Research Findings: A growing number of stakeholders in early childhood education (ECE) rely on self-assessment to assess and improve the quality of ECE. In this systematic review, we investigated the reliability and validity of self-assessment in ECE, summarizing findings from 27 publications. We meta-analytically synthesized findings from 25…

This study explored which restrictive and/or punitive behaviour management practices are most frequently used by Greek early childhood educators in an attempt to control children's inappropriate behaviours and the personal or professional characteristics that could affect Greek educators' use of such practices. The sample consisted of 105 early…

Parents play a vital role in identifying children's needs for support and Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) features that support children's well-being. This study examined parental perspectives on features of ECEC that foster young children's well-being under and above the age of 3 years by interviewing 359 parents across nine European…

High-quality early education and care experiences are critical for children's growth and development, families' ability to work, and the future health of society. In Greece, with regard to research for children under 3 years of age in early childhood education and care services, the issue of quality has been only marginally researched. The lack of…

This article is the result of work carried out within the scope of Erasmus+ project Kit@: Media competency training for professionals in day-care centres and comparable institutions in rural areas of Europe. Its main objective is to describe ECE systems, curriculum guidelines, pre-service teacher training curricula and teacher profiles related to…

This study explored Greek early childhood educators' attitudes towards same-sex marriage and same-sex parenting. It was hypothesized that participants with more negative attitudes towards same-sex parenting will have more negative attitudes towards same-sex marriage as well. The associations between these attitudes and demographic, psychological…

Four rating scales for accessing aspects of early childhood education and care programs' quality were employed for the present study. The aim of the study was to examine scales' reliability by using them in one preschool and one infant/toddler classroom during the course of a week. Research results suggest that early childhood education and care…

The COVID-19 pandemic has created an opportunity to examine the initial policies developed by Australian, Canadian, English, German, Greek and Irish governments to limit the spread of the virus. This has revealed governments' conceptualisation of the early childhood sector and its workforce. This paper argues that neoliberal ideology and…

This research examines specific facets of parent satisfaction with childcare centres, namely satisfaction with parent-centre communication and the educational services they provide, as well as respective parent beliefs. These were investigated in relation to centre type (private vs public) and parents' education. Parents of different educational…

The purpose of this study was to examine whether kindergartens and childcare centres differ in terms of educational and caregiving components. More specifically, two aspects of the process quality of the early childhood education and care were examined regarding the "Activities" and the "Programme Structure." A multi-stage…

Background: A large number of children are currently living in Alternative Care. The relationship they establish with their temporary caregivers can play a significant role in their development. However, little has been published regarding attachment with temporary Caregivers. Objective: The aim of this review is to analyse the existing published…

The present study, employing the Maslach Burnout Inventory-Educators Survey, aims to compare and explore possible differences to the levels of burnout reported by the two main professional groups working in the early childhood education and care sector in Greece, that is kindergarten teachers and childcare workers. The correlation between the…

Existing research underscores the significance of early childhood experiences in the childcare context for the development of socioemotional skills and competencies. However, the practices adopted within childcare for the enhancement of children's socioemotional development and the factors mediating these practices are less adequately researched.…

Early childhood education and care is a multifaceted institution. Based on children's age, a number of different settings operate, which have usually two distinct aims. Kindergartens provide mainly education whereas day care centres provide care. Yet, in recent years, the need to establish programmes which provide both education and care to…

Though quality in early childhood education and care has attracted last decades enormous research interest there is still not a unanimous agreement about its definition. Yet, almost all definitions attempted include interaction, group size, adult:child ratio and early childhood educators' level of education, as important indices of quality.…