This study is part of a larger project with the general aim of developing the ability of preschool teachers to reflect critically on questions, topics and theories related to different understandings of death(s). The article is based on three focus-group interviews with a focus on how preschool teachers reflect on what, how, why and when they…

Within professional development (PD), reflection is recognised as a key ingredient to developing high quality practice, however less is known about the context and mechanisms needed to enable this in early childhood education and care (ECEC) settings. This article explores video enhanced reflective practice (VERP), an innovative model of…

The use of films in the classroom is not new, as they promote critical thinking and reflection (Prats, Lluis. 2005. "Cine para Educar." Barcelona: Belacqua). However, their role in promoting inclusive values with young learners remains relatively unexplored. Films have been considered a powerful pedagogical tool that helps students be in…

Making sensitive pedagogic relationships in the nursery is a deeply human activity evoking joy and satisfaction, but stress and uncertainty too. From an international perspective, strong local reflective spaces are required if early childhood provision is to be culturally and context responsive, counter-balancing globalising pressure to…

This study examined the potential role of critical reflection as a tool to support pre-service early childhood teacher interns in understanding and questioning pedagogical choices witnessed in their preschool internships while developing their own socially responsible teaching capacity. This study contributes to the field of critical reflection in…

The complexity of gear concepts, often misunderstood by young children, highlights the need for educational frameworks beyond simple play. To examine the effects of using the prediction, observation, and explanation (POE) model in building block activities, a true experimental design was implemented. A total of 49 preschoolers were randomly…

High-quality supervision for teachers in early care and education (ECE) is essential for building positive teacher-child relationships and enhancing ECE program quality, which in turn promotes healthy social-emotional and academic development in young children. Reflective supervision (RS) is a process-oriented and relationship-centered supervisory…

Educator reflective practice is fundamental to quality early childhood education with robust practice benefitting pedagogy and improving outcomes for children. Yet, examination of individual and collaborative reflective practice in experienced professional early childhood teams is scarce. This qualitative case study used an action research design…

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…

Educators have a critical role in enhancing children's play interests within the classroom by determining the actions and context of their play. This study examined personal and professional characteristics associated with educators' self-reported play engagement preferences using a sample of Greek early childhood educators. One hundred…

Pedagogic mediation from Pedagogy-in-Participation in Portugal, as a context-specific approach to professional development, provides a participatory framework through which practice enhancements are supported. This research introduced ten ECEC leaders and mentors, within a specific local authority in England, to the democratic nature of pedagogic…

In this study, an instructional programme was designed and implemented with preschool teachers to teach them about integrated STEM education. This paper focused on how this instruction changed teachers' perceptions of engineering. The study aimed at exploring what the teachers learned about engineering, one of the STEM disciplines, throughout…

This study offers lessons for P-12 school leaders grappling with integrating artificial intelligence (AI) into learning, teaching, and schooling. The goal was to understand what leadership conversations were being had in the first year of the public's use of ChatGPT and what advice was given to school leaders. We collected all the articles from 12…

Non-behavioral factors potentially enhance the development of teachers' professional competencies. Because there is a lack of research examining the direct relationships between teachers' professional competencies and these non-behavioral factors, present study aimed to identify the main cognitive, personality and motivational antecedents of…

Team-based leadership is increasingly recognized as valid for raising workplace quality. Developing effective teams of leaders, though, is barely understood, scantly researched and not simple or straightforward. Mentoring has been recognized as valuable within teams and with the support of critical reflection can assist in augmenting team-based…