Education versus care?

Complementary practices in early childhood facilities
Publication date
2025-09-18
Document type
Forschungsartikel
Author
Dehnavi, Morvarid
Organisational unit
Professur für Erziehungswissenschaft, insbesondere systematische Pädagogik
DOI
URI
Project
DFG-Projekt Erziehung und Interaktion in der Kindertagesstätte, NO 736/6-1
Publisher
Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group
Series or journal
Journal of Research in Childhood Education
ISSN
Peer-reviewed
✅
Part of the university bibliography
✅
Language
English
DDC Class
300 Sozialwissenschaften
Keyword
care
documentary method
early childhood education and care center
education
interaction
videography
Abstract
Scholars of early childhood education and care (ECEC) often perceive the two defining terms—education and care—as opposites. In contrast, this article argues that the respective practices are complementary. Drawing on theoretical definitions of these terms and, more importantly, on videography-base empirical studies conducted in ECEC centers, numerous examples of interaction between ECEC professionals and children are analyzed. The findings reveal that ECEC professionals carefully evaluate when children require care and when they should be guided toward self-reliance. Additionally, children are taught to request assistance when needed and to assess their own needs truthfully. The empirical analyses demonstrate that education supports care, which, in turn, is the basis for educational processes but also can be an obstacle to education. Thus, while education and care are functionally interdependent, their complementarity is enacted through temporal sequencing.
Description
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Cite as
Arnd-Michael Nohl, Morvarid Dehnavi, Marco Mazzarisi & Sarah Thomsen (18 Sep 2025): Education versus Care? Complementary Practices in Early Childhood Facilities, Journal of Research in Childhood Education, DOI: 10.1080/02568543.2025.2543866
Version
Online first
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Metadata only access