Early Childhood Care and Education in The 21st Century: A Review of the Literature (Published)
Pre-school prepares children with the requisite skills and competencies necessary for formal education. It provides parents with productive time for their work while their children are being cared for in kindergartens, day-care centers, crèches, and pre-schools where children are provided opportunities for stimulation and holistic development using play-based activities. Enhancing the quality of Early Childhood Care and Education has been expressed through research and policy initiatives, development programmes, advocacy, theories, and philosophies that underpin practice in pre-schools. A qualitative approach was employed to look at views related to Early Childhood Care and Education. The purposive sampling method was adopted for the study. The findings however suggest that children in general exhibit relatively different cognitive and social competencies in varied environments. Data collected and analyzed concluded that there was a significant disparity in the experiences of the children, teacher expertise and experience, and academic and play facilities coupled with differences in the social and economic backgrounds of children. It is recommended that further research be conducted in other pre-schools to verify the findings of this research.
Citation: Gyekye-Ampofo M., Opoku-Asare N.A. and Andoh G.B. (2023) Early Childhood Care and Education in The 21st Century: A Review of the Literature, British Journal of Education, Vol.11, Issue 4, 81-95
Keywords: Early Learning, Kindergarten, Pre-School, early childhood care, early schooling