Overview

This open access book is about the successes and challenges of the institutions and individuals who transformed early child education in Central, Eastern and Southern Europe (CEE) and Eurasia in response to the political transitions to democracy in the 1990’s. Through new interviews and unpublished reports, the book gives voice to committed practitioners, researchers and policymakers who are developing inspiring services for and with young children and their families, including children who live in very difficult circumstances. They work with children affected by war, refugee families with young children, children who live in poverty, children of minorities, and children with disabilities and developmental delays. The voices of these pedagogues, experts and NGO leaders, who were supported by the Open Society Foundations Early Childhood Program, bring inspiring messages to those in the field of early childhood seeking to promote democratic values and social inclusion. The book traces the extension of programs to Africa and Asia and explores how strategies used to transform early childhood education following the political and social transformations in Europe and Eurasia can inform responsive reforms and innovations in early childhood education today and in the future. The ebook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence on bloomsburycollections.com. Open access was funded by Open Society Foundation (OSF).

Full Product Details

Author:   Sarah Klaus (Georgetown University, USA) ,  Jan Peeters ,  Tatjana Vonta
Publisher:   Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Imprint:   Bloomsbury Academic
Dimensions:   Width: 15.60cm , Height: 2.50cm , Length: 23.40cm
Weight:   0.454kg
ISBN:  

9781350257856

ISBN 10:   1350257850
Pages:   282
Publication Date:   22 January 2026
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Manufactured on demand  
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Table of Contents

Preface Foreword Introduction: Building Democracy Through Early Childhood Education Part I: Why Invest in Early Childhood During a Political Transformation Process Towards Democracy? 1. ‘Everything was Planned’: Early Childhood Education in Former Socialist Countries before and during their Transition 2. ‘It Was Just a Magic Time’: Investing in Early Childhood to Build Democratic Societies Part II: Inventing a Democratic Pedagogy 3. ‘Who Says We Can’t Change the World?’: Implementing the Step by Step Program 4. ‘The Teachers Believed in Us’: How Teachers, Parents and Children Experienced the Programs 5. ‘Slowly We are Getting There’: Creating Opportunities for Children Experiencing Exclusion 6. ‘Don’t Think That it Won’t Happen’: Young Children in Times of War Part III: Extending and Sustaining Democratic Pedagogy Through Civil Society Networks and Expansion to New Regions 7. ‘The Seed Beneath the Snow’: The Growth of National and Regional Professional Early Childhood Networks 8. ‘Surprised and Thrilled’: Rolling Out the Programs Part IV: Transforming Early Childhood Education Systems 9. ‘This is Yours’: Successful Transformations of Early Childhood Education Systems Conclusion 10. ‘Systems Change When People Change’: Lessons Learned from Long-Term Investing in Early Childhood Annexes Annex 1. Biographies of Interviewees and Focus Group Participants Annex 2. Methodology: Oral History Interview and Desk Review of Evaluations, Reports and Documents

Reviews

""In the face of insurmountable obstacles generated by poverty in low democracy states this is a book that provides hope through a remarkable insight into how the Open Society contributed to global early childhood education (ECE). Over a period of three decades from the 1990s it follows the work of the Step by Step programme. The authors have captured how systemic support for ECE can help ameliorate inequality for young children. A must read for anyone wanting to see how sustainable change is possible."" --Iram Siraj OBE, Professor of Child Development, University of Oxford, UK ""What sparked the transformative wave in early childhood education across Central, Eastern, and Southern Europe, and the former Soviet Union after the fall of the Berlin Wall? Dive into a compelling first-hand narrative that chronicles the journey of the Step by Step program from model kindergartens to a global movement, championing inclusive, creative, and democratic learning environments. An essential read for anyone passionate about the power of education in shaping open societies."" --Iveta Silova, Professor and Associate Dean of Global Engagement, Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College, Arizona State University, USA ""The encouraging message of this book is strengthening early childhood practitioners' readiness for change, dealing with resistance to change and creating inclusive, democratic and qualitative education for young children. Although this book explores Step by Step and Open Society's Early Childhood Program, the content, different topics and theoretical analysis have a universal application in the phenomenology of transforming ECEC in general."" --Lidija Miskeljin, University of Belgrade, Serbia

Author Information

Sarah Klaus is Adjunct Assistant Professor at Georgetown University’s Center for Child and Human Development, USA, and an independent Advisor and Consultant to foundations, international agencies and NGOs. Jan Peeters is a Senior Researcher and Consultant, based in Belgium, working with Innovations in the Early Years and Fair Start Stories, the European Commission and UNICEF, including in Eastern European countries. Tatjana Vonta, now retired, was Senior Researcher and Head of the Step by Step Centre at the Educational Research Institute, an Associate Professor at the University of Primorska, Slovenia.

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