Community Elders in Boorloo (Perth) identified early childhood education (ECE) as a priority area for Aboriginal children's research. This is due to a lower number of Aboriginal children attending ECE programs compared to non-Aboriginal children. Attending ECE programs sets children up for school success and is an indicator for positive life…

Three Australian Government reports released between 2011 and 2017 highlight a child development theory-practice gap in Australian early childhood initial teacher education. This qualitative study explores what informs university lecturers' teaching of child development theory in tertiary programmes. Grounded in Interpretative Phenomenological…

Despite increased popular and research interest in youth development and outdoor education, very little research has focused upon the design principles that enhance the effectiveness of these programs. This article presents a scoping review of the literature discussing youth development activities occurring in outdoor environments, in order to…

The purpose of this paper is to emphasise the value of inducting and mentoring new practitioners in Early Childhood Education centres. Early Childhood Education centres are usually located in meaningful buildings. Centres care for more children than the family can provide for. They are usually divided into groups or classrooms of similarly aged…

This paper highlights the use of a participatory, trauma-informed approach in the creation of "Ahlan Simsim," a Sesame Street television program for the Middle East, and asserts the importance of using a participatory approach to designing culturally relevant SEL content. "Ahlan Simsim" is a component of a larger initiative of…

Research Findings: The present study investigates both the proximal processes and contextual influences on children's oral language development in preschool. We examine whether teacher language practices vary across activity settings and program type, which teacher language practices predict children's oral language skills, and potential…

This study of participants' contributions to a university-based family literacy program was informed by both "funds of knowledge" (Moll, 1992) and "multiple literacies" (Auerbach, 1995). The study examined participants' contributions to the design, implementation, and evaluation of a university-based family literacy program. In…

Positive development models shift focus for intervention from avoiding problems, deficits, or psychopathology to promoting skills, assets, and psychological well-being as the critical interests in development and intervention. The field can be characterized as multiple parallel lines of empirical inquiry from four frameworks: Social Competence,…

This paper serves as an introduction to the special issue of Prevention Science entitled, "Innovations and Applications of Integrative Data Analysis (IDA) and Related Data Harmonization Procedures in Prevention Science." This special issue includes a collection of original papers from multiple disciplines that apply individual-level data…

This 2-year collaborative research project focused on young children's working theories about identity, language, and culture, how early childhood teachers can nurture and encourage this learning, and how this in turn impacts on children's participation in early childhood education (ECE) communities. The project builds on a previous Teaching and…

Rogoff (2003) argues that "Human development is a cultural process….People develop as participants in cultural communities" (p. 3). Children develop within families, and different cultures reflect differences in how they structure activity for this development. For example, middle class North American families generally would not permit…

Background: Health is recognized as an important factor in children's educational achievement, and school-based health education programs are recognized for their potential long-term impact. However, the extent to which children conceptualize health similarly as adults, and the nature of their understandings of health, remain cloudy. Purpose:…

Evaluative intervention studies which have examined the potential of imaginative play to foster young children's cognitive and social development provide the focus of this literature review. Four criteria were used to select the studies: (1) the study's focus was on the use of imaginative play to foster cognitive growth; (2) the studies were…

Identifies and reviews 21 controlled outcome studies of school social work practice. Suggests that school social workers can use these studies as the basis for designing effective interventions in mental health prevention and treatment efforts in schools. Incorporates a risk and resilience perspective to link the demonstrated effects of…

The purpose of this study was to design and implement a physical education program to promote creativity in preschool children. The study was based on the following phases: (a) to design and formulate 20 physical education lessons in order to provide children with opportunities to develop their creative thinking through the use of movement…