Recent studies report high levels of physical inactivity among most of the global population, including young children. As young children spend a large fraction of their time in school, early childhood teachers have important roles in promoting adequate physical activity (PA) among children. This scoping review aims to synthesise existing evidence…

In an age when play is often seen as frivolous or unproductive, this book explains the importance of play in early childhood education. Each chapter focuses on a specific type of play, includes suggestions for putting theory into practice, and offers recommendations for language and information educators can use to help parents understand that…

This study endeavors to investigate the role of female teachers of childhood education in directing children towards the effective use of smart devices in developing their learning experiences. The sample of the study consisted of 83 female teachers in the northern region of Jordan, who were selected using the available sampling method. To achieve…

The aim of this article is to contribute to the under-researched topic of racism in Finnish early childhood education and care (ECEC) by posing three questions: What kind of racism do ECEC teachers recognize in ECEC? How are teachers committed to opposing racism in their work? What kind of obstacles to committing to antiracism are recognized in…

Although computational thinking (CT) has emerged as an essential competence across all educational levels, limited research has focused on teachers' readiness for CT education, particularly within the context of early childhood education (ECE). This study involved 1,387 Chinese ECE teachers to identify their CT readiness profiles based on…

The early care and education (ECE) workforce is experiencing concerning levels of stress and depression (Elharake et al., 2022; Jennings et al., 2020). The well-being of these workers affects staff turnover and their interactions with children (Kwon et al., 2020; Smith & Lawrence, 2019). Research has shown that racial concordance (or matching)…

The 2020 COVID-19 pandemic rapidly impacted the education sector both in Aotearoa New Zealand and internationally. Most research has focused on the impacts within the primary, secondary, and tertiary education sectors. This article brings attention to the challenges faced by early learning kaiako while providing learning opportunities during…

Japanese early childhood teachers use the "mimamoru" approach, in which teachers let children develop their sense of right and wrong in a group-oriented environment where they are accountable to others. Cultural in nature, the "mimamoru" approach is based on teachers' beliefs that children are truly autonomous beings who can…

This article aims to identify the correlation between early childhood teachers' ability to foster creativity through free play. A screening model is used in the study. The participants comprised 166 teachers of the foundation (early childhood) phase. The 'Teacher Roles in Free Play Scale' and the 'Creativity Fostering Teacher Index Scale'…

In 2021, the DC Council established the Early Childhood Educator Pay Equity Fund ("Pay Equity Fund") to improve compensation for early educators in licensed child development centers and homes. The fund leverages a tax on individuals earning more than $250,000 a year to sustainably fund supplemental payments to early educators in efforts…

In the US, recent efforts have focused on professionalizing the field of early childhood. One way to indicate professionalism is through the terms used to describe both the field and the workers. However, few have examined how practitioners or researchers describe early childhood professionals' work. Using multiple data sources and analytic…

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…

Currently the number of men working in early years education in England is very low at 2%. This stubbornly resistant workforce pattern matters because it perpetuates the entrenched gender stereotype of young children's education and care as women's work. It is extraordinary to find this corner of gender statis in a world that is supposedly in the…

Racism is pervasive in education in Aotearoa New Zealand, including in early childhood education. The preparedness of early childhood teachers to respond to the Ministry of Education's current anti-racism policy direction is a pressing concern. This is particularly the case, given the early childhood curriculum "Te Whariki: He whariki…

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…