Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Recent Trends in Early Childhood Curriculum: The Case of Greek and English National Curricula

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Book cover Changing Educational Landscapes

Abstract

In the light of the increasing attention that is paid to curriculum issues in early childhood education, the study focuses on recent early childhood curriculum policy in Greece and England. Our particular interest is in identifying the contemporary views on the child, on early childhood institutions and on teachers embedded in the curriculum frameworks of Greece and England. We argue, like others (Oberhuemer 2005; Dahlberg et al. 1999) that the way in which childhood is perceived is deeply embedded in a specific historical, cultural, geographical, economic and political context, in certain sets of societal norms and values. Thus, we are seeking to look critically into discourses on childhood and associated policies, recognising that the relationship between discourse and policy is not linear, but that each influences the other (Woodrow and Press 2007). We consider that curriculum analysis is political in essence and that the curriculum is not a neutral document but a cultural artefact (Duhn 2006).

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    A new curriculum, Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), came into force in September 2008. The EYFS, building on CGFS (QCA, 2000), is a single framework for care, learning and development for children in all early years settings from birth to the August after their fifth birthday.

  2. 2.

    According to these descriptions, learning had to be understood in social terms (Dafermou et al., 2006), a conception that enables a critique of the universalistic Piagetian theory.

  3. 3.

    In this case, 104 goals are set out in the respective learning areas (MoE, 2002) in comparison with the 68 founded in the respective English curriculum document. It is interesting to note that the Swedish curriculum framework has only 24 goals and comprises 15 pages.

References

  • Alahiotis, S. (2002). Towards a modern school. Review of Educational Issues, 7: 7–18 (in Greek).

    Google Scholar 

  • Alahiotis, S. and Karatzia-Stavlioti, E. (2006). Effective curriculum policy and cross-curricularity: Analysis of the new curriculum design of the Hellenic Pedagogical Institute. Pedagogy, Culture & Society, 14(2): 119–147.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bennett, J. (2005) Curriculum issues in national policy-making. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 13(2): 5–23.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bowe, R., Ball, S. J., and Gold, A. (1992). Reforming Education and Changing Schools. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cannella, G. S. (1997). Deconstructing Early Childhood Education: Social Justice and Revolution. New York: Peter Lang.

    Google Scholar 

  • Codd, J. A. (1988). The construction and deconstruction of educational policy documents. Journal of Educational Policy, 3: 235–247.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dafermou, X., Koulouri, P., and Basagianni, E. (2006). Infant School Teacher Guide. Athens: OEDB. (in Greek).

    Google Scholar 

  • Dahlberg, G. and Moss, P. (2005). Ethics and Politics in Early Childhood Education. London: Routledge Falmer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dahlberg, G., Moss, P., and Pence, A. (1999). Beyond Quality in Early Childhood Education and Care. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Duhn, I. (2006). The Making of Global Citizens: traces of cosmopolitanism in the New Zealand early childhood curriculum, Te Whariki. Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, 7(3): 191–202

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Edwards, S. (2003). New Directions: charting the paths for the role of sociocultural theory in early childhood education and curriculum. Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, 4(3): 251–266. http://dx.doi.org/10.2304/ciec.2003.4.3.3.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Evangelou, D. (1996). Culture and the Greek Kindergarten Curriculum. Early Child Development and Care, 123(1): 31–46.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fendler, L. (2001). Educating Flexible Souls: The Construction of Subjectivity Through Developmentality and Interaction. In Hultqvist, K. and Dahlberg, G. (eds.), Governing the Child in the New Millennium (pp. 119–142). New York and London: RoutledgeFalmer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Flouris, G., and Pasias, G. (2006). Policies of Knowledge and Reforms in the Greek Curricula in Greece (1975–2005). A critical Approach. In Charalampous, D.(ed.), Transition and Educational Policy. Pase, Present, Future (pp. 203–246). Athens: Ellinika Grammata (in Greek).

    Google Scholar 

  • Georgiadis, N. M.(2005). Trends in state education policy in Greece: 1976 to the 1997 reform. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 13(9). Retrieved from http://Epaa.Asu.Edu/Epaa/V13n9/

  • Grieshaber, S. (2000). Regulating the early childhood field. Australian Journal of Early Childhood, 25(2): 1–6.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hughes, P. (2001) Paradigms, Methods and Knowledge. In Glenda, M., Sharne A. R., and Iram S. (eds.), Doing Early Childhood Research: International Perspectives on Theory and Practice(pp. 31–55). Crows Nest, New South Wales: Allen & Unwin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hultqvist, K. and Dahlberg, G. (2001). Governing the Child in the New Millennium. In Hultqvist, K. and Dahlberg, G. (eds.), Governing the Child in the New Millennium (pp. 1–14). New York and London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Koustourakis, G. (2007). The new educational policy for the reform of the curriculum and the change of school knowledge in the case of Greek compulsory education. International Studies in Sociology of Education, 17(1): 131–146.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lambeir, B. (2005), Education as Liberation: The politics and techniques of lifelong learning. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 37(3): 349–355

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ling-Yin, L. (2007). Cultural diversity and the Curriculum Guidance for the Foundation Stage in England, European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 15(2): 183–195.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lubbeck, S. (1996). Deconstructing child development knowledge and teacher preparation. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 11: 147–67.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Luke, A. (1995) Text and discourse in education: An introduction to critical discourse analysis. Review of Educational Research in Education, 21: 3–48.

    Google Scholar 

  • MacNaughton, G. (2005) Doing Foucault in Early Childhood Studies. Applying Poststructural Ideas. London and New York: Routledge.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Maw, J. (1993). The national curriculum council and the whole curriculum. Reconstruction of a discourse. Curriculum Studies, 1: 55–75.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ministry of Education and Religion (MoE) (2002) Cross-Thematic Unified Framework of Studies and Curricula for Compulsory Education. Athens: MoE (in Greek).

    Google Scholar 

  • Moss, P. (2008). What Future for the Relationship between Early Childhood Education and Care and Compulsory Schooling?. Research in Comparative and International Education, 3(3): 224–234.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moss, P. (2006). Structures, understandings and discourses: possibilities for re-envisioning the early childhood worker. Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood 7(1): 30–41.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moss, P. (2007) ‘Bringing politics into the nursery: early childhood education as a democratic practice’. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 15(1): 5–20.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moss, P. (2001). Beyond Early Childhood Education and Care. Paper presented at Early Childhood Education and Care conference, June 2001, Stockholm, from Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, www.oecd.org.

  • Moss, P. (1999). Renewed Hopes and Lost Opportunities: early childhood in the early years of the Labour Government. Cambridge Journal of Education, 29(2): 229–238.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moss, P. and Petrie, P. (2002a). From Children’s Services To Children’s Spaces: Public Policy, Children and Childhood. New York: RoutledgeFalmer

    Google Scholar 

  • Moss, P., Dillon, J., and Statham, J. (2000). The ‘child in need’ and ‘the rich child’: discourses, constructions and practice. Critical Social Policy, 20(2): 233–254.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oberhuemer, P. (2005). International perspectives on early childhood curricula. International Journal of Early Childhood, 37(1): 27–37.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • OECD (2006). Starting Strong 11: Early Childhood Education and Care. Paris: OECD

    Google Scholar 

  • OECD (2001). Starting Strong I: Early Childhood Education and Care. Paris: OECD.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ozga, J. and Lawn, M. (1999). United Kingdom: the cases of England and Scotland within the UK. In Lindblad, S. and Popkewitz, T. (eds.), Education Governance and Social Integration and exclusion: National Cases of Educational Systems and Recent Reforms. Uppsala: Uppsala University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Popkewitz, T. (2008). Education sciences, schooling, and abjection: recognizing difference and the making of inequality? SA Journal of Education, 28(3): 301–319. http://www.sajournalofeducation.co.za/index.php/saje/issue/view/13

    Google Scholar 

  • Popkewitz, T., and Bloch, M. (2001). Administering Freedom: A History of the Present. In Hultqvist, K. and Dahlberg, G. (eds.), Governing the Child in the New Millennium (pp. 85–118). New York and London: RoutledgeFalmer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) (2000). Curriculum Guidance for the Foundation Stage. London: Author.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rose, N. (1999). Powers of Freedom: Reframing Political Thought. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • School Curriculum Assessment Authority (SCAA) (1996). Nursery Education: Desirable Outcomes for Children’s Learning on Entering Compulsory Education. London: SCAA and Department for Education and Employment.

    Google Scholar 

  • Soler J. and Miller, L. (2003). The struggle for early childhood curricula: a comparison of the English foundation stage curriculum, Te Whariki and Reggio Emilia. International Journal of Early Years Education, 11(1): 57–68.

    Google Scholar 

  • Taylor, S. (2004). Researching educational policy and change in ‘new times’: Using critical discourse analysis. Journal of Education Policy. 19(4): 433–451.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Woodrow, C. and Press, C. (2007) (Re) Positioning the child in the policy/politics of early childhood. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 39(3): 312–325.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zambeta, E. (2002) Modernisation of educational governance in Greece: From state control to state steering. European Educational Research Journal, 1(4): 637–655.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Hellenic Pedagogical Institute, former Deputy Counselor, Athens, Greece

    Efstratia Sofou

Authors
  1. Efstratia Sofou
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Efstratia Sofou .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Comparative Education,, International Education Policy &, University of Athens, Ippokratous Street 20, Athens, 106 80, Greece

    Dimitris Mattheou

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2010 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Sofou, E. (2010). Recent Trends in Early Childhood Curriculum: The Case of Greek and English National Curricula. In: Mattheou, D. (eds) Changing Educational Landscapes. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-8534-4_13

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation