Konstantina Rentzou

Parent–caregiver relationship dyad in Greek day care centres

High quality early childhood education and care programmes encourage frequent, positive communication with and positive, effective relationships between parents and early childhood educators. The present study aimed to examine the adult relationship aspects of childcare and, more precisely, the parent/caregiver relationship dyad. The way in which parents are involved in early childhood education and care programmes provides one possible indication of the nature of the parent/caregiver relationships, yet previous research in Greece, on the topic of parental involvement, has indicated that Greek parents do not participate in their childrens preschool centres and that little attention is paid to parents’ role in their childrens care and education. Research data suggest that Greek parents and caregivers of the present sample cooperate and communicate superficially and that parent/teacher relationships have a long way to go toward becoming partnerships.

Greek parents' perceptions of male early childhood educators

The study reported here examined Greek parents’ perceptions of barriers to men entering the early childhood education and care profession and their recommendations for recruiting more males into the field. Parents were asked to respond on a Likert scale to statements regarding males’ decision to enter the profession, possible benefits for male early childhood educators, and perceived societal attitudes towards male early childhood educators. The findings indicate that the participating parents were in favour of recruiting more males into the early childhood education and care profession but at the same time they recognize the difficulties men encounter when choosing to become early childhood educators. Recommendations for future research designs are formulated.

The quality of the physical environment in private and public infant/toddler and preschool Greek day-care programmes

The physical environment of the preschool programmes has been proven to affect both childrens overall development and the quality of the programme. However, both nationally and internationally the contribution of the physical environment in the effectiveness of a programme and in the achievement of educational goals is often overlooked. The aim of the present study was to assess the quality of the indoor physical environment of infant/toddler and preschool classrooms and to examine differences between private and public classrooms. Research results indicate that the quality of the physical environment in both infant/toddler and preschool classrooms was of minimum quality. Moreover, limited differences have been revealed controlling for inspection body. The findings are discussed and the need to bring the scientific field of the physical environment to the forefront is highlighted.

Preschool Children's Social and Nonsocial Play Behaviours. Measurement and Correlations with Children's Playfulness, Behaviour Problems and Demographic Characteristics.

Childrens play contributes to their overall development. Yet, not all types of play have the same effects. On the contrary, nonsocial play has been found to be correlated with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties. The present study had a twofold aim. On the one hand it aimed at assessing Greek preschool childrens social and nonsocial play, employing the Preschool Play Behaviour Scale, childrens playfulness, employing Childrens Playfulness Scale, and childrens potential behaviour problems, with the Preschool Behaviour Questionnaire. On the other hand, it aimed at examining whether the types of play children engage in are predicted by their playfulness and by potential behaviour problems, as well as whether personal and family variables affect childrens social and nonsocial play. Results suggest that the sample exhibits rather medium levels of nonsocial behaviours during play. Thus, correlation analysis showed that social and nonsocial types of play are predicted by playfulness components and that certain behavioural problems and personal and family characteristics are correlated with types of play. Implications are discussed and suggestions for future research are formulated.

Prevalence of burnout syndrome of Greek child care workers and kindergarten teachers

The present study, employing the Maslach Burnout Inventory – Educators Survey, aims to compare and explore possible differences to the levels of burnout reported by the two main professional groups working in the early childhood education and care sector in Greece, that is kindergarten teachers and childcare workers. The correlation between the levels of burnout reported and participants’ demographic data were also examined. Research data revealed that kindergarten teachers experience slightly more feelings of emotional exhaustion, whereas childcare workers experience more feelings of depersonalisation. Furthermore, correlation analysis indicated that subscales predict one another whereas only personal accomplishment subscale had been found to be correlated with participants’ demographic data. Suggestions for future research are formulated.

Contemplating and probing issues of conceptualization, measurement and policy of ECEC quality in Europe and in the USA

The economic recession of recent years highlights the need for reorganizing education and health systems, as well as welfare and public domains (Rentzou, 2015). As Taguma, Litjens, and Makowiecki (2012) maintain that ‘in recent years, the underpinning principles for policy intervention are shifting from a current-income, social-welfare model to a life-cycle, human capital development model’ (p. 14). Of special interest in this context is the sector of early childhood education and care (ECEC), since investment in ECEC has been proven to have shortand long-term effects both on children’s overall development (Melhuish et al., 2015; OECD, 2017) and on societies’ social and economic development (OECD, 2012, 2017). With the current changing demographic landscapes and family structures as well as research results indicating the importance of investing in high-quality education, ECEC has become the focal point of policy and research as never before. European (Lisbon Strategy, Europe 2020 and Barcelona Summit) and international (Sustainable Development Goals) strategies set various targets and objectives regarding ECEC. The underlying assumption behind all policy and research initiatives is that access to ECEC alone is insufficient and that the benefits of ECEC are conditional on quality (Melhuish et al., 2015; OECD, 2012, 2017). Despite extensive research in the field of ECEC quality, this field remains blurry. Starting from the relativeness and multidimensionality of the concept of ECEC quality, continuing with the elusiveness of quality measurement (Rentzou, 2017a) and culminating in the fact that countries have adopted different strategies for policy development in family support and ECEC provision, ECEC policy, research and practice is at a helter-skelter state internationally. Central key issues to the blurring picture characterizing ECEC is not only the fact that the definition and monitoring of ECEC quality is as diverse as ECEC provision (OECD, 2015) and organization, but also the fact that increasingly ECEC use and provision involves multiple dimensions and factors (Janta, 2014; Melhuish, 2015), and is closely linked to welfare and family support policies such as labour market and parental leave policies. Other important issues surrounding ECEC policy, research and practice include but are not limited to the lack of timely, reliable and comparable international information (OECD, 2017), our failure to inform our nomenclature of central to ECEC theory and practice concepts (Rentzou, 2017b) and the conceptual and structural dichotomy between care and education. Additionally, key issues include the uncertainty about what constitutes ‘proper’ early childhood practice (Macfarlane & Lewis, 2004, p. 51) and the lack of consensus on what constitutes a high-quality initial professional preparation program (Whitebook et al., 2012) and on an accepted and agreed – upon qualifications profile and pedagogical framework for the whole early childhood age span. This Special Issue has a twofold aim. On the one hand, it aims at presenting main findings and challenges for improving the ECEC sector. On the other hand, the aim is to highlight intertemporal problems (Rentzou, 2017b), the field of ECEC faces and focal issues in various countries. The need for a Special Issue with this context stems from the fact that ECEC systems are shaped by social-cultural values, as well as national, economic and political contexts in which early childhood services are provided (Rentzou, 2017a). With this said, the Special Issue captures information about ECEC policies and practices in different countries and aims at helping to establish a systemic and integrated