Grief is a complicated equalizer and a personal reaction to loss. Losing a loved one is a universal experience, but fear keeps grief quiet and misunderstood. When teachers not trained in death education, it can affect children's grieving process. When grief is not processed in a healthy way, the parasympathetic nervous system is activated,…

We propose a novel model for learning environments to target the characteristics of digital natives and to improve informal learning practices, i.e. the exploration, discovery and self-monitoring of learning content and the reflection on learning activities. The Mobile Playful Learning Environment (MPLE) model is defined as consisting of seven…

Research has established the importance of play-based experiences for young children's development and learning. Yet, facing the mounting pressure of accountability and standardized testing, some educators have turned to didactic methods of instruction. Guided play (Weisberg et al., 2016) provides a middle ground between play and instruction for…

The purpose of this study was to gain insights into how a PreK teacher's beliefs on readiness shaped how she adopted/adapted to a new practice that was intended to provide responsive mathematics education. To explore these issues, I constructed one descriptive case study of a teacher's beliefs and practice based on data from a broader research…

Building on the idea that the culture of an organisation has an extremely deep influence on the personalities, minds and identities of people who participate in it (Hofstede 2015) -- we reflected on how the US and Polish cultures' specific values and beliefs were represented and symbolised in the early childhood settings. We focused our analysis…

Culturally responsive teaching strengthens infants' and toddlers' sense of identity and belonging while building trust that enhances their relationship with caregivers. In this comprehensive book, child behavior expert and award-winning author Marie Masterson discusses early learning in the context of children's families, cultures, and lives,…

For early childhood educators, few individuals have more historical significance than Friedrich Froebel. Froebelian approaches traveled across the Atlantic and inspired early childhood educators in the United States during the progressive era. Although early childhood professionals in the United States still celebrate the inventor of kindergarten,…

Recess can be a valuable and significant experience in children's lives, providing opportunities for outdoor free play and engagement with peers; however, children experiencing disability often withdraw or are excluded during recess. The recess context has received little attention from an inclusion perspective and the voices of children…

On average, over 45% of the population in Kenya, Uganda, Zambia, and Malawi is under 14 years old, making access to quality education imperative to improve the socioeconomic circumstances for this generation and those to come. However, children in rural areas are confronted with daily challenges, such as extreme poverty, violence (including sexual…

Nature-based play and learning is of increasing interest to primary schools. However, few studies have investigated primary school staffs' views. Therefore, this study aimed to survey school staff about the barriers and benefits of nature-based play and learning. The online cross-sectional survey was completed by 50 respondents each representing a…

Stay-Play-Talk (SPT) is a peer-mediated intervention used to increase social interactions between preschoolers with developmental disabilities and typically developing (TD) peers. This intervention has been found to be successful in increasing play and reciprocal conversation amongst children with and without disabilities. The following describes…

In early childhood, young children frequently engage in object-oriented play. According to cultural-historical activity theory, object-oriented play provides children with opportunities to learn about the characteristics and cultural applications of objects and materials. These characteristics are referred to as rules or affordances of objects and…

This study attempts to provide an in-depth understanding of the influence of collaborative digital gameplay on students' behavioural, emotional and cognitive engagement in mathematics. This mixed-method study used pre- (N = 45) and post-test (N = 43) engagement surveys and photo-elicitation interviews (N = 6) to investigate how a six-day…

Sociodramatic play is considered a critical context within which child leaders and followers may naturally emerge, while their cognitive abilities (e.g., theory of mind) and social competence are developed and applied. This study investigated child leadership and followership during sociodramatic play among 20 racial/ethnic minority 3- and…

How can we use Friedrich Froebel's play theory in order to analyze ECEC, Early Childhood Education and Care? Wolfgang Klafki builds his theory of categorical "Bildung" on Froebel's play theory, which presupposes the interaction between child, adult and content, as in the didactic triangle. Froebel's play theory was lost in the hands of…