Pre-School Education in the European Community. Commission of the European Communities Studies Collection, Education Series No. 12.

An extensive discussion of current problems in preschool education provision in the European community is provided and supplemented by working papers and reports from a colloquium examining the needs of European preschool children and preschool program design. After a broad description of the general features of preschool education as it has developed in the area, the volume offers a critical reappraisal of the institution of the nursery school along with explorations of the nursery school as an integrated social service, as a flexible provider of continuity in children's transition to formal education, as a guarantor of young children's rights, as locus for community participation, and as an environment adapted to the needs of handicapped, rural, migrant, and disadvantaged children. Issues of staff training, teaching and educational research, nursery school administration, and research needs are subsequently discussed. The contents of the colloquium papers focus on specifying young children's needs and rights in various social and cultural settings and on the qualities required in preschool education if it is to satisfy those needs. The volume concludes with a synthesis report of colloquium outcomes and a list of participants. Also included are 12 tables of data on variables related to the provision of preschool education in the European community. (Author/RH)

Microfiche. [Washington D.C.]: ERIC Clearinghouse microfiches : positive.