Infant-Toddler Care in Singapore: Journey towards Quality

Autor/inn/en	Wu, Sandra; Perisamy, Ambika
Titel	Infant-Toddler Care in Singapore: Journey towards Quality
Quelle	In: Policy Futures in Education, 19 (2021) 2, S.175-196 (22 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Zusatzinformation	ORCID (Wu, Sandra)
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1478-2103
DOI	10.1177/1478210320966503
Schlagwörter	Infants; Toddlers; Early Childhood Education; Child Care; Educational Policy; Educational History; Educational Quality; Access to Education; National Curriculum; Developmentally Appropriate Practices; Mixed Age Grouping; Accreditation (Institutions); Teacher Qualifications; Teacher Certification; Teacher Education Programs; Teacher Effectiveness; Teacher Student Ratio; Foreign Countries; Singapore + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Infant; Toddler; Toddlers; Kleinkind; Infants; Early childhood; Education; Frühkindliche Bildung; Frühpädagogik; Kinderfürsorge; Kinderbetreuung; Politics of education; Bildungspolitik; History of education; Bildungsgeschichte; Quality of education; Bildungsqualität; Access; Bildung; Zugang; Bildungszugang; Entwicklungsbezogene Bildung; Jahrgangsübergreifende Gruppe; Accreditation; Institution; Institutions; Akkreditierung; Staatliche Anerkennung; Institut; Lehrqualifikation; Effectiveness of teaching; Instructional effectiveness; Lehrerleistung; Unterrichtserfolg; Lehrer-Schüler-Relation; Ausland; Singapur
Abstract	In Singapore, early childhood care and education has evolved according to the nation's needs since its independence in 1965. From a welfare scheme to custodial care, early childhood care and education is now recognised as a critical part of children's learning and development. Over the years, the government has progressively implemented policies to raise the quality of early childhood care and education and while increased efforts have been effective, there is still a gap between policy and practice. This article reviews the policies and frameworks throughout the history of early childhood care and education, with a focus on infant toddler care and examines some of the alignment and gaps. It identifies two key areas for improvement -- staff to child ratio and teacher quality for quality infant toddler care. In the current staff to child ratio, an 'educarer' oversees 5 children between 2 and 18 months. This indicates that the educarer needs to be well trained for this role to cater to a wide range of learning and developmental needs. However, the quality of teacher training has been disparate and was only harmonised in 2017. This suggests that the quality of educarers is still uneven in the sector. In terms of qualifications, educarers only need to fulfil the minimum level of teacher certification, which means that the youngest children in their most formative years are being taught and cared for by the least qualified educators (Bull and Bautista, 2018). Cognisant of these issues, this article proposes recommendations to address issues of manpower allocation and teacher quality. (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	SAGE Publications. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. Tel: 800-818-7243; Tel: 805-499-9774; Fax: 800-583-2665; e-mail: journals@sagepub.com; Web site: http://sagepub.com
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2024/1/01