Early Childhood Education And School Readiness In India

This volume makes a comprehensive assessment of the status and quality of early educational experiences at preschool and early primary grades in India. It raises a serious concern that despite high enrolment in preschools, children’s school readiness levels remain low at ages five and six, and raises a vital question---are Indian children getting a sound foundation for school and for later life? It addresses three important issues from the Indian perspective: children's school readiness at age five; families' readiness for school; and, most importantly, the readiness of schools for children. India is one of many countries across the global South facing an early learning crisis. High quality early childhood education may be key to improving these outcomes for children, yet little is known about early childhood education programs in India and their impact on children’s school readiness. This volume is based on a longitudinal, mixed methods research study which is perhaps the first of its kind in India. The study covers public provisions along with steadily expanding private pre-schools and schools in rural India and provides interesting narratives and insights into the multiple pathways children are adopting in these critical early years, particularly in the context of the expanding role of the private sector. Written in a lucid and narrative style, this volume is of interest to a diverse readership of researchers, educationists and early childhood education policy makers and practitioners in terms of both its design and findings.

Early childhood education the world over is heavily influenced by Western discourses which emphasize play-based, child centered education. Dr Viruru offers an alternative understanding of preschool education from the postcolonial perspective which does not aim at discovering universal laws that will be valid regardless of contexts. She emphasizes the need for meaningful and respectful interactions with children as complete human beings and stresses that early childhood education should be constructed on the basis of the lived experiences of individual children rather than on collective anonymity. Perhaps the first full-length study to explore current issues in early childhood education through the lens of postcolonial theory, this book will be of considerable value to those involved in education, child development, developmental psychology, social anthropology and sociology.

This collection brings together a diverse group of scholars from throughout the world who have grappled with and investigated the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on the lives of young children. Profound changes have occurred in all facets of early childhood education and care (ECEC). Young children and their families, college students enrolled in teacher preparation programs, inservice teachers/caregivers, and postsecondary faculty have endured prolonged periods of quarantine, disruption, stress, and grief precipitated by the pandemic. These consequences have been even more challenging for individuals and groups who were already struggling or marginalized prior to the advent of the coronavirus. Collectively, the chapter authors draw upon findings from their research and insights gleaned from professional experiences to recommend ways of providing high-quality programs despite persistent global health threats.​

Shades of Globalization casts an ethnographic eye on the interplay between local and global influences on the organization and activities within three early childhood settings, each of which is located in a context of rapid social change. Stemming from a four-year study of early childhood thought and practice, each of the eight chapters touches on a different aspect of the three case study preschools, one each in India, South Africa, and an aboriginal community in Canada.