McCormick Institute for Early Childhood

BY Arvin Daiz | May 20, 2019

I work with early childhood leadership and school leadership at the Department of Education at the University of the Faroe Islands. Faroe Islands is in Europe and lays in the middle of the north Atlantic sea. Faroe Islands and Greenland are a part of the kingdom of Denmark.


In 2017, I was on a successful six-month research visit at McCormick Center for Early Childhood Leadership at National Louis University in Wheeling. Amongst other things, I acquired an in-depth knowledge of how early childhood care and education differs between the USA and the Faroe Islands/Denmark.

One crucial difference is that early childhood centers in the Faroe Islands and Denmark are most often funded directly by municipalities rather than by tuition, fees, and child care subsidies which are common in the U.S. Parents in the Faroe Islands and Denmark who are not receiving benefits pay between one-sixth and one-tenth of the amount that US parents pay to have a child in an early childhood setting. The remainder of the cost in the Faroe Islands and Denmark is covered by municipal tax revenues.


Another significant difference is that over 90% of preschool children in the Faroe Islands and Denmark have a full-time place in an early childhood setting, which is considerably higher than the figure for the USA and other countries. The main reason that the rest of children under school age in the Faroe Islands and Denmark are not in early childhood settings is that there is state-financed maternity leave throughout most of the first year of a child’s life.

The biggest difference, however, between the Faroe Islands and the USA, and even Denmark, is probably that the introduction of formal school learning is much later in the Faroe Islands. In Denmark, this starts at the age of six and in the USA, at age five. Children in the Faroe Islands are not introduced to formal school learning until the age of seven when they start school.


Likewise, the work carried out in Faroese early childhood settings is little marked by academic learning. The Faroese Early Childhood Setting Act from 2000 says that the goal is “with care, in a secure and child-friendly environment, to develop and shape children in the best possible way” (my translation). In accordance with this goal and my in-depth knowledge of the Faroese early childhood field, I find Baumfield’s (2013) description to be a good characterization of the focus areas of pedagogues (preschool teachers) in early childhood settings in the Faroe Islands and Denmark. In line with Baumfield’s (2013) description, pedagogues in early childhood settings do not teach in a structured way literacy, numeracy etc., but their focus is rather on children’s overall development, involving a firm belief in the importance of learning through play and in nurturing the child’s natural curiosity. Further, a common way of understanding the concept of “pedagogy” in the Faroe Islands and Denmark can be illuminated with the words of Petrie et al. (2012, p. 225): “‘Pedagogy’ implies that you are working with the whole child: body, mind, feelings, spirit and creativity. Crucially, the child is seen as a social being, connected to others and at the same time with their own distinctive experiences and knowledge.”


After six years as a researcher in the field of early childhood in the Faroe Islands, my impression is that, unfortunately, there is too sharp a division between formal learning in schools and broader pedagogical activities in early childhood settings in the Faroe Islands.

After a six-month research stay in USA, my impression is that formal learning and broader pedagogical activities blend with each other in early childhood centers in the USA. However, it also appears to me that school-like learning activities in early childhood centers in the USA are more valued than the broader pedagogical activities. I have indicated previously that early childhood education needs to enhance a certain amount of formal learning, but at the moment it seems to me, that in the USA it has tipped too much over to that side. Hence there is a danger of losing focus on securing development of the whole child: body, mind, feelings, spirit and creativity. I find it important to remember that children in early development stages need a holistic development approach that nurtures the child’s natural curiosity through play.

 

REFERENCES:

Baumfield, V. M. (2013). Pedagogy. In D. Wyse, V. M. Baumfield, D. Egan, C. Gallagher, L. Hayward, M. Hulme, R. Leitch, K. Livingston, I. Menter & B. Lingard, Creating the Curriculum, (pp. 46-73). London: Routledge.

Petrie, P., Boddy, J. Cameron, C., Heptinstall, E., McQouil, S., Simon, A. & Withfall, V. (2012). Pedagogy: a holistic, personal approach to work with children and young people, across services. In L. Miller, R. Drury & C. Cable, Extending Professional Practice in the Early Years (pp. 223-233). London: Sage.

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The AI-Enabled Administrator: Reclaim Valuable Time

By Dr. Neal Green • February 8, 2026
Tools: Gemini Gems, NotebookLM, Perplexity Spaces Overview The evidence is clear that early childhood professionals' most significant challenge is a lack of time. Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools, when used strategically, can give administrators some of the time they desperately need, allowing them to focus more on their staff and the children and families in their care. This approach aligns with the foundational goal of strengthening leadership effectiveness and program impact (Abel, Talan, & Masterson, 2023). When I scan the AI landscape of available products and platforms, it becomes overwhelming. There are so many options that it is impossible to keep up with every new development. Focusing on a limited number of AI tools backed by organizations with strong infrastructure and fiscal stability is a wise place to start your AI journey. McCormick Institute for Early Childhood’s (MIEC’s) upcoming professional development sessions will focus on three AI tools. These include Gemini Gems, NotebookLM, and Perplexity Spaces. Think of Gemini Gems as your customized AI assistant that you "train" to follow your rules and meet your goals. Gemini Gems are the right tool to tackle Internal Operations . NotebookLM is perfect for creating Family Support resources that stick. NotebookLM is a powerful AI tool that uses only the documents or other resources you add to generate specific, focused output. Perplexity Spaces is a fantastic choice to address Marketing demands. Like many AI tools, you can toggle back and forth between open web searches and focused documents that are specific to your work. Gemini Gems: The “Specialist Teammate” Gemini Gems allow you to create templates you can use repeatedly for agendas, HR policies, and more. If you have used AI in the past, you know that writing an effective prompt takes time, and they can easily get "lost" if you use AI often. Gems removes that challenge and lets you save your most effective prompts without having to rewrite them every time you use Gemini. It is up to you to decide if you want to create several smaller Gems to tackle common challenges you face or create larger Gems that encompass large swaths of your work. For our purposes, we will focus our Gem work on Internal Operations, addressing Program Administration Scale (PAS) Item 9: Internal Communications (Talan & Bloom, 2011). Imagine using a Gem to turn messy staff meeting notes into professional minutes with clear action plans in minutes or less! NotebookLM: The "Walled Garden" NotebookLM is an excellent tool for Family Support for your center, addressing PAS Item 17: Family Support and Involvement (Talan & Bloom, 2011). After uploading documents and resources, such as your parent handbook or community referral lists, to your Notebook, you can create several resources that parents/guardians of your center students will love. Just a few of the impressive features available with NotebookLM include audio (podcast) summaries, video summaries, and reporting functions with templates or the option to create your own report with metrics that matter most to you. Perplexity Spaces: The "Research Librarian" Perplexity Spaces is a perfect AI partner for Marketing your early childhood education (ECE) program, addressing PAS Item 18: External Communications (Talan & Bloom, 2011). You can build your own centralized repository, with control over branding to ensure consistency and present a professional, current image. Adding specific instructions to your space eliminates the need to format documents constantly and saves valuable time. The consistency that a Perplexity Space offers in this regard allows you to upload messages that are the "voice” of your brand. Your marketing efforts are not only more aesthetically pleasing but also enable you to track trends at similar centers in your area, helping you assess the competition. Strategies for Success: Audit your Internal Communications: Identify one repetitive task, such as creating staff meeting agendas (PAS Item 9), and automate it with a Gemini Gem. Curate your Family Resources: Gather three to five existing documents to "feed" a NotebookLM project for more responsive family support (PAS Item 17). Standardize your Brand: Use a Perplexity Space to ensure all public relations tools project a consistent, professional image (PAS Item 18). Reflection Questions: Which administrative task takes the most time away from your interactions with staff and families? How might centralizing marketing materials (branding) impact the professional image to prospective families? Table 1: AI Tools for ECE Professionals
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