Reconceptualising early childhood education : a child-appropriate practice.

The Early Childhood Education and Care policy (ECEC) document published in
Malta in 2006 regulates national early childhood education. Concerns have been
raised as to whether this policy adequately represents major stakeholders in the field.
The aim of this thesis was to ascertain the relationship between the ECEC document
and the voices of children, parents and early years practitioners (EYP), if any. Subject
to a disparity being found, a secondary aim was to use reconceptualist principles to
make recommendations towards modifying aspects of this policy. Data pertaining to
the views of stakeholders in Maltese early childhood education were collected from
children, parents and EYP. The setting was three local primary schools and the
subject was the participants' views of early childhood education in Malta. Circle time
methodology was used for data collection with children. Focus groups and in-depth
interviews were used to collect data from parents and EYP respectively. The
participants' voices were elicited from the data using grounded theory approach. The
ECEC document was analyzed using principles from Critical Discourse Analysis.
Findings from child participants were then juxtaposed against aspects of the ECEC
document. The main findings of this work included children's concerns about their
experience of early years education, the failure of grown-ups to listen, issues of
friendship and camaraderie at school and play. Parents expressed concerns about most
things digital, the disneyfication of childhood and a perceived deterioration of
traditional values. EYP stressed their exclusion from participation and educational
gazing. Juxtaposition of the ECEC with the concerns of children demonstrated a
considerable mismatch between the concerns of children and the text of the policy. A
framework of recommendations, termed child-appropriate practice, was formulated
in an attempt to readdress this. In conclusion, this work demonstrated a tenuous
relationship between participants and the ECEC with poor representation of the voices
and agency of primary stakeholders. Child-Appropriate Practice may ameliorate
aspects of early childhood education in Malta, but additional research in the field is
necessary.