The purpose of this study is to explore the idea and method of holistic education and if traces of these can be found in four preschool teachers’ statements about their practices in two private preschools located in the state of Tamil Nadu in India. Working holistically is something which UNESCO (Marope & Kaga, 2015) recommends when it comes to early childhood care and education. In a developing country like India primary education is important to growth and development. It is one of the main sustainable development goals and early childhood education is considered a means to reach this goal. This study aims to provide some insight into what a holistic approach to early childhood education can entail. In this study I have explored literature to gain a theoretical knowledge of the idea and working methods of holistic education through a literature review. I then conducted a qualitative interview study where I traced the ideas and methods found in the literature in four preschool teachers’ statements about their practices to gain an understanding of what ideas and methods found in a preschool setting can be considered to lead to holistic outcomes. The results show that the idea and methods of holistic education, as I understand it through the literature review, were evident in the teachers’ statements to various extent, and that that inclusion, balance and connections lead to holistic education. Even though the teachers do not explicitly work with holistic education as Miller (2007, 2010) describes it, this study found that the practices of the teachers, as described by them, promote similar ideas and the same methods could be found. This study can provide a concrete understanding of what a holistic approach to early childhood education can and should involve.

This study explored the current practices implemented by Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) caregivers / preschool teachers in Swaziland. It further investigated how the lack of an appropriate policy on Early Childhood Care and Development impacted on the delivery of services to the sector. The research was conducted using a qualitative methodology, eliciting responses through semistructured interview schedules. In order to conduct a more in-depth analysis, eight interviews were held at various early childhood care and development sites. The criteria for selection depended on whether the participating caregiver had direct, hands-on experience of the day-to-day care and running of ECCD sites. They also had to be involved in a full-time preschool teaching programme and were purposively selected from the geographical location of Manzini, in Swaziland. The sites could be distinguished into three categories, namely: community (non-profit making), private and church or missionrun centres. The results showed that caregivers implemented diverse and uncoordinated practices and that there was no uniformity in terms of professional training, classroom practice and curriculum application. It was evident that the participants did not link the theory of their training to their practice, leaving gaps in the provision of services and educational programmes to the children. The study concluded that unless the government of Swaziland and the ECCD unit at the national level of Education made a concerted effort to formulate a national ECCD policy, Education for All would remain a pipedream. The study recommended that government should formulate national ECCD policy guidelines to encourage uniformity in practice and provision of ECCD sites. Not only should government accelerate the development of the guidelines but they should also support the caregivers by continuous professional development activities.

A scoping study of early childhood research in Spanish and Portuguese-speaking countries for improved well-being worldwide through collaboration and knowledge transfer / ABSTRACT BACKGROUND: Research evidence strongly supports the influence of quality nutrition, cognitive stimulation and nurturing care on the extent that a child reaches full development. Reaching developmental milestones results in positive outcomes for individual health and well-being as well as communal stability and prosperity. Interventions to improve early childhood development are not a recent concept; however, the interaction of one early childhood development outcome on others form a complex, often interdependent, relationship. The complexity of a child's development also includes the child's family, home environment, community and national context. The complex and dynamic setting for implementing early childhood interventions requires more than efficiency or knowledge. It requires patience, cultural competency and a compassion to engage and support a child's family, society and nation. Interventions that are effective in multiple cultures or can be scaled up to a regional or global level are rare and usually focus on one aspect of early childhood development (ECD), like protein intake to prevent stunting. Context does matter, and ECD research is dispersed over vastly different political systems and often focused on specific people groups or subcultures. The scope and intensity of ECD research in the world has not been described and is often unknown to English-speaking researchers who are not personally connected by relationship or literacy to other languages and cultures. PURPOSE: The purpose of this scoping study is to answer the research question: "What is being researched related to early childhood development interventions with children six years old and younger in Spanish and Portuguese-speaking countries?” A scoping study of published, peer-reviewed literature on interventions in early childhood development in English, Spanish and Portuguese was performed to understand the concepts in research on early childhood development (ECD). The thesis presents interventions in early childhood development and their usage in Mexico, Central and South America in particular and also in Europe and Africa because of the Spanish and Portuguese languages spoken there. The thesis highlights risk factors, assessment tools and interventions from peer-reviewed research providing a scope of ECD interventions for this world area. SEARCH METHODS
: Databases searched were related to global health, health sciences, nursing and allied health, psychology and education. They were Global Health, Embase, Medline with PubMed e-ahead of print, PsycInfo, CINAHL, ERIC, LILACS and IBECS. The search strategy and data collection was guided by the research question to be thorough and methodical. Exclusion criteria were utilized to screen more than seven hundred articles to retrieve eighty-six articles that included the correct populations, relevant countries, ECD interventions and early childhood outcomes. FINDINGS: Macro and micro-context risk factors in early childhood development were highlighted across the literature. They were lower maternal education, informal maternal employment, larger household size, lower wealth index and rural residence. Findings related to child or home-centered interventions revealed varied but some positive outcomes in national programmes in Mexico, Brazil, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Colombia and Portugal. The research across all countries in literature found positive impact on early childhood development from age-dependent nutrition, higher socio-economic status and education in mothers, stimulating parent-child interactions and nurturing home environment. CONCLUSIONS: 
While a scoping study of ECD provides an overview of the work happening and of the relevant key concepts, the eighty-six included studies can hardly be considered representative of all childhood development interventions being implemented or researched. Some state or national governments and non-government organizations implement early childhood interventions without publishing in a peer-reviewed journal. Many more interventions are not evaluated or monitored. Increased collaboration and networking between researchers and countries is needed. Necessary partnerships between educators, researchers and policy-makers based on national strengths across the globe can facilitate better sharing of knowledge and assessment of appropriate interventions for a population's needs. Further monitoring, evaluation and publishing of interventions in this region of the world is required. M.Sc. Thesis - Brandon James Chapman; McMaster University - Global Health / Thesis / Master of Science (MS) / Development during the earliest years of life includes physical, mental and social development. This thesis is a study on the research for early childhood development in Spanish and Portuguese-speaking countries and describes what is happening with a global health perspective. The thesis discusses how research can impact knowledge and what is done to support and improve development for children, their families and their country.