Policy Rationales for Early Childhood Services

This article explores the rationales and the research paradigms that countries have used to underpin policies on early childhood education and care (ECEC) services and to justify expenditure on them. Globalization — here narrowly defined as the global spread of theories and practices about early chi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of child care and education policy (Seoul) Vol. 5; no. 1; pp. 1 - 16
Main Author: Penn, Helen
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Singapore Springer Singapore 01.05.2011
Springer Nature B.V
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ISSN:2288-6729, 1976-5681, 2288-6729
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:This article explores the rationales and the research paradigms that countries have used to underpin policies on early childhood education and care (ECEC) services and to justify expenditure on them. Globalization — here narrowly defined as the global spread of theories and practices about early childhood mainly emanating from Euro-American sources — has led to some convergence of rationales, especially economic rationales. But within countries rationales almost always have deep historical roots, and reflect cultural ideas of motherhood, family, childhood, work and the role of the state. Perspectives may be incompatible yet sit alongside one another without the contradictions being addressed. Policy development and implementation are rarely straightforward or coherent, particularly when early education and care spans several policy areas. The article summarizes the differences between rationales and indicates in which country or groups of countries they are most likely to be found.
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ISSN:2288-6729
1976-5681
2288-6729
DOI:10.1007/2288-6729-5-1-1