The potential for professional development initiatives to improve quality in ECEC is an area of increasing international interest. This article presents insights from an ethnography into the manifestation of a two-year practice-based continuous professional development initiative (Educational Quality in Daycare: EQD) informed by the Abecedarian…

In this paper, we present an argument for Practitioner Inquiry (PI). We briefly introduce PI, and we indicate how PI recasts the professional and political role of the Early Years Practitioner (practitioner). At the core of this article is the work of the early childhood pioneer, Friedrich Froebel (1782-1852). Froebel provided principles to…

To explore the chain mediating effect of teacher-child conflict and sleeping disorders between work intensification on vocal fatigue of kindergarten teachers, 847 kindergarten teachers in China were investigated using the Work Intensification Scale, Teacher-Child Relationship Scale (TCRS), Athens Insomnia Scale (AIS) and Vocal Fatigue Index (VFI).…

Work climate affects the quality of early childhood education and care activities. The aim was to explore how the staff describe demands and resources in their jobs, and whether different profiles could be distinguished among those with turnover intentions and those without. The research was based on the Job Demands-Resources model [Bakker, A. B.,…

Recent studies have shown that playing with coding toys enhances children's skills in STEM-subjects, especially problem-solving abilities. However, there is limited knowledge of early childhood education and care (ECEC) teachers' roles in facilitating children's problem-solving through coding-toy play activities and the high-quality pedagogical…

The aim of this exploratory sequential mixed methods study was to examine the beliefs of Early Childhood Education teachers regarding the enculturation process of children. Eleven 2-year-old classroom teachers (M[subscript age]= 40.64; DT = 7.43; 81.81% female) participated in the qualitative phase, and 256 teachers (M[subscript age] = 42.25; DT =…

Our theoretical framework is based on Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development focusing on adults' involvement in children's play and we argue that teachers' involvement is crucial in supporting children's play skills. Particularly, this study examines early childhood teachers' (ECTs) sociodramatic and imaginative play skills and their development…

While academic interest in belonging in early childhood education and care (ECEC) settings has increased in recent years, the interplay between parental and educators' notions of belonging is under-researched. This article explores preschool educators' experiences of working with families of young children and their perspectives of parental…

Documentation, assessment and evaluation processes in early learning contexts should include participation and contribution from all educators. This helps to ensure diversity of knowledge, perspective and background that can create more inclusive and equitable early learning curricula. This article presents findings from a collective case-study…

Attracting and recruiting qualified, high-quality teachers is a global challenge. In Finland, the recruitment of Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) teachers has been particularly problematic, especially in the Helsinki metropolitan area. This paper investigates the incentives used in job advertisements to attract ECEC teachers in Finland…

This paper outlines the findings of an empirical research study exploring how early years settings support under-threes with their early reading development in England. The data was collected through a mixed methodological approach of a survey (n = 60 respondents), five semi-structured interviews and two focus group workshops to explore the…

Previous research has shown that the importance of education for sustainability is acknowledged in Finnish early childhood education and care but not systematically put into practice. At present, curricula require considering social, cultural, economic and ecological sustainability in all activities. In this research, discourse analysis was used…

This study examined the intercultural competence and related characteristics of early childhood teachers. Significant positive correlations were found among attitudes, knowledge/awareness, and skills (sub-elements of intercultural competence); attitudes showed the highest score while skills showed the lowest score. Intercultural competence and its…

Child displacement levels are rising due to conflict and violence; early educators often provide the first sustained contact young refugee children have with host-country culture. Sensitive pedagogical practices can provide refugee children with a sense of safety as they navigate their new world. This article shares one aspect of a Pedagogy of…

Early childhood education and care in Norway have a broad mission and are, among other things, mandated through legislation and frameworks to remedy social injustice and emphasise inclusion. Nevertheless, research illustrates that symbolic power tends to be present in early childhood education and care institutions. In this conceptual paper, it is…