This study explores the professional development (PD) of rural teachers in China based on their relationship with "left-behind" children, guided by two research questions: 1) How do rural teachers describe their relationship with left-behind children? and 2) How do rural teachers perceive the influence of their relationship with…

This article builds on previous literature considering the role of educational psychology services in promoting whole-establishment nurturing approaches but with a specific focus on implementation within the early years context. It outlines work undertaken by Glasgow Educational Psychology Service (GEPS) to support the rollout of…

Priority-setting is a collective responsibility centred around inclusive engagement and alignment with the needs and desired outcomes of the community. In this study, we leveraged the collective expertise of stakeholders from the child and family service system, to identify priorities for supporting the health, education and wellbeing of children…

Children's early skills are strong predictors of later learning outcomes. Research aiming to disentangle the causal effects of early skills from unmeasured, stable characteristics related to learning throughout development demonstrates that unmeasured confounders explain a large portion of the effects of early skills previously identified. To…

The study aimed at assessing Problems of Curriculum Relevance in Enhancing Children's Cognitive Development in Early Childhood Education (ECE) in Ethiopia. An explanatory sequential research design was employed through a multistage random sampling technique to collect primary data from the participants (N[subscript i]=260) through questionnaires…

Background/Context: School readiness refers to the foundational skills and behaviors children leverage as they begin kindergarten, including a combination of early academics, executive function (EF), and social-emotional competencies. In both high-income and low- and middle-income countries, these early skills collectively enable children to…

Background: The mental health of school-age children is of growing concern in many countries. School professionals require the competences and methods to intervene effectively to promote mental health in schools. Objective: The objective of this study was to describe school professionals' perceptions of the competences needed and effective methods…

This paper explored the challenges to the infant care profession in Hong Kong crèches, with an aim to contribute to the existing early childhood care literature for reference and comparison elsewhere. A questionnaire survey was conducted with 55 childcare workers and 12 supervisors, followed by interviews with some selected participants to examine…

Aims: Over the last decade, there has been growing interest in the application of play as a pedagogical approach to support the learning of children within formal education settings. However, existing literature has shown there is significant variation in teachers' understanding of play-based pedagogy (PBP) and how it is applied in the classroom…

Background: Most field coursework in teacher education (TE) programmes do not incorporate extended "in situ" interaction with individual children in a classroom. Furthermore, child development theory (from coursework) is not taught in tandem with students' extended periods of practicum placement in schools. Aim: This study sought to…

This study explored voices of early learning teachers engaged in discussions in an online outdoor play and nature pedagogy course. Three core questions were investigated that focused on early learning teachers' perceptions and practices of children's access to quality outdoor play and nature experiences. The results support previous research that…

Background: Teachers emerge as main role players guiding the process of curriculum implementation across all levels of education. At early childhood development (ECD) level, curriculum implementation is unique, but emphasis on teacher training is essential as it influences teachers' efficacy in promoting holistically developed children. Upon…

Chinese kindergartens' over 110 years of adaptation of foreign models is a vivid example of how globalization comes into direct contact with Chinese culture and creates cultural hybridities. Learning Stories as a narrative assessment tool to children's development from New Zealand, has swept China with the endorsement from the professional…

This project partnered researchers, Visiting Teachers, and three networks of home-based educators to engage with three research-informed professional learning modules designed to support educator practice and enhance children's learning. Each module focused on one aspect of developing competencies related to success in beginning schooling…

The first years of life lay the foundations for a child's future development and learning. Many countries have increased their financial support for provision of early childhood education and care (ECEC) over the past years. More recently, the focus of debate has been shifting from expanding access to affordable ECEC to enhancing its quality. A…