This article emphasises the importance of research that helps us to understand how things are in early childhood education and care, why they are the way they are, what are the alternative decisions or actions we might take in order to change things and what are the implications of choosing among those alternatives. As an illustration of this, it…

Argues for departure from prevailing isolationist research and policy focus on young children. Supports analysis of how diverse contexts and environments not only support or surround children's development but also how the cultural "bathwater" enters into the shaping and elaboration of the baby it supports. Focuses on child development within…

Welcoming address to a candlelighting ceremony at the Washington, D.C. Childhood Education Center celebrating the International Year of the Child 1979, and sponsored by the Assocaition for Childhood Education International. (SS)

Advocates teaching humanistic elements such as parents' history, individual uniqueness, potentiality, awareness, learning, new experiences, communication, and truth in discovery. (BJD)

Describes six pressures and trends shaping society today: transformation of knowledge; the communications revolution; economic turbulence; shifts in power structures; new concept of work, education, and leisure; and the search for meaning. The effects of these pressures on social transition are discussed and implications drawn for learning and…

Cites a few of the outstanding changes in California's school operation, as well as the benefits accrued from these changes, to support the contention that public school systems are improving and that the future of public education has never been brighter. (Author/MP)

Argues that, despite the plethora of federal, state, and local policies that now affect children, there is not (and never has been) a conscious national policy toward them except one: that all children should attend school until a state-mandated age. Offers, from the perspective of private education, nine recommendations for creating an…

Discusses teachers' use of portfolios by teachers for instruction. Describes ways to use them effectively: integrating portfolio assessment into the instructional day, making decisions about its content as the teacher works with the child, and holding portfolio conferences frequently. Reviews research on the contribution of portfolios to teachers'…

Reviews the history and purposes of the Association for Childhood Education International. Emphasizes the importance of play as the child's first expression of continuity. Points out that Confucius' concepts of teaching are universally practical and that his philosophy is carried out today in Taiwanese schools. (Author/RH)

Argues for a renewed effort to counter divisiveness among persons concerned with education. Calls for increased connections in support of mutual goals among educators as well as between school and home. (Author/RH)

Asserts that the work of early childhood educators in most European countries has been informed by theory and research underpinned by developmental psychology, and that the recent questioning of this discipline is healthy. Calls on early childhood educators to problematize assumptions derived from developmental psychology and search for new…

Discusses how modernization processes (rationalization, secularization, and individuation) produce continuous change in children's life conditions in the Scandinavian welfare states. Argues that scientific knowledge about early childhood fails because it abstracts children from their particular contexts. Proposes that "childhood" is the particular…

Explores how ideas about early learning have developed over time and proposes a new pedagogical view that goes beyond the deprivation model. Identifies three antinomies that have emerged as ideas about early learning. Concludes that children must be accepted as members and participants in the culture and be given opportunities to make and remake…

Explores how quality in early childhood services is defined and examines the implications of working within the inclusionary approach. Argues that the choice of paradigm for working with quality is of the greatest importance for early childhood services. Concludes by noting that an inclusionary approach to quality fits best with the concept of…

The place of ethics in the professions is often unquestioned. What is not so clear is the awareness of students of early childhood education about ethical issues and their contribution to ethical practice. This study investigated student experiences and perceptions of ethical dilemmas in their practicums. A survey of 171 early childhood students…