Cultural Aspects of Early Childcare

Critique of Global Education Reform Movement (GERM) influence on early childhood testing policy and the OECD's international standardised assessment programme for five-year-old children, the International Early Learning and Child Well-being Study (IELS)

Critique of Global Education Reform Movement (GERM) influence on early childhood testing policy and the OECD's international standardised assessment programme for five-year-old children, the International Early Learning and Child Well-being Study (IELS)

When expectant mothers prepare for motherhood, this has a positive impact on their own lives and in terms of their children. The preparations in the process of pregnancy, birth, postpartum and baby care made by a mother-to-be who is becoming a parent for the first time also have an impact on preventing the prevalence of non-functional beliefs and practices. The purpose of this study is to determine the views of first-time expectant mothers regarding the available resources of knowledge and skills related to motherhood. The study was conducted with 16 volunteer mothers-to-be registered at the Mother and Child Health Center in the Altı Eyl(l District of the province of Balıkesir, Turkey. Semi-structured interviews were held with the prospective mothers. The data were analyzed with content analysis. The prospective mothers stated that their sources of knowledge and skills related to motherhood were their own mothers and that they were not following up on any website, blog, book or magazine for this kind of information. While all of the mothers-to-be said that they would participate in an educational program on pregnancy if one were available, none of them had ever attended a pregnancy education program. In this context, when it is considered that the mothers-to-be participating in the study were in the first years of their marriages, it might be recommended that prospective mothers be provided with parent education together with their husbands, regardless of their educational background.

The article compares the development of policies pertaining to care for preschool children in the course of the second half of the 20th century in France and in the Czech Republic. It aims at identifying the key factors that led to the differentiation of the policies and institutions in the two countries, especially with respect to support for extra-familial care and formal care institutions (nurseries). We build on the theories of 'new' institutionalisms and we apply framing analysis, which allows us to understand the formation of ideas that precede policy changes. Specifically, we discuss the role of expert discourse and the framings of care for young children in the process of social policy change. We argue that expert knowledge in interaction with the political, economic, and demographic contexts and how it has been presented in public have had a fundamental impact on the formation of childcare policies and institutions in the two countries. This article presents a comparative analysis of the development of discourses, institutions , and policies of care for children under the age of three in France and the Czech Republic in the second half of the 20th century. Despite their different pasts, these

The study presents a comparison of four different livelihood programmes for refugee women, offered by Refugee Social Services, a Durban-based non-governmental organisation. These programmes cover home-based childcare, peer/community education, beauty salons, and product development. The first two programmes are social innovative as these directly and creatively respond to social needs of local communities in Durban. Examples of community demands are the need for childcare and HIV/AIDS prevention. The latter two programmes mainly focus on gaining economic advantages. The research methodology is qualitative, 18 in-depth interviews were conducted with ten staff members and eight clients of Refugee Social Services. The capability approach was applied to identify and review enhancing and impairing aspects of the programmes with regard to the refugee women's capabilities and human agency to self-settle in an urban context. The enhancing factors include training, support to start up and maintain a micro-business, a safe and child-friendly workspace, integrational benefits of enhanced social capital, and income security. The impairing factors include institutional barriers, an unsafe workspace, and insufficient and/or unstable income. The paper makes suggestions for interpreting the outcomes of the programme comparison. The study highlights that in order to effectively expand refugees' capabilities and human agency to self-settle in an urban context, stakeholders should start partnerships while advocating for a combination of two intervention strategies: implementing validated livelihood programmes and addressing structural obstacles to refugees' ability to become self-reliant. Recommendations are proposed to fulfil these objectives.

The article compares the development of policies pertaining to care for preschool children in the course of the second half of the 20th century in France and in the Czech Republic. It aims at identifying the key factors that led to the differentiation of the policies and institutions in the two countries, especially with respect to support for extra-familial care and formal care institutions (nurseries). We build on the theories of ‘new’ institutionalisms and we apply framing analysis, which allows us to understand the formation of ideas that precede policy changes. Specifically, we discuss the role of expert discourse and the framings of care for young children in the process of social policy change. We argue that expert knowledge in interaction with the political, economic, and demographic contexts and how it has been presented in public have had a fundamental impact on the formation of childcare policies and institutions in the two countries.