Lecture 8 TEA2108

1
Lecture 8 TEA2108

• Range of Services
• Macrosystem/Chronosystem Issues

2
Review Week 7

• Evaluation of a child care services at a
  microsystem level
• Evaluation of educators own professional work
  (written and practical)
• Personal professional reflection as a basis for
  continuous self improvement
• Broader analysis of contexts/environments

3
Care and Education Settings

• Bronfenbrenner (1989) Ecological Systems Theory
• Macrosystem -ideologies, values, customs
• Exosystem - supports, indirect context
• Mesosystem - connections, interactions
• Chronosystem - changes across time,history
• Microsystem - immediate context

4
Microsystem
5
Work Related Purposes

• Long day limited hours care - centre setting
• Work based full day care
• Community run day care centre
• Privately owned day care centre
• Home based settings
• Family day care scheme in private homes
• Nanny home care (childs own home)

6
Non-Work Related Purposes

• Schooling/education-related settings
• State preschool
• Junior primary class or early childhood class
• Community operated education settings
• Community preschool and/or kindergarten
• Specialised purpose settings
• Mobile, hospital,distance,special needs,culture

7
Other Purposes Services and Settings

• Limited Hours
• Occasional or limited hours centre
• Limited/occasional use of long day centre
• Out of Hours
• Before after school,vacation,ill child care
• Extended Services (e.g. toy library)
• Combined (e.g. adjunct, neighbourhood)

8
Blurring of the Boundaries - Combined Services

• Care centre with preschool sessions
• School with before after school care
• Preschool with kindergym computer class
• Kindergarten with toy library playgroup
• Multifunctional centre
• Integrated Services -connected services e.g. bus
  from preschool to recreation program

9
Discuss

• Which of these services do you know?
• What differences between these services in terms
  of their purpose and program style?
• What might be the value of combined services from
  a family perspective?
• What might be the concerns about a child using
  multiple services? How to assist?

10
Relationships between Early Childhood Services

• Integration of services
• Combined meetings for e.c. professional
  development
• Advocacy programs together ( e.g. Under Eights
  Week)
• Shared literature
• Respect for variety of roles in early childhood

11
Relationship of Early Childhood and School
Services and Settings

• Information sharing if on same campus (e.g.
  preschool-school, junior primary-middle school,
  school-care)
• Transport organised between various services
• Communication process between separate services
• Respect for different roles
• Combined meetings

12
Why These Services, Settings and Professional
Relationships?

• ?History of education and care services
• ? Government policy and funding
• ?Family demand
• ?Educator pressure
• ?Community demand
• ?Overseas trends

13
Macrosystem /Chronosystem
14
Macrosystem - Values and Attitudes (the shoulds)

• Ideologies of family, childhood, motherhood
• Mothers in paid employment with availability of
  care services or womens home roles
• Parenting as shared responsibility or maternal
  only
• Early childhood services as private (family) or
  public (government) responsibility
• Early childhood services purposes as care or
  education or both

15
Chronosystem - the Historical Context

• Consider how and why a service has evolved the
  way it has
• How the history of a service influences what is
  in the here and now
• If a services has not changed, whether this is a
  barrier to continued viability or not
• In which communities history is more important
  than others

16
Service and Program Histories

• SOCIOPOLITICAL AND ECONOMIC INFLUENCES
• Changes in government policies and emphasis
• Parent employment
• Funding of services
• Major events e.g. war, economic recession
• Family change

• EDUCATIONAL INFLUENCES
• Major theories e.g. Vygotsky, Gardener
• Philosophical change e.g. constructivism
• Inspirational programs e.g. Reggio Emilia
• Pressure from schools
• Research evidence

17
Social Influences

• Maternal employment
• Shared parenting
• Family structure changes (e.g. divorce)
• Smaller families
• Geographic mobility of families (supports)
• Attitudes to care

18
Political Influences

• Women working in industry during wars -gt
• change in expectations
• Social justice/civil rights pressures for access
  and equity
• Advocacy/lobbying for early childhood areas
• Policy and funding election promises

19
Economic Influences

• Economic rationalism and value of work
• Effect of recession on national productivity and
  employment
• Retraining of adult unemployed
• Either parent may be in paid work

20
Educational Influences

• Constructivist and ecological theories
• Cognitive theory and research on brain
• Health fears e.g. AIDS
• Diversity / inclusion
• Attachment of other services to schools

21
Discuss

• How do you think a change of government could
  potentially affect early childhood services?
• What effect do you feel change in family
  structure and parental employment has had on e.c.
  services?
• How are funding and policy decisions affected by
  changing community values/lifestyles?
• What influence have you noticed on programs from
  schools, research/ theory overseas trends?

22
Issues and Tensions

• SOCIOPOLITICAL
• Government control versus industry
  self-regulation
• Quality of program versus quantity demand
• Private or community control of services
• Economic circumstances

• EDUCATIONAL
• Process approaches to program versus product
  approaches
• Teacher direction versus child initiation
• Child or child within family community
• Individual or group focus