An analysis of the United Methodist Church kindergarten curriculum has been made in this thesis in an attempt to determine to what extent the curriculum affrims personhood, The study is limited to six years of kindergarten curriculum, fall 1967 through summer 1973. The first objective is to examine the curriculum to discover the extent of affirmation of personhood in general. The second objective is to determine significant trends or changes over a six-year period of curriculum surveyed in terms of affirmation of personhood. The third objective is the recommendation of further changes in the curriculum so that it is more affirming of personhood.

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The study used Social Cultural Theory as an analytical framework to understand the professional preparation of kindergarten teachers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). A multi-method approach to data collection was adopted, involving a questionnaire, interviews and documentary analysis of both the pre-school curriculum in KSA and the programme content. Both qualitative and quantitative approaches were therefore employed to achieve the research objectives. The research methodology was based on the interpretive approach and included a case study. The participants were student-teachers studying on the four-year teacher training programme at one of the universities in KSA. Responses to four hundred and nineteen questionnaires completed by student-teachers across the four years of the programme were analysed, and a detailed case study involving 32 student-teachers was carried out. These student-teachers were interviewed three times each over three terms, with a focus on the nature of their knowledge and beliefs. The quantitative and qualitative data were analysed using SPSS to summarise the results of the closed questions in the questionnaire and to compare the differences between the student-teachers’ perspectives in each study year. All interviews were taped and transcribed. The data were coded and recoded several times using the continuous comparative process. When broad categories/themes emerged, these created sub-categories. Similarly, the data gained from the questionnaire’s open-ended questions were also analysed qualitatively. The findings focus on the results from the questionnaire for each study year, followed by a direct comparison of student-teachers’ knowledge and beliefs across the four years. The findings from the interviews with student-teachers are presented separately for each study year in order that the development of their knowledge and beliefs over the four-year programme can be seen. The findings revealed that student-teachers’ beliefs and their knowledge were closely linked. Although student-teachers’ knowledge developed as a result of their learning, some of their beliefs about Early Childhood Education (ECE) in general seemed to remain stable over the period of their university course. Many factors influenced the training of the student-teacher within Saudi culture and practices, such as the cultural context, the society, national policy, religion, module content, styles of teaching, visits to kindergarten, self-learning, and others’ knowledge/experience and support. These others included friends, other student-teachers, and relatives who were studying on the kindergarten programme or worked in the field of ECE. The findings showed that student-teachers built their teaching identities on the wider social-cultural purposes of education in Saudi society, which were consistent with expectations of their roles in society. However, various constraints related to the university context, to the kindergarten context and to the social-cultural context influenced their preparation as teachers. The study indicated many limitations to the current apprenticeship approach, due to the predominantly transmissive style of education at university. Student-teachers were not progressively immersed in a more fully developed apprenticeship model in which teachers learnt about the cultures and practices of ECE within the contexts of practice. This study strongly challenges a system where student-teachers only have one term of teaching practice. It is argued that teaching practice should start much earlier in the programme and be extended. A model for developing professional preparation programmes of Initial Teachers (IT) in the field of ECE is presented. Implications arising from this study and recommendations which could improve Teacher Education (TE) in KSA are outlined. Finally, suggestions for further research are presented.

Abstract Kindergartens were established as part of the educational system in the period of autonomy under Russia, but they were subjected to social administration soon after independence. The causes of this decision and its consequences on the development of kindergarten work have been considered in various contexts. The current study aims to establish the kind of pedagogical frame of reference that the Finnish kindergarten institution was associated with in its early decades, how the administration of kindergarten work developed and how these approaches were reflected in the emergence of the first northern Finnish kindergartens by 1938. The theoretical frame of reference for my discussion is formed by the kindergarten philosophy based on Central European roots that was applied in Finland after the mid-19th century. The basis for this approach implemented in different forms was provided by kindergarten activities based on the views of Friedrich Fröbel (1782–1852). The goal has been to make visible the early times of local kindergartens, the main phases of change in the development of central administration, and the impact of administrative measures on municipal decisions in promoting, supporting and even restricting them. The most common growth factor in northern Finnish towns was the increase in industry and trade, with improved traffic communication as an essential prerequisite. Crowded living conditions of the industrial population in the suburban areas, the fact that both of the parents were working, and long working days made the living conditions of smallest children in particular insecure and unfavourable for growth. Meanwhile the northern border towns wanted opportunities for physical exercise and various activities for children to counterbalance the licentcious life on the streets and the bad influences arising from it. Due to a limitation of resources, the changes in this sector of administration in the early years of national independence did not meet the requirements set for kindergarten work. The act on the conditions for state subsidies promoted the foundation of kindergartens and expansion of the work, but obscured pedagogical goals led to a criticism of the changes in the administrative sector. A contradiction arose between early years education and kindergarten work, aiming at reincorporating kindergarten activities into popular education on the one hand, and fearing that its school-like nature would supersede the social-pedagogical objectives of kindergarten work on the other hand. The pedagogical content of kindergarten work was guaranteed, however, by the Act on State Subsidies for Kindergartens. / Tiivistelmä Lastentarhat luotiin autonomian aikana osaksi opetusjärjestelmää, mutta toiminta siirrettiin pian itsenäistymisen jälkeen sosiaalihallinnon alaisuuteen. Ratkaisun syitä ja vaikutuksia lastentarhatyön kehittymiseen on arvioitu eri yhteyksissä. Tämän tutkimuksen tarkoituksena on ollut selvittää, millaiseen pedagogiseen viitekehykseen maamme lastentarhainstituutio liitettiin alkuvuosikymmeninään, millä tavoin lastentarhatoiminnan hallinto kehittyi ja miten ratkaisut heijastuivat Pohjois-Suomen ensimmäisten lastentarhahankkeiden toteutumiseen vuoteen 1938 mennessä. Tarkastelun teoreettisen viitekehyksen muodostaa 1800-luvun puolivälin jälkeen Suomessa sovellettu ja keskieurooppalaisiin juuriin perustunut lastentarha-ajattelu. Lähtökohtana oli Friedrich Fröbelin (1782–1852) kasvatusfilosofisiin näkemyksiin perustunut lastentarhatoiminta, josta oli kehittynyt jo Saksassa kaksi suuntausta: yleistä kansanopetusta palveleva, koulukokonaisuuteen kuuluva opetus ja sosiaalipedagogisesti painottunut, ensisijaisesti turvattomien ja vähäosaisten lasten auttamiseen keskittyvä huolenpito ja kasvatus. Tässä kasvatuksen historiaa käsittelevässä tutkimuksessa yhdistyvät makro- ja mikrotason tutkimusmenetelmät. Tavoitteena on ollut tuoda näkyväksi paikallisten lastentarhojen alkutaivalta, keskushallinnon kehittymisen tärkeimpiä muutosvaiheita ja hallinnon toimenpiteiden vaikutusta kuntakohtaisiin ratkaisuihin niiden edistäjänä, tukijana ja rajoittajanakin. Pohjois-Suomen kaupunkien yleisin kasvutekijä oli teollisuuden ja kaupankäynnin lisääntyminen, jonka keskeisenä edellytyksenä olivat parantuneet liikenneyhteydet. Teollisuusväestön ahdas asuminen esikaupunkialueilla, molempien vanhempien työssäkäynti ja pitkät työpäivät tekivät varsinkin pienimpien lasten elinolot turvattomiksi ja kasvun kannalta epäedullisiksi. Pohjoisessa rajakaupungissa taas kaivattiin lapsille liikunta- ja toimintamahdollisuuksia vastapainoksi katujen epäsiveelliselle elämänmenolle ja siitä saataville huonoille vaikutteille. Valtiollisen itsenäisyyden alkuvuosina toteutunut hallinnonalan muutos ei kaventuneitten toimintaresurssien vuoksi vastannut lastensuojelutyölle asetettuja vaatimuksia. Valtionavun ehdot määrittävä laki edisti lastentarhojen perustamista ja työn laajentumista, mutta pedagogisten päämäärien hämärtyminen johti hallintoalan muutokseen kohdistuneeseen arvosteluun. Alkuopetuksen ja lastentarhatyön välille kehittyi vastakkainasettelu, jossa ajettiin toisaalta lastentarhatoiminnan palauttamista kansanopetuksen yhteyteen ja toisaalta taas pelättiin, että koulumaisuus syrjäyttää lastentarhatyön sosiaalipedagogiset päämäärät. Kasvatuksen arvostuksen lasku kulminoitui lastensuojelulaissa: lastentarhatyöstä tuli kuntahallinnossa huoltolautakunnan alaista toimintaa. Ratkaisussa määriteltiin lastentarhat ennaltaehkäiseväksi lastensuojeluksi ja rinnastettiin varsin ylimalkaisesti irtolaisten ja alkoholistien parissa tehtävään huoltotyöhön. Lastentarhatyön pedagogisen sisällön takasi kuitenkin laki lastentarhojen valtionavusta. Se määritteli lasten kasvuolosuhteiden vähimmäisvaatimukset ja edellytti pätevän henkilökunnan käyttöä, joten vankan koulutuksen saaneiden lastentarhanopettajien työssä säilyi lastentarhapedagogiikan ja sosiaalisen auttamistyön yhteys. Lastentarhatyön taustavoimissa toimi enimmäkseen eri alojen opettajia, jotka olivat työssään todenneet lastentarhakasvatuksen myönteisen merkityksen.

The objective of this thesis is to critically evaluate difficulty of all steps needed to set up a kindergarten focused on German language. The thesis then questions the potential of this type of organization in Pilsen. The scale for the amount of potencial is based on a conducted survey targeted at pilsner parents with young children and their priorities when choosing a kindergarten. The evaluation arises also from the captures evaluating the project schedule, financial plan and expected amount of registered children. The theoretical part summarizes the geographical development in Czech Republic during the last periods and the legislation adjusting the establishment of a kindergarten. The practical part describes the concrete steps of the project from the very first thoughts to opening the kindergarten including the first two months of its operation.

Twenty years ago, kindergarten was a year of informal education designed to help a child develop some readiness skills, adjust to school, adjust socially and learn through play. Readiness for elementary education was defined in terms of attitude and motivation rather than in specific academic achievements. The hazards of the academic model for young children is supported by recent research. Elkind (1986), for example, confirms that young children do not learn in the same ways as older children and adults. Because the world of things, people, and language is so new to infants and young children, they learn best through direct encounters with their world rather than through formal education. During the '80s there has been an increase in the number of high-risk children entering kindergarten who may not be ready for that experience. Perhaps in response to this trend, kindergarten, rather than serving as a readiness program for future schooling, has become an experience for which children need to be prepared entering kindergarten. The National Association of Early Childhood (1987) notes that expectations have become increasingly high and unrealistic, as the curriculum from upper grades has been pushed down to lower levels, thus doom large numbers of young children to the increased possibility of failure. As a result of this change, there has been quite a controversy over the policy of kindergarten retention. Although grade retention is widely practiced at all levels, research suggests that it does not help children to "catch up." While retained children may appear to do better in the short term, they are at much greater risk for failure than are their non-retained peers (Shepard and Smith, 1990). The provision of an extra year of schooling prior to first grade is intended to protect unprepared children from entering too soon into a demanding academic environment where, 'it is thought, they will almost surely experience failure. Yet Shepard and Smith (1988) note that, "depending on the philosophical basis of kindergarten retention, which differs profoundly from one district to the next, the extra year is meant either to be a time for immature children to grow and develop learning readiness or a time to work on deficient prereading skills" (p. 34). So the criteria by which retention decisions are made are critical. The question of which criteria determine a child's kindergarten retention becomes paramount. The study examines this question by addressing the following issues: 1. Current practices regarding kindergarten retention;2. The percentage of kindergartners retained each year (locally and statewide); 3. The effects of kindergarten retention; 4. The ways in which teacher pressure, parents, standardized tests, and basal reading programs contribute to kindergarten retention; and 5. Alternatives to kindergarten retention. There will always be a group of children who lag behind their kindergarten classmates. Before we create a new program, however, we need to examine the effects of kindergarten retention. It is the intent of this study to provide county school supervisors and others with information which would enable them to take action to reverse the negative effects of past practices. This information can assist those responsible for decision-making as they struggle to make the correct decisions regarding the placement of young children.

The purpose of this study is to examine how educators in preschool and kindergarten handle children with ADHD diagnosis or concentration difficulties. Are the educators based on a special way of working with these children? We have chosen to use the theory of Vygotskijs sociocultural perspective. We have also chosen to carry out the study with a qualitative method by doing six interviews and two observations at a preschool we choose to call ́Sommarängen. We believe that these methods are the optimal ones to obtain the answers to our questions. Our questions focus on how educators based on their experiences and knowledge create environments and working methods that can either promote or inhibit children with ADHD diagnosis or concentration difficulties, and if it is possible to discover signs of ADHD before diagnosis is made and in such cases, in what way may it appear? The main result of this study is that there were differences in the respondents' answers about their thoughts on diagnosing children already in preschool age. The results show that the preschool teachers had common opinion that children with ADHD diagnosis have greater opportunities for support and thanks to that early efforts can be made for future schooling. However, the child caregiver had other thoughts about the diagnosis and claim preschool teachers should be careful about placing children in compartments and that it could have negative consequences for the child in the future. A common response was that materials and environments were central to helping children with ADHD or concentration difficulties in their daily lives.

Unter dem Motto „Unser Kinder-Garten – für Alle von Anfang an!“ regte der 4.. Sächsische Kinder-Garten-Wettbewerb alle sächsischen Kitas an, ihre Gärten zu bildungs- und gesundheits-fördernden Außenräumen zu gestalten. Redaktionsschluss: 29.06.2016

Die vorliegende Broschüre dokumentiert den 5. Wettbewerb und zeigt ideenvolle und kreative Beispiele einer praktischen Umsetzung auf. Redaktionsschluss: 20.12.2018

Die Broschüre dokumentiert den 6. Kinder-Garten-Wettbewerb, der 2019/2020 in einem dreistufigen Verfahren durchgeführt wurde. Unter dem Motto “Unser Kinder-Garten – ein nachhaltiger Bildungsraum!” waren alle sächsischen Kitas und Kindertagespflegestellen eingeladen, ihre Gärten für und mit Kindern zu naturnahen Bildungs- und Erlebnisräumen zu gestalten. In der Broschüre werden die Gartenprojekte der Preisträger mit vielen ideenvollen Anregungen und Impulsen für die eigene Praxis vorgestellt. Darüber hinaus bildet die Umsetzung von Bildung nachhaltiger Entwicklung (BNE) im Kita-Außenraum einen Schwerpunkt, der aufzeigt, wie BNE in den Gärten der Kitas praxisnah umgesetzt werden kann. Redaktionsschluss: 31.12.2020