There are histories describing in detail the development of early childhood education (ECE) around the world, yet not enough is known about this in the Middle East and the information on the origins of ECE in Iran is scarce and fragmentary. This article is the first of its kind to present an overview of the main developments rendering possible the…

The kindergarten teachers of the Religious Kibbutz movement (RK) as a unique group are connected both to the educational approaches of the kindergartens in the general Kibbutz Movement and the state religious kindergartens. A qualitative study included semi-structured interviews with 15 RK kindergarten teachers in order to explore their…

Background: Since the 1990s, national standards have been developed in K-12 subject areas. National standards in health education were first released in 1995 with a second set released in 2007. A third edition, the "National Health Education Standards: Model Guidance for Curriculum" and Instruction was developed in 2022 under the…

This article examines the historical context of the growth and development of Catholic education in the United States, and the commitment of Catholic colleges and universities -- viewed primarily through the lens of Jesuit Colleges and Universities -- to the professional formation of educators for service in Catholic schools. It is a story of the…

Critics of school choice claim support for educational options was an outgrowth of racist, segregationist views following the U.S. Supreme Court's Ruling in Brown v. Board of Education. In this paper, I examine these claims by analyzing the development of the public school system in the United States and the historical records from Citizens for…

Reform initiatives are common throughout the Chinese early years education sector. This paper proposes a conceptual framework of a folk pedagogy of change as a perspective on the systemic barriers to the development of practice which foregrounds some of the tensions within and across these barriers. Our analysis is based on three commissioned…

Early childhood care and education (ECCE) is commonly understood in Malaysia as providing care and education for young children from the age of newborn until about six years old, before they enter formal elementary education. Various curriculum and teaching approaches were developed to enhance children's learning experiences based on their needs,…

The aim of the research is to classify the problems of school managers and teachers working in the educational organizations in Elazig during the project preparation and implementation processes according to the project cycle management stages and to find solutions for these problems. The study was carried out according to the situation analysis…

In spite of efforts to improve the quality of early childhood education for girls and boys globally, incorporating a gender perspective--particularly in teacher policies--remains a gap, including in China. This inattention to early childhood poses an additional barrier for countries to achieve quality education and the United Nations Sustainable…

In this essay we develop the concept of 'cosmopolitan nationalism', offering a working definition and suggesting ways sociologists of education might draw on it in their future work. We show how it is a useful analytical lens through which to examine contemporary policies and practices that navigate global processes (ranking systems, mobility of…

Suzhou is one hour to the West of Shanghai, and one of China's most interesting cities, famous for its silks, canals, and scholar gardens. According to a popular legend, Marco Polo is reputed to have said, "In heaven there is paradise, and on earth, Hangzhou and Suzhou." As the city rapidly expands, the issue of early childhood education…

Over the past decade states have surpassed the federal Head Start program as the primary public funder of preschool slots. This paper investigates trends in Head Start enrollment in the context of increased state investment in early childhood. Using national, longitudinal data I find no evidence Head Start programs in states with expanding state…

The "National Physical Activity Plan", as well as professional and government agencies (NASPE, 2008a; US Department of Health and Human Services, 2000) acknowledge pre-kindergarten (pre-K) children should be part of comprehensive school physical activity initiatives anchored in quality physical education programming. These…

This article traces the evolution of kindergarten from its focus on children, to its focus on outcomes, to its current focus on literacy and math. The early childhood parts of kindergarten are losing ground to growing allocation of kindergarten time to academic content. A more ecological approach to kindergarten involves reincorporating play into…

This year is designated as Thailand's "English Speaking Year" with the aim of improving the communicative competence of Thais for the upcoming integration of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 2015. The consistent low-level proficiency of the Thais in the English language has led to numerous curriculum revisions and…