Harmonized with UNICEF's efforts to reduce hazardous and exploitative forms of child labor, this compilation of key texts examines the area of child labor and basic education. The articles are organized into four main areas covering ideas, debates, evidence, and case studies. The first part provides some definitions of childhood, work, exploitation and education. The second part provides a review of changes in policy attitudes at an international level and presents some of the classical views in both the compulsory education and fertility debates. The cases of India, China, Java and Nepal are considered. The third part examines cases of children working in rural and urban settings, evidence of the importance of primary education for economic development, the relationship between school and work during childhood, and the different reasons why children may be unable to attend school. The final part of the book presents examples of how basic education for working children has been approached in several parts of the world. Suggestions for further reading and a resource section of relevant books, articles, and other materials that can be obtained from academic sources and international agencies is included. (AA)

The buzz word in education today is accountability. But the federal mandate of "no child left behind" has come to mean curriculums driven by preparation for standardized tests and quantifiable learning results. Even for very young children, unstructured creative time in the classroom is waning as teachers and administrators are under growing pressures to measure school readiness through rote learning and increased homework. In her new book, Vivian Gussin Paley decries this rapid disappearance of creative time and makes the case for the critical role of fantasy play in the psychological, intellectual, and social development of young children. A Child's Work goes inside classrooms around the globe to explore the stunningly original language of children in their role-playing and storytelling. Drawing from their own words, Paley examines how this natural mode of learning allows children to construct meaning in their worlds, meaning that carries through into their adult lives. Proof that play is the work of children, this compelling and enchanting book will inspire and instruct teachers and parents as well as point to a fundamental misdirection in today's educational programs and strategies.

Published in 1998. In recent years research, as well as the results of practical programmes, has led to a clearer understanding of the relationship between child work and education. It is increasingly evident that child work is not entirely the result of economic need or exploitation. Frequently is the failure of educational system to offer adequate, stimulating and affordable schooling that encourages children to drop out in favour of work that appears to offer advantages more relevant to their everyday lives. Parents too may undervalue the role and purpose of a school that provides inadequate preparation for the future and often see a job, including home-based work, as a positive alternative to crime, delinquency or begging. Consequently, while a distinction needs to be made between ‘formative child work’ and ‘harmful child work’, in certain situations and cultures the phenomenon is not always seen as negative. Yet, although gratifying in the short term and sometimes even providing the means for a younger child to attend school as well as a way of learning discipline and responsibility, often these jobs provide no useful experience and do not lead to an improvement in the personal development of life chances of a child. The situation is therefore complex and requires a more realistic evolution of the relationship between archaic pedagogy, dropout rates and child work. These five case studies from Latin America all reveal the effects of inappropriate school curricular. Desertion of the educational system for the labour market leads to inadequate training and perpetuates the poverty trap. As part of the commitment to combating work which is detrimental to the child, major educational reform is needed. Improvements in coverage, quality and affordability should lead to greater acceptance pf schooling at all levels of society and provide a greater incentive for parents and children alike to participate more fully in the system. Moreover, in cases of severe economic hardship and forced or harmful labour, practical assistance with subsides and scholarships should be considered to remove children from such work.

Public education is often viewed as dominated by an emphasis on test scores and narrowly defined parameters of performance and achievement. By contrast, John P. Miller's Whole Child Education fosters relationships between various forms of thinking, links body and mind, and recognizes the inner life of the child. Addressing issues of teaching, curriculum, the school, and teacher wellness, Miller presents three basic approaches (transmission, transaction, and transformation) that facilitate a connection with the whole student. Practical examples from teachers who have incorporated Miller's ideas into their own classrooms and description of Toronto's Whole Child School (founded in 2009) illustrate how the 'Whole Curriculum' can be implemented on both the small and large scale. Inspired by the powerful vision of Martin Luther King and his concept of the Beloved Community, Whole Child Education is a vehicle for building community through holistic education.

Early childhood care and education (ECCE) settings offer an opportunity to provide children with a solid beginning in all areas of their development. The quality and efficacy of these settings depend largely on the individuals within the ECCE workforce. Policy makers need a complete picture of ECCE teachers and caregivers in order to tackle the persistent challenges facing this workforce. The IOM and the National Research Council hosted a workshop to describe the ECCE workforce and outline its parameters. Speakers explored issues in defining and describing the workforce, the marketplace of ECCE, the effects of the workforce on children, the contextual factors that shape the workforce, and opportunities for strengthening ECCE as a profession.

Why are development discourses of the ‘poor child’ in need of radical revision? What are the theoretical and methodological challenges and possibilities for ethical understandings of childhoods and poverty? The ‘poor child’ at the centre of development activity is often measured against and reformed towards an idealised and globalised child subject. This book examines why such normative discourses of childhood are in need of radical revision and explores how development research and practice can work to ‘unsettle’ the global child. It engages the cultural politics of childhood – a politics of equality, identity and representation – as a methodological and theoretical orientation to rethink the relationships between education, development, and poverty in children’s lives. This book brings multiple disciplinary perspectives, including cultural studies, sociology, and film studies, into conversation with development studies and development education in order to provide new ways of approaching and conceptualising the ‘poor child’. The researchers draw on a range of methodological frames – such as poststructuralist discourse analysis, arts based research, ethnographic studies and textual analysis – to unpack the hidden assumptions about children within development discourses. Chapters in this book reveal the diverse ways in which the notion of childhood is understood and enacted in a range of national settings, including Kenya, India, Mexico and the United Kingdom. They explore the complex constitution of children’s lives through cultural, policy, and educational practices. The volume’s focus on children’s experiences and voices shows how children themselves are challenging the representation and material conditions of their lives. The ‘Poor Child’ will be of particular interest to postgraduate students and scholars working in the fields of childhood studies, international and comparative education, and development studies.