For those experiencing them, educational transitions include not only the present time but are embedded within institutions that precede and extend beyond the individuals. This article explores how, as an institutional space, the early childhood education and care (ECEC) setting is (re)produced within young children's encounters with others during…

Generative artificial intelligence (GAI) is rapidly becoming ubiquitous in many contexts. There is limited scholarship, however, in the fields of Developmental Psychology and Early Childhood Education exploring the implications of generative AI for babies and young children. In this Perspectives piece, we discuss potential use cases,…

The socio-emotional experiences of infants during transitions to early childhood education and care (ECEC) and across their first year in these out-of-home contexts are not well known. In an international project across five countries (New Zealand, Finland, Australia, Scotland and the United States), observational data, video of key moments, plus…

Research on gesture development has mostly focused on home environments. Little is known about early communicative development in other relevant contexts, such as early-year-schools. These settings, rich in diverse educative situations, objects, and communicative partners, provide a contrast to parent-child interactions, complementing our…

In recent years, the theoretical lens of new materialism(s) and surge in feminist thinking has opened up new ways of understanding the complexities of motherhood, babyhood and early childhood. This surge in post-qualitative and feminist inquiry towards the troubling of dominant early childhood abstractions and norms, as well as resistance to…

The first years of life are critical for language development. Numerous studies indicate that actively participating in music creates a neural processing advantage in brain regions that support language development. Nevertheless, shared social characteristics between music and language may also play a role in explaining the benefits of music…

Can at-scale, government-implemented parent training programs improve parenting practices and child development outcomes? This article presents evidence on the effects of a low-cost, group-based early childhood education program that provided parent training and direct child stimulation in rural communities, evaluated in six Mexican states.…

The importance of early science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) learning opportunities for all young children has become increasingly documented by research and recommended practices. In addition, high quality inclusive settings where all children can access and benefit from learning activities continues to demonstrate optimal outcomes…

Early childhood providers care for infants and toddlers with developmental delays and special needs in their programs and classrooms. This study addressed the problem that there is insufficient professional development (PD) training for early childhood providers working with infants and toddlers with special needs in inclusive settings. The…

Calls to bring more equity into science education research (McWayne and Melzi, 2023) are most notable for early childhood. We know very little about the teaching of science to infants and toddlers, yet this is where science education begins. To address the dearth in research, we undertook an in-depth intervention study in an Australian early…

The objective of this study was to evaluate the motor, cognitive and language development of babies living in two institutional contexts. Seventy babies participated in the study: 35 from prisons and 35 from shelters. Thirty-five mothers of hospitalized babies and 10 caregivers of hospitalized babies also participated in this study. The…

Many bilingual infants attend early childhood education centres (ECEC) with their monolingual peers. However, recent evidence reveals that bilingual infants vocalise significantly less than monolingual infants in ECEC settings (Zheng et al. 2023) [Effects of Multilingualism on Australian Infants' Language Environments in Early Childhood Education…

In the short span of three years, infants learn to move with confidence and grace, to converse with ease, to investigate and solve problems, and to help others in need--building an exquisite foundation for all learning that follows. Maguire-Fong has updated her groundbreaking book designed to assist pre- and in-service professionals working with…

Previous research has highlighted the need to improve teacher education programs with the intent of preparing infant-toddler professionals as working with infants-toddlers and families requires a unique skill set. The following mixed methods research study supported these assertions by examining the early childhood education (ECE) undergraduate…

This paper reports the findings of a narrative review of international research literature about babies' and toddlers' engagement with the outdoor environment whilst attending ECEC (Early Childhood Education and Care) settings. Based on the in-depth review of 21 papers, it identifies four dominant themes in the literature: the outdoors as a space…