Given the emphasis that European education agendas have placed on early childhood education in providing the foundations for
lifelong learning, the quality of provision--and especially the workforce--is a key concern. Qualification levels are frequently cited as important for the quality
of provision, but in their paper in the newest edition of European Education: Issues and Studies, Verity Campbell-Barr and Janet Georgeson from the Plymouth University and Anikó Nagy Varga from the University of Debrecen explore questions of the attitudinal competences
required to work in early childhood in England and
Hungary. Their paper, "Developing professional early childhood educators in England and Hungary: Where has all the love gone?", presents a mixed-method study that considers the
attitudinal competences that early childhood students perceive as necessary. They focus specifically on the role of love in early
childhood education and the contrasting perceptions and experiences in
England and Hungary. In Hungary love is spoken about freely, but in
England a managerialist and entrepreneurial emphasis has created
tensions with more emotional ideas of being caring, supportive,
and empathic. In Hungary,
early childhood educators are given relative autonomy in their
professional roles and love is a key characteristic. The paper considers
historical, philosophical, and political developments in the two
countries to shed light on how English and Hungarian perspectives have
diverged. It also explores opportunities that comparing perspectives
offers for the further professional development of early childhood
educators. If you would like to read this entire paper or any other
content from our journal, you can
find out more about subscriptions at this page.
29 January 2016
19 January 2016
Social Inequalities and Europeans Who Leave School Early
One of the primary goals of educational policy throughout Europe is the reduction in numbers of students who quit the educational system before obtaining a high school qualification. In their article in the most recent edition of European Education: Issues and Studies, Jeroen Lavrijsen and Ides Nicaise from Katholieke Universiteit Leuven note previous research showing that younth from disadvantaged families face relatively high risks of school dropout. Using date from the 2009 ad hoc module of the Labour
Force Survey they explore the way that macro-level determinants influence school
dropout risks among different social groups. Their findings indicate that
both the design of the educational system (in areas such as tracking age and extent of
vocational education) and characteristics of the socioeconomic context
(such as poverty rate and unemployment patterns) have an impact on the social
distribution of school dropout risk. If you would like to read this entire paper or any other
content from our journal, you can
find out more about subscriptions at this page.
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