Home > Revue internationale d'éducation Sèvres > n° 53 > Abstracts

Quality, equity and diversity in preschool education
n° 53, April 2010

The issue of early education for very young children has grown in importance and visibility around the world in recent years. Seen internationally as a children’s right from birth onwards, in the context of education for all (UNESCO), the field has benefited over the past fifteen years from a great deal of comparative research.
This 53rd issue of the Revue internationale d’éducation de Sèvres focuses on work being carried out by a number of research movements on the concepts and values of quality, equity and diversity in preschool education.
From this perspective, the authors, from selected countries across all five continents, explore the meaning given to the education of young children in Brazil, England, France, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Senegal, Sweden and the United States.
Studying the policies and practices of their respective countries, the authors attempt to answer questions on the quality of life of young children in educational institutions, on teaching practices, systems, collaborations, partnerships required for education to function and the responses being offered to the changing needs of families and societies.
Their answers to these questions invite us to think further.

Issue coordinated by Sylvie Rayna, INRP (Institut National de la Recherche Pédagogique - INRP), University of Paris 13

Abstracts

Introduction [pdf - 279 Ko]
What’s new in pre-school education?
Sylvie Rayna

New perspectives from international studies on early childhood
John Bennett
In 2006, the final Starting Strong report was published by the OECD. Since then, a number of important developments have taken place. The author selects and outlines four major themes to which governments are now giving greater attention, viz: the growing movement to integrate the child care and early education sectors, in general under the auspices of education ministries; a greater focus on 0-3 services; more attention to children at risk; and a renewed focus on the early childhood workforce, their qualifications and work conditions.

Democracy – the foundation of quality in Early Childhood Education in Sweden
Maelis Karlsson Lohmander
In Sweden democracy is the foundation upon which all education rests. The social democratic vision of equality and solidarity that started in the early 20th century is firmly rooted in ECEC. In this article I will discuss and reflect on how early childhood education in Sweden promotes quality, equity and diversity and respect for the rights and obligations that apply in a democratic society.

Pre-school culture and new challenges in Japan
Miwako Hoshi Watanabe
In Japan, pre-school education has traditionally been based on play and an environment which focuses on the overall development of children. In an increasingly difficult socio-economic environment, this approach is coming under scrutiny. The changes affecting contemporary Japan are leading to the reconsideration of the principles of fairness and diversity, which are insufficiently guaranteed in today’s early childhood institutions.

“La case des tout-petits” in Senegal
Sophie Turpin Bassama
Since 2002, “La case du tout-petit”, a new model for the development of children in their early years in Senegal, has coexisted alongside the various structures of formal, non-formal and informal preschool education. The article takes a specific look at this structure as part of the new “integrated early childhood policy”. The author analyses the background which gave rise to this structure, which has become a reference model for the Senegalese public authorities, as well as how it is organised and operates.

Children’s Centres for All - The English case
Chris Pascal, Tony Bertram
The expansion and improvement of services for young children and families has been a key aim for the UK Government since 1997. Much work has been done, particularly through the National Childcare Strategy and a range of other Government initiatives, including the Sure Start, Early Excellence and Neighbourhood Nurseries Programmes which aim to develop early childhood services for all children and families, and particularly for those living in disadvantaged communities. These developments are intended to: raise educational achievement; increase parent employment and productivity; reduce child poverty; improving health; reduce social exclusion; promote equal opportunities; improve quality and access to public services.

Professionalism in early childhood education in New Zealand
Carmen Dalli
New Zealand’s ten-year strategic plan for early childhood education introduced in 2002 has attracted international interest particularly because of its aim to achieve a fully qualified childhood workforce in teacher-led services by 2012. The professionalisation agenda has a history stretching back to the 1970s in which quality, equity and respect for diversity have been driving forces. This paper reviews important milestones in the sector’s journey towards professionalism including commentary on current policy directions.

Early childhood education culture in Italy
Mariacristina Picchio, Tullia Musatti
This article retraces the milestones which have marked the development of an early childhood culture in Italy over the past decades. It presents the main elements that currently embody this culture. The article highlights the essential part played by pre-school educational institutions in creating this culture which gradually emerged by rooting itself deeply in the local culture of the towns which supported the development of these institutions and by forming a close partnership with scientific research.

French nursery education – an introduction into what kind of culture?
Gilles Brougère
French discussions on nursery education appear to be removed from international discussions on this subject, as if it did not belong to the same pre-school sphere. French nursery education seems to be developing in a bubble that shields it from the issues of quality and diversity as they are considered in other countries; research, which is widely dominated by a didactical approach that spans the whole of primary education, contributes to such isolation. The aim of this text is to understand this bubble. This bubble is associated with the notion of a break from the child’s home environment when he or she enters a new culture – a school culture, namely, a school of the French Republic with its values of equality, liberty and fraternity which are translated through a pedagogical approach based on the giving of instructions combined with a specific view of autonomy and of the group. Pedagogy is a form of culture and it also enacts political values, which explains its strength.

Trends and tension in early childhood education in Brazil
Fúlvia Rosemberg
The article analyses the trends of early childhood education in Brazil as from the 1970s by focusing on the progress and tension encountered throughout the thought process on an offer capable of combining quality and fairness. The author uses integration in the education system to establish the chronological milestones of this subject area. Quality is still lacking in the public sector, which penalises children under the age of three, children living in rural areas and those children who do not belong to white families.

From a private affair to public policy
Rebecca S. New
In the United States, the institutions that care for and educate young children arose from philanthropic or charitable concerns. Influenced by the nation’s drive for progress, these institutions are very diverse. The author first recalls the country’s history and shows that American society has put the independence and private life of families before collective responsibility. She then describes current programmes and provisions. The issue of extending pre-school education to all children is still under discussion. On a federal level, the right of young children to high quality care and education is not really taken into consideration despite firm support from the federal government and the states.

Bibliographic references [pdf - 279 Ko]
Cécile de Bouttemont