Educational innovation between freedom and fixation: the cultural-political construction of innovations in early childhood education in the Netherlands

Teachers and Facebook: using online groups to improve students’ communication and engagement in education

“…The study described in the present paper was conducted in Brazil. Here, most public secondary education schools are not equipped with digital resources (OECD, 2014), and, where they are available, there are not enough to be used by all the students. Therefore, we chose to use Facebook because most teachers and students already have an account on that network, are familiar with its functional aspects (Cunha Jr. et al, 2016), and can use their own mobile devices to participate in the groups.…”

Dutch early years classroom teachers facilitating and guiding musical play: problems and opportunities

“…In The Netherlands, the first two years of compulsory early years education (4-5 year olds) are largely play-based tending to be dominated by an integrated thematic approach (Van Oers 2013). Music education in Dutch primary schools predominantly remains the responsibility of generalist classroom teachers, as the majority of schools do not employ music specialists (Kruiter et al 2016;Schilt-Mol et al 2011).…”

“…', rules for how to play an instrument), or strategic rules (role division, planning, agreed rule for all musicians to start simultaneously, etc.). Although these rules are restrictive as they aim to maintain common values, they can also be flexible, allowing children a certain amount of freedom to interpret them according to their own understandings and interest (Van Oers 2013).…”

Aiming for agency. The effects of teacher education on the development of the expertise of early childhood teachers

“…In the context of generally perceived pressures of accountability within education, early childhood educators have foregrounded specific problematic effects impacting on early childhood education (ECE). Both teachers and researchers have suggested that the intensification of external control has prompted an increased emphasis on teacher-centred didactics along with an emergent culture of standardized testing and a narrowing of educational content at the kindergarten level (Bassok, Latham, & Rorem, 2016;Gordon, Sosinsky, & Colaner, 2019;Roeleveld, 2003;Van Oers, 2013). This is at the cost of learning through play and other holistic developmental activities that are considered to be especially important for this age group (Wildt-Dienske & Wildt, 2013;Oenema-Mostert, 2012;Bodrova, 2008;Boland, 2015;Gallant, 2009;Goorhuis-Brouwer, 2014;Janssen-Vos, 2012;Miller & Almon, 2009;Onderwijsraad, 2010).…”