Observation of children, based upon careful watching and listening, is a key aspect of effective early childhood pedagogy, and yet research shows that early years practitioners struggle to observe children satisfactorily and find difficulty in planning provision based upon their observations. This finding is unexpected as there is a focus upon child observation in practitioners‘ initial training. This study set out to consider this anomaly through exploring new practitioners‘ understandings and uses of child observation during their first year of employment. The study took the form of a collective case study involving ten newly qualified early years practitioners. Taking an ethnographic approach, the project used participant observation in three early years settings, combined with semi-structured interviews with new practitioners and their mentors, to collect evidence of child observation in practice. Thematic content analysis of data, supported by the use of NVivo2 software, focused upon three aspects of the research question: firstly, new practitioners‘ understandings of the nature and purpose of child observation; secondly, why and how they use it; and, thirdly, observation as an aspect of their work within early years settings. Findings indicate that new early years practitioners demonstrate both informal practice, underpinned by an ethic of caring which guides observant, responsive work with young children; and formal practice, rooted in a developmental view of childhood leading to conscientious recording of predetermined, sequential, learning outcomes. The former is an intrinsic, connected response whilst the latter results from implementation of external policy requirements. Drawing inspiration from Dewey‘s pragmatist philosophy of education and from notions of wise practice, a new dynamic and relational approach to child observation is proposed, which may unite these dichotomous modes of thought and action and so enhance early years care and education.

No início do século XX, a educadora Anália Franco se destacava em ações no campo da assistência à infância em situação de pobreza e/ou abandono, área em que pouco atuava o Estado brasileiro. Em 1901, criou a Associação Feminina Beneficente e Instrutiva (AFBI) e a presente pesquisa objetiva analisar qual sua influência no processo de interiorização da assistência à infância no Estado de São Paulo e, para concretizar este intento, optou-se pelo estudo do Asylo de Orphans Anália Franco, fundado em Ribeirão Preto no ano de 1917. Buscou-se, então, dar luz às formas de organização e atuação da referida instituição e optou-se por um recorte cronológico que se inicia no ano de 1901, quando foi fundada a AFBI, até o ano de 1925, quando a diretoria do asilo ribeirão-pretano elaborou um detalhado relatório sobre as práticas ali realizadas. A análise de fontes documentais demonstra que a criação do asilo em Ribeirão Preto foi parte de um projeto de assistência consolidado por Anália Franco no Estado de São Paulo, que possibilitou a criação de várias instituições em diversas localidades interioranas por meio da instauração de um modelo institucional, que contava até mesmo com publicações de cunho educacional para unificar o trabalho realizado e criação de comissões de fiscalização das instituições. A análise permite concluir que o asilo ribeirão-pretano seguia um padrão de organização e era modelado de acordo com o que pretendia Anália Franco para as instituições da AFBI. Mas, ainda que a instituição contasse com a organização em diferentes níveis de ensino e fosse seu objetivo possibilitar que as meninas superassem o abandono que as levaram à internação, os dados demonstram que fatores internos e insuficiente contribuição financeira advinda de poucas subvenções do poder público e de doações particulares, representavam impedimentos à realização do trabalho pretendido / In the beginning of the 20th century, the educator Analia Franco stood out for her actions in the area of child care, with children in a situation of poverty and/or abandonment, an area in which the Brazilian Government was almost inactive. In 1901, she created the Beneficent and Instructive Women´s Association (AFBI) and this research aimed to analyze what was her influence in the process of taking child care to the interior of the State of São Paulo and, to get to this aim, it was opted to study the Asylo de Orphans Anália Franco, founded in the city of Ribeirão Preto in 1917. It was then sought to bring light to the ways the mentioned institution was organized and operated, opting for a chronological research starting in 1901, when the Beneficent and Instructive Womens Association was founded, until the year of 1925, when the Directors of the asylum of Ribeirão Preto created a detailed report about the practices performed there. The analysis of documentary sources shows that the creation of the asylum in Ribeirão Preto was part of an assistance project consolidated by Analia Franco in São Paulo State, which made possible the foundation of several other institutions in many different cities of the same State by creating an institutional model, that even counted with educational publications designed to unify the work that was being done and creation of commissions that supervised the institutions. The analysis allows concluding that the asylum of Ribeirão Preto followed a pattern of organization and was modeled according to what Analia Franco intended to all institutions of the Beneficent and Instructive Womens Association. However, even though the institution had many different levels of teaching and its goal was to have girls overcome the abandonment that lead them there, data showed that internal factors and insufficient financial contribution arising from public authorities and donations from citizens constituted obstacles to the concretization of the intended work

In the developing world, child care institutions often involve more complexity than is typically reflected by the word “orphanage.” In many instances, children do not fit the widespread definition of an orphan as one with with deceased parents. Oftentimes, institutions play a partial role in a child’s development by contributing towards childcare in collaboration with a relative, an ill parent, or nearby kin. In South Africa, the need and complexity surrounding the role of child care institutions is further amplified by the region’s longstanding HIV/AIDS epidemic. Through a primarily ethnographic study, I sought to understand and relay the nuances of a child care center in Hillbrow, an urban neighborhood in central Johannesburg known for its crime and gang proliferation. Through the developmental stages of intake and early childhood, middle childhood, and late adolesence and outward transition, I explored how children overcome traumatic pasts with the help of the center, how the center struggles with the material burdens of providing to children with a wide array of needs, and how the process of transitioning into adulthood is handled by the children and their caretakers. In conclusion, I explore the non-negotiable elements of the center’s approach to child care and make further recommendations for other institutions in a similar context as well as future academic research.

No início do século XX, a educadora Anália Franco se destacava em ações no campo da assistência à infância em situação de pobreza e/ou abandono, área em que pouco atuava o Estado brasileiro. Em 1901, criou a Associação Feminina Beneficente e Instrutiva (AFBI) e a presente pesquisa objetiva analisar qual sua influência no processo de interiorização da assistência à infância no Estado de São Paulo e, para concretizar este intento, optou-se pelo estudo do Asylo de Orphans Anália Franco, fundado em Ribeirão Preto no ano de 1917. Buscou-se, então, dar luz às formas de organização e atuação da referida instituição e optou-se por um recorte cronológico que se inicia no ano de 1901, quando foi fundada a AFBI, até o ano de 1925, quando a diretoria do asilo ribeirão-pretano elaborou um detalhado relatório sobre as práticas ali realizadas. A análise de fontes documentais demonstra que a criação do asilo em Ribeirão Preto foi parte de um projeto de assistência consolidado por Anália Franco no Estado de São Paulo, que possibilitou a criação de várias instituições em diversas localidades interioranas por meio da instauração de um modelo institucional, que contava até mesmo com publicações de cunho educacional para unificar o trabalho realizado e criação de comissões de fiscalização das instituições. A análise permite concluir que o asilo ribeirão-pretano seguia um padrão de organização e era modelado de acordo com o que pretendia Anália Franco para as instituições da AFBI. Mas, ainda que a instituição contasse com a organização em diferentes níveis de ensino e fosse seu objetivo possibilitar que as meninas superassem o abandono que as levaram à internação, os dados demonstram que fatores internos e insuficiente contribuição financeira advinda de poucas subvenções do poder público e de doações particulares, representavam impedimentos à realização do trabalho pretendido / In the beginning of the 20th century, the educator Analia Franco stood out for her actions in the area of child care, with children in a situation of poverty and/or abandonment, an area in which the Brazilian Government was almost inactive. In 1901, she created the Beneficent and Instructive Women´s Association (AFBI) and this research aimed to analyze what was her influence in the process of taking child care to the interior of the State of São Paulo and, to get to this aim, it was opted to study the Asylo de Orphans Anália Franco, founded in the city of Ribeirão Preto in 1917. It was then sought to bring light to the ways the mentioned institution was organized and operated, opting for a chronological research starting in 1901, when the Beneficent and Instructive Womens Association was founded, until the year of 1925, when the Directors of the asylum of Ribeirão Preto created a detailed report about the practices performed there. The analysis of documentary sources shows that the creation of the asylum in Ribeirão Preto was part of an assistance project consolidated by Analia Franco in São Paulo State, which made possible the foundation of several other institutions in many different cities of the same State by creating an institutional model, that even counted with educational publications designed to unify the work that was being done and creation of commissions that supervised the institutions. The analysis allows concluding that the asylum of Ribeirão Preto followed a pattern of organization and was modeled according to what Analia Franco intended to all institutions of the Beneficent and Instructive Womens Association. However, even though the institution had many different levels of teaching and its goal was to have girls overcome the abandonment that lead them there, data showed that internal factors and insufficient financial contribution arising from public authorities and donations from citizens constituted obstacles to the concretization of the intended work

The purpose of this study was to investigate Korean-American families' beliefs about child development and their child-care practices. Questionnaires were distributed and mailed to wives of Korean-American dual-earner families residing in Utah with young children. Incorporated measures were the Suinn-Lew Asian Self-Identity Acculturation Scale (SL-ASIA), Maternal Expectations of Child Development, questions on the type of child care and its quality, and the Child Care Satisfaction Scale (CCSS). Seventy-three mothers filled out the questionnaire for 104 children's child-care situations. Results showed that Korean-American mothers were moderately acculturated and held both American and Korean values concerning the growth and development of children. There were consistent relationships among the type of child care, mothers' quality rating, and maternal satisfaction, as they relate to family characteristics. That is, the child's age, family income, and the availability of relatives were factors related to the type of child care. Korean-American mothers considered educational activities or learning opportunities as important factors in child care and gave higher ratings to center care than they gave to relative or neighbor care. Also, maternal satisfaction with the care arrangements was positively related to their ratings of quality.

Working mothers may encounter difficulty combining work and family, particularly as this interface involves child care arrangements. This research investigated the effects of various dimensions of child care support on stress and role conflict in employed mothers. It was hypothesized that as job support, affordability, spousal support, and satisfaction with child care increased, that child care stress, job stress, and role conflict would decrease. The data were derived from a survey (Lane County Dependent Care survey, Emlen, 1990} of women employed in 15 companies in the Lane County, Oregon area. The study sample consisted of 825 full and part-time employed mothers with children under the age of eighteen living in the home. This research analyzed the women's responses to questions pertaining to each of the four dimensions of child care support (four questions}, and two questions on stress (one on child care stress and one on job stress} and one on role conflict. The questions were formatted into Likert-type scales, ranging from three to six points. Crosstabulations were calculated to examine eight hypotheses, four with stress as the dependent variable and four with role conflict as the dependent variable. Hypotheses with job support as the independent variable were supported with moderate positive correlations. Hypotheses involving spousal support were tested using only married women. The independent variable showed no statistically significant correlations with either stress or role conflict. Hypotheses involving affordability were supported by moderate positive correlations between low levels of affordability, and child care stress and role conflict. The last hypotheses used dissatisfaction with child care arrangements as the independent variable. These were supported by moderate correlations regarding child care stress and weak correlations regarding role conflict. Further directions in the examination of relationships between help with child care and the reduction of stress and role conflict for women are suggested.

This thesis focuses on the relationship between job satisfaction and union membership of long day care employees in Melbourne and Sydney, and uses the exit-voice/union-voice model as an analytical framework. The data includes surveys of child-care staff and students enrolled in child-care courses, interviews with child-care staff, union officials and employer representatives, and official documentation. While child-care workers report high levels of job satisfaction, it is argued that the considerable ‘exit voice’ of the survey respondents is a demonstration of job dissatisfaction. The reported levels of satisfaction are a manifestation of satisfaction with the intrinsic features of the work (child development outcomes) and the limited employment opportunities of females generally. The exit voice is a manifestation of dissatisfaction with the extrinsic features of the job (pay and career advancement). The thesis failed to detect evidence of a strong relationship between job (dis)satisfaction and union membership, due to the ‘caring profession syndrome’, a perceived lack of union instrumentality, and problems associated with the ability of unions to recruit and organise an industry consisting of over 4,000 small workplaces. The findings show that both staff and students are highly sympathetic towards unions, that working in child-care changes attitudes about work but not unions, and that there exists a strong union voice among child-care workers despite the relative low levels of union membership. The thesis discusses the implications for union organisation so that the supply of union membership might correspond with the demands for this membership, particularly in regard to employee motivations and commitments. / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2006. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

This dissertation examines the evolution of Britain’s and Canada’s early childhood education and child care (ECEC) sectors, especially the growing number of policy initiatives adopted in both countries over the past thirty years. I contend that policy coalitions in both countries have been able to promote gradual but nevertheless important policy changes by grafting new purposes onto inherited institutions. The result of these incremental changes has been ECEC systems that often appear incoherent and disjointed. The dissertation also explores how Canada and Great Britain have increasingly followed distinct trajectories. In particular, I demonstrate that while a growing proportion of ECEC services are provided by the commercial sector in Britain, Canada has instead increasingly relied on the non-profit sector to deliver such services. I contend in this dissertation that differences between the two cases are the result of distinct policy coalitions that have emerged in both countries. I make the case that the character of these coalitions and their capacity to promote, institutionalize, protect and further their policy preferences are the result of, first, the sequence of policy development and, second, the territorial organization of the welfare state in both countries. In short, as a result of the federal nature of Canada, Canadian child care activists were able to ensure the early institutionalization of a regulatory framework that constrained the expansion of for-profit services. By the time Britain adopted a national framework, in the late 1980s and early 1990s, on the other hand, the for-profit sector had already established a strong presence. Covering more than one hundred twenty five years of policy development in both countries, this dissertation draws both on extensive archival research and on interviews with policy-makers and ECEC activists.

The current study evaluated the effect of a teacher conducted play intervention on pre-school aged children’s compliance in child care settings. Study participants included 11 children ranging in age from 2 to 5 years old and seven early childhood education teachers within seven classrooms across five child care centres. Teachers were trained to conduct daily 5 minute play sessions consisting of contingent praise, mirroring, and warm responsiveness. A combination ABAB and multiple baseline design was used to demonstrate the effect of the play intervention. Pre-treatment observations revealed varying degrees of recurring child compliance difficulties. The play intervention was associated with improved rates of compliance for each participant child regardless of differences in age, gender, and level of compliance difficulties. The intervention is discussed with regard to its potential as a pro-active, non-intrusive strategy for improving young children’s classroom compliance.