Brazilian research into children's perspectives on their educational experience: participation and play at risk

Schooling Experiences of Disadvantaged Children in Preschool: Attitudes, Engagement and Interactions

“…This understanding, coupled with the potential contribution of early education to the economy, has moved policymakers to invest in early intervention for young children living in disadvantaged conditions. The Head Start and Early Head Start programs are the best-known examples of this movement combatting to break the poverty cycle in the U.S. Smaller-scale programs and schools serving similar groups of children are also available in other countries with more fragile economies, such as Brazil, India, and Turkey (Chopra, 2016;Cruz, 2019;Morkoc & Acar, 2014).…”

“…The research adopting children's perspectives about early care and education has flourished since the adoption of UNCRC; however, the studies investigating experiences of children from diverse backgrounds are still scarce (Cruz, 2019;Grace, Walsh, & Baird, 2018;O'Rourke, O'Farrelly, Booth, & Doyle, 2017;Trudgett & Grace, 2011). We do not know yet if disadvantaged children's experiences of schooling are similar to their advantaged peers or not in early education settings.…”

“…Accordingly, their experiences in early childhood settings may differ from children who do not have such difficulties in life. The limited number of studies focusing on disadvantaged children presents alarming findings on their educational experiences (Chopra, 2016;Cruz, 2019;Grace et al 2018). Studying the quality of schools for disadvantaged children, Chopra (2016) reached negative findings on physical facilities, quality of educational materials, and small-group activities and noted the high proportion of teacher-centered activities and absenteeism in Delhi schools.…”