Re Conceptualising Children S Rights In Infant Toddler Care And Education

This book brings together researchers from a variety of national contexts to examine and explore the conceptualisation, reconceptualisation and translation of children’s rights for infants and toddlers in early childhood education and care settings.It brings together authors from various national contexts to examine changing understandings and manifestations of infant and toddler rights in Early Childhood Education and Care. The book aims to engender trans-national dialogue through the contributions. Through such dialogue, both authors and readers are challenged to recognise the specificity of their own cultural contexts and thereby envision a more expansive view of infant and toddler rights. By drawing together reflections on infant-toddler rights from key early childhood researchers across the world, this book will extend readers understandings of rights – not only in terms of how rights are (re)conceptualised but also how to meaningfully translate the rights afforded in policy to practice.

Children and young people are often discussed as if they are homogenous groups. The reality is, of course, very different, with an enormous variation within each of these groups and in any domain of experience pertaining to childhood or adolescence. Driven by personal, sociocultural, geographic, or economic circumstances, many children and young people worldwide are experiencing a totally different reality to those who fit with more mainstream patterns of childhood. This has substantial implications for their sociophysical environmental experience and our understanding of their physical environmental needs. The aim of this book is to draw attention to these alternate realities for a number of these groups of children and young people, highlighting the unique and different considerations associated with their particular circumstances in each instance, and identifying the repercussions for their physical environmental needs. Ultimately, this book creates an evidence-based discussion which can be used by designers, planners and policy makers, and those delivering services and programs to children and young people as a basis to make informed decisions on how to work with the groups of children and young people in our book for better environmental provision.

Children are already learning at birth, and they develop and learn at a rapid pace in their early years. This provides a critical foundation for lifelong progress, and the adults who provide for the care and the education of young children bear a great responsibility for their health, development, and learning. Despite the fact that they share the same objective - to nurture young children and secure their future success - the various practitioners who contribute to the care and the education of children from birth through age 8 are not acknowledged as a workforce unified by the common knowledge and competencies needed to do their jobs well. Transforming the Workforce for Children Birth Through Age 8 explores the science of child development, particularly looking at implications for the professionals who work with children. This report examines the current capacities and practices of the workforce, the settings in which they work, the policies and infrastructure that set qualifications and provide professional learning, and the government agencies and other funders who support and oversee these systems. This book then makes recommendations to improve the quality of professional practice and the practice environment for care and education professionals. These detailed recommendations create a blueprint for action that builds on a unifying foundation of child development and early learning, shared knowledge and competencies for care and education professionals, and principles for effective professional learning. Young children thrive and learn best when they have secure, positive relationships with adults who are knowledgeable about how to support their development and learning and are responsive to their individual progress. Transforming the Workforce for Children Birth Through Age 8 offers guidance on system changes to improve the quality of professional practice, specific actions to improve professional learning systems and workforce development, and research to continue to build the knowledge base in ways that will directly advance and inform future actions. The recommendations of this book provide an opportunity to improve the quality of the care and the education that children receive, and ultimately improve outcomes for children.

This is a key text that enables students to appreciate and understand the central role of observation in understanding, planning for and educating early years children. It explores the theoretical background to child observation and links it back to practice. Recent important research in the field of child observation is highlighted and ethical implications of research in early childhood are considered. This is essential for all those studying for degrees and foundation degrees in early childhood, early years and related disciplines and for Early Years Teacher candidates. Updated in line with recent policy and legislation changes A new chapter on observation documentation in the multi-modal age Includes new material and case studies that explores the essential elements of child observation across the world Research chapter re-written to make it more accessible for all students More case studies throughout linking theory to practice.

Exploring a range of unconventional research methods and considering how these can be used effectively in practice, this accessible textbook encourages the use of innovative approaches to conduct research in early years contexts. Using Innovative Methods in Early Years Research provides key information on a range of non-traditional research methods, and details the strengths, limitations and challenges involved in diverging from more standard research methods. From researching with young children, practitioners and parents, to harnessing the arts, vignettes, identity boxes and narrative accounts, chapters draw on authors’ first-hand experiences to highlight the value of ‘thinking outside the box’ and developing innovative research methods that meet the needs and aims of the researcher, while also involving and empowering research participants. Including detailed information on ethical concerns and the importance of reflexivity, individual and group tasks encourage students to take a critical and well-thought-out approach to conducting independent research. This will be an invaluable and inspiring resource for high-level undergraduate and postgraduate students as they embark on research projects in the field of early years education and care.

This book provides different perspectives on the concept of children’s rights, including policy, educational, and children’s perspectives. It examines how the crucial ideas of the Convention on the Rights of the Child are respected and implemented in 14 countries in five regions of the world. It looks at early childhood education, children’s participatory rights, and at how these rights are promoted and guaranteed in different countries. It explores the professional practice of education and its complexities, challenges and dilemmas, as well as the role of play, and of listening and participation. The book advocates children’s rights today, arguing for its vital importance, in the best interests of the children. In doing so, it furthers the understanding of children’s rights and spreads knowledge about the Convention, as a means of celebrating its 30th anniversary. The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) comprises the potential to change the lives of children to the very best. It may exalt children from the position of marginalized citizens to the centre of policies all over the world. Even though the concept of children’s rights is omnipresent, the respect for children’s rights must be discussed. While the Convention brings the new perspective of children as citizens to the world, there are still challenges in its application. The book interrogates challenges in understanding and applying children rights and offers possible answers to these challenges. The ratification process itself, does not guarantee that children’s rights are respected. While all adults should take responsibility for implementing the UNCRC in everyday life, Early Childhood Education should give opportunities for children to learn and live their rights.

The editors of this book have brought together contributors from many parts of the world. As such, the book offers a truly diverse, international flavour reflecting a broad range of research on babies and toddlers. Examining examples from both Eastern and Western cultures, the book’s overarching focus is on relationships, yielding a coherence beneficial to early childhood researchers and educators alike. Employing visual methodologies to help bring the chapters to life, the varied research studies presented concern babies’ and toddlers’ relationships and cultural contexts. Taken together, they offer a unique opportunity to conceptualise the use of a wholeness approach for studying babies and toddlers – our youngest citizens.