Stakeholders’ Views on the Systemic Challenges in Germany’s Early Childhood Education Care System: A Comparative Case Study

Abstract

Systemic challenges persistently affect Germany’s Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) system, impacting children’s cognitive skills and readiness for primary education. These challenges include a shortage of university-trained, qualified kindergarten educators, a lack of ongoing professional development for educators, insufficient curriculum enhancements, limited parental engagement, inadequate funding and resources, a need for practical assessment tools to monitor student progress, and the necessity for robust leadership and policy support. There is a literature gap in theoretical and applied research concerning the perspectives of German educational stakeholders on addressing these challenges to enhance the quality of teaching. The purpose of this qualitative, comparative case study with embedded units is to describe the different views of educational stakeholder groups on the systemic challenges within Germany’s ECEC system related to kindergarten students’ cognitive skills by comparing results between two educational stakeholder groups: Kindergarten educators and primary school teachers, all employed in the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, the largest State of the Federal Republic of Germany. This study is framed by four theoretical and conceptual models that ground the study’s purpose: 1) systems theory as applied to educational settings; 2) systemic challenges in educational settings; 3) systems theory as applied to kindergarten pedagogy and school readiness; and 4) stakeholder theory as applied to early childhood educational settings. Qualitative data was collected from 12 semi-structured interviews, reflective field notes, and archive data. Thematic and cross-case synthesis analysis of results revealed seven common themes across the two sample groups that were interpreted and utilized for discussing the transferability of the results and theory extension. These themes are: 1) lack of prioritization of professional training for kindergarten educators in the ECEC system; 2) lack of qualified staff to train kindergarten educators; 3) challenges with the financial and structural support of ECEC programs; 4) failure of the ECEC system to support kindergarten children’s school readiness; 5) staff shortages; 6) parents as the most important external stakeholders; and 7) more external stakeholder involvement needed between kindergarten educators and primary school teachers. This study is relevant for practice and policy, providing evidence-based recommendations for developing efficient educational practices supported by all educational stakeholders in Germany’s ECEC system related to kindergarten students’ cognitive skills and school readiness. The study shows that intensive exchange between educational stakeholders can identify systemic challenges and encourage researchers, educators, and policymakers to promote cooperative and integrative decision-making processes that enable sustainable improvements in Germany’s ECEC system related to kindergarten students’ cognitive skills and school readiness.