There is no general agreement about the best way of organising the curriculum. Debates often pitch a subject-based curriculum against an integrated curriculum although there is great variation among integrated approaches. Numerous claims have been made regarding the comparative merits of different approaches, but many scholars have noted the lack…

This study uses longitudinal census data to explore the correlates of school satisfaction among parents of 3rd and 6th grade students from the Canary Islands, a large administrative region in Spain. We use logistic regression to model parental dissatisfaction with their children's school and teachers. Our results illustrate how parents value…

This study examines the value priorities of Chinese parents regarding their children's education in globally competitive context. Although Chinese parents are often viewed as being excessively controlling of their children and preoccupied with their academic performance, research indicates that contemporary Chinese families hold diverse beliefs…

There has been much debate about the profile of the child who is ready for primary school. Thirty-three teachers from pre-primary and primary schools in Jamaica participated in a series of focus group discussions as part of a discursive approach to understanding children's readiness. Four themes emerged which were guided by the research questions:…

In the emergence of the existing curriculum--K to 12, where the students are the primary emphasis, the perceptions of the students are important in quality monitoring systems which are crucially needed to enable monitoring and evaluation of these important outcomes, such as the student activities. This study examined the perceptions of students…

This chapter critically reviews the official document "Kindergarten Education Curriculum Guide" (2017) in Hong Kong by using the concept of five curriculum orientations as an analytical tool. The five curriculum orientations are academic; cognitive process; social reconstruction; humanistic; and technological. The analysis covers the…

A growing body of literature refers to the potential of parental involvement (PI) as a critical educational remedy and solution for a diversity of issues in ECEC. However, the reflection of mainstream values and assumptions and the lack of attention to cultural differences in this existing body of literature has been criticized. In this article,…

The extent to which academic instruction should be a major goal of the curriculum for preschool and kindergarten children is a constant topic of debate among the many parties concerned with early childhood education. The main argument presented in this report is that the traditional debates in the field about whether to emphasize so-called free…

This study sought to gain insight into how Ontario teachers define play-based learning, and how their perspectives affect its implementation in kindergarten classrooms. Using survey data from kindergarten teachers from around the province of Ontario, two definitions of play were developed: one focused on social development through play and the…

The benefits of play to children's development and academic learning are often discussed in the research. However, inconsistencies in definitions of play and differing perspectives concerning the purpose of play in educational settings make it challenging for teachers to determine how to productively integrate play-based pedagogies into their…

Finnish teacher education has been higher academic education since 1979. Thus, all primary school teachers graduate as Masters and they conduct an MA thesis. For this research 23 teachers were interviewed in order to determine their conceptions of reflection, teacher research and their future research intentions. These teacher students worked…