ERIC Number: EJ1197426
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2018
Pages: 18
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1350-293X
EISSN: N/A
(Un)Equal from the Start? A Quantitative Analysis of Preschool Children's Participation in Organised Activities in Germany
Gülzau, Fabian
European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, v26 n6 p855-872 2018
In this article, I investigate preschool children's participation in organised activities. Current political and academic debates consider informal education as a prime vehicle for potentially diminishing social class inequalities in educational outcomes before school entry. However, studies point to unequal participation rates between social classes, which means the activities might actually aggravate existing disparities. Various explanations have been offered for this social class gap. Some scholars argue that material resources play a pivotal role, while others say that culture is the decisive factor. This study uses the kindergarten cohort of the German National Educational Panel Study (NEPS) to test how far these two dimensions contribute to social class differences in preschool children's participation in organised activities. My analysis shows that both dimensions are important determinants of children's participation in organised activities. However, occupational characteristics also have a considerable effect, which suggests shortcomings in the current scholarly discussion.
Descriptors: Preschool Children, Learning Activities, Informal Education, Social Class, Equal Education, Social Bias, Kindergarten, Student Participation, Foreign Countries, Mothers, Parent Background, Educational Attainment, Cultural Capital, Family Income, Family Structure
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Preschool Education; Early Childhood Education; Kindergarten; Primary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Germany
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A