Interviewed 24 early-childhood service managers to study impact of government regulations on daily practices within a range of early-childhood services in southwest England. Found that the majority of respondents considered government regulations to be related to meeting minimum standards rather than to quality assurance and were confused about…

Explored philosophical bases of care and education among 41 British early childhood professionals. Found that child care staff's guiding principles tended to be specifically child-centered, while early childhood teachers and managers generated a broader range of principles incorporating aspects of curriculum and partnership. Found that…

Used qualitative data from structured written diaries and observational data to compare the typical work performed during one day by child care staff, early childhood teachers, and administrators in England. Content analyses revealed a picture of the complexity of work, highlighting similarities and differences in work by people with different job…

Studied perceptions of early childhood teachers and employers regarding early childhood teacher education. Found that previous experience with, attitudes toward, and understanding of children and entry qualifications were weighted higher than age and gender for teacher selection. Lectures, group discussion, direct experience with children, and…

Examines the history behind and current status of the professional preparation of teachers in Britain, specifically teachers who are knowledgeable about and appropriately qualified to work with the youngest children in a range of educational environments. Describes the development of an alternative pathway for student teachers with a specific…

Reviews findings of studies investigating the perceptions of child care coordinators in Victoria (Australia) about leadership attributes and skills related to effective leadership of early childhood centers. Finds a general and common understanding of leadership characteristics, roles, and responsibilities, with few differences in perception…

Examines responses of sixty preschool children interviewed on their understanding of war. Although the majority of children could not articulate details of the specific nature of war, they indicated that war was bad for morally relevant reasons. Implementations of the findings for preschool educators are discussed. (Author/DST)

Examined effects of presentation of a peer-in-need stimulus to preschool children in real versus hypothetical contexts, with results indicating a significantly higher incidence of helping behavior in real situations. Nature of helping response as a preoperational reaction to concrete contextual cues is verified. (Author/DST)

Investigated effects of variation of personal cost to the helper and perceived neediness of the person helped upon the helping behavior of 96 children of 43-67 months. Data indicated that the helping stimulus, the absence of behavior by the person helped, and cost contributed to the prediction of helping response type. (RJC)

Investigated the relationship between psychological well-being and maternal stress in 109 Australian and 88 Singaporean mothers with children under 5 years of age. Found that psychological well-being and maternal stress were not significantly related and that maternal stress did not appear to be culturally specific but rather was an inherent…

Reports on a survey of early childhood staff of 85 child care centers and 85 kindergartens in Australia regarding professional ethics. Discusses survey results in relation to Katz's work on ethics and teachers' developmental stages. Compares results with data from an earlier study of American educators (Feeney and Sysko, 1986). (NH)

Studied patterns of usage and factors behind parental choices of early childhood care and educational services for four- and five-year olds. Found that, regardless of type of service, most parents believed that young children experienced positive learning and developmental outcomes from participation and that, despite problems with each service…