Early Childhood Education in Germany

Bianca Bloch is Research Associate and Doctoral Candidate at the Department of Childhood Education at Justus Liebig University Giessen, Germany.Melanie Kuhn is Professor of Educational Science with a main emphasis on education and inequality at the Heidelberg University of Education, Germany. Marc Schulz is a Full Professor of sociology of childhood and family at TH Köln/University of Applied Sciences, Germany.Wilfried Smidt is a Full Professor of Educational Science with a Main Focus on Early Childhood Education at the University of Innsbruck, Austria. Ursula Stenger is Professor of Educational Science, with a focus on early childhood education and family at the University of Cologne, Germany.

• Introduction and Structure of the Edited VolumeBianca Bloch, Melanie Kuhn, Marc Schulz, Wilfried Smidt, and Ursula Stenger Part 1: Framings The Matrix of the Academic ECEC DiscourseUrsula Stenger, Melanie Kuhn, Marc Schulz, Bianca Bloch, and Wilfried Smidt Historical Development and Current Frameworks Marc Schulz, Melanie Kuhn, Bianca Bloch, Wilfried Smidt, and Ursula Stenger Part 2: Theoretical Perspectives Shifts between Education, Upbringing and Childcare. On the Transformation of Basic Concepts of Early Childhood Pedagogy in the Professional Discourse of GermanyCornelie Dietrich & Claus Stieve Paradigms of Childhood in Early Childhood EducationRoswitha Staege & Elmar Drieschner Phenomena: Play and LearningOktay Bilgi & Ursula Stenger Didactics in Institutions of ECEC – a Critical ReviewDagmar Kasüschke & Florian Frank Difference and Early Childhood Education in Germany. Qualitative Research and Educational ProgrammeClaudia Machold & Raphael Bak Part 3: Institutions and Actors The German ECEC System: Governance Structure, Policies, and Constitutive NormsNicole Klinkhammer & Antonia Scholz Child and ChildhoodDominik Farrenberg Families and ParenthoodMelanie Kubandt & Dominik Krinninger Primary School in Relation to KindergartenKarin Kämpfe & Britta Menzel Part 4: Professionalization The Professionalization Discourse in German Early Childhood Education and Care and its Social Scientific ReferencesPeter Cloos & Stefan Faas Competence Orientation as a Key Concept in Professionalization and Quality Development ProcessesIris Nentwig-Gesemann & Klaus Fröhlich-Gildhoff Action Amid Contradictions – Research Perspectives on Areas of Tension within Professional ECEC Practice in GermanyStefanie Bischoff-Pabst & Peter Cloos Evidence- and Efficiency-Based Models of Professionalisation – How do they Contribute to Improving Early Childhood Education? Tina Friederich & Regine Schelle