Overview
This revised text gives readers new insights into what is happening in early childhood education, and enhances their ability to articulate the needs of young children and the nature of the field.
Eight sections are each guided by questions such as “Who Is Responsible for the Care and Education of Young Children?” and “How Can We Meet The Needs Of All Young Children?”, and provide context for topical chapters within each section. The chapters, contributed by experts in the field, provide background, impart timely knowledge and research about the subject, examine current issues, offer strategies, and explore prospects for the future.
Because action should be informed by understanding the complexities of issues and research-based evidence on child development and best program practices, this text supports college students in becoming knowledgeable practitioners and reflective decision-makers. More experienced early childhood educators who have a context for understanding the challenges they encounter in their work will also benefit from this fresh examination of issues.
Synopsis
Today’s early childhood educators are faced with a great deal of responsibility and are called upon to make numerous decisions every day. They interact with children, families, colleagues, administrators, and policy makers. To be effective, their actions have to be based not on their own personal opinions, but by an understanding of the complexities related to each new, potentially controversial issue and current research on child development and the best practices in early childhood education programs. This unique book aims to address this need for advanced students and veteran educators to have a bipartisan reference of the most important issues of the day as addressed by the most advanced scholars in the field.
To do this, the authors have called on eighteen of the most influential educators of the day to contribute a chapter on each topic covered in the book. These multiple perspectives provide an unbiased overview of each issue. The issues covered include families, advocacy, children with disabilities, and diversity. Chapters on developmentally appropriate practices stimulate discussion of the influence of the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC.)