In the Republic of Ireland, the Department of Children and Youth Affairs recommends implementing play-based learning in early education curricula. This research study set out to explore the following research question: What are pre-school teachers' beliefs, understandings and uses of play-based approaches to develop language and literacy skills in…

This study explores kindergarten teachers' beliefs about and practices of play-based learning with a focus on the mediation of teachers' capacity building with designing a play curriculum. Quantitative data are collected through a questionnaire with three cohort samples of 90 kindergartens who participated in a university-school partnership…

Integrating contemporary artmaking practices, specifically approaches to matter (which includes materials, objects, bodies, spaces, etc.) within PK-12 art education, has potential to open pathways for artmaking, meaning, and identity formation. However, art education literature suggests that translation of contemporary artmaking practices into…

To prepare students for an increasingly interconnected world, P-12 teachers must be trained to infuse intercultural and global perspectives into their teaching practice. However, teacher education programs (TEPs) have been criticized for their lack of global perspectives in the curriculum and have been found to be the least internationalized…

Children's peer social worlds as part of language and literacy learning are often "hidden" from researchers and teachers alike. This article reports on collaborative research between a researcher and veteran kindergarten teacher into these hidden worlds. We draw upon ethnographic documentation (videos, interviews, field notes) and video…

This volume presents Critical Race Structuralism as a framework for analyzing, explaining, and mitigating social and educational inequities. The book explores structural and systemic issues in schools with the aim of promoting greater DEI in education and beyond. With a focus on diversity and inclusion, it also addresses issues such as school…

"Nature Preschools and Forest Kindergartens" is the latest from environmental education expert David Sobel. Joined by a variety of colleagues to share their experiences and steps for creating a successful forest kindergarten program, "Nature Preschools and Forest Kindergartens" walks you through the European roots of the…

This study investigated the role of content knowledge in conversations of kindergarten teachers during collaborative curriculum design of learning material for technology-enhanced learning. Two teams of teachers received support from an early literacy expert during these design activities. Resulting conversations were analyzed on technological…

Activities that focus on already familiar concepts are good starting points when designing early childhood music lessons. The author uses teachable moments, a spider in the classroom and a rainstorm, to design interdisciplinary preschool group activities that teach music, math, and science concepts. Dynamics and tempo are the music concepts that…

This article emphasises some of the shifts highlighted by the Ministry of Education in the refreshed "Te Whariki: He Whariki Matauranga mo nga Mokopuna o Aotearoa--Early Childhood Curriculum" (Ministry of Education, 2017) ("Te Whariki 2017"). Some of those shifts include the ideas of "Te Whariki 2017" being a…

A group of teacher educators and practitioners in mathematics education and early childhood education generalized a set of inquiry-based mathematics models for Taiwanese young children of ages 3-6 and designed a series of inquiry-based mathematics curriculum tasks in cultivate the children's diverse mathematical concepts and mathematical power. In…

Understanding the Steiner Waldorf Approach is a much needed source of information for those wishing to extend and consolidate their understanding of the Steiner Waldorf High Scope Approach. It will enable the reader to analyse the essential elements of the Steiner Waldorf Approach to early childhood and its relationship to quality early years…

The article analyses two defining assumptions about the Reggio Emilia (RE) approach: the absence of a planned curriculum designed in advance as a basis for educational work and children's participation in preschools. The authors demonstrate that different approaches to planning preschool education have advantages and disadvantages, which we cannot…

The spontaneous nature of much early childhood teaching makes it vital to understand the range of knowledge that teachers draw on in their curricular and pedagogical decision-making. Hammersley argued that teaching practice cannot be based directly on research evidence because it needs to be filtered through teachers' experiences and…

The school readiness of Head Start students has become a major concern in the United States. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to explore Head Start teachers' lived experiences and perceptions of the instructional behaviors necessary for preparing students for kindergarten. The study sample consisted of a purposive…