Abstract
The quality of the caregiving environment for young infants in day care centres in Athens was evaluated with 3 global measures; ITERS (Harms, Cryer, & Clifford, 1989), PROFILE (Abbott-Shim & Sibley, 1987a), CCFS (Dragonas, Tsiantis & Lambidi, 1995); and I measure of adult-child interaction (Arnett, 1989). Comparisons between the measures revealed great similarity of between the three global measures, but that the specific adult-child interaction measure appeared to be measuring a different aspect of quality of care. The general quality of care was low, lower than for other countries with similar research, and suggests the need for substantial improvement.
Résumé
La qualité éducative de l’environnement dans les centres pour jeunes enfants d’Athènes a fait l’objet de trois évaluations globales: ITERS (Harms, Cryer, & Clifford, 1989), PROFILE (Abbott-Shim & Sibley, 1987), CCFS (Dragonas, Tsiantis, & Lambidi, 1995); et d’une mesure des interactions adulte-enfant (Arnett, 1989). A la suite des comparaisons effectuées, il apparaît que les trois mesures globales sont très semblables mais que l’évaluation spécifique des interactions adulte-enfant appréhende un aspect différent de la qualité de la prise en charge. La qualité générale de la prise en charge s’est avérée faible, plus faible que dans les autres pays où des recherches similaires ont été effectuées; ce qui signale le besoin d’améliorations importantes.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abbott-Shim, M., & Sibley, A. (1987a).Assessment Profile for Early Childhood Programs: Manual administration. Atlanta, GE: Quality Assist.
Abbott-Shim, M., & Sibley, A. (1987b).Assessment Profile for Early Childhood Programs: Pre-school, Infant and School Age. Atlanta, GE: Quality Assist.
Abbott-Shim, M., & Sibley, A. (1991).Quality care: A global assessment. Unpublished manuscript. Atlanta, GE: Georgia State University.
Arnett, J. (1989). Caregivers in day-care centers: Does training matter?Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 10, 541–552.
Belsky, J. (1994).Effects of infant day care: 1986–1994. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the British Psychological Society Section on Developmental Psychology, September 4, Portsmouth, UK.
Clarke-Stewart, K.A. (1982).Day care. Glasgow: Fontana Paperbacks.
Clarke-Stewart, D.A. (1991). Day care in the USA. In P. Moss & E.C. Melhuish (Eds.),Current issues in day care for young children (pp. 35–60). London: HMSO.
David, T. (1992). What do parents in Belgium and Britain want their children to learn in the early years? Draft work in progress, presented to the World Congress in Early Childhood Education, August, Arizona, USA.
Dragonas, T.G., Tsiantis, J., & Lambidi, A. (1995). Assessing quality day-care: The Child Care Quality Facility Schedule.International Journal of Behavioural Development, 18, 557–568.
Etchegoyhen de Lorenzo, E.G., & Newcomb, M.A. (1984).Guide for the selection of a day care centre. Montevideo: Instituto Interamericano del Niño.
European Commission (1990a).Quality in childcare services. Report to E.C. Childcare Network Technical Seminar (Barcelona, May, 1990). Brussels.
European Commission (1990b).Men as carers for children. Report to E.C. Childcare Network Technical Seminar (Glasgow, May, 1990). Brussels.
European Commission (1990c).Childcare needs of rural families. Report to E.C. Childcare Network Technical Seminar (Athens, April, 1990). Brussels.
European Commission (1990d).Men as carers for children. Report to E.C. Childcare Network Technical Seminar (Leiden, April, 1990). Brussels.
European Commission (1992).The structural funds of the European Community and childcare. Report on the Working Group on Structural Funds and Rural Childcare. Brussels.
Harms, T., & Clifford, R.M. (1980).Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale. New York: Teachers College Press.
Harms, T., & Clifford, R.M. (1989).Family Day Care Rating Scale. New York: Teachers College Press.
Harms, T., Cryer, D., & Clifford, R.M. (1989).Infant/Toddler Environment Rating Scale. New York: Teachers College, Columbia University.
Holloway, S.D., & Reichart-Erickson, M. (1989). Child-care quality, family structure, and maternal expectations: Relationships to pre-school children’s peer relations.Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 10, 281–298.
Howes, C. (1991a). Caregiving environments and their consequences for children: The experience in the United States. In E.C. Melhuish & P. Moss (Eds.),Day care for young children (pp. 185–198). London: Tavistock/Routledge.
Howes, C., & Olenick, M. (1986). Family and child care influences on toddler’s compliance.Child Development, 57, 202–216.
Kamerman, S.B. (1991). Child care policies and programs: An international overview.Journal of Social Issues, 47, 179–196.
Lambidi, A., & Polemi-Todoulou, M. (1992a). The pre-school child: State institutions, settings and procedures of adjustment in the modern Greek reality.Psychologica Themata, 5, 325–347.
Lambidi, A., & Polemi-Todoulou, M. (1992b).Social development of pre-school children-Assessment in the daycare setting and the family. Paper presented at the Annual Conference of the Hellenic Psychological Association, Athens.
McCartney, K. (1984). The effect of quality of day care environment on children’s language development.Developmental Psychology, 20, 244–260.
Melhuish, E. C. (1991a). Research issues in day care. In P. Moss & E. Melhuish (Eds.),Current issues in day care for young children (pp. 20–34). London: Routledge.
Melhuish, E.C. (1991b). Editorial: Cross-national comparisons and the interpretation of day care effects.Journal of Reproductive and Infant Psychology, 9, 63–65.
Melhuish, E.C., & Moss, P. (1991). Current and future issues in policy and research. In E.C. Melhuish & P. Moss (Eds.),Day care for young children (pp. 199–215). London: Tavistock/Routledge.
Moss, P. (1988).Childcare and equality—Consolidated report to the European Commission. Brussels: Commission of the European Communities.
Moss, P. (1990a). Work, family and the care of children: Issues of equality and responsibility.Children and Society, 4, 145–166.
Moss, P. (1990b).Childcare in Europe: 1985–1990. Women of Europe Supplement. Brussels.
National Association for the Education of Young Children. (1984).Accreditation criteria and procedures. Washington, DC: Author.
Phillips, D., & Howes, C. (1987). Indicators of quality in child care: review of research. In D.A. Phillips (Ed.),Quality in child care: What does research tell us? (pp. 1–20). Washington, DC: N.A.Y.E.C.
Phillips, D., McCartney, K., & Scarr, S. (1987). Child-care quality and children’s social development.Developmental Psychology, 23, 537–543.
Prescott, E., Kritchevsky, S., & Jones, E.K. (1972).The Day Care Environment Inventory. Washington, DC: U. S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare.
Ruopp, R.R., Travers, J., Glantz, F., & Coelen, C. (1979).Children at the center: Summary findings and their implications. Final report of the National Day Care Study, v. 1. Cambridge, MA: Abt. Associates.
Smeets, H., & Goossens, F. (1988). Kwaliteit van de interactie en stafkind ratio: Verslag van een voorondettock.Informatibbulletin voor Ontwikkelingsychologie, 15, 11–122.
Tietze, W. (1987). A structural model for the evaluation of pre-school effects.Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 2, 133–153.
Tsiantis, J., Caldwell, B., Dragonas, T., Jegede, R.O., Lambidi, A., Banaag, C., & Orley, J. (1991). Development of a WHO child care facility schedule (CCFS): A pilot collaborative study.Bulletin of the World Health Organisation, 69, 1.
Tsiantis, J., Demenaga, N., & Lambidi, A. (1988). Preliminary results of the evaluation of the CCFS.Iatriki, 54, 57–62. [in Greek]
Van der Eyken, W., Osborn, A., & Butler, N. (1984). Preschooling in Britain. A national study of individual provision for under five’s in England, Scotland and Wales.Early Child Development and Care, 17, 79–122.
Wachs, T.D. (1992).The nature of nurture. Newbury Park, CA: SAGE.
Whitebook, M., Howes, C., & Phillips, D. (1989).Who cares? Child care teachers and the quality of care in America: Final report. Childcare Employee Project Oakland, CA: National Child Care Staffing Study.
Yusof, K. (1983).Monitoring and evaluation of child care centres by a ranking system. Paper presented for the Child Care Workshop, 2–25 July, Farsers’ Hill, Malaysia.
Zaslow, M.J. (1991). Variation in child care quality and its implications for children.Journal of Social Issues, 47, 125–138.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Petrogiannis, K., Melhuish, E.C. Aspects of quality in Greek day care centres. Eur J Psychol Educ 11, 177–191 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03172723
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03172723