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