Abstract
The Asia-Pacific is an immense region, and includes countries and territories which vary widely in terms of geography, social and cultural heritage, religion, levels of development, demographic profiles, political systems, and government commitment to early childhood education. It is home to the world’s second and third largest economies (China and Japan respectively) and the two most populous countries, China and India. In the past few decades, many countries and territories in this region have experienced rapid changes in economic development, population growth and urbanisation, social transformation, natural disasters and technological development. Economic improvement has brought about a significant increase in access to education in parts of Asia and the Pacific. In many countries and territories, the global trend of recognizing the importance of early childhood education has been acknowledged in policy changes and financial commitments by governments to the early years. These changes and commitments vary according to history and cultural traditions, and the financial standing of respective countries. This book depicts current issues and challenges that some of the countries/territories in the region are experiencing and how each is meeting the demands of change. Chapters from East Asia are drawn from Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), Indonesia, Japan, the People’s Republic of China, the Republic of Korea, and Singapore. The Pacific is represented by chapters from Australia, New Zealand, and Vanuatu, and contributions from South Asia come from India. For the most part (but not exclusively), the chapters focus on the years before compulsory schooling, including children from birth to 6 years of age.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Andrew, Y. (2015). What we feel and what we do: Emotional capital in early childhood work. Early Years: An International Research Journal, 35(4), 351–365.
Dalli, C., Miller, L., & Urban, M. (2012). Early childhood grows up: Towards a critical ecology of the profession. In L. Miller, C. Dalli, & M. Urban (Eds.), Early childhood grows up: Towards a critical ecology of the profession (pp. 3–19). Dordrecht: Springer Science+Business Media B.V.
Dornan, P., & Woodhead, M. (2015). How inequalities develop through childhood: Life course evidence from the Young Lives cohort study. Innocenti Discussion Paper No. 2015-01. Florence: UNICEF Office of Research.
Felip, I. B. (2012). A need, a desire, a shared responsibility: Professional development for a new public education. In L. Miller, C. Dalli, & M. Urban (Eds.), Early childhood grows up: Towards a critical ecology of the profession (pp. 145–156). Dordrecht: Springer Science+Business Media B.V.
Goh, P. S. C. (2012). The Malaysian teacher standards: A look at the challenges and implications for teacher educators. Educational Research for Policy and Practice, 11(2), 73–87.
Heckman, J., & Masterov, D. (2005). The productivity argument for investing in young children. Retrieved November, 2011, from http://jenni.uchicago.edu/human-inequality/papers/Heckman_final_all_wp_2007-03-22c_jsb.pdf.
Kagan, S. L. (2012). Early learning and development standards: An elixir for early childhood systems reform. In S. L. Kagan & K. Kauerz (Eds.), Early childhood systems: Transforming early learning (pp. 55–70). New York, London: Teachers College Press.
Kagan, S. L., & Britto, P. (2005). Going global with indicators of child development. UNICEF Final Report. New York: UNICEF.
Miyahara, J., & Meyers, C. (2008). Early learning and development standards in East Asia and the Pacific: Experiences from eight countries. International Journal of Early Childhood, 40(2), 17–31.
Monk, H., & Phillipson, S. (2016). Early childhood educators’ experiences and perceptions of professionalism and professionalisation in the Asian context. Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education. doi:10.1080/1359866X.2016.1147527.
Moss, P. (2012). Foreword. In L. Miller, C. Dalli, & M. Urban (Eds.), Early childhood grows up: Towards a critical ecology of the profession (pp. 5–8). Dordrecht: Springer Science+Business Media B.V.
OECD. (2006). Starting strong II: Early childhood education and care. Paris: OECD.
OECD. (2012). Starting strong III: A quality toolbox for early childhood education and care. Paris: OECD Publishing.
Osgood, J. (2010). Reconstructing professionalism in ECEC: The case for the ‘critically reflective emotional professional’. Early Years: An International Research Journal, 30(2), 119–133.
Penn, H. (2011). Travelling policies and global buzzwords: How international non-governmental organizations and charities spread the word about early childhood in the global South. Childhood, 18(1), 94–113.
Penn, H. (2014). Understanding early childhood: Issues and controversies (3rd ed.). Maidenhead: Open University Press.
Rao, N. (2006). Final report: Vietnam early learning and development checklist. Vietnam: UNICEF.
Rao, N. (2008). Final report: Protocol to assess Lao school readiness competencies. Lao PDR: UNICEF.
Rao, N., & Pearson, E. (2007). An evaluation of early childhood care and education programmes in Cambodia. Cambodia: UNICEF. Retrieved March 1, 2012, from http://www.unicef.org/evaldatabase/index_45249.html.
Rao, N., Sun, J., et al. (2013). The Hong Kong early child development scale: A VALIDATION STUDY. Child Indicators Research, 6, 115–135.
Rao, N., et al. (2014). Validation, finalization and adoption of the East Asia-Pacific early childhood development scales (EAP-ECDS). UNICEF, East and Pacific Regional Office. Retrieved February 8, 2016 from http://www.arnec.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/EAP-ECDS-Final-Report1.pdf.
Rizvi, F., & Lingard, B. (2010). Globalizing education policy. London, New York: Routledge.
Taggart, G. (2011). Don’t we care? The ethics and emotional labour of early years professionalism. Early Years: An International Research Journal, 31(1), 85–95.
UNESCO, & UNICEF. (2012). Asia-Pacific end of decade notes on education for all: Early childhood care and education. Bangkok: UNESCO, UNICEF EAPRO, UNICEF ROSA.
Urban, M., & Dalli, C. (2012). A profession speaking and thinking for itself. In L. Miller, C. Dalli, & M. Urban (Eds.), Early childhood grows up: Towards a critical ecology of the profession (pp. 157–175). Dordrecht: Springer Science+Business Media B.V.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2017 Springer Science+Business Media Singapore
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Grieshaber, S. (2017). A Changed Agenda for Early Childhood Education in the Asia-Pacific. In: Li, M., Fox, J., Grieshaber, S. (eds) Contemporary Issues and Challenge in Early Childhood Education in the Asia-Pacific Region. New Frontiers of Educational Research. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-2207-4_1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-2207-4_1
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-10-2205-0
Online ISBN: 978-981-10-2207-4
eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)