The Quality of Early Childhood Educators: Children’s Interaction in Greek Child Care Centers

Though quality in early childhood education and care has attracted last decades enormous research interest there is still not a unanimous agreement about its definition. Yet, almost all definitions attempted include interaction, group size, adult:child ratio and early childhood educators’ level of e...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Early childhood education journal 2011, Vol.38 (5), p.367-376
Main Authors: Rentzou, Konstantina, Sakellariou, Maria
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Caregiver Child Relationship
Caregivers
Child Care
Child Care Centers
Child Development
Class Size
Cognitive Development
Early Childhood Education
Early Childhood Teachers
Education
Educational Quality
Foreign Countries
Greece
Learning and Instruction
Legislation
Preschool Teachers
Sociology
Sociology of Education
Well Being
Young Children
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Summary:Though quality in early childhood education and care has attracted last decades enormous research interest there is still not a unanimous agreement about its definition. Yet, almost all definitions attempted include interaction, group size, adult:child ratio and early childhood educators’ level of education, as important indices of quality. Relationships are key resources for young children. There is agreement among researchers that the quality of caregiving by professional caregivers in child care centres has been established as an important influence on various aspects of child development. Thus, structural characteristics have been proven to affect programs’ quality of services provided. The purpose of this research study was twofold: (1) to explore the quality of interaction between Greek early childhood educators and children; and (2) to record the structural characteristics of Greek child care centres. Correlations among structural characteristics and type of interaction were also examined. Research data indicate that Greek early childhood educators are positive but at the same time detached and permissive during their interaction with children, a finding that disputes their positive interaction. Thus, Greek child care centres have been found to adopt, based on Greek legislation, high ratios and group sizes, a finding which raises questions about the effects on children’s well being and development. Limited correlations have been found between the type of interaction and the structural characteristics. Research data highlight the need for further research to undergone and for changes in Greek legislation, concerning the operation of Greek child care centres.
ISSN:1082-3301
1573-1707
DOI:10.1007/s10643-010-0403-3