Leadership in Implementing Inclusive Education Policy in Early Childhood Education and Care Playrooms in South Africa

Bipath, Keshni; Tebekana, Jongiwe; Venketsamy, Roy

doi:10.3390/educsci11120815

Cited by 6 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…Industry school partnerships often resemble a natural ecosystem, a community where biotic and abiotic factors interact and interconnect [30]. Bronfenbrenner, a key psychologist in the development of socioecological theories, originally applied this ecological thinking to the developing learner in 1976, which has subsequently become a popular model in a range of education contexts [20,[31][32][33]. Researchers have also applied ecological systems theory (EST) beyond the developing learner to contexts including ISPs [21,22,26].…”

Section: Ecological Systems Theory (Est)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Rural Research and Development Corporations’ Connection to Agricultural Industry School Partnerships

O’Dea,

Cosby,

Manning

et al. 2024

Education Sciences

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The Australian Government has prioritized science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education in recent years to ensure that the country has an adequate future workforce. The agriculture industry is a major employer with a diverse range of occupations heavily focused on STEM. Many students do not realize the career opportunities in the sector, which is currently facing severe workforce shortages. Industry school partnerships (ISPs) have been identified as one creative model to improve students’ knowledge of an industry and aspirations for associated careers. Whilst ISPs have been implemented in the STEM context, limited research understands how industry organizations are involved in, influence, and interconnect with ISPs. Australia’s Rural Research and Development Corporations (RRDCs) are legislated agricultural industry bodies and were selected to investigate due to the value ISPs could provide to this STEM-focused industry with workforce shortages. This qualitative case study analyzed data from the most current RRDC strategic and annual operating plans as of 27 July 2023 and semi-structured interviews with an employee(s) in a position relevant to student education of all 15 RRDCs in 2022. The key findings were that ISPs were considered part of the solution to address industry sustainability, though RRDCs were commonly only informally involved. Collaboration between industry partners, facilitators, and teachers at strategic and management levels and across commodities was essential. RRDCs were found to be strongly connected to ISP ecosystems through their role in research and development. We argue that RRDCs are positioned as essential stakeholders with the scope to improve agricultural ISP ecosystems as part of their role in driving agricultural innovation. These findings support the application of ecological systems theory to agricultural ISPs and help us to understand these structures. This paper aims to help those creating ISPs to consider and understand all stakeholders, including industry bodies, to deliver quality future partnerships that benefit both STEM sectors and primary and secondary student education.

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Section: Ecological Systems Theory (Est)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Rural Research and Development Corporations’ Connection to Agricultural Industry School Partnerships

O’Dea,

Cosby,

Manning

et al. 2024

Education Sciences

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“…The parent community and relevant agencies must work together to ensure that children from newborn to 4 years have access to the services they require. Ramps for children in wheelchairs and crutches, teacher aids to assist instructors in dealing with students with disabilities in their classrooms, and ensuring that the teacher-learner ratio is manageable so that all children receive adequate instruction (Bipath et al, 2021).…”

Section: Macro Levelmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pathways to inclusive and equitable quality early childhood education for achieving SDG4 goal—a scoping review

et al. 2022

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According to Sustainable Development Goal 4.2 (SDG 4.2), Equal Access to Quality Pre-primary Education, governments throughout the world are working to ensure that all children have access to high-quality early childhood development, care, and pre-primary education by 2030. In order to organize available evidence into a coherent framework, the current scoping review represents an exploratory synthesis addressing the broad question of what qualitative and inclusive Early Childhood Education and Care strategies are currently being established globally to achieve SDG4 targets. The goal of this scoping review in this respect, was to map the available research and offer an overview of micro-, meso-, and macro-level perspectives on evidence-based interventions and strategies, for the promotion of SDG4 globally. A layered model of early childhood education that is both inclusive and egalitarian education emerged, starting with the micro level: child, family and community, mezo level: nursery, and kindergarten and macro level: national policies and SDG 4.2 Agenda for 2030. The mezzo level connects the micro and macro levels, being the most solicited level of implementing inclusive and qualitative ECEC strategies. Thus, starting with putting a real emphasis on children rights, creating a qualitative and inclusive culture with a holistic understanding of child development, then investing in teacher preparation and instilling a strong belief and positive attitudes toward equity in early childhood services, developing inclusive educational policies with an authentic community support offered by all stakeholders, then adapting curriculum and assessment methods to all early childhood educational contexts and lastly piloting and up-scaling good practices, and investing in infrastructure, facilities and innovative educational services, SDG4.2 targets could transparently and efficiently be attained by 2030, with all the setbacks arisen from the pandemic context. The data provide light on a vast topic range, including human rights and values, policy actions, and ideologies. The micro-level themes emphasized the importance of fostering equitable and inclusive environments for children., as well as instructional approaches that encourage positive attitudes toward diversity and instructors' levels of experience in dealing with diversity. We also discovered the significance of creating chances that promote socialization, connection development, and a sense of belonging. Meso-level principles emphasized the relevance of schooling in a child's holistic development and skill acquisition. Mainstream availability for all children, national curriculum regulations, teacher preparation for inclusive early childhood education, excellent funding and governance, evaluation and monitoring, and research on inclusive early childhood education comprise the macro level. As a concept and an approach, inclusive and qualitative education necessitates the preparedness of all relevant educational components to participate. Providing inclusive education in the early years requires setting the foundation for subsequent levels of schooling. The active engagement of a young kid should be directed by developmentally and individually suitable curricula. Access to and participation in age-appropriate general curricula becomes critical in identifying and providing specialized support services. Inclusive programming does not imply that the educational programs will necessarily be of good quality. Efficiency and wellbeing are synonymous with equity. Equitable education investment benefits everyone in society, not just the most marginalized. Investing in education will help communities achieve all of the Sustainable Development Goals related to education.

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“…ECCE in South Africa is currently not healthy at all. Valiant concerted efforts are now being made by the UNESCO Chair at UNISA, the ETDP SETA through COMBER at the North-West University and the collective efforts of many NGOs and CBOs across the country to give it another lease of life, but it remains in a state of paralysis (Bipath et al, 2021). There is now a growing concern that if ECCE does not receive the same attention as higher education, or formal schooling, the future of millions of children remains bleak.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Relationally Enhancing Teacher Education in Early Childhood Learning Environments towards Sustainability

Mahlomaholo

Israel

Mahlomaholo

2023

JCSR

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Teacher education in early childhood learning environments (ECLE) is a generally neglected space in teaching and learning, more so when the focus is on relationality and sustainability. ECLE refers to the Care and Education of children between 2-4 years of age. The focus of this paper is on ECLE from a post-humanist perspective, which goes in tandem with UNESCO’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals. Emphasis is on inclusive economic development through environmentally sustainable social inclusion for all. Relationality has been chosen because of its power to advance the deconstruction of the hitherto taken for granted canons of humanism and enlightenment that promote hierarchies in knowledge and its production. These hierarchies disregard the voices of the vulnerable and the excluded, in terms of social class and other markers like age, but most importantly their erroneously assumed lack of knowledge. To date, the voices of the aspirant teachers in ECLE, as well as those of the children and parents, are non-existent when teacher education programmes are designed and implemented. This paper reveals that including the voices of these beneficiary communities enhances the quality of the discourse, theorisation and praxis in the provision of ECLE, as well as in the crafting of relevant teacher education programmes. Thus, the design and delivery of a programme is better based on the relationalities among humans, animals and plants; and between them and inanimate entities like infrastructure and resources. The relationality among all of these in the crafting of the beyond human is enhanced using advanced digital technologies. A relational approach recognises our entanglement with our entire universe in a manner that does not centre on identity. Quality therefore is about the ever-increasing complexity of diffractions of multi-layered and multi-perspective engagements across borders.

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Leadership in Implementing Inclusive Education Policy in Early Childhood Education and Care Playrooms in South Africa

Cited by 6 publications

References 19 publications

Rural Research and Development Corporations’ Connection to Agricultural Industry School Partnerships

Rural Research and Development Corporations’ Connection to Agricultural Industry School Partnerships

Pathways to inclusive and equitable quality early childhood education for achieving SDG4 goal—a scoping review

Relationally Enhancing Teacher Education in Early Childhood Learning Environments towards Sustainability

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