engleski

A "new" dynamic? Early childhood education and care during the COVID-19 pandemic

As a structural group, children are subordinated due to a lack of positions of power and access to resources when compared to adults. In turbulent times, such as the currently unfolding COVID-19 pandemic, it is presumed that the subordinated groups are the ones who feel the consequences of such a crisis at a larger scale when compared to the structural groups with more power and resources. Available research on the effects of the various changes brought upon by the pandemic in relation to early childhood education and care (ECEC) as well as research on the perspectives of all involved stakeholders is hardly scarce, especially taking into consideration the limited time available for conducting such research. For this narrative literature review, a literature search was conducted in three electronic databases using key words in English (the following combinations of words were used: covid- 19/coronavirus/pandemic and early childhood/preschool/kindergarten). The search focused on journal articles published from the beginning of January 2020 until March 2021. Review of selected research indicates a focus on the varying national responses to the pandemic in relation to ECEC as well as the "novel" expectations from the different stakeholders of ECEC in conditions of increased stress and instability. For example, parents, among other things, having to work from home as well as care for their children and be much more involved in their children's education, which was at some periods of time going on at home ; early childhood teachers, among other things, having to cater to both children attending early childhood settings as well as those who are at home, having to learn to navigate an online "enactment" of early childhood curriculum as well as having to support families and communities in this changed educational context ; and children, among other things, having to learn to cope with a changed and often changing social context of their everyday lives, disrupted routines, instability, stressed adults, lack of movement and varying sensory experiences, as well as, in some cases, a missing mandatory early childhood education programme before starting elementary school. Whilst all of them have to adapt to a lot of challenges, adults could see this as an opportunity to further their competences – actively, consciously work on developing competences needed to get through the pandemic – a sort of a heightening of the roles they have had thus far. The children, on the other hand, are the ones who are at a disadvantage and in some cases have to depend on the adults to provide something that has been denied to them because of the pandemic as well as develop some entirely new competences. This distinction is why supporting and researching children's perspectives on the pandemic is critical for understanding its effects.

children, power, COVID-19 pandemic, early childhood education and care (ECEC), early childhood teacher

Na poseban poziv predsjednice Organizacijskog odbora konferencije sudjelovanje na simpoziju pod nazivom "Unravelling inequity in education during COVID: Who, why, and how remain/become disadvantaged?" organiziranom u sklopu konferencije.