A growing interest in early childhood’s contribution to school readiness

Abstract

's report on equality and education published in the mid-1960s (Coleman 1966) made a blunt statement that children, especially the 'non-white children' in the USA were not enjoying equal opportunities in education, as they were not coming to school 'ready'. Reading the report now, the race and class bias in system is very apparent; it sought to compensate for the perceived social-cultural-economic characteristics of the home and family environment that was emphasised as playing a decisive role in children's school achievement. The report concluded that in order for children to succeed in school, they needed to be prepared through preschool programmes, such as Head Start. The longitudinal success of Head Start in the USA reported by Weikart in the 1990s presented findings about the long-term situation for children who had participated in early education programmes (Gilford 2013). It showed improved school outcomes, improved career prospects, reduced social and health interventions in later life. This inspired many nations to invest more into early interventions and early childhood education, acquired a role, to 'prepare' children for school in order to help them succeed. With greater investment has come increased scrutiny, control and revised expectations of quality in early education. SureStart initiated in the UK in the late 1990s was an example of such political and pedagogical response towards achieving equality of education through early childhood education (Needham and Anning 2017). The longitudinal research legacy of both of these programmes emphasised the importance of the home learning environment together with access to a preschool pedagogy that balances both adult-lead and child-lead, play-based learning (Schweinhart 2013; Sylva et al. 2010). Nevertheless, the neoliberal political legacies in the USA, UK and elsewhere often prefer to extend more school-like experiences to children aged five and under (Sahlberg 2015; Moss and Urban 2020). Encouraged by research, many nations have committed to the idea that children who attend Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) are more likely to be successful when they start school than those who do not (OECD 2012, 2017). Children's readiness for school is frequently cited among governments' motives for this investment in the early years sector. 'How children are prepared for school?' continues to be a keenly debated political question in international forums where early child development seems to be increasingly perceived as a preparation for primary school (United Nations 2015). The Global Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), and Goal 4.2 in particular (United Nations 2015) establish Early Childhood Education (ECE) as a global target in order 'to prepare' children for school and to ensure that they are ready as well as able to 'learn', calling for at least one year of preschool education to be compulsory for all children in all member states. UNICEF (2019) advocates the impact of quality pre-primary education on completion rates and more successful progress in l...

Worksheets Dilemma in Early Childhood Education: Why and How Much Do We Use?

“…The teachers felt more pressure to teach early literacy skills seen as a prerequisite for primary school readiness than the pre-service teachers (Whitebread & Coltman, 2015). This pressure on pre-school teachers rapidly advances pre-school education institutions towards becoming mini-primary schools (Needham & Ülküer, 2020;). Some studies have shown that giving structured examples -such as worksheets -to pre-school children as part of their preparation for primary school helps them to be more successful when they start primary school and can increase their school readiness (Anning, 2010).…”

The Relationship Between Kindergarten Teachers' Perceptions and Children's Readiness Skills in Selangor, Malaysia: A Survey Study

“…A child who starts their school session needs to be well prepared to accept a new atmosphere when they step into the classroom. School readiness can be used to highlight support for children's social, emotional, linguistic, and a wide range of communication abilities, especially to promote equity for children from "disadvantaged" backgrounds (Needam & Ülküer, 2020). Having school readiness skills by the age of 4 affects academic achievement in primary school long-term, and social and emotional competence is a crucial factor of school readiness (Ricciardi et al, 2021).…”

The “Unruly” Snowflake: (Re)imagining School Readiness for Two-Year-Old Children

“…), and provides an "ideal" universal image of the child that benefits political ECEC outcomes. All of these fail to account for new and alternative perspectives of school readiness, reflected in Needham and Ülküer (2020) who call for a recentring of education as a site for social justice. Spyrou (2018) argues much of the current approach to ECEC curriculum delivery and assessment is not congruent with the image of the child as active, autonomous, powerful, and capable of having a voice in matters that involve them.…”