There is a consensus that the crises children encounter during the transition period might impact negatively on children's learning and development. However, from cultural-historical perspective, qualitative leap in development can hardly be achieved without crises. This paper, drawing upon cultural-historical theory as the framework and by using…

When the author was adviser to the Australian Minister for Education for writing the national Safe Schools Framework (2003), meetings were held with early-childhood care and education administrators from all state, Catholic and independent sectors. Their unexpected message was that educators were facing new problems, those of child sexual abuse in…

Reports on two studies examining the nature of peer group bullying among Australian primary school children ages five through seven years. The first study surveyed 631 children to understand the nature and effects of bullying. In the second study, 76 children were individually interviewed regarding their social problem-solving capacities. (MM)