The author contends that, although most early childhood educators agree about the value of play for child development, preschools and kindergartens often do not reflect this belief, and she discusses this anomaly in the adult notion of play and how it manifests in classroom practices. She argues that it produces schoolroom practices in which…

There is a longstanding discussion in child theology around the role of cognition for faith formation. This article explores research in the area of disability theology in order to examine potential benefits for Christian ministry to the child. It suggests three areas which may be profitable: the importance of increasing information to accompany…

Although Chinese early childhood education policies have high expectations for kindergarten teachers' play pedagogy, teaching and play are still discussed as a bifurcation in Chinese kindergartens' daily practice. To support Chinese kindergarten teachers' development of play pedagogy, this study conducted an educational experiment (EE) framed by…

Policies related to the inclusion of children with disabilities in mainstream classrooms have led to questions regarding how teachers can help cultivate inclusive learning communities where all children are supported and valued. In play-based kindergarten programs, teachers are tasked with ensuring goals for children's learning and development are…

"Childhood, Philosophy, and Dialogical Education" explores the history and prospects of democratic, dialogical education, and its promise as an engine of social and cultural evolution, especially in the context of the cultural and social site dedicated to the adult-child encounter: the school. Drawing on three historical narratives--of…

This article describes a teacher in Vietnam being trained in and using process-oriented child monitoring (POM) in their classroom. POM is a child observation approach that can be used to determine students' levels of wellbeing and involvement in the classroom, which helps a teacher understand if deep-level learning is taking place. POM is an easy,…

Based on emerging literature on the important role of self-regulation in supporting learning, policy makers have made efforts to include self-regulation skills in practice and policy documents worldwide. Despite these efforts, there is limited understanding of what self-regulation is and how best to support these skills in the day-to-day life of…

Cultural change and global pluralism are causing an increasing plea for Christian-holistic education. However, this term lacks clear definition based on a proper description of the cultural background that provoked it. A secular definition of holistic education is taken from a worldwide movement for Whole Child Development and compared with the…

Children's early understanding of mathematics provides a foundation for later success in school. Identifying ways to enhance mathematical instruction is crucial to understanding the ideal ways to promote academic success. Previous work has identified mathematical language (i.e., the words and concepts related to early mathematical development such…

This study contributes to our understanding of children's development of map-reading skills through a systematic 'step-by-step approach'. Utilising an ecological research design, we investigated how children perceive and utilise maps in a large-scale outdoor environment. A total of 156 children, aged 5-11 (both boys and girls), participated in the…

This conceptual paper introduces the idea of the walled garden of pedagogy. I will come to delineate it as a desirable and necessary feature of education given that it offers a protective space for pedagogical practice and rehearsal. This paper critiques a previous conceptualisation of a walled garden introduced by unschooling advocate John Holt…

Rudolf Steiner's international Waldorf education is comparatively under-researched for a 100-year-old education movement which thrives globally. What is further unknown in academic educational circles is the specific study of the "feeling-life," the middle period of childhood in Waldorf education, of children aged 7 through 14. This…

Childhood states are commonly invoked by adult humans in derisory ways and as put-downs. While infantile and clownish ways of behaving are often met with insult, we argue that these ways of being could instead be seen in terms of their productive potential. Drawing on posthuman and feminist theories and invoking clownish qualities of Haraway's Bag…

Taking up the contention that child development manifests through the developmental logics it enacts, the authors work with citational practices as iterations of how developmentalism's logics are done in everyday practices in early childhood and teacher education. They work with Erica Burman's method of 'found childhood' to propose citational…

In "Emile," Rousseau advances significant ideas about language, language learning and teaching: He posits a universal natural language that develops as the child matures; focuses on 'private' words invented by children, on the challenge facing children in their understanding of exceptions to general rules of the mother tongue and on…