Abstract

CAMPOS, Maria Malta. Early childhood education: the debate and research. Cad. Pesqui. [online]. 1997, n.101, pp.113-127. ISSN 0100-1574.

The paper reviews a group of researches developed at the United Kingdom, the United States of America and Latin America, that assessed the effects of preschool attendance on children's development and on their performance at other levels of the educational system. The studies covered in this review included results obtained by children of different social, ethnical and cultural backgrounds that attended diverse kinds of programs: day-care centers, preschools and play-groups. The analysis stresses that opinions about the impotance of early childhood education change along different periods of time and influenced by political and ideological factors. Nevertheless, the results obtained by the most significant researches are very consistent during a long period of time and show that preschool education is an area that gives important returns to society at large.

Keywords : Educação Infantil; Creches; Desenvolvimento Infantil.

        · abstract in Portuguese     · text in Portuguese     · Portuguese ( pdf )