Internationally, there is growing concern regarding the insufficient preparation of teachers in mainstream kindergartens in terms of teaching for ethnically diverse children. As teacher educators, we are concerned about how to help kindergarten teachers in Hong Kong improve their teaching. In this study, we adopted the research approach of…

Teacher education programs are still grappling with the best ways of capturing preservice teachers' dispositions toward diversity and culturally relevant pedagogy (CRP). Recent studies identified critical reflections as a way of capturing preservice teachers' dispositional shifts over time, highlighting instances of CRP. This study sought captured…

This research was carried out to examine the cultural literacy of preschool teachers who have students from different cultures in their classrooms. In the present study, a qualitative research method was used to examine teachers' cultural literacy in detail. The participants of the study are preschool teachers who work with children from different…

Aim: The dominance within educational settings of a traditional, binary model of gender is associated with negative outcomes for children and young people, particularly those who identify as transgender or gender diverse (TGD). The purpose of this study is to review contemporary practices in educational settings to support TGD students. Method: A…

The child's emerging sense of identity is deeply informed by their culture. Teachers who are called to work with children 0-3 know and understand that their role in the children's lives is to create a kind of second womb for them in the Infant & Toddler years; this second womb is created with the carefully prepared environment. After the…

This article proposes a reconceptualization of the relationship between two early childhood professional standards, the "Professional Standards and Competencies for Early Childhood Educators" (NAEYC, 2019) and the "Practice-Based Professional Preparation Standards for Early Interventionists/Early Childhood Special Educators"…

Research surrounding classroom practice is changing the way principals, School Management Teams and teachers organise their learning spaces as well as their methods of teaching and learning. In this paper, we aim to explore teachers' experiences of an invitational learning environment in culturally diverse Foundation Phase classrooms. The paper…

The time is now for integrating discussions of inclusive practice with professional development and school leadership, moving away from the normative view of inclusion as situated within special education and teacher preparation programmes. This study describes a triad professional development model that included an integrated professional…

It is almost impossible to talk about a monocultural society in the world that exist diversity and differences. Cultural diversity also makes its presence felt in schools, as in every atmosphere. Pre-school institutions, where children leave their home environment and are involved in the educational environment for the first time, are the places…

The preschool years are fundamental for children's social development as they navigate novel and complex social situations, which include interaction sequences and relationship features. As young children notice aspects of human difference, they develop schemas by classifying and situating attributes (e.g., skin color, hair type, communication…

In statehouses, school boards, and communities across the US, battles are raging over the direction of education policy--from the standards that are shaping what students learn to how test results are being used to judge a teacher's performance. These battles are being waged against a backdrop of shifting demographics, rapidly developing…

The aim of this chapter is to present a brief review of the main trends in the reforms of school structures in Europe that have happened over the past 25 years. The review comprises school systems in 38 European countries: the European Union member states, the European Free Trade Association countries, and some countries in South-Eastern Europe.…

Purpose: Given criticism of P-12 physical education and wide variability in instructional quality and subject matter outcomes in the United States (US), a national curriculum has been debated by some scholars as a mechanism for improving the status of the subject matter. Grounded in the systemic reform (SR) model, the purpose of this study was to…

This rigorous literature review analyzed how 28 U.S.-based research studies conducted between 2001 and 2015 have defined, described, and measured changes in teaching practices related to implementation of Differentiated Instruction (DI) in P-12 classrooms. Research questions examined frameworks that defined DI, classroom operationalization of DI,…

Classrooms have become increasingly diverse places where students from various backgrounds share their learning experiences. To promote inclusive school settings for all, building teacher capacity for inclusive teaching represents a key policy area. Education systems need to ensure that teachers are adequately prepared for inclusive teaching and…