Page - 70 - in ElFo - Elementarpädagogische Forschungsbeiträge, Volume Jahrgang 3 / Heft 1 / 2021

Indicators of educator-child-interaction quality in early childhood education ElFo – Elementarpädagogische Forschungsbeiträge (2021), 3 (1), S. 61-76 70 sufficient stimulation. The early childhood educator fails to support the children’s play, and children are not placed in a position where they may experience themselves as competent, independent agents. Discussion As mentioned at the beginning, the quality of interaction between educators and children is an important factor influencing child development. For the results available here, the values obtained for the quality characteristics are extremely diverse, and the majority of the nurse- ries are in the medium-good quality range. This is not too dissimilar to the results found in other studies where low to medium quality was found, albeit for other quality aspects like rooms, space, staff etc. (Tietze, Becker-Stoll, Bensel, Eckhard, Haug-Schnabl, Kalicki et al., 2013; Kuger & Kluczniok, 2008; Smidt & Embacher, 2021). Several things about the nurseries observed in the EIK study are quite impressive. For example, good or excellent quality levels were achieved with respect to structural aspects. The rules system was found to be good in 23 nurseries. In the majority of nurseries studied, suitable rooms were both available and fre- quently used. Learning material was freely accessible for the children and was curated accord- ing to the children’s interests. Supporting morning arrival and orientation within the nursery were also dealt with well or excellently in the majority of cases. This is evidence of clear im- provement over the past few years and can largely be attributed to new legal regulation and to greater overall awareness concerning these issues, particularly when new locations are opened. Despite the improvements, the analysis shows that quality in a number of areas remains defi- cient. There are deficits in the individual interactions that have to be established and created on a daily basis. It can be seen that early childhood educators can significantly improve every- day pedagogical life through their actions (e.g., Petritsch, Sonnleithner & Walter-Laager, in preparation). One of these characteristics is enabling participation. The analysis reveals what seems to be a general lack of knowledge in day care centres on how to create a form of greater daily participation, one that enables children to participate safely, and in a self-determined manner. Participation is a child’s right (see UN Convention on the Rights of the Child) and is not something that should be left to the whim or inclination of the individual educator. Apart from being a basic right, the opportunity to participate has a clear influence on a child's de- velopment. Participative children perceive themselves as competent and feel wanted. The BiKA study (Hildebrandt, Walter-Laager, Flöter & Pergande, 2020) dealt intensively with this topic and investigated participation in nurseries throughout Germany. The conclusion reached by the study authors was similar to our own: there is much that still needs to be done. Our society needs autonomous and self-confident people and promoting empowerment during childhood is one means of achieving this. Only relatively low scores were achieved for all three of the aspects subsumed under support- ing emotion regulation. Yet, as the literature clearly shows, this area is of major importance in