Abstract

SOTO MUNOZ, María Eugenia  and  RODRIGUEZ NAVARRETE, Claudia. Education quality in an early childhood education center using quality criteria catalogue. Rev. Actual. Investig. Educ [online]. 2016, vol.16, n.3, pp.150-168. ISSN 1409-4703.  http://dx.doi.org/10.15517/aie.v16i3.25988.

The quality of education provided in Chile and other Latin American countries represents a worrying situation, since it has been shown that educational quality processes, especially in early childhood, impact positively on the future school development of children, relieving the importance of pre-school level to overcome the initial disadvantages of children from vulnerable sectors. The paper reports a non-experimental study, which used mixed research methodology, based on the Collaborative Action Research in a specific nursery center in the province of Concepcion, Chile. The intervention was conducted following the steps proposed by the Quality Criteria Catalog. Furthermore, to ascertain increase in quality, initial and post-intervention assessments were made, using international standardized instruments: ITERS-R and ECERS-R; also the Chilean test TEVI-R was used to measure passive vocabulary of children. In turn, Focus Group was used to collect the opinions and perceptions of teaching staff, regarding the intervention. Consistent with the purpose of the study, it was established that there was progress in the development of the educational quality of the center, but it is not possible to ensure that it will be maintained in long term, because it implies an internalization process of reflection and self-criticism from the teaching staff, which takes longer. This experience is expected to provide evidence to improve educational processes in Early Childhood Education.

Keywords : education quality; early childhood education; quality criteria; educational intervention.

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