Anca Ani-Rus

The transition stage to pre-primary school represents a key event, in which the support received from family and teachers is essential in facilitating the transition and in ensuring an effective adjustment to the school environment. Our study aimed to investigate the impact of mathematical prerequisites on cognitive development, compared to the impact of reading and writing prerequisites, from the perspective of parents and early childhood educators. Thus, we quantified the impact of reading–writing and math prerequisites on children’s transition from kindergarten to school, analyzing the challenges, opportunities, and possibilities that arise. The sample consisted of 685 parents and 188 teachers, using the preschool prerequisites screening standardized questionnaire developed by the company Cognitrom, a questionnaire-survey, and the focus group method. Initially, the fidelity of the research instrument was assessed by calculating Cronbach’s alpha coefficient. The data distribution was tested using the skewness and kurtosis coefficients. Subsequently, descriptive analyses were carried out in order to provide an overview of the data collected by performing a multiple linear regression analysis. In addition, the Phi coefficient and V Cramer’s V coefficient were used to analyze the association between the research variables. By corroborating the obtained results, we can state that, from the parents’ and early childhood teachers’ perspective, math prerequisites have a greater influence on children’s cognitive development in the transition process from kindergarten to school compared to reading–writing prerequisites, confirming the general hypothesis.

Early education leaders need to embrace transformational leadership styles that promote growth and achievement to contribute to the success of the entire community. Research in this area is necessary because, according to conversations with school inspectors, the leaders of early education institutions in Romania need an adequate understanding of leadership styles, as seen by the lack of professional development courses available. Our research aimed to assess the impact of transformational leadership style on early education leaders' success as measured by operational indicators such as effectiveness, satisfaction, and extra effort. In this study, we employed the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQX5) and focus group method. To determine the dominating style of the leaders in the study, correlations, regressions, and the Chi-square test were used to analyze the data. The findings indicate a connection between transformative leadership and a growth mindset that characterizes leaders. These aspects lead to high effectiveness and stimulate the individual towards continuous personal and professional development. We can conclude from the investigation that the outcomes of the leader's behavior are closely related to their leadership style and growth mindset.

We are preoccupied with early childhood education policies at the international level in general, but in particular with early childhood education in Romania. Therefore, the research direction of our study focuses on how early education teachers can integrate the principles of slow education into the development of child-centered competence. The formation and development of the child’s early ontogeny personality occur at the natural pace of development and learning rather than in an accelerated manner. While preparing for the research, we reviewed relevant articles circumscribed to the same topic: slow, child-centered education, deep learning, constructivism, and the enthusiasm of children and teachers. Most of them conclude that the use of child-centered competence in early childhood significantly contributes to slow education principles and characteristics. At the same time, the research aims to provide quantitatively and qualitatively validated arguments for verifying the incidence of child-centered competence from the perspective of sustainable education, in connection with the constructivist orientation of the teachers. Our research included a group of 376 teachers selected from early childhood education institutions in the North-West of Romania, all of them with initial preparation in the field. Using the focus group method, we identified differences in the perception of the two paradigms (child-centeredness and slow pedagogy), the link between these two, and the connection with the constructivist orientation. At the same time, we intended to identify the degree of continuous professional development training according to these paradigms that are not studied and practiced together in early education in Romania, because only the child-centeredness principle is mentioned in the initial teacher training. Therefore, in-service training activities were conducted and they were focused on facilitating and raising awareness of the value of using child-centered competence and the principles of slow education among training participants. At the end of the program, through the quantitative method—the survey—we concluded that the activities included in the training program led to a significant increase in the teachers’ capacity to appreciate the natural pace of development and learning of children to such an extent that the participants themselves adopted the promotion of sustainable slow education in a dynamic society. The methods used helped us deduce that all teachers with a constructivist orientation improved their child-centered competence, and teachers who gave children the freedom to choose activities from the proposed educational offers, according to their needs, interests, and potential, identified the development of the ability to consider children’s natural pace of development and learning as a result of the training. In conclusion, our research complements the literature, proposing a new and useful perspective to approach early childhood education practices by respecting the child’s natural pace of development and learning, which provides a suitable context for promoting international sustainable educational policies. We encourage teachers around the world to reflect on an important issue in the holistic development of the child—if faster means better—in the race to performance.