Administration and Policy of Early Childhood Education and Care. Europe, America, and Australia.

Author: Jian Chuying
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-01-01
Features: Administration and policy have a profound impact on principals, teachers, parents, and teaching, and are also closely related to the quality of early childhood education. Therefore, they have always been the author's focus. Currently, early childhood education and care policies are moving towards the direction of integrating early childhood education and care, and extending the compulsory education age by one year. During the policy-making process, there are constant debates regarding the separation or integration of early childhood education and care, and whether the starting age of compulsory education should be extended by one year. As the saying goes, "He who would climb high must begin low," and "A distant land may offer a distant view," therefore, it is necessary to refer to the experiences of other countries. The 11 countries introduced in this book have formulated different policies due to their unique national conditions and cultures. However, there are similarities among them, and the common points can serve as references for our policy-making, while the differences are even more worth learning from when formulating policies. The feature of this book lies in understanding the formation of early childhood education and care policies within the ecological and cultural context of each country. For example, societal views on children can influence a country's approach to caring for them. Another feature of the book is the discussion of issues after each country's introduction. After fully understanding the impact of each country's ecological and cultural context on early childhood education and care policies, there are still similar or different issues across countries that deserve our attention.