box' of childcare markets to closer scrutiny, this book brings to light the complex political, social and economic dynamics behind childcare provisioning.

Rethinking the concepts of citizenship and community in relation to young children, this groundbreaking text examines the ways in which indigenous understandings and practices applied in early childhood settings in Australia and New Zealand encourage young children to demonstrate their care and concern for others and so, in turn, perceive themselves as part of a larger community. Young Children’s Community Building in Action acknowledges global variations in the meanings of early childhood education, of citizenship and community building, and challenges widespread invisibility and disregard of Indigenous communities. Through close observation and examination of early years settings in Australia and New Zealand, chapters demonstrate how practices guided by Aboriginal and Māori values support and nurture children’s personal and social development as individuals, and as citizens in a wider community. Exploring what young children’s citizenship learning and action looks like in practice, and how this may vary within and across communities, the book provides a powerful account of effective pedagogical approaches which have been long excluded from mainstream dialogues. Written for researchers and students of early childhood education and care, this book provides insight into what citizenship can be for young children, and how Indigenous cultural values shape ways of knowing, being, doing and relating.

This book tells the story of how revolutionary ideas imported from Germany that suggested children would unfold through play were adopted, adapted, and thrived in New Zealand.

Friedrich Froebel (1782 – 1852), the inventor of kindergarten, was one of the most influential educational thinkers of the 19th century. This book showcases the cutting-edge work being undertaken around the world inspired by this pioneer of early childhood education and shows the many ways in which Froebel's work has been applied and extended. It presents a wealth of Froebelian expertise on topics including pedagogy and curriculum, history, architecture, neuroscience, peace and religious education and links Froebel's theories to other thinkers including John Dewey, Michel Foucault, Paulo Freire, Aili Helenius and Chen Heqin. It highlights what Froebel means today in a variety of settings around the world and includes contributions from academics and practitioners based in North and South America, Europe, Australasia, Africa and Asia.

This book describes the use of data systems in early childhood settings (birth to eight years) for the purposes of assessment, evaluation and curriculum planning. It presents an international collection of research examining ways in which teachers and researchers have revisited notions of what constitutes effective assessment, revised ways in which they assess children’s learning and development and use the knowledge gained for curriculum planning. It offers insights into contemporary research on how teachers and children are engaging with data systems as part of effective assessment and how these approaches influence practice. This book presents recent theorizing and examples of research which have investigated innovative approaches to assessment using data systems in early years settings. It represents both early childhood and junior primary contexts and includes research which focusses on teachers’ perspectives and reflections on use of data systems. It also examines research which reflects on what children gain from being involved in these data systems.

Written by two leading international experts, Early Childhood in the Anglosphere offers a unique comparison of early childhood education and care services, and parenting leave, across seven high-income Anglophone countries. Peter Moss and Linda Mitchell explore what these systems have in common, including the dominance of ‘childcare’ services, widespread privatisation and marketisation, and weak parenting leave. They highlight the substantial failings of these systems, and the causes and consequences of these failings. But this book is ultimately about hope, about how these failings might be made good through major changes. In other words, it is about transformation: why transformation is both necessary and possible at this particular time, what transformation might look like, and how it might happen. Part of that transformation concerns the need for new policies and structures, but even more it is about how the Anglosphere thinks about early childhood. The authors call for turning away from conceptualising early childhood services as `childcare' and marketised businesses selling commodities to parent-consumers; and for reconceptualising them as education imbued with an ethics of care, a public good available as a right to all children and families, and complemented by well-paid, individual entitlements to parenting leave. Using examples from the Anglosphere and beyond, and in a context of converging crises, the book argues that transformation of thinking, policies and structures is desirable and doable.

Introduction: investing in the early years. 1. Psychology of freedom: Understanding children. Benefits of play. Free play at kindergarten. I play and I grow at playcentre. Teaching mothers and motherly teachers. Playway at school. Permissive messages to mothers. Parent campaigns -- 2. Psychology of disorder: (Dys)functional families. Working mothers and maternal deprivation. The backyard growth of childcare. Regulating childcare. Blaming mothers. Illegitimate solutions -- 3. Getting ahead: The problem with education for Maori children. Sylvia-Ashton Warner: the little ones . Maori children at preschool. Combating disadvantage with a head start. Revolution in learning. Te Kohanga: a chance to be equal Pt. 2. Challenge and constraint 1960s-1980s. 4. Politics of early childhood: The end of the feminine mystique. Children have rights too. Who gets to preschool? Liberating preschoolers. National constituency for early childhood. The year of the child: the world of the child -- 5. Demanding childcare: Campaign tactics. Attachment and separation. Activism and advocacy. Working women. Story of a recommendation -- 6. Working with children: Rocking the cradle. Career at playcentre. Brought to mind in family daycare. To teach in kindergarten. To work in childcare -- 7. Indigenous rights and minority issues: Maori self-determination. Te Kohanga Reo: outside the mainstream. Kura Kaupapa: transition to school. Early childhood responses. Pacific Islands early childhood centres Pt. 3. State interest and devolution 1980s-1990s. 8. Winds of reform: Political shifts. Against the odds. A foot in the door. Implementing before five. National directions. Parents as first teachers. The kindergarten flagship -- 9. Measures of quality: Quality discources. Who gets to preschool now? Weaving TE Whariki. Qualified to teach. After before five. Psychology of freedom -- Psychology of disorder -- Getting ahead -- Politics of early childhood -- Demanding childcare -- Working with children -- Indigenous rights & minority issues -- Winds of reform -- Measures of quality.

Politics in the Playground is a lively account of early childhood education and care in postwar New Zealand. The provision of care and education for young New Zealand children expanded significantly after 1945. Whereas some 2,000 children were attending f

Taking as a starting point the work of Aotearoa New Zealand to provide an education system that includes curriculum, pedagogy, and language from indigenous Maori culture, this book investigates the ensuing practices, policies, and dilemmas that have arisen and provides a wealth of data on how truly culturally inclusive education might look.