Argues that educational expectations toward preschool education in Germany have been low for over 20 years. Describes interviews of 150 Germans from diverse strata of society and varied professional experience to identify views on what 7-year olds should have encountered, learned, or questioned during preschool. Suggests results give tangible idea…

Over the past decade, debates on the quality of early childhood services in Germany have focussed on four interrelated issues: access, programme quality, staff training, and evaluation procedures. Each of these four strands is presented and discussed in terms of the controversies and chances accompanying professional and public discourse.…

This paper examines the cultural context of day care in Germany and examines the quality of child care within the wider context of child care and education, especially with regard to values defining the roles of families with young children in society. Even parents who use child care question its advantages. Seeking child care is often an…