Beyond Quality in Early Childhood Education and Care

Teachers’ Implicit Theories on Child Participation in Preschool

“…It represents an internally coherent pattern of views: teachers who perceive children as competent, support autonomous participation (Matthews, 2003), which involves children's direct contribution in the upbringing process (Rutar, 2013) rather than participation in the form of exercising choices (Turnšek, 2007;2008a;2011). The meaning of child participation is extended with the principles of citizenship education, which promotes exercising the child's democratic right to be heard and recognised within the preschool (Dahlberg & Moss, 2008a;2008b), as an actor in the quality of preschool education (Sheridan, 2001), and as a citizen of the community (Dahlberg & Moss, 2006).…”

Children, Youth and Developmental Science in the 2015‐2030 Global Sustainable Development Goals

“…The measurement of process quality, in particular, has moved the fi eld of quality measurement in education beyond the structural indicators that are more often the focus of regulatory policy and monitoring and evaluation systems. The importance of recognizing the diverse and multilayered defi nitions of "quality" has also been highlighted in recent years (Dahlberg, Moss, & Pence, 2007). Some countries are beginning to include process qual- Children, Youth and Developmental Science in the 2015-2030 Global Sustainable Development Goals ity indicators in their efforts to monitor the quality of education, a nascent but important trend that ideally would be supported by researchers locally, while drawing upon the expertise developed in countries with long histories of quality measurement and policy, such as the United States.…”

Latvian Teachers’ Perspectives on Early Childhood Educational Practice

“…However, researchers mention the risk that quality could be understood very narrowly, i.e., as an attribute of services for young children that ensures the efficient production of predefined, normative outcomes (Dahlberg & Moss, 2006). Instead of technical fulfilment of requirements, the modern early childhood institution should be understood and developed "as a public institution, a forum and a children's space, a site encounter and relating, where children and adults meet and commit to something where they can dialogue listen and discuss in order to share meanings" (Dahlberg, Moss, & Pence, 2013).…”

“…In addition, the following transversal principles of high-quality early childhood education have been declared: (1) a clear image and voice of the child should be valued, (2) parents are the most important partners and their participation is essential, (3) a shared understanding of quality (European Commission, 2014).…”

“…In accordance to the aim, the following research questions were posed: (1) what is early childhood teachers' personal meaning of good educational practice; (2) what factors could contribute to enhance the early childhood educational practice in future?…”