How preschool teachers and children spend their time in preschool sets the stage for child engagement and learning. To describe characteristics of environments and activities and to compare child engagement in indoor and outdoor free play, systematic observations of children and teachers were performed in 78 Swedish preschool units. Results showed…

Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate retention and attrition in First Teacher, Alabama's Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) programme. Methods: Secondary data analysis was used to identify families that were most likely to leave through attrition; focus groups were conducted to discuss potential reasons…

Although there is a long tradition of play pedagogy in early childhood education, teachers have mostly taken a passive role in children's play. There are relatively few studies of the pedagogical roles adults take from inside of children's imaginary play. This paper seeks to fill this gap through presenting the findings of a study where the play…

This paper introduces the Special Issue of "Early Child Development and Care" focused on "Early Childhood Pedagogy." It opens by considering past and present discourses concerning early childhood pedagogy, and focus is given to established philosophical underpinnings in the field and their translation to contemporary guidance,…

This study focuses on a particular relationship between teachers and one- to three-year-old children: the child in the teacher's lap. When, in what situations, does this happen? Who are the children in the teacher's lap? Why are they there? How do children express emotional well-being when in the teacher's lap? Relational, sociocultural and…

Preschool-age children (range: 2.5-5 years old) were videotaped while in the sandbox and the climbing apparatus areas of a preschool playground prior to (i.e. baseline) and after a teacher "zone defence" training. The zone defence involved teachers being assigned to specific playground areas to monitor safety and facilitate the children's play and…

Emotional stress and trauma impacts the neurobiology of children. They are especially vulnerable given the developmental plasticity of the brain. The neural synaptic circular processes between the anterior cingulated cortex, prefrontal cortex, amygdala and the hypothalamus are altered. Trauma results in the release of the peptide glucocortisoid,…

This study took place in two organisations with opposite socio-economic characteristics which gather children (one to four years), their mothers (or nannies), unfamiliar adults and professional caregivers. Pursuant to attachment theory, the children clearly differentiated their mothers from unfamiliar adults according to proximity indicators and…

Children with autism were selected to be in high-approach and low-approach groups based on a median split of their proximity-seeking behavior with adults (looking at, approaching and touching adults) during videotaped interactions. The same videotapes of those two sets of interactions were then coded and analyzed for the adult partners' behaviors.…

Examined effects of ethnolinguistic differences on social proximity between Cantonese- and Mandarin-speaking Chinese children in a day care center. Found that each group of children was more likely to be in closer proximity to children speaking their own language than to children speaking the other language during free choice floor- and group-time…

This paper discusses the results of a study of the relationships between teacher behaviour and the level of play engagement in two- and three-year-old children in Dutch childcare centres. We found that the continuous proximity of the teacher had the greatest impact on the level of play engagement, while the teacher's walking around and only brief…