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Published by the Centre for Early Childhood Development & Education The Gate Lodge, St. Patrick's College, Drumcondra, Dublin 9 Tel: 353 1 8842110 Fax: 353 1 8842111 Email: [email protected] Website: www.cecde.ie ISBN: 0954581571 © 2005 The Centre for Early Childhood Development & Education All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the publisher. Edited by Heino Schonfeld, Sharon O'Brien and Thomas Walsh. Printed by Print Bureau Funded by the Irish Government and part financed by the European Union under the National Development Plan 2000-2006 Questions of Quality Proceedings of a Conference on Defining, Assessing and Supporting Quality in Early Childhood Care and Education Dublin Castle, September 23rd-25th 2004 Edited by Heino Schonfeld, Sharon O'Brien and Thomas Walsh 2 Questions of Quality Table of Contents Page No. Foreword Heino Schonfeld . 6 Minister’s Address Síle de Valera, Minister of State at the Department of Education and Science . 8 Keynote Addresses Structure and Stability of the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale Richard Clifford . 12 Questions of Quality: The Contribution of Research Evidence to Definitions of Quality in Early Childhood Education and Care Practice Tricia David . 22 Quality, Autonomy and the Profession Mathias Urban . 30 Defining Quality Rethinking the Computer Culture with Early Learners. Nina Bølgan . 48 Quality: Control or Autonomy? Philomena Donnelly . 55 A Critical Examination of the use of Fairy Tale Literature with Pre-PPrimary Children in Developmentally Appropriate Early Childhood Education and Care Programs. Ruth Doran . 62 Reflections on a National Review of Policy, Research and Practice in Ireland. Maresa Duignan . 70 Young Children’s Observations about Number and Conventional Numeric Symbols. Elizabeth Dunphy . 80 A Conceptual Framework of Young Children’s Development and Learning in Ireland: The Implications for Quality in Early Years Care and Education. Jacqueline Fallon . 94 Table of Contents 3 A Study of Spontaneous Drawings of Young Children; Implications for the Quality of the Learning Environment. Mary Gallagher . 102 The National Children’s Nurseries Association Centre of Excellence Programme: A Tool for Defining and Assessing Quality in the Irish Childcare System. Ashling Hooper . 112 Children Playing in Nature. Karen Marie Eid Kaarby . 121 Defining, Assessing and Supporting Quality in Early Childhood Care and Education: The High/Scope Ireland Model. Imelda Madigan . 129 Policy, Legislation and Practice for Children with Special Needs in Ireland. Mary Meaney . 136 Promoting Diversity and Equality in Early Childhood Care, Education and Training - The 'éist' Project Colette Murray . 145 Promoting Diversity and Equality in Early Childhood Care, Education and Training - Men in Childcare Jan Peeters . 152 Quality; A Global Issue? An International Review of Quality in Early Childhood Care and Education 1990–2004. Thomas Walsh . 162 Assessing Quality Improvement through Self-EEvaluation in Preschool Education. Ffiona Crawford . 178 A Critique of ECERS as a Measure of Quality in Early Childhood Education and Care. Francis Douglas . 183 Universal Early Education for 4-66 Year Olds in Ireland: The Experience of the Irish Primary Teacher. Angela Griffin, Anne Fay and Deirbhile Nic Craith . 196 4 Questions of Quality Listening and Learning: Empowering Children in Early Childhood Services. Michelle Hart . 205 Observation Methodology in Preschool Programme Evaluation: The Early Start Experience. Mary Lewis and Peter Archer . 214 Assessing Teachers’ Performance in Pre-PPrimary and Primary Schools in Estonia. Ivär Mannamaa . 225 Quality and Regulation in Early Childhood Care and Education: A Study of the Impact of the Child Care (Pre-SSchool Services) Regulations (1996) on the Quality of Early Childhood Services in Ireland. Mary O’Kane . 231 The Relationship Between Preverbal Behaviours and Language Development: Investigating Symbolic Play and Language Development in Children with Down Syndrome. Ciara O’Toole . 241 Development of Standards and Measurement Tools for Quality Assurance Systems in Australian Children’s Services. Denise Taylor . 254 Involving Children in their own Learning: Report of an Action Research Project on Formative Assessment. Brian Yeats . 266 Defining, Assessing and Supporting the Quality of Education and Care for Babies and Toddlers in Centre based Childcare. Pam Winter (Presented by Gerry Mulhearn) . 274 Supporting Quality Evaluating ‘Better Beginnings’: A Family Literacy Program in Australia. Caroline Barratt-Pugh, Mary Rohl and Jessica Elderfield . 292 Supporting Play - Supporting Quality. Carmel Brennan . 302 Integrated Therapeutic Group Work with Young Children in a Family Support Setting. Mary Daly, Kerri Smith and Emma Jane Nulty . 312 Table of Contents 5 Interdisciplinary Team Assessment: CRC Style. Rachel Glennane, Trish Morrison, Jean Oswell and Aoife Timothy . 320 Music and Play: Diverse Aspects of 4-66 Year-OOlds Self-IInitiated Musical Play. Claudia Gluschankof . 328 “You and Me and the Two of Us!” A Framework for Increasing Social Competence in Children in Nursery Schools and Some Examples of How to Support Children Developing Social Competence through Dramatic Play. Sidsel Hauge and Kari Lamer . 335 Supporting Quality through Targeted Research on Special Needs and Disadvantage. Annette McDonnell . 343 Supporting Quality through the Equal Opportunities Childcare Programme (EOCP) 2000 – 2006. Pauline Moreau . 352 Building a System of Professional Development through the use of Teacher Standards as a means of Supporting Quality Teaching Practices. Stephanie Olmore, Lenka Franova, Václav Šneberger and Tatjana Vonta . 358 Reconceptualising Community Playgroups in Ireland. Noelle Spring, Mary Daly, Tina Byrne and Jean Whyte . .373 Quality and Teacher Turnover Related to a Childcare Workforce Development Initiative. Kathy Thornburg and Peggy Pearl . 385 Building Blocks to Best Practice - Introducing an “Integrated Holistic Model” of Early Intervention with Children and Families. Maria Walls and Mary O’Connor . 393 Concluding Observations and Notes on Contributors Questions on Quality: Some Concluding Observations Nóirín Hayes . 410 Notes on Contributors . 414 6 Questions of Quality Foreword These Proceedings are a comprehensive record of contributions to the Conference Questions on Quality held in Dublin Castle from the 23rd to 25th September 2004, organised by the Centre for Early Childhood Development and Education (CECDE). The CECDE was launched in October 2002 as an initiative of the Irish Department of Education and Science. The Centre’s aim is to develop and co-ordinate early childhood education in pursuance of the objectives of the Government’s White Paper Ready to Learn and its primary objective is to develop a National Quality Framework for early childhood care and education in the Republic of Ireland. The White Paper, Ready to Learn emphasised “the link between quality of provision in early childhood education and the nature and extent of benefits to children.” (p. 49) Furthermore, it raised some fundamental difficulties around the definition of quality in this context: “Qualitative aspects of early childhood educational provision are difficult to define. Interpretations of quality vary and are linked to individual perspectives and circumstances. What might be seen by some as a quality service may be seen by others as poor quality.” (p.50) Throughout the past decade, the development of early childhood care and education has clearly been seen as a “sunrise” issue in Ireland with high levels of policy activity and public debate. Much of this debate has focused on the quality of provision, and the work of the CECDE has continued within this context. By the autumn of 2004, the time of the conference, much of the Centre’s baseline and contributory work had been completed and the drafting of the National Quality Framework was beginning. Therefore, the conference happened at a most important time and contributed to the work of the CECDE to a great extent. Many of the questions, which occupied the minds of the CECDE staff at that time, were, if not always answered, raised and thoroughly examined. The three interwoven aspects of any quality system, defining, assessing and supporting, were addressed from a number of different perspectives and presented in often powerful detail. Significantly, the Minister of State for Education and Science, Síle de Valera, opened the conference and also chose to launch the OECD Thematic Review of Early Childhood Education and Care Policy in Ireland at the conference. John Bennett, on behalf of the OECD, addressed the conference on this most important report. Foreword 7 The contributions from three very inspiring keynote speakers, Tricia David, Mathias Urban and Richard Clifford set the tone for a highly interactive and engaging conference. Keynote speakers and workshop presenters brought their own unique backgrounds and perspectives but also highlighted the commonalities across international and professional communities. The editorial work on these Proceedings has been a pleasure, as it gave us the opportunity to relive the excitement and enthusiasm of the event and allowed us to renew our friendship with many of the international and Irish contributors. My co-editors and I have taken great care during the editorial