Learning progressions have become increasingly prevalent in mathematics education as they offer a fine-grain map of possible learning pathways a child may take within a particular domain. However, there is an opportunity to build upon this research in ways that consider learning from multiple perspectives. Many current forms of learning…

The overall purpose of this study was to examine parents' role in the development of character among young athletes, with a particular focus on life skills development across learning contexts (i.e., sport, family, school). Participants were 20 parents (13 mothers, 7 fathers, M[subscript age] = 46.8 years, SD = 4.6) and 24 children (14 girls, 10…

Children develop and learn within dynamic contexts, yet the simplifying assumptions of common statistical methods often relegate such complexity to unexplained error. This chapter discusses ideas from the dynamic systems literature, which focuses on the interplay within and between components of complex systems, such as individuals and their…

Compared with children, adults are widely assumed to possess more mature moral understanding thus justifying deference to their moral authority and testimony. This paper examines philosophical discussions regarding this child-adult moral relation and its implications for moral education, particularly accounts suggesting that the moral status of…

Children are members of families and communities, and the languages learnt within these contexts contribute to a child's sense of "belonging, being and becoming" throughout life (Department of Education Employment and Workplace Relations, 2009). Encouraging children to bring their home languages into early childhood education and care…

Research Findings: The present study investigates both the proximal processes and contextual influences on children's oral language development in preschool. We examine whether teacher language practices vary across activity settings and program type, which teacher language practices predict children's oral language skills, and potential…

Music educators are part of a team charged with nurturing the development of the whole child. This includes instilling in students cognitive keys to essential life values that will be drawn on through adulthood. To help music educators attain this goal, this article encourages the inclusion of contexualized music units--immersive studies of…

Governments around the world continue to grapple with issues relating to how preschool services should be delivered, what type of provision is most appropriate, and for what purpose. These issues are particularly pertinent in a fast evolving early years sector such as the United Kingdom and many parts of the world where early years education has…

This case study examines the role of playful talk in negotiating the "how" of collaborative group work in a 6th-grade science classroom. Here we develop and test a Vygotsky-derived hypothesis that postulates playful talk as a mechanism for identity exploration and group status negotiation. Our findings indicate that students utilized the…

Twentieth-century Russian literary critic and semiotician Mikhail Bakhtin developed an emology that linked carnival, authority, and laughter. Drawing on his work, the author investigates hidden parent-child interactions and children's discourse in early-childhood play. She argues that Bakhtin's ideas of carnival and its discourses apply to young…

Watch any young child and you will likely see him or her engaged in some form of play. Play is an integral part of early childhood development in which typically developing children learn social and language skills, as well as appropriate behaviors, problem solving, and a variety of other cognitive skills. By its very definition, autism is a…

This set of training videotapes teaches the key points of the "Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Early Childhood Programs--Revised Edition." The videos present more than 3 hours of programming produced in short stand- alone programs ranging in length from 3 to 20 minutes. The videos are designed to be used in a variety of ways to stimulate…

Changes in our world have made it more difficult for children to find protected, exciting places to play and interesting, satisfactory things to play with. This edited volume, resulting from the collaboration of Bank Street College (New York, New York), Erikson Institute (Chicago, Illinois), Pacific Oaks College (Pasadena, California), and…