Early reciprocal language experiences are crucial for children's language development. Early childhood education and care (ECEC) has the potential to facilitate language development. However, knowledge on ECEC educators' actions in implementing early language facilitation is scarce. This study surveyed educators' declared practices of early…

There is rising concern in research and practice to improve early years mathematics education as initial mathematical mastery sets the foundation for future academic success. In response to these concerns, this study used observational data from 20 kindergarten classrooms to understand current pedagogies teachers use for mathematics. In…

The world of infants and toddlers is a world of unflagging curiosity and discovery. They are compelled to go, with boundless energy, after the skills that they need for the future. When they are allowed to accumulate as rich and as multifaceted a bundle of formative experiences as possible, teachers expand the material that they have to construct…

This article presents a "child-centered" model of the teaching-learning process--the challenge kindergarten model. The model is an attempt to deal with the limitations of the "child-centered" approach without giving up its benefits. In this model, the teachers enable the children to direct their activities and improve their…

This paper focuses on child-initiated pedagogy that is based on the process of co-construction of learning experiences between children, adults and the environment, being part of longitudinal research project that analyses child-initiated pedagogies in formal early years settings with 3-6-year-old children. Drawing on an ethnographic approach this…

Instructional choice is a low-intensity strategy that requires little preparation, is easy to implement, and supports content instruction in the classroom. In this study we explored the effectiveness of two types of instructional choice--across-task and within-task choices--implemented classwide during writing instruction by classroom teachers…

Despite the abundance of research in Modeling-based Learning (MbL) in science education, to date there is only limited research on MbL practices among K-6 novice modelers. More specifically, there is no information on how young/novice modelers' modeling enactments look so that researchers and educators have an idea of what should be expected from…

The authors of this article, as student teachers, explored becoming facilitators in lessons focusing on micro-organisms. They elicited ideas from their students and found that even the brightest children held some misconceptions about micro-organisms. The students had some knowledge, but they had not learned how to apply this to investigations…

The goal of this research is to examine how implementing a new pedagogical structure, Academic Choice, informs my understanding of my students as learners and individuals. Using a self-study methodology over the course of eight working sessions in my Kindergarten classroom, I collected multiple forms of qualitative data, including student work…

A UK East Midlands urban infant (four to seven years) school is working to design, implement and evaluate a new pedagogy across all three year groups in the school. The focus is on the implementation of a negotiated progressive skills matrix, centred on continuous and enhanced provision and on creating high-quality interactions between adults and…

We used population-based, longitudinal data to investigate the relation between mathematics instructional practices used by first-grade teachers in the United States and the mathematics achievement of their students. Factor analysis identified four types of instructional activities (i.e., teacher-directed, student-centered,…

This study focuses on learning in three different hypermedia environments that either support autonomous learning, learner-controlled learning or system-controlled learning and explores the mediating role of academic self-regulation style (ASRS; i.e. a macro level of motivation) on learning. This research was performed to gain more insight in the…

The article describes the integration of inquiry, reflective practice, and child-centered teaching approaches in preservice teacher education at the early childhood level. The article reviews relevant literature on the forms and functions of inquiry and reflection as a form of professional development and teacher learning and also describes the…

In 2001, the Chinese Ministry of Education issued Guidelines for Preschool Education (GPE) (trial version) to call on early childhood practitioners to use a child-centered and play-based approach to teaching and learning. The guidelines also include mathematics within the science domain and described its standards in a way that significantly…

This paper reports on observational approaches developed within a UK study to the identification and assessment of metacognition and self-regulation in young children in the 3-5 year age range. It is argued that the development of observational tools, although containing methodological difficulties, allows us to make more valid assessments of…