In many regions, including Flanders (Dutch-speaking Belgium), Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) is split between services for children under 3 (childcare) and those for children aged 3–6 (preschool) Urban et al., (European Journal of Education, 47(4), 508–526, 2012). This structure creates a transition when children move from one system to the other, experiencing shifts in relationships, routines, and learning environments (Fabian Dunlop, 2007; Van Laere, 2017). These changes present challenges and affect each child differently, making transitions in ECEC a significant research focus. Despite extensive research (e.g., Foot et al. 2000) on these transitions, little attention has been given to parents’ perspectives on the move from childcare to preschool (Jung, 2014). This study fills that gap by exploring parents’ views through 50 semi-structured interviews, examining (i) their experiences and their child’s during this transition, (ii) support received from childcare and preschool facilities, and (iii) barriers and facilitators in facilitating the transition. The findings highlight that parents experience the transition as emotional and challenging, expressing concerns about changes in care routines, potty-training readiness, and their child’s emotional well-being. Many parents feel they lack adequate support, stating that the transition process requires more than just an information session or brochure. Importantly, some parents question the structural split between childcare and preschool, feeling it may not serve the best interests of the child. This research underscores the need for policies and practices that better support families and children during this critical transition phase in ECEC.

Parenting leave policies play a crucial role in enabling children to grow up in economically secure, family-based care environments during the earliest and most sensitive stages of life. The first 1,000 days, from conception to a child’s second birthday, represent a critical developmental window in which early relationships, emotional regulation, health, and developmental trajectories are shaped. Yet parenting leave has too often been understood primarily as a labour market instrument or as support for parents, rather than as a policy that directly affects children’s rights, well-being, and life chances. This White Paper addresses this imbalance by reviewing parenting leave policies across Europe from a child-centred and child-rights perspective.

The childcare sector is experiencing major staff shortages, putting pressure on the quality provided within childcare centers and consequently on the children. One cause of these shortages is the insufficient supply of new childcare professionals. This study examines pre-service childcare professionals' intentions to enter the field in relation to the following three aspects: study choice motivation, practicum experiences and perceptions of working conditions. Data were cross-sectional collected through an online survey via schools from students (n = 177) enrolled in a 7th-year secondary vocational education program in Flanders (Belgium). Results indicate that only a minority of pre-service childcare professionals intend to enter the profession. Logistic regression analysis reveals that those who perceive good career opportunities (i.e. advancement to staff leadership) are more likely to enter the profession, as do those who showed a high degree of appreciation for the work during their practicum. However, study choice motivation did not affect their intentions to enter the profession, as motivation was uniformly high across all pre-service childcare professionals. These results suggest that only a minority of the pre-service childcare professionals are likely to enter the profession. Those who do, may advance to leadership roles and subsequently leave the childcare profession, exacerbating workforce shortages.

In various European countries, there is significant variation in the level of early childhood education and care (ECEC) system integration. In these countries, in which the level of system integration varies from split to integrated systems, there is a growing interest in interprofessional collaboration (IPC) between ECEC, school, and family support (family services, welfare, and child protection services) to offer integrated services for children and their families. In a realist review of six countries with varying levels of ECEC system integration (in descending order of integration: Norway, Finland, Sweden, Germany, Flanders (Belgium) and the Netherlands), we analyzed the literature related to IPC between professionals from ECEC, school, and family support. The review showed various IPC mechanisms, including barriers and facilitators, for professionals working in ECEC who face similar challenges in achieving pedagogical continuity and offering integrated services in different countries.

Social work practices have been placed high on the European agenda to promote social cohesion. A particular field to grasp this complexity of promoting social cohesion lies in child and family services. A systematic narrative literature review was implemented led by the following research questions: (i) How does social work literature conceptualize social cohesion? (ii) How does child and family social work literature conceptualise social cohesion? A systematic literature search through the Social Science Citation Index was performed using a methodological approach that integrates a data-driven and theory-driven thematic analysis on social work literature (N = 76) and child and family social work literature (N = 10). The aim of the study is to explore how (child and family) social work relates to recent conceptualisations of social cohesion, such as the Social Cohesion Radar and if - in so doing - counters the conceptual vagueness of social cohesion. Our study suggests that social cohesion is overshadowed by a conceptualisation of social cohesion as social capital. Moreover, the focus on shared values hinders taking into account the growing diversity and - in so doing - the social work literature may miss out on an important contemporary social challenge.

AbstractEducation in Flanders—the Dutch-speaking region of Belgium—is currently facing what many describe as a crisis, marked by quality erosion and social inequalities. These issues have brought about a highly politicized and polarized debate that has led to a sole focus on achieving cognitive test outcomes, side-lining the importance of equity and social justice. In response to this, a growing number of academics and practitioners are actively exploring alternative educational frameworks, with the ‘commons’ framework gaining prominence in this context. This chapter delves into the implementation of two commons-based projects within secondary schools in Flanders, highlighting the challenges faced in implementing commons principles within traditional educational settings. These challenges include resistance from teachers entrenched in the existing educational culture, the tendency to consider the commons as an individual responsibility rather than a collective commitment and the risk of instrumentalizing the commons by prioritizing outcomes over the participatory process. While commons-based initiatives face substantial hurdles within the current educational landscape, they offer a useful alternative horizon that challenges the status quo and may help bridge the gap between educational ideals and reality in Flanders and elsewhere.

This article highlights the inequality in the Flemish education system, which disproportionately affects youngsters with low socioeconomic status. This inequality is attributed to the human capital approach characterising current educational policies, putting emphasis on educational outcomes. This results in education that homogenises and limits acceptable student behaviour and in which deviations from the norm are met with exclusionary and punitive approaches, consequently pushing vulnerable youngsters with a differing cultural capital out of education. Drawing on the capability approach, this article argues the importance of navigational agency in education, investigating the space students have to enter and exit education, resolving conflicts between education and other social practices, and reforming education by voicing their opinions. By analysing 66 Flemish secondary school policies, it is concluded that young people's navigational agency is limited in the current educational landscape. Furthermore, most school policies lack inner consistency, highlighting the fact that there is no coherent pedagogical vision within, which raises questions about how thought through these policies really are.

Preschool teachers are crucial actors in the socialization process and the construction of gender ideas of young children. Their gender ideas influence interactions with children. Education has a profound gendered nature in which gender stereotypes are often reproduced and enacted. This qualitative study is a critical exploration of preschool teachers' beliefs and perspectives on sex and gender in the classroom. Semi-structured interviews (n = 22) with Flemish preschool teachers were conducted and analysed using thematic analysis. The findings show that preschool teachers have an open-minded but ambivalent vision towards gender (stereotypes), which, as they report, is reflected in the classroom. The vast majority of preschool teachers act intuitively rather than consciously or explicitly addressing gender in the classroom. Most teachers say not to ban stereotypical toys or activities and aim to make sure what they offer in their classroom allows the stimulation of children's agency in the gender socialization process.

ABSTRACTPromoting social cohesion is frequently mentioned as an objective for child and family social work from a policy perspective. However, it is unclear how policies shape concrete child and family social work practices. The aim of the current study is to analyse how early childhood services in Flanders (Belgium) commit to the promotion social cohesion. An explorative multiple case study in Flanders, using (non)participatory observations (N = 40), was performed in child and family social work practices to answer the following research question: What is going on in child and family social work regarding the promotion of social cohesion? The research indicates that in the context of child and family social work, it is important to pay attention to the meaning of these light encounters as a possible way to foster social cohesion. Given the importance of light encounters in child and family social work, a reflection on the role of the infrastructure should be made. To end, a clear need and challenge became visible regarding the diversity in child and family social work practices. It is necessary to reach a diversity of families, but this implies that practitioners have the knowledge and know‐how in approaching and dealing with diversity issues.

Promoting social cohesion through early childhood services has become a priority on the political agenda. Despite joint academic and political attention, a consensus on what social cohesion is, is lacking. While child and family social work is framed as ideal to foster social cohesion, there is little knowledge on what this may mean. The aim of the current study is to analyse the meaning making of child and family social work practitioners regarding social cohesion in Flanders (Belgium). An explorative multiple case study was performed in child and family social work in three neighbourhoods in Flanders. The Critical Incident Technique was used with practitioners (N = 28) to understand how they conceptualise social cohesion and viewed their role in promoting this community-oriented outcome of early childhood services. The results suggest that practitioners focus on the inter-individual and relational components of social cohesion rather than on the socio-political components, which contrasts with the politicising function that child and family social work is supposed to fulfil. Het bevorderen van sociale cohesie in de preventieve gezinsondersteuning is een prioriteit op de politieke agenda. Ondanks de gezamenlijke academische en politieke aandacht, ontbreekt consensus over wat sociale cohesie net is en hoe dit bevorderd kan worden in praktijken voor gezinnen met jonge kinderen. Het doel van de huidige studie is om de betekenisverlening van sociale cohesie door praktijkwerkers in de preventieve gezinsondersteuning te analyseren. Een exploratieve multiple case study in drie wijken in Vlaanderen (Belgi & euml;) werd uitgevoerd. De Critical Incident Technique werd gebruikt om met praktijkwerkers (N = 28) in gesprek te gaan. Op deze manier tracht dit onderzoek te begrijpen hoe praktijkwerkers sociale cohesie conceptualiseren en hun rol invullen bij het bevorderen van sociale cohesie. De resultaten suggereren dat praktijkwerkers zich vooral richten op de inter-individuele en relationele componenten van sociale cohesie en in mindere mate op de sociaal-politieke componenten. Dit staat in contrast met de politiserende functie die de preventieve gezinsondersteuning geacht wordt te vervullen.

Promoting social cohesion through early childhood services has become a priority on the political agenda as a result of societal developments. Despite joint academic and political attention, there nevertheless remains no agreement on what social cohesion is. This leads to the paradoxical situation in which early childhood services are characterised as ideal to foster social cohesion, while there is little research on what this may mean. The aim of the current study is to analyse a diversity of interpretations of social cohesion by policy-makers in Flanders (Belgium), and to reflect on the role of early childhood services. The study was led by the following research questions: How is social cohesion interpreted by policy-makers? What do they consider as challenges to and opportunities for social cohesion? What role do they assign to early childhood services in contributing to social cohesion? The study uses a multi-method design, combining a thematic analysis of policy documents (N = 44) and semi-structured interviews with policy-makers (N = 14). The results suggest that political interpretations of social cohesion can be placed on a continuum from a minimal to a maximal interpretation, in which historical continuity becomes visible. Reflecting on the possible role of early childhood services leads to contradictory expectations from policy-makers for child and family social work.

Lately, pedagogical coaches have been deployed in childcare as a form of continuous professional development (CPD) with the aim of improving the quality of childcare. While we have a clear understanding of what coaching should involve to be effective and how it improves the learning outcomes of young children, research has failed to capture the perspectives of the actors involved, such as pedagogical coaches, childcare managers and practitioners. These perspectives are important as policies alone are insufficient to bring about changes in practice. This paper captures the lifeworld of these actors of change by means of qualitative research in Flanders. Our results show that (i) a clear pedagogical framework within which pedagogical coaches work and within which the relationships between the different professional roles are defined is of crucial importance, (ii) to be effective in practice, pedagogical coaches need to value and respect childcare workers in what they do. In that sense, it is important to create horizontal relationships, rather than vertical ones and (iii) that systemic conditions impact the effectivity of the coaching. The deployment of pedagogical coaches should therefore be embedded in a systemic educational culture where the best interest of children is paramount.

Public welfare actors struggle with the question how they can guarantee children's wellbeing. The answer to this question depends on the countries' perspective concerning its responsibility for the care of its citizens. In the Flemish context, a maximalist child protection logic - with a focus on the realisation of rights - is adopted. In this article, we focus on the so-called 'bottleneck cases' and use the case of Zoe as a concrete application of the legislative framework that regulates the bottleneck case system. By analysing the case of Zoe, we show that a maximalist policy discourse that is based on commitment towards complex situations sometimes masks a minimalist policy logic. The issue that prompts itself is that this does not mean that a maximalist practice is not realised, but that it is realised because social practitioners deviate from the policy plans, while pretending 'as if' they follow them.

Over the past few decades, scholars have paid attention to how PI (parental involvement) impacts children’s performance at school. Hence, PI is often reduced to school-centric involvement. Moreover, several studies have shown social class differences in PI, but relatively little attention has been paid to social class differences in culturally diverse contexts. In this article, we contribute to this discussion by reflecting upon how parents conceptualize preschool and their involvement and exploring class differences in the culturally diverse context of rural China. Drawing on data from eight focus group interviews, this article explores rural parents’ perceptions of the relationships with teachers, hereby asking what is good for their children and the utilization of guanxi (a specific form of social capital). The findings indicate parents are anxious about their child’s education, particularly their early learning. Furthermore, parents want to build good relations with teachers, and they emphasize tinghua (children to be unconditionally respectful, compliant, and obedient) and the strategic use of guanxi for their child's education. We conclude with a discussion of the findings and reflection on the inequality in rural China.

compare how predictive tools are con-structed in gain or lose legitimacy, and are promoted to, and challenged by, key stakeholders in Aotearoa New Zealand, England and Denmark. Findings show how similar technological developments are socio-politically conditioned, constructed, implemented or discon-tinued in diverse ways.

Parental involvement (PI) is one of the major narratives in educational reform. When exploring the literature on PI, we observed that it is unclear (i) how parents themselves are viewed within these conceptualizations and (ii) to what extent parents are being included in the conceptualization of PI. In this study, we explored both questions by conducting a thematic content analysis on the plethora of research on the theme of PI. We found that in most of the literature PI seems to function as a concept of convenience which can be used whenever it fits. We found that when attempts are made to conceptualize PI, parents are seldom involved, even though they are key stakeholders. Furthermore, our study shows that PI is almost always conceptualized as a means for promoting academic success. We call for a shift from instrumentalizing and silencing parents towards a reciprocal, symmetrical dialogic relationship between teachers and parents.