Play and playfulness have been central to progressive pedagogies since the birth of the kindergarten. Yet their position in many contemporary education discourses is often ambivalent and at times fragile. In the Global North, many critics warn of a 'play crisis' and 'play deficit'. This essay attempts to trace a cultural and intellectual history…

The purpose of this study is to gain a deep understanding of kindergarten children's drawings as a form of documentation of their work, of their ability to notice and depict substantial details, as well as their understanding of how objects in the world "work". In the study, we examined drawings created by kindergarten children for…

The importance of professional learning and development for quality in kindergartens has been established in international research. The fact that the kindergarten is a learning organization can be crucial in achieving necessary professional learning. The aim of this study was to investigate what characterizes Norwegian kindergartens as learning…

Creative drama has great potential and its implementation in education from pre-school education requires research, as evidenced by the number of scientific studies that have been registered in international research databases over the last ten years. The aim of the research was to examine the use of creative drama methods within kindergartens in…

This qualitative study examined kindergarten children's responses to their favorite books and their perspectives on reading at home and school. Data included observations, interviews with teachers, parents, and children, and "My Favorite Book" response sheets completed by children. Children's favorite books reflected various genres,…

The research on Early Childhood Education and Care leadership has mainly focused on the kindergarten manager's perspectives. However, to fully understand leadership in ECEC settings, the middle-management level of pedagogical leaders must be included. The distributed framework is applied to investigate how the pedagogical leaders at the…

Many teacher educators (TEs) see their role as influencing radical change in K-12 classroom teaching. And yet, many TEs might characterize their own growth as steady and measured experimentation. In this paper, we explore sudden and drastic changes to praxis that TEs experienced when reorganizing their courses and programs around Mediated Field…

Adaptive learning support is a key element of high quality preschool education and includes the planning of learning situations and teacher-child interactions. The provision of effective adaptive learning support in kindergarten is challenging. This longitudinal experimental study examined the impact of two professional development programs on 132…

Coaching between educators is one of the best ways to improve outcomes for all learners--but coaches rarely get formal preparation for mastering this important role. Give coaches the expert support they need with this essential new resource, a comprehensive guide to "what effective coaching looks like across the PreK-12 grade span and how to…

This study aimed to examine children's perceptions regarding the concepts of benevolence and responsibility in early childhood and the way they put them into practice. The study was designed according to the basic qualitative research method and consisted of 64 children between the ages of 4 and 5. The data were collected through interactive value…

This study examines my enactment as a leader in the Teacher Growth and Induction program at Los Angeles Unified School District. To provide a holistic examination of my leadership practice, I deconstruct my use of structure and andragogical moves in relation to a candidate teacher in the induction program. My action research question was as…

This article examines aesthetically sensitive pathways to knowledge in and through action research with artists and pedagogues in Danish kindergartens. The action research process took place from January 2016 through June 2017 and involved collaboration between artists and pedagogues ("paedagoger" in Danish). Artists and pedagogues…

Using action research, this study examined the professional development of teachers through the reflections that kindergarten teachers obtain from children's voices and the relevance between the working environment and teachers' reflection at teacher conferences in Japan. Four teachers participated in the study. Data sources included teachers'…

The study of yoga offers much to the field of education. Yoga consists of postures, breathing activities and relaxation techniques geared toward promoting self-regulation. Several yoga interventions for preschoolers have demonstrated significant gains on self-regulation outcomes. Although these benefits are promising, there are limited qualitative…

During semester-long courses in inclusive methods and beginning reading instruction, pre-service teacher candidates participate in weekly tutoring sessions with elementary students in grades K-5. We outline principles identified for effective service-learning and describe how to embed them to integrate community service. We discuss…