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Appears in:
ICERI2013 Proceedings (browse)
Pages: 4218-4224
Publication year: 2013
ISBN: 978-84-616-3847-5
ISSN: 2340-1095

Conference name: 6th International Conference of Education, Research and Innovation
Dates: 18-20 November, 2013
Location: Seville, Spain

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COMPARING ASPECTS OF THE PROCESS QUALITY IN SIX EUROPEAN EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATIONAL SETTINGS *

E. Zachopoulou1, V. Grammatikopoulos2, A. Gregoriadis3, A. Gamelas4, T. Leal4, M. Pessanha5, S. Barros5, J. Liukkonen6, E. Loizou7, C. Henriksen8, L. Sanders Olesen8, L. Ciolan9

1Alexander Technological Educational Institute of Thessaloniki (GREECE)
2University of Crete (GREECE)
3Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (GREECE)
4University of Porto (PORTUGAL)
5Polytechnic Institute of Porto (PORTUGAL)
6University of Jyvaskyla (FINLAND)
7University of Cyprus (CYPRUS)
8University College Sealand (DENMARK)
9University of Bucharest (ROMANIA)
The European project ‘Early Change’ (http://earlychange.teithe.gr) attempts to evaluate the quality of early childhood education (ECE) environments of six European countries, Greece, Portugal, Finland, Denmark, Cyprus and Romania. The purpose of this paper is to compare the level of two dimensions of the process quality of these environments a) space & furnishings, and b) personal care routines. Theorists, practitioners and researchers agree that in order to provide qualitative education to young children, one of the basic needs of all children must be met, that is the protection of their health and their safety. A high quality early childhood education program must contain a safe and stimulating environment for the child (Lindsey, 1998). Such an environment, includes indoor space, outdoor space, furniture, and room arrangement, and it is considered an integral part of a high quality early childhood program.
117 early educators from the six participating countries attended the training seminars about the ECE quality and its’ evaluation using the Early Childhood Environmental Rating Scale-R (ECERS-R). The trained educators evaluated the 8 indicators of the subscale ‘space & furnishings’ and the six indicators of the subscale ‘personal care routines’ in approximately 600 early childhood classrooms from six European countries.

The results of this study highlight the similarities and differences concerning the specific dimensions of the process quality of ECE environments in six European countries, and reflect the diversity of ECE environment across these countries. The findings of this study may provide a valuable insight to researchers and educational policy makers for an enhanced understanding of the cultural diversities and the strengthening of the common values and targets of the European Union.

* With the support of the Lifelong Learning Programme of the European Union, Comenius Multilateral Project, (project number: 517999-LLP-2011-GR-COMENIUS-CMP)
keywords: early childhood education, comparative education, quality evaluation, ecers-r.
@InProceedings{ZACHOPOULOU2013COM,
author = {Zachopoulou, E. and Grammatikopoulos, V. and Gregoriadis, A. and Gamelas, A. and Leal, T. and Pessanha, M. and Barros, S. and Liukkonen, J. and Loizou, E. and Henriksen, C. and Sanders Olesen, L. and Ciolan, L.},
title = {COMPARING ASPECTS OF THE PROCESS QUALITY IN SIX EUROPEAN EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATIONAL SETTINGS *},
series = {6th International Conference of Education, Research and Innovation},
booktitle = {ICERI2013 Proceedings},
isbn = {978-84-616-3847-5},
issn = {2340-1095},
publisher = {IATED},
location = {Seville, Spain},
month = {18-20 November, 2013},
year = {2013},
pages = {4218-4224}}
TY - CONF
AU - E. Zachopoulou AU - V. Grammatikopoulos AU - A. Gregoriadis AU - A. Gamelas AU - T. Leal AU - M. Pessanha AU - S. Barros AU - J. Liukkonen AU - E. Loizou AU - C. Henriksen AU - L. Sanders Olesen AU - L. Ciolan
TI - COMPARING ASPECTS OF THE PROCESS QUALITY IN SIX EUROPEAN EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATIONAL SETTINGS *
SN - 978-84-616-3847-5/2340-1095
PY - 2013
Y1 - 18-20 November, 2013
CI - Seville, Spain
JO - 6th International Conference of Education, Research and Innovation
JA - ICERI2013 Proceedings
SP - 4218
EP - 4224
ER -
E. Zachopoulou, V. Grammatikopoulos, A. Gregoriadis, A. Gamelas, T. Leal, M. Pessanha, S. Barros, J. Liukkonen, E. Loizou, C. Henriksen, L. Sanders Olesen, L. Ciolan (2013) COMPARING ASPECTS OF THE PROCESS QUALITY IN SIX EUROPEAN EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATIONAL SETTINGS *, ICERI2013 Proceedings, pp. 4218-4224.
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