ED399037 PS024436
Title: In Search of the Rainbow: Pathways to Quality in Large-Scale
Programmes for Young Disadvantaged Children. Early Childhood Development:
Practice and Reflections Number 10.
Author(s): Woodhead, Martin
Author Affiliation: Bernard Van Leer Foundation, The Hague (Netherlands).(BBB05717)
Pages: 109
Publication Date: May 1996
ISBN: 90-6195-042-2
ISSN: 1382-4813
Available from: EDRS Price MF01/PC05 Plus Postage.
Availability: Bernard van Leer Foundation, P.O. Box 82334, 2508 EH,
The Hague, Netherlands (Single copies free of charge).
Language: English
Document Type: Book (010); Collected works--Serials (022); Reports--Descriptive
(141)
Geographic Source: Netherlands
Journal Announcement: RIEJAN1997
Those involved
in early childhood development must recognize that many of their
most cherished beliefs about what is best for children are cultural
constructions. This book focuses on quality in large-scale programs
for disadvantaged young children in a variety of cultural settings.
Chapter 1, "Changing Childhoods," discusses issues which
need to be considered in discussions about quality, including changes
in childhood in developing societies, the impact of universal child
development frameworks, and the role of science and values in defining
quality. The remainder of the book uses four studies of early childhood
programs in Venezuela, Kenya, India, and France to examine quality
development issues. Chapter 2, "Diversity in Quality,"
describes the four local studies and summarizes the main findings.
Chapter 3, "A Framework for Quality Development," presents
a three-dimensional model of quality, including stakeholders, quality
indicators, and beneficiaries. Chapter 4, "Resources for Quality,"
proposes a contextual approach to identifying basic quality indicators
rather than specifying basic international standards. Chapter 5,
"Quality, Children's Needs and Children's Rights," differentiates
fundamental and socially constructed children's needs and examines
children's rights. Chapter 6, "Quality, Context and Developmental
Appropriateness," argues that developmental appropriateness
is a product of particular child-rearing contexts and proposes that
it be combined with contextual appropriateness to produce practice
appropriate to the context of early development (PACED). Chapter
7, "Extending the Principles of 'Contextual Appropriateness',"
considers school systems as contributors to perspectives on early
childhood program quality. Chapter 8, "Defining Quality through
Research and Evaluation," highlights the promise and limitations
of research and evaluation studies in identifying quality. Chapter
9, "Steps toward Quality," presents a model of the cycle
of quality development in early childhood programs. (Contains 98
references.) (KDFB)
Descriptors: Child Development; *Cultural Context; Cultural Influences;
Cultural Relevance; Culturally Relevant Education; Developed Nations;
Developing Nations; Disadvantaged Environment; *Disadvantaged Youth;
*Early Childhood Education; Educational Assessment; *Educational
Quality; Foreign Countries; Models; Young Children
Identifiers: Developmental Theory; Developmentally Appropriate Programs;
France; India; Kenya; *Quality Indicators; Quality of Environment
(Child Care); Venezuela
