This study aims to construct the idea or thought regarding the importance of introducing halal and good food through early childhood education. Little children, including those of Muslims, generally do not have adequate knowledge about halal and good food according to Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh Islam). Children’s pattern of consumption, types of food they eat, and the ingredients of food cooked for them are generally determined by their parents or influenced by their social and cultural environments. By means of early childhood education, the knowledge of halal and good food is introduced earlier to the children in gradual steps in line with their age and developmental phases. Through constructivist-interpretive approach, this study is intended to analyze the importance of introducing, disseminating, and internalizing the knowledge, attitude, and skill about halal and good food to the children. The study also provides the children with graded lessons to identify halal and good food. The ultimate end the analysis is expected to yield integrated lessons on halal and good food within the curriculum of early childhood education.
Wahju Dyah Laksmi Wardhani, Sawitri Komarayanti, Tri Endang Jatmikowati et al.
This article explores how the notion of care is conceptualised and described in early childhood education policies across countries in the majority (Ethiopia, Kenya and Zambia) and minority (New Zealand and Sweden) world. A central focus is the relationship and balance between care and education. The authors examined whether there are trends and tendencies to strengthen or weaken the care/education component at the expense of the other. Grounded in local and national knowledge, the authors employed a cross-national collaborative inquiry approach and interrogated the notion of care while extrapolating its implications for the endeavour to design socially sustainable early childhood education. The results revealed that care has remained ingrained within policies in the minority world, while there is a tendency to view it as separate from education in the majority world. Although quantitative goals for early childhood education and care still dominate the majority world, the importance of care and sustainable development are present in all policy documents across the five nations. The authors concluded that strengthening these promising policy endeavours paves the way towards effective educare approaches, which lay the foundation for social sustainability in early childhood education.
Kassahun Weldemariam, Angel Chan, Ingrid Engdahl et al.
This paper presents an early childhood education model that upholds a child’s right to education in one of the world's most vulnerable and forgotten communities: a refugee camp. iACT, a non-governmental organization, works directly with refugee beneficiaries to establish, adapt, and implement Little Ripples, an early childhood education program—laying the foundation for a lifetime of well-being, learning, health, and peace for children affected by displacement and violence. This paper explores how iACT invests in the capacity of refugee community members to provide an early learning program that exceeds global standards for child-friendly spaces and the nurturing care model by prioritizing children's rights.
Despite a growing evidence base and global consensus on the importance of Early Childhood Education (ECE), it remains under-resourced and comparatively neglected as a policy issue. This paper seeks to better understand which factors facilitate or impede efforts to make ECE a political priority in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), applying a framework used primarily in global public health. We draw on a comparative analysis of four countries: Ethiopia, Liberia, Pakistan (Punjab Province), and Tanzania. Even though each of these countries has undertaken recent, concrete efforts to scale ECE, the political economy conditions to support sustained commitment are only partially present. National policymakers have responded to global efforts to advance early childhood development, and ideas about the benefits of ECE have gained significant traction. With few exceptions, however, civil society mobilization around ECE is relatively weak, and focusing events and prominent champions for ECE are uncommon. Taken together, these factors are consistent with a strong rhetorical commitment to early learning but a lack of sustained follow-through and resource provision.
This paper presents a systematic literature review of artificial intelligence (AI)-supported teaching and learning in early childhood. The focus is on human–machine cooperation in education. International evidence and associated problems with the reciprocal contributions of humans and machines are presented and discussed, as well as future horizons regarding AI research in early education. Also, the ethical implications of applying machine learning, deep learning and learning analytics in early childhood education are considered. The method adopted has five steps: identification of the research, evaluation and selection of the literature, data extraction, synthesis, and results. The results shown that AI applications still present limitations in terms of the challenges encountered in early childhood education and data privacy and protection policies.
This study explores early childhood education through a psychological lens, comparing practices in Africa and the USA. The review delves into psychological approaches employed in early childhood education, examining how cultural, social, and economic factors shape these strategies in different contexts. By highlighting both commonalities and distinctions, this analysis aims to contribute to the understanding of effective psychological frameworks for early childhood education in diverse global settings. In the United States, early childhood education emphasizes psychological theories such as Piaget's cognitive development and Vygotsky's sociocultural theory. This study assesses the integration of these theories into pedagogical practices, exploring their impact on cognitive, social, and emotional development in young children. Additionally, it examines the influence of socio-economic factors on access to quality early childhood education and the implications for psychological development. In Africa, a range of cultural and contextual factors shape the psychological approach to early childhood education. The review analyzes indigenous psychological frameworks and their integration into educational practices, considering the role of community, family, and traditional structures in shaping children's psychological well-being. The study also investigates challenges such as limited resources and infrastructure, and how they impact the implementation of effective psychological approaches in early childhood education. Common themes emerge, emphasizing the importance of a holistic approach that considers cultural diversity, socio-economic disparities, and community involvement. The study underscores the need for culturally sensitive psychological frameworks that recognize and build upon the strengths of local communities in fostering early childhood development. In conclusion, this review provides a psychological perspective on early childhood education in Africa and the USA, recognizing the influence of cultural, social, and economic factors. By identifying effective psychological approaches and considering the unique challenges in each context, the study aims to inform educators, policymakers, and researchers about strategies that promote optimal psychological development in the crucial early years of a child's life.
Samuel Darkey Ofori, David Frempong, Mariam Olateju et al.
The increasing number of studies on the STEM approach necessitates a holistic and comparative evaluation of the results. This study aims to investigate and evaluate the cumulative results of the experimental studies used STEM approach for preschool children. In this study, the meta-analysis method was used. Despite a great number of studies about STEM education, only a limited number of studies were accessed by the keywords “preschool”, “early childhood” and “experimental study”. The effect size obtained (0.556) is at a level that can be considered as moderate according to the classification used in meta-analysis studies. STEM studies aimed at preschool children have positive effects on children's learning and development. However, more experimental studies on STEM in the preschool field are needed. It can be suggested that preschool teachers can be encouraged to design and implement STEM practices in their class. For further research, the results of the meta-analysis can be supported by content analysis, and a similar study can be conducted for the other grade levels.
There is an increasing interest in children’s wellbeing and in early childhood education, both worldwide and in Finland. While the quality of the Finnish education system is highly regarded, there have been major changes in the country’s early childhood education in recent years, at the levels of the legal framework and the curriculum. There is a consensus that quality early education brings long-term benefits to the individual and great savings for society. The early years are the foundation of a person’s well-being, equal develop-ment, motivation and joy in learning, and the purpose of the nationwide direction of Finnish early childhood education and care (ECEC) is to ensure quality provision for all. This article is a review of the literature on Finland’s early childhood education and care, and seeks to answers the following key questions about ECEC in Finland: What are the guiding principles? What are the core pedagogical values? What are the specific quality factors? The conclusion gives examples of good practice in day-to-day ECEC.
Məqalədə məktəbəqədər yaşlı uşaqların intelektual inkişafına xidmət edən bilik və bacarıqlar sisteminin əlçatanlığı, təkmilləşdirilməsi və inkişaf prosesinin izlənilməsi öz əksini tapmışdır. Məktəbəqədər təhsil müəssisələri şəbəkəsinin genişləndirilməsi, təhcizatının yaxşılaşdırılması dövlətin və cəmiyyətin maraqları çərçivəsində əsas hədəf kimi qarşıya qoyulmuşdur. Azərbaycan təhsil siyasətində və ideologiyasında uşaqların milli-mənəvi və bəşəri dəyərlər ruhunda, dövlət maraqları çərçivəsində tərbiyə olunması, ümumi təhsilə hazırlığının təmin edilməsi məktəbəqədər təhsil müəssisələrinin başlıca və ən əhəmiyyətli rolu hesab olunur. Məqalədə həmçinin UNESCO və Qlobal Təhsil Monitorinqi (GEM) tərəfindən dünya ölkələrində erkən uşaqlıq dövrü təhsilinin təşkilinə dair aparılan araşdırmalar, təhlil və nəticələr, qabaqcıl ölkələrin bu sahədəki ugurları öz əksinin tapmışdır. Finlandiya, İsveç, Danimarka, Norveç, Latviya, Estoniya, Almanya kimi ölkələrin “Erkən Uşaqlıq Dövrü Təhsili” siyasəti və onun təşkili araşdırılmışdır. YUNESKO-nun Statistika İnstitutu tərəfindən Avropa ölkələrinin, eləcə də Çilidə, Hindistanın Karnataka ştatında, İndoneziyada, İsveçdə, Xorvatiyada toplanmış inzibati məlumatlarda məqalədə yer almışdır. Açar sözlər:ilkin təhsil, dövlət, cəmiyyət, maraqlar, zərurət Gulnara Vilayat Shahmuradova Tavat Huseyn Muradli Konul Vagif Mikayilova Organization of early childhood education in the world and Azerbaijan Abstract The article reflects the accessibility, improvement and monitoring of the development process of the system of knowledge and skills that serve the intellectual development of preschool children. Broadening the network of early childhood educational institutions and enhancing their supply sets as the major objective in the interests of the state and society. The education policy and ideology of Azerbaijan, the primary and most significant important role of early childhood education institutions is to bring up children in the spirit of national-moral and human values, within the national interest, to ensure their readiness for general education. The article also displays the research, analysis and results conducted by UNESCO and the Global Education Monitoring (GEM) on the organization of early childhood education in countries around the world and the achievements of leading countries in this field. The policy and organization of "Early Childhood Education" in countries ex. Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Latvia, Estonia and Germany studied. In conclusion, the article reflects the administrative data collected by the Unesco Institute of Statistics in European countries, but also in Chile, Karnataka, India, Indonesia, Sweden and Croatia. Key words:early education, state, society, interests, necessity
Azərbaycan Respublikasının Təhsil İnstitutu elmi işçi, Gülnarə Vilayət qızı Şahmuradova, Tavat Hüseyn qızı Muradlı et al.
The primary concern of this study is to reveal the general tendencies (genders of the authors/supervisors, change in the number of graduate theses by year, number of research problems-results-suggestions, focal points, the corpus by research models/methods, data collection methods/tools, and population/sample group) of graduate on early childhood education in Turkey between 2005 and 2017.The sampling of the present research study consists of 182 graduate theses.The study relies on the retrieval of the desired data by document analysis through a systematic examination of the available theses by using a thesis examination form developed by the researchers.The results revealed that 85% of the authors were female and almost half of the supervisors were assistant professors and moreover 59% of the supervisors were female.The study also showed that a great majority of the examined theses contained 0-10 research problems, results and suggestions.It was also figured out in the study that the focal point of the thesesis majorly qualifications of preschool teachers, characteristics and tendencies of parents, effects of different approaches/methods on early childhood education, characteristics of children in early childhood education or at preschool age.It was observed that 68.1% of graduate theses were quantitative studies and that the least employed research method was observation (0.5%), case study (1.1%), interview (1.6%) and phenomenological method (1.6%), while the most frequently administered data collection tool, accounting for 65%, was questionnaire.
