Helen Penn – författare

This book examines how quality and good practice in early childhood education and care (ECEC) is interpreted and implemented in a variety of settings and circumstances.

Drawing on her experience of research and policy making in a wide variety of countries, the author considers the variety of rationales that inform services for early childhood education and care. Services are organized, financed and delivered in many different ways across the world. The policies that have been adopted by governments, and the resources which are made available for implementing them, have shaped practice.

On the one hand there are complex ideas about what children should be learning and how they should be learning. These ideas about curriculum and the training of teachers and carers may differ radically between countries. On the other hand policies have been prompted by the need to reconcile family and work obligations and to provide childcare to support working mothers, irrespective of educational concerns. The notions of economic competition and parental choice have led to the growth of private for-profit childcare services which promote a particular view of quality and achievement. Above all, growing inequality within countries, and between rich and poor countries, have undermined attempts to provide good quality services. In an unfair world, the impact of any services is likely to be distorted.

The book charts the many different approaches to understanding and measuring quality and gives an exceptionally well-informed overview.

Understanding Early Childhood is a comprehensive textbook which offers broad and insightful perspectives across a range of themes on the ways in which we understand and study young children. Engaging and clear, it provides students with a user-friendly introduction to a number of difficult concepts and theories in early childhood education, drawing on research evidence from various countries and taking an interdisciplinary approach.

Revised and updated throughout, the third edition brings contemporary theories and debates bang up-to-date in a concise, accessible and yet reflective style. Unique features include:

A substantial and critically informed discussion of child development An updated overview of theoretical approaches and research methodologies Considerable revisions on neuroscience and genetic research in light of recent developments Extended coverage of ethicsThe challenges and problematic nature of interdisciplinary working'Main Messages' provide helpful summaries of key points'What to Read Next' signposts stimulating reading Understanding Early Childhood is an indispensable resource for early childhood students from undergraduate to postgraduate level, and practitioners working with young children.

"Understanding Early Childhood draws on Helen Penn's deep knowledge and exceptionally wide breadth of experience of this topic. This new and updated edition with its pithy explanations provides an invaluable and readable guide to concepts and theories of early childhood education."Bronwen J. Cohen, School of Social and Political Studies, The University of Edinburgh, UK

"This updated and revised third edition is informative and thought provoking appealing to an international readership. Drawing from many fields of study and with reference to her own international experience and research, Professor Penn challenges existing normative conceptualisations of childhood and professional practice, standards and expectations."Theodora Papatheodorou, Education Adviser - Early Childhood Care and Development, Save the Children, UK

"This book is a must read for anyone studying or working in early childhood education. The messages are applicable and have resonance across borders and boundaries, majority and minority worlds, and ethnicities."Sue Grieshaber, Chair Professor and Head, Department of Early Childhood Education, Hong Kong Institute of Education, Hong Kong

"Whatever your interest in early childhood, this book should become a wise companion to whom you turn again and again for inspiration, intellectual challenge or solace. I've really enjoyed reading the new edition of Helen's book. She is such a superb author and scholar and we are incredibly fortunate to have her working in the field of early childhood."

Dr Sacha Powell, Reader in Early Childhood, Research Centre for Children, Families and Communities, Canterbury Christ Church University, UK

An expert in her field, Helen Penn discusses the inequalities between and within countries of childhood poverty and how this poverty is recognized and defined through the following case-studies:Kazakhstan - once part of the Soviet UnionSwaziland - a country in Southern Africa devastated by HIV and AIDSHimalayan IndiaBrazil - one of the world's most unequal countries.These four case studies illustrate the diversity and complexity of the responses to the attempts to globalise childhood and highlight the need to address the inequalities of childhood experience.

An expert in her field, Helen Penn discusses the inequalities between and within countries of childhood poverty and how this poverty is recognized and defined through the following case-studies:Kazakhstan - once part of the Soviet UnionSwaziland - a country in Southern Africa devastated by HIV and AIDSHimalayan IndiaBrazil - one of the world's most unequal countries.These four case studies illustrate the diversity and complexity of the responses to the attempts to globalise childhood and highlight the need to address the inequalities of childhood experience.

An astute exploration of the complexities of working and learning in the field of Early Childhood Education and Care, Professor Helen Penn tells of her experiences of working as a teacher, social worker, campaigner, researcher and writer, and so reflects on the perennial and complex issues which shape this expanding field.Mapping the author’s career from the mid-sixties onward, ‘Be Realistic, Demand the Impossible’ is a tribute to the progress that has been made in Early Childhood Education and Care over the past 70 years and is a celebration of those who have acted on their principles to articulate and remedy hidden suffering. A first-hand commentary on adult-child relations, poverty, working with families and engaging with democracy and inequality, Penn’s narrative reconstructs her past and, in doing so, produces a social history that records the various shifts in policy and public attitudes which she has witnessed. The author recognizes the collective effort and teamwork involved in working within organizations, as well as the constraints and tensions such organizations can create. She comments on the wider political system and assesses the particular pattern of educational inequality and oppression which afflicts the UK. One of the best known and most respected figures in her field, Penn provides a unique perspective on change as well as offering a framework for understanding, assessing and working within the field of Early Childhood Education and Care. Insightful and frank, witty and funny, this book will be a valuable read for students, academics, researchers and practitioners involved in this field.

An astute exploration of the complexities of working and learning in the field of Early Childhood Education and Care, Professor Helen Penn tells of her experiences of working as a teacher, social worker, campaigner, researcher and writer, and so reflects on the perennial and complex issues which shape this expanding field.Mapping the author’s career from the mid-sixties onward, ‘Be Realistic, Demand the Impossible’ is a tribute to the progress that has been made in Early Childhood Education and Care over the past 70 years and is a celebration of those who have acted on their principles to articulate and remedy hidden suffering. A first-hand commentary on adult-child relations, poverty, working with families and engaging with democracy and inequality, Penn’s narrative reconstructs her past and, in doing so, produces a social history that records the various shifts in policy and public attitudes which she has witnessed. The author recognizes the collective effort and teamwork involved in working within organizations, as well as the constraints and tensions such organizations can create. She comments on the wider political system and assesses the particular pattern of educational inequality and oppression which afflicts the UK. One of the best known and most respected figures in her field, Penn provides a unique perspective on change as well as offering a framework for understanding, assessing and working within the field of Early Childhood Education and Care. Insightful and frank, witty and funny, this book will be a valuable read for students, academics, researchers and practitioners involved in this field.

This book explores and critiques topical debates in educational sciences, philosophy, social work and cognitive neuroscience. It examines constructions of children, parents and the welfare state in relation to neurosciences and its vocabulary of brain architecture, critical periods and toxic stress. The authors provide insight into the historical roots of the relationship between early childhood education policy and practice and sciences. The book argues that the neurophilia in the early childhood education field is not a coincidence, but relates to larger societal changes that value economic arguments over ethical, social and eminently pedagogical concerns. It affects the image of the child, the parent and the very meaning of education in general. Constructions of Neuroscience in Early Childhood Education discusses what neuroscience has to offer, what its limitations are, and how to gain a more nuanced view on its benefits and challenges. The debates in this book will support early childhood researchers, students and practitioners in the field to make their own judgements about new evolutions in the scientific discourse.

This book explores and critiques topical debates in educational sciences, philosophy, social work and cognitive neuroscience. It examines constructions of children, parents and the welfare state in relation to neurosciences and its vocabulary of brain architecture, critical periods and toxic stress. The authors provide insight into the historical roots of the relationship between early childhood education policy and practice and sciences. The book argues that the neurophilia in the early childhood education field is not a coincidence, but relates to larger societal changes that value economic arguments over ethical, social and eminently pedagogical concerns. It affects the image of the child, the parent and the very meaning of education in general. Constructions of Neuroscience in Early Childhood Education discusses what neuroscience has to offer, what its limitations are, and how to gain a more nuanced view on its benefits and challenges. The debates in this book will support early childhood researchers, students and practitioners in the field to make their own judgements about new evolutions in the scientific discourse.

The viability, quality and sustainability of publicly supported early childhood education and care services is a lively issue in many countries, especially since the rights of the child imply equal access to provision for all young children. But equitable provision within childcare markets is highly problematic, as parents pay for what they can afford and parental income inequalities persist or widen.This highly topical book presents recent, significant research from eight nations where childcare markets are the norm. It also includes research about ‘raw’ and ‘emerging’ childcare markets operating with a minimum of government intervention, mostly in low income countries or post transition economies. Childcare markets compares these childcare marketisation and regulatory processes across the political and economic systems in which they are embedded. Contributions from economists, childcare policy specialists and educationalists address the question of what constraints need to be in place if childcare markets are to deliver an equitable service.

The viability, quality and sustainability of publicly supported early childhood education and care services is a lively issue in many countries, especially since the rights of the child imply equal access to provision for all young children. But equitable provision within childcare markets is highly problematic, as parents pay for what they can afford and parental income inequalities persist or widen.This highly topical book presents recent, significant research from eight nations where childcare markets are the norm. It also includes research about ‘raw’ and ‘emerging’ childcare markets operating with a minimum of government intervention, mostly in low income countries or post transition economies. Childcare markets compares these childcare marketisation and regulatory processes across the political and economic systems in which they are embedded. Contributions from economists, childcare policy specialists and educationalists address the question of what constraints need to be in place if childcare markets are to deliver an equitable service.

`This is an important publication, which I urge colleagues to read and to consider carefully all the implications' - Early Years

`... This provocative analysis with its clear examples is worth reading for its fresh look at where we could be headed come the 21st century'- Nursery Equipment

Early childhood services in the UK have been badly neglected. The consequences are serious: chronic underfunding and increasing fragmentation; most staff poorly paid and trained; access often a matter of potluck and money; low aspirations and even lower expectations. Increasingly, young children are seen as important for what they may become rather than for what they are, and the case for early childhood services is made out in terms of later performance in school and adult life rather than the needs and rights of young children themselves. No current political vision redresses this undervaluing of early childhood or addresses the parlous state our early childhood services are in.

Drawing on the rich early childhood tradition in the UK, going back to Robert Owen, and giving examples from current practice, Transforming Nursery Education offers a critique of the status quo, a vision of early childhood services and practical strategies for achieving it.The book covers a wide range of day care and education services and critical issues such as staffing, funding, curriculum, models of provision and the age at which children start compulsory schooling.

Within this broad approach, the book focuses in particular on the history and current practice of nursery education. It argues that the present narrow approach to nursery education is neither appropriate to the needs of today nor inevitable. It answers a critical question: how can nursery education be transformed to play a leading role in the comprehensive, integrated and coherent early childhood service that today's families really need?

This book examines 12 nurseries in three countries - how they are organized, who works in them, and which children attend them. In particular, it explores what staff think about the work they are doing, how they view it, and whether or not they enjoy it. The author traces how these views and opinions are translated into action, and how they affect the children. She also explores what contribution the context and location of the nurseries makes to their practice. The author compares her observations of daily practice in these nurseries, and draws valuable conclusions about the values and practices which support 'good' nursery provision.

This edited volume provides a critical account of the theories and policies that have informed work in the field of early childhood and explores how they have operated in practice. increasing inequality alongside economic progress, and the increasing prominence of business and the private sector in delivering aid programs.