Despite the developments and examples of effective practice, it is asserted that early childhood teachers encounter difficulties while utilizing formative assessment in their classrooms and the debate about how to achieve this continues. It is widely acknowledged that preservice teachers need research-based professional support to have sufficient…

Development of professional competencies is a key outcome of undergraduate programs preparing practitioners to work with infants and toddlers. Competencies for working with young children were examined among 1300 undergraduate students at 12 universities. Students completed a series of online questionnaires indicating their knowledge, beliefs, and…

The purpose of this study is to contribute to the discussion concerning adaptations and improvements of preschool teacher education. Such changes are crucial, because many newly qualified preschool teachers struggle to live up to the requirements the profession places upon them. This study is conducted in Sweden, where early childhood education…

The instructional congruence framework has been used to enhance congruence between students' non-dominant backgrounds and science instruction in upper grades. The purpose of this paper is to propose and model the use of the framework to address two key areas of concern in the field of early childhood teacher education: family engagement and the…

There is an extensive history of collaboration with respect to policy initiatives between the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) and the Division for Early Childhood (DEC) of the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC). In pursuit of promoting high quality inclusive education for all young children, DEC and NAEYC have…

In this study, the environmental education (EE) component of the pre- school teacher training programs at six (6) universities in Vietnam were examined to identify the challenges of implementing EE in these programs. The framework for the pre-school teacher training program at these universities were analyzed and 18 students in their final year of…

Project Construct is a learner-centered constructivist framework that emphasizes positive teacher-student relationships, autonomy, and child-led experiences. Constructivist pedagogy promote cognitive, behavioral, and academic outcomes. Yet, novice teachers struggle to grasp constructivist teaching practices and tend to emphasize teacher-directed…

The early childhood workforce needs to be prepared to support children with disabilities within the inclusive preschool classroom. Early childhood personnel standards and requirements include competencies for supporting children with disabilities and their families. Teacher preparation programs should ensure that preservice teachers engage in…

Reflective practice is foundational in what preservice educators should know and be able to do as noted in professional preparation standards for Early Childhood Education (ECE) and Early Intervention/Early Childhood Special Education (EI/ECSE). Reflection aids preservice educators in connecting course content with field and clinical experiences…

Childhood psychological trauma is currently gleaning attention in many fields of study. Subsequently, Trauma-Informed Practice (TIP) is becoming integral to many organizations that service children and families. A gap, however, is noted in literature between this approach to practice and pre-service early years professionals who study to work in…

Early childhood and early childhood special education programs have predominantly been separate teacher preparation programs that prepare novice teachers for general or special education settings. However, with a growing shift toward inclusion, as well as a shortage of educators with training to teach all children, there is a need for teacher…

This paper reports on a small-scale research project that aimed to examine the impact of assessment changes to a second-year course called Tuhura Nga Toi Ahuatanga: Exploring the Role of the Expressive Arts in Education. This 30-credit course is part of a Bachelor of Education (Early childhood teaching) at a pre-service education provider in…

Even with increasing calls for both researchers and educators to attend to the "E" in STEM from within the larger field of STEM education, little is known about the practices that serve to support early educators' pedagogy and related content knowledge of engineering design. Using multiple methods in a revelatory, embedded, single-case…

Initial teacher education is the main opportunity to prepare pre-service preschool teachers to foster young children's science competences. Although initial teacher education is important for preschool teachers' later instruction in practice, little is known about early science education in initial teacher education. To gather first insights into…

The study aims to reveal preschool teacher candidates' online practicum experiences during the pandemic -- the teacher candidates connected to preschool classes online while the children were face-to-face with their class teachers. The participants of this phenomenological study were 18 preschool teacher candidates studying at a public university…