Digitising English Language Learning for Early Childhood Educators in Malaysian Context: The Rationale

Wan Jumani Fauzi,Noor Raha Mohd Radzuan,Ezihaslinda Ngah,Anita Abdul Rani,Fatimah Ali The Pacific Early Childhood Education Research Ass 2021 Asia-Pacific journal of research in early childhoo Vol.15 No.3

Nowadays, many kindergartens in Malaysia are striving toward using English in their daily activities with their children and some even use English language as their medium of instruction. However, some of the early childhood educators were not well equipped with the knowledge of English language. This paper aims to report the rationale for digitising English language learning through the development of Kindy Talk Application in terms of approach, content and design. Kindy Talk Application is a mobile application for Malaysian early childhood educators to utilise accurate language in their daily routine interactions and instructional language typically used at daycare centres. This development of the application stemmed from a series of workshops with 2 modules, namely Communication English and Storytelling techniques. These workshops aimed at increasing 30 Pahang early childhood educators’ professional development. To ensure the sustainability of the training, the Kindy Talk Application, which uses augmented reality technology was developed to allow users to practise the daily routine and instructional language using their mobile phones in a safe autonomous learning environment. This enhances the language proficiency and confidence of Malaysian early childhood educators.

Using Philosophical Discussion in Exploring Kindergarten Teachers' Perceptions on the Application of Intercultural Education

Soonhwan Kim,Hyowon Suh The Pacific Early Childhood Education Research Ass 2023 Asia-Pacific journal of research in early childhoo Vol.17 No.2

This study aims to conduct philosophical discussions with kindergarten teachers to understand their perceptions regarding the adoption of intercultural education through. To this end, eight kindergarten teachers’ perceptions of intercultural education were grasped, initially through individual face-to-face interviews and additionally-after dividing the teachers into two groups of four-through philosophical discussions. First, through repeated questioning and grounds suggestions on philosophical questions during the active discussion, the kindergarten teachers were found to engage in reconceptualization toward mutual agreement. Secondly, the teachers were found to have different perceptions of how intercultural education affects early childhood teachers versus how it affects children. They suggested that philosophical discussions may be effective in intercultural education for teachers, while a democratic class climate should be formed within the current framework of education in advance to allow children to practice intercultural education. Ultimately, it was suggested that the highlighted topics and cases that make intercultural education possible should be developed for early childhood teachers and children.

A Mixed-methods Study on Early Childhood Educators’ Aesthetic Literacy and Aesthetic Teaching Practices

Yu-Ting Chen The Pacific Early Childhood Education Research Ass 2022 Asia-Pacific journal of research in early childhoo Vol.16 No.2

As aesthetic education has become an important component of school curricula in Taiwan, aesthetic education for children is valued in early schooling. This study explores early childhood educators’ aesthetic literacy and aesthetic teaching practices in north Taiwan. The researcher conducted a mixed-methods study, including a survey and interviews, with 490 early childhood educators participating in the survey, 10 of whom participated in the interviews. The findings indicate that: (1) the early childhood educators’ mean score for aesthetic teaching practices was better than that for aesthetic literacy. (2) The high achievers in aesthetic literacy had better aesthetic teaching practices than the moderate achievers and low achievers. (3) There was a significantly positive correlation between aesthetic literacy and aesthetic teaching practices. (4) The 10 interviewed early childhood educators believed that their aesthetic teaching practices were influenced by their aesthetic literacy. They played important roles as aesthetic guides and providers to help the children explore the environment, as well as exploring, creating, and appreciating the arts. This study provides a lens for examining aesthetic education in early schooling in Taiwan, as well as valuable information about early childhood aesthetic education and teacher education in an Asian context.

How to Raise Climate Change Awareness to Early Childhood? Perception of In-Service Teacher and Pre-Service Teacher in Indonesia

Yubaedi Siron,Shania Fajriyah,Nisa Fadhliyah Rahmani The Pacific Early Childhood Education Research Ass 2021 Asia-Pacific journal of research in early childhoo Vol.15 No.1

This research aims to describe in-service and preservice teachers perspectives to promote climate change awareness in early childhood education. To engage the study, the respondents join an online interview. This study involved 187 respondents, which separated into two categories: pre-service teachers, in-service teachers, 122 and 65, respectively. This research used a qualitative method. To collect the data, this research uses a structured interview. The data analysis technique used the interactive model of Miles & Huberman with the stages of data collection, data reduction, data presentation, verification, and conclusion drawing. This research revealed no significant difference between teachers and preservice teachers in the perspective of climate change awareness in ECE. Both have diverse ways to express and think about the best thing to pursue climate change awareness in children. Participants also understand how to foster children s awareness using suitable media, learning resources, methods, indoor and outdoor play activities. Besides, participants understand how to assess the learning process to implement climate change awareness in early childhood education.

The Emerging Professional Teacher Identity of Early Childhood and Foundation Phase Pre-service Teachers: Implications for Teacher Education Programmes

Rita Chikoko,Thabo Msibi The Pacific Early Childhood Education Research Ass 2020 Asia-Pacific journal of research in early childhoo Vol.14 No.2

Professional teacher identity is an important element in teaching. A teacher who rightfully identifies with teaching can be capable of helping learners achieve. Professional teacher identity needs to be addressed starting from pre-service level for preparation of effective teachers. This paper explores how Early Childhood Development and Foundation Phase (ECD and FP) pre-service teachers in South Africa construct professional teacher identity. A qualitative study in which six pre-service teachers participated was used. Using propositions from Bourdieu’s habitus theory and Wenger’s community of practice theory, pre-service teachers ‘narratives were analysed to find out how they construct professional teacher identity. From the findings, they constructed professional teacher identity using dispositions influenced from their personal histories, personal attributes (beliefs and values), prior experiences and teacher education. These findings have implications for teacher education programmes.

Observational Study of Early Childhood Care and Education Programs in Rural Government Primary Schools in Tamil Nadu, India

Shubha Janardhan,Jayanthi Venkataraman,Suptendra Nath Sarbadhikari The Pacific Early Childhood Education Research Ass 2021 Asia-Pacific journal of research in early childhoo Vol.15 No.2

An Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) program in rural India was evaluated in terms of care and learning outcomes of children. The study was undertaken to observe and describe the ECCE system for children who were economically and educationally disadvantaged and enrolled in three Government Primary Schools (GPS) in India. In particular, the study tries to answer the question, ‘What factors affect the learning of Mathematics and English in the primary schools of rural Tamil Nadu?’ This Observational study was undertaken over a six-month period. The study included 183 children from LKG to Class 3 in normative stages of development as per their age and stage requirements. The parameters that were observed included learning outcomes in Math, English, Science and Social studies. An innovative daily baseline assessment was undertaken over a three-month period to understand children’s learning milestones. Results indicate that the learning outcomes were deplorably poor by Indian and international standards of education. Many challenges still remain in helping children gain a healthy start to life. There is a lack of an integrated framework that combines both health & well-being and learning. In the COVID-19 pandemic era, it is critical to move away from the traditional physical center models to a more hybrid scientific and technology driven systems for scale that are financially viable. These require a planned approach for introduction considering the scale in which it has to be implemented in India. Such plans need to be both top-down and bottom-up approach which entail large up-front investment in communicating and educating all the stakeholders. Personalized attention is not possible in traditional systems catering to such a large population. Additionally, and more importantly, there are no early warning mechanisms in place to help identify issues when it matters the most. Our analysis supports our research question and proves our hypotheses.

Empowering Young Children with Folktales and Storytelling: A Report from a Rural West Java Village

Engliana Engliana,Agung Prasetyo,Afiatin Nisa The Pacific Early Childhood Education Research Ass 2021 Asia-Pacific journal of research in early childhoo Vol.15 No.1

This article describes the results of visiting Choblong—a rural village near Bogor, one of the most dynamic cities in West Java, Indonesia. The purpose of our visit was to (re)introduce the concept of storytelling to parents and promote long-forgotten local folktales and character education. The hope was that the parents would enjoy this approach in the long run and use local stories and history to teach skills, develop a close relationship with their children, and support an oral storytelling tradition. The responses we received from homemakers in Choblong were varied, ranging from excitement to embrace storytelling to concern about the problems they encountered when dealing with their children’s addiction to television and smartphones. The problems they raised have great potential to help parents transform their concepts of storytelling and their children’s futures. The need for greater awareness about character education and greater parental engagement in the process is an urgent matter for the next decade.

Parent Attachment relationships and aggressive tendencies during early years in Kenya

Daughty Onyango,Peter JO Aloka,Benson Charles Odongo The Pacific Early Childhood Education Research Ass 2021 Asia-Pacific journal of research in early childhoo Vol.15 No.2

There are reported cases of relational aggression among learners at public pre-schools in Kenya, however, very scanty research has been done in this regard. The study examined parent attachment relationships and aggressive tendencies among learners during early years in Kenya. Ex-post facto research design was adopted. The sample size consisted of 348 pre-school learners and 277 parents obtained by using the simple random sampling technique. The Parent-child Attachment and Aggressive Tendencies Questionnaires were used to collect data from parents. Construct validity was ensured by the researchers in psychology and early childhood education. Cronbach’s alpha was used to establish the reliability of the questionnaires and the subscales had alpha of between 0.7 to 0.9. The results indicated a strong negative correlation (n=68; r = -.827; p < 0.05) between secure attachment and aggressive tendencies; weak (n=80; r =.248; p=.026), positive correlation between parent-child ambivalent attachment and aggressive tendencies; a fairly strong positive correlation (n=40; r =.684; p < 0.05) between parent-child disorganized attachment and aggressive tendencies and a weak positive correlation [n=48; r =.043; p =.772 between avoidant attachment and aggressive tendencies. The study recommends that teacher counselors should ensure early screening for those with vulnerable attachments.

Measuring the Environment for Physical Activity in Early Childhood: A Narrative and Systematic Literature Review

Fabiano Camara,Stephen Berg,Brent Bradford,Sarah Hutchinson,Amanda Sardeli The Pacific Early Childhood Education Research Ass 2022 Asia-Pacific journal of research in early childhoo Vol.16 No.2

The aim of this study was to systematically review the protocols to assess the built environment in the context of early childhood and physical activity. Three databases were systematically searched for studies that examined associations between the built environment and preschoolers’ physical activity levels. A total of 27 studies were included in the analysis. Results show a clear distinction between approaches administered in the neighborhoods and childcare domains. Although Geographic Information Systems are employed in most studies in the neighborhood domain and have been understood as an objective approach, findings have indicated a lack of specificity regarding early childhood environmental variables, which can compromise protocols content validity. Further, although self-perceived approaches were found in only three studies, analysis of instrument content validity and cross-cultural adaptation also showed limited validation evidence. In the childcare context, the micro-scale built environment is a strong trend in customization of measurement protocols in early childhood. However, present findings have indicated the necessity for enhancements to validation procedures, particularly regarding internal consistency and content validity to develop needed customization. Therefore, future research should utilize more rigorous validation techniques to address the micro-scale built environment within the context of early childhood physical activity levels.

Critical Analysis of “Sustainability” in Korean Early Childhood Curriculum from Posthuman Perspectives

Hyunsun Suh The Pacific Early Childhood Education Research Ass 2022 Asia-Pacific journal of research in early childhoo Vol.16 No.3

This study analyzed how the recently revised Korean early childhood curriculum describes and discusses sustainability through a critical perspective using posthumanism to destabilize anthropocentric thinking and expand the concept of sustainability. The notion of sustainability described in the General Guidelines and Commentaries of the Korean Early Childhood Curriculum reveal limitations and the potential of the ontological, epistemological, and ethical foundations which serve as the basis of early childhood education. While sustainability was expressed as a new value from which the curriculum stems, it was presented as traditional nature, resource conservation, and raising animals and plants based on human-centered thinking written as educational content. However, through the vison of an educated person of the curriculum, children were found to be relational beings, and in everyday encounters they influenced and interacted with various more-than-human others; there was room for the interpretation that not only children but also other beings exert agency. We live entangled with multiple species. This implies that early childhood pedagogy has the potential to broaden understanding and practice and generate vigorous debate on sustainability.