Belinda J. Hardin

From Principle to Practice: Using the Global Guidelines to Assess Quality Education and Care.

I n July 1999,83 early childhood professionals from 27 countries and every continent except Antarctica gathered in Ruschlikon, Switzerland, at the International Symposium on Early Childhood Education and Care for the 21st Century. Co-sponsored by the Association for Childhood Education International (ACEI) and the World Organization for Early Childhood Education (Organisation Modiale pour L’kducation Prckcolaire, or OMEP) and spearheaded by Sue Wortham, Leah Adams, and Ulla Grob-Menges, the symposium’s mission was to craft guidelines for programs that serve children under the age of formal schooling in countries throughout the world. After extensive discussions about what constitutes universal characteristics of good early education and care, working groups drafted statements that subsequently were combined, refined, and carefully edited. These efforts resulted in the joint publication of Global Guidelines for Early Childhood Education and Care in the 21st Century (hereafter referred to as the Global Guidelines) by ACEI and OMEP (2000). The Global Guidelines concisely describe basic, universal components of quality education and care for young children and, as a result, can be used worldwide. Following an overall

Using ACEI's Global Guidelines Assessment for Improving Early Education

The Global Guidelines for Early Childhood Education and Care in the 21 st Century were developed as a collaborative project between the U. S. National Committee of the World Organization for Early Childhood (OMEP) and of the Association for Childhood Education International (ACEI). The project’s intent was to provide guidance concerning the fundamental elements that are necessary to create high quality environments for early care and education. This paper presents the history of the development of a related instrument, called the ACEI

More Alike than Different: Early Childhood Professional Development in Guatemala

ibrantly colored textiles, volcanoes nested among emerald green valleys, and ancient Maya cities are some of the images of Guatemala that win the hearts of many visitors. V Located in Central America, Guatemala has a population of approximately 12.3 million people, including more than two million children under the age of 5 (UNESCO Institute for Statistics, 2007; UNICEF, 2004). More than 56 percent of the population lives in extreme poverty, making Guatemala one of the poorest countries in Latin America (The World Bank Group, 2007). Because many families struggle to meet basic needs, large numbers of children enter the labor force early on and mothers often seek work outside the home. This article describes anearly childhood professional development project that took place in the summer of 2005 in Guatemala City, and discusses its implications for future early childhood education collaboration in Guatemala. Events leading up to this training began in 2003, when one training team member conducted a reliability and validity study of the Spanish edition of the ACEI Global Guidelines Assessment (GGA) in five Latin America countries, including Guatemala (Barbour, Boyer, Hardin, & Wortham, 2004). The GGA is designed to assist early childhood care and education professionals in assessing and improving the quality of individual centers or groups of centers, particularly those in developing countries. The GGA is based on the Global Guidelines for Education and Care in the 21st Century (ACEI & OMEP, 2000). The current GGA (revised in 2006) contains 88 items across five program areas: Environment and Physical Space, Curriculum Content and Pedagogy, Early Childhood Educators and Caregivers, Partnerships With Families and Communities, and Young Children With Special Needs. During the latter stages of the GGA study, several countries, in particular Guatemala, expressed interest Early Childhood Professional Development in Guatemala

More Than Clocks and Calendars: The Construction of Timekeepers by Eleven Kindergarten' Children in Mexico and the United States

Abstract The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate timekeeping constructs of 4- and 5-year-old children in Campeche, Mexico, and North Carolina, United States, as well as the sociocultural conditions that shaped changes in their ideas about timekeeping (methods to mark and measure time) before, during, and after their kindergarten year. Eleven children constituted the case studies. The children entered public school kindergarten during the fall of the research period and had no prior long-term institutional experience, such as preschool or child care. Data were collected in three phases over the course of one year through: 1) semi-structured interviews with children, parents, teachers, and education administrators; 2) semi-structured activities with children, including drawings of time-related objects and concepts, verbal descriptions of time-related photographic images from the home and classroom, and problem-solving constructions; 3) observational field notes of the homes, communities, schools, and physical surroundings with a special emphasis on time indicators; 4) classroom observations; 5) the completion of a classroom environmental rating scale focused on time; and 6) a review of national, state, and local education policies affecting time in public schools. Data were analyzed within and across cases, sites, and phases to look for commonalities and differences in the childrens timekeeping constructs. Three methods for marking and measuring time emerged from the data: biological, environmental, and conventional timekeepers. Each of these timekeeping methods proved to be relative to individual children, as well as replete with common features across cultural, geographical, and biological boundaries. Environmental cues and activities not ordinarily considered timekeepers proved to be more temporally significant than anticipated, and formal school instruction was sometimes out of step with home and community practices. The results of this research suggest that many critical ideas about timekeeping change during a childs first year of formal schooling as children learn to adhere to external schedules, which may constrain or enhance their ability to fully engage in school activities.

Navigating Disability and Related Services: Stories of Immigrant Families.

ABSTRACT Cultural beliefs, values, language differences, and unfamiliar educational infrastructures and practices can impact immigrant parents’ capacity to support their children with disabilities in their new country. This study presents perspectives of disability and experiences with special education services based on interviews with eight immigrant parents of children with disabilities from four countries. Results indicate that the process for accepting, or not accepting, that their child has a disability differed across cultural contexts. Additionally, immigrant parents encounter diverse labelling practices and have varying levels of participation in special education services. Moreover, immigrant families who are refugees have differential access to services and a more limited cultural perspective of their heritage country than families who came to the USA directly from their heritage country. These results can assist professionals in rethinking policies and practices to more effectively establish partnerships with culturally and linguistically diverse families.

Involving Early Childhood Stakeholders in Program Evaluation: The GGA Story

When we advocate for quality in early childhood care and education settings, we must remember that quality itself is culturally and contextually bound, and can look very different in different countries, communities, and cultures. While in one culture, quality may mean that children participate in food preparation as part of the center community, that type of participation may not be appropriate or valued in another culture. With the development of the Global Guidelines Assessment (GGA) in 1999, its authors created a globally applicable measurement tool for quality in early childhood care and education programs that left room for the cultural and contextual differences inherent in any assessment of quality. One important element of the GGA is its inclusion of internal stakeholders. This idea of inclusion—both of diverse students and of parents and community members—is critical to ensuring quality care and education for all young children.

Family-Centered Practices and American Sign Language (ASL) Challenges and Recommendations

Families with children who are deaf face many important decisions, especially the mode(s) of communication their children will use. The purpose of this focus group study was to better understand the experiences and recommendations of families who chose American Sign Language (ASL) as their primary mode of communication and to identify strategies that empowered or hindered feelings of acceptance and belonging with regard to their deafness and use of ASL. Results from two focus groups with a total of 10 participants indicate a need for continued professional development about the complexities of self-identity, Deaf culture, and modes of communication for families with ASL users. Strategies to help professionals strengthen family-centered practices within special education services are emphasized.

Cross-Cultural Collaboration Research to Improve Early Childhood Education

As concerns about the quality of early childhood care and education have increased globally, so has the need for reliable and valid tools to help administrators and teachers design new programs and better understand the quality of existing programs. In recognition of this worldwide need, the Association for Childhood Education International (ACEI) developed the ACEI Global Guidelines Assessment (GGA), designed to help early childhood professionals examine and improve the quality of their program services, particularly in developing countries (ACEI 2003, 2006, 2011; Barbour et. al. 2004; Sandell et al. 2010). The GGA is based on the Global Guidelines for Education and Care in the twenty-first century developed by the World Organization for Early Childhood Education (OMEP) and the Association for Childhood Education International (ACEI/OMEP 1999). Washington, DC: Association for Childhood Education International.). A study designed to examine the psychometric properties of the GGA, including its reliability and validity for assessing program quality was conducted in four different countries. There were 336 participants in 168 programs from China, Guatemala, Taiwan, and the United States. Overall, the results suggest that the GGA is a viable option for helping participants understand and improve program quality. Future studies with larger samples in additional countries are currently underway to provide greater insight for measuring program quality of ECCE programs on a global scale.

Textured Dialogues: A Community Project about Immigrants' Multimodal Perspectives on the Meaning of Education

With greater diversification of American society comes a need to forge intercultural connections that will promote and support effective education services for immigrant families. The intercultural approach taken in this community project goes beyond a paradigm of coexistence. Rather, the term “intercultural” implies an integrated society of diverse members who participate in skilled dialogues that promote shared goals and understandings (Barrera, Corso, & Macpherson, 2003; Kimmel & Volet, 2012) and build on the “funds of knowledge” (Gonzalez, Moll, & Amanti, 2005) of all involved. Exploring intersections of this dynamic was central to understanding immigrant perspectives on the meaning of education. The result was the creation and display of a tapestry and book created by immigrant community members. This article provides a brief description of how this community project came about and, then, describes community members’ (hereafter referred to as “artists”) tapestry squares and narratives. The perspectives gleaned from this project can be used to inform educators, students, and others about the beliefs, practices, experiences, and aspirations of immigrant families around the meaning of education. The purpose of this article is twofold: first, to demonstrate how an arts-based project can encourage dialogue on an educational topic, and second, to illuminate the immigrant artists’ beliefs, practices, experiences, and aspirations related to education.

Understanding Parental Engagement in Early Learning Opportunities for Families in Rural Communities

Understanding the contexts in which young children develop is essential for promoting positive outcomes. In this study, the researchers used focus groups to investigate the perspectives of 14 parents across rural North Carolina concerning ecocultural features that enhanced or prevented sustained engagement with their infants and toddlers with disabilities or delays. Parents perceived ecocultural features as having either a positive influence or no influence on their engagement. They also reported actively making accommodations to interrupt potential barriers to engagement. Results highlight the adaptive capacities of families in rural communities and delineate community resources that might contribute to sustainable intervention practices.