The present action research study of kindergarten students, in a suburban public school classroom located in the midlands region of South Carolina, describes the ways in which a teacher-researcher developed a Structured Play Unit in her classroom that was designed to answer the following research question: "How does the implementation of a…

The purpose of this post-qualitative study was to examine the rhizomatic functioning of youth's engagements with literacy in a 7th grade English Language Arts classroom. I argued normed expectations of students' engagement with literacy in schools imposes hegemonic control over students' literacy learning, thus devaluing students' in-the-moment,…

The purpose of this study was to describe the impact of a flexible classroom environment, including the teacher and student relationship, and its role in fostering creativity in middle school students. The case study design included gathering data through interviews and observations. It was determined that democratic, workshop-based classrooms are…

The authors present the impact of the Métis Settlements Life Skills Journey facilitator training program. Community members, aged 16 to 32, were hired and trained to lead youth summer camps. It was hypothesized that participation in the program and employment as facilitators would have a positive impact on their individual resilience. The program…

In-service early childhood educators (n = 33) completed a survey describing their perceptions towards: (a) how educators draw on personal spirituality to support their role in the classroom, (b) what curricular activities, interactions or experiences educators believe relate to nourishing children's spirituality, (c) how the classroom environment…

It has been argued that developing interactive learning environments that involve learners in integrating contextualized literacy experiences leads to more successful concept formation in young children. This study attempts to revisit Vygotsky's view of the dialectical relations between culture and individual psychological functioning as mutually…

During early childhood, practitioners and family members are often tasked with determining optimal approaches to support social skill development in young children with developmental disabilities in inclusive and self-contained settings. Eight different evidence based approaches are highlighted (social narratives, scripting, pivotal response…

The emotional aspects of children's social relations have generally been marginalised in social science discourse. Children, who participated in the Australian segment of the Children's Understandings of Well-being (CUWB) project used various media to 'voice' the importance for their well-being of emotional relatedness with family, friends,…

Based on a cultural-historical perspective, where play is conceptualized as the creation of an imaginary situation, the study reported in this paper examines how parent-child playful interactions create shared imaginary situations for mediating scientific learning. The main focus of this paper is to reveal sign-mediated learning process through…

This paper investigates young children's exploratory play and inquiry on playscapes: playgrounds specifically designed to connect children with natural environments. Our theoretical framework posits that playscapes combine the benefits of nature and play to promote informal science exploration of natural materials. This, in turn, is expected to…

Toddlers with an older sibling with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and low risk (LR) toddlers with typically-developing older siblings were observed during free play with a parent and elicited pretend with an examiner at 22-months. Functional and pretend play, children's social engagement, and parent sensitivity were assessed during free play.…

This study examined how parenting style at 9 months predicts growth in infant social engagement (i.e., social smiling) between 9 and 18 months during a free-play interaction in infants at high (HR-infants) and low (LR-infants) familial risk for autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Results indicated that across all infants, higher levels of maternal…

The authors consider the strengths and weaknesses of three different visuo-spatial constructive play object (VCPO) types--blocks, bricks, and planks--and their impact on the development of creativity in spatial thinking and higher learning during free play. Each VCPO has its own set of attributes, they note, leading to different purposes,…

Sharing school supplies appears, indeed, a simple, even an irrelevant routine activity, but upon closer examination one realizes that deeper and complex issues are at stake. This article aims at explaining how seemingly uneventful classroom activities contain the potential to building social capital in the classroom, which occurs when and if…

Authors and illustrators of children's literature bring to life characters and contexts that provide demonstrations of agency as well as resources upon which to build agency. Agency is considered here as making one's identity and perceptions visible and actively acknowledged by others to enhance and empower the personal, cultural, and social…