This paper addresses two questions relevant to practices and policies in early childhood education (ECE). The first question addressed is, Given the worldwide focus on ECE, what are the priorities in practice-oriented research in school life? Educators struggle with the issue of whether research makes much difference to practice. It is suggested…

Most early care and education teachers are not required to have attained a bachelor's degree (BA) prior to working with young children. Because of the research base demonstrating that teachers with a BA specifically related to early childhood play an integral role in the provision of high-quality early care and education, there have been…

Proposing quality standards for Nigerian pre-primary centers, this paper argues that the first concern must be the provision of adequate care in the form of high quality health, safety, and nutritional conditions. Care is discussed in terms of illness policy, routines for good health, physical characteristics of centers, personal hygiene,…