Early learning in preschool: meaningful and inclusive for all? Exploring perspectives of migrant parents and staff

Early childcare as arenas of inclusion: the contribution of staff to recognising parents with refugee backgrounds as significant stakeholders

“…Their children made friends, learnt the Norwegian language and culture, started their adaption process into the majority's habitus and got prepared for school and life in Norway. Hence, one reason for the expressed satisfaction might be that they saw that their children were safe, happy, and cared for by the staff, which is in accordance to other parents main concerns (Andenaes 2011;De Gioia 2015;Van Laere, and Vandenbroeck 2017;Vuorinen 2018;Sønsthagen 2018). Considering that the parents knew little about what the pedagogical content of early childcare should be, and that they received little information about the child's day, one wonders how they could sufficiently contribute to the early childcare community.…”

“…There has been little international research on migrants' and refugee families' transitions to early childcare education systems in their new countries; on parents' own perspectives regarding early childcare; and on teachers' and parents' perceptions of their relationships (De Gioia 2015;Van Laere and Vandenbroeck 2017;Van Laere, Van Houtte, and Vandenbroeck 2018). Some of the studies that have been conducted show that early childcare is often dominated by the majority's discourse and habitus (see among others Sand 2014;De Gioia 2015;Van Laere and Vandenbroeck 2017;Van Laere, Van Houtte, and Vandenbroeck 2018;Solberg 2018). It appears that parents often have to act in accordance with the expected conduct and norms of the majority and its institutions (Solberg 2018), to which they tend to be less compliant.…”

“…It has also been evident that parents from minority backgrounds have little knowledge about the daily practices of early childcare; at the same time, they show an eagerness to know more (Van Laere, Van Houtte, and Vandenbroeck 2018). The main concern of parents is the proper care and supervision of their children, as well as if their children are learning the dominant language and social-emotional skills (Andenaes 2011;De Gioia 2015;Van Laere and Vandenbroeck 2017;Vuorinen 2018;Sønsthagen 2018). The importance of a common language for interactions between staff and parents has also been illustrated (De Gioia 2013).…”

Opinions of Preschool Teachers and Pre-Service Teachers on Environmental Education and Environmental Awareness for Sustainable Development in the Preschool Period

“…Early learning experiences are crucial determining factors for especially intellectual, social, emotional and physical development and will ultimately affect how well a child will perform in school and life [37][38][39]. European Commission [40] stated that early childhood education and care has the potential to give all young people a good start in the world of tomorrow and to break the cycle which transmits disadvantage from one generation to another, that's quality early education can produce important long-term improvements in the intellectual, social, emotional and physical development of children and has a profound and long lasting impact on a person's future [37,41,42]. Children learn in a completely different way from adults.…”

School readiness assessment: Study of early childhood educator experience

“…The concept of school readiness, in general, has been widely understood at the level of pedagogy and practice of pre-school teacher education and early childhood education (Amerijckx & Humblet, 2015;Hamerslag et al, 2018;Hellblom-Thibblin et al, 2017;Van Laere & Vandenbroeck, 2017). As a formal form to facilitate readiness to enter primary school, early childhood education including pre-school education is, of course, more dominant on needs compared to care.…”