Resources search

Exploring the field of listening to and consulting with young children

CLARK, Alison
MCQUAIL, Susan
MOSS, Peter
July 2003

Expand view

This piece of research is a review into listening to and consulting with young children in the UK under five years old with a focus on views and experiences of education and child care. Different methodologies and approaches used in research and consultation are examined including those operating alongside listening to practitioners and parents, and tools that are open to young children with special needs. The impact is then considered based upon evidence gained of children's experiences and priorities, and subsequent changes to attitudes and practice. The review contains case studies to draw upon

Effectiveness Initiative : first fruits [whole issue]

October 2001

Expand view

Describes the emerging findings from the Effecitveness Initiaitve (EI), an open and flexible dialogue between ten international sites investigating good practices and lessons in early childhood development. Includes description of a variety of tools and strategies that have been used `for listening to different voices' and for finding out information about each of the projects. These include the `river analogy', used to construct a visual history of projects in Peru and Colombia; the farm land `machamba' analogy form Mozambique that helps people to analyse the evolution of community based early childhood development sites; seasonal calenders from the Philippines; meetings and debates from Portugal; different forms of open and unstructured interviews; personal diaries and `family books'; and the analysis of anecdotes and stories in almost all the teams. This issue looks at a range of the projects and a number of issues related to the EI enquiry, such as: looking at how `Atlas-ti' qualitative analysis software has been used to identify common elements of effective programming while retaining links with the original qualitative data - charting both 'thematic affinities' and diverse local expressions of what makes for effectiveness; and how data gathered by the projects is returned to all the people who provided it for challenge and modification in open meetings; also describes the way different kinds of information were collected, compared and `triangulated' to confirm findings. Key findings include: that `credibility', built on trust and respect of local priorities, is vital; also simply creating room for reflection and research by those involved in projects is an important component of making effective programmes; and conducting research in the local language helps to get at issues that are important for participants and staff

Early childhood counts : a programming guide on early childhood care for development

EVANS, Judith L
MYERS, Rober G
ILFELD, Ellen M
Ed
2000

Expand view

This extensive resource guide and handbook is designed to help development professionals, programme planners, trainers, policy makers and child advocates to develop integrated approaches to working with young children living in poverty. It is organised into seven sections: the basics of early childhood development; needs assessment; setting project goals and objectives; choosing an appropriate approach; creating the infrastructure to deliver services; evaluation; and costs and financing.

E-bulletin