In recent years, play-based learning (PBL) has attracted attention, debate and controversy across different national contexts. There is no definitional consensus which may have undesirable consequences for enacting its potential in professional practice. The aim of our study was to synthesize international research on ECE practitioners' views on…

Children with autism typically have a limited repertoire of activities they engage in during their free time and are often observed to engage in inappropriate or non-functional play. Previous research has suggested that deficits in leisure skills are not only a factor of the diagnosis, but also influenced by structural constraints such as lack of…

The purpose is to investigate process drama for teaching civics, mainly democracy and migration. Process drama implies students and teacher to take on roles, to explore a subject content collectively. The study is based on a secondary school educational initiative where a drama pedagogue was invited to address civics through process drama. Four…

For over a century, early childhood experts have discussed the importance of play for young children's growth and development. Play is critical for the development of young children as it increases learning (Barton, 2015), supports young children in gaining social and communication skills (Dennis & Stockall, 2015), and leads to social…

In this article we present some initial findings from a Teacher-led Innovation Fund study undertaken in a kahui ako based in the small community of Dannevirke. Teachers from the eight early childhood education (ECE) services and six schools have worked together to explore teacher practice and research the impact of teacher pedagogy on the…

Young children are often ignored or marginalised in the drive to address children's participation and their wider set of rights. This is the case generally in social research, as well as within the field of Arts-Based Education Research. This article contributes to the growing literature on young children's involvement in arts-based research, by…

This reflection on practice provides a foundation for understanding the impact of Hurricane Harvey on teachers and children across the Texas Gulf Coast. It also documents the emergence of a professional development initiative born when early childhood teacher educators in the community outreach arm of a major university sought to provide immediate…

Game design offers a unique but often misunderstood pedagogical opportunity. The author draws on learning theory, feminist epistemology, and game studies to analyze a novel genre of games capable of realizing this opportunity by mobilizing knowledge through play--praxis games--founded on the concept of situated praxis. Situated praxis encourages…

Multitreatment designs were used to evaluate the relative effectiveness of multicomponent Stay, Play, Talk (SPT) interventions on peer social behaviors for two groups of children, each including one Participant With Autism Spectrum Disorder (PWA) and two socially competent peers. Children were trained to use buddy strategies during 5-min free-play…

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child was the first international treaty to emphasize the importance of listening to children's views and including them in decision-making processes. In that line, the primary aim of this study was to show how the quality of preschool outdoor environments can be improved through a participatory…

Social amenities in primary schools play an important role in the provision of quality education. Social amenities include play materials and sanitation facilities. This study aimed at examining the impact of social amenities on academic performance in primary schools in Gichugu Constituency, Kenya. The objectives of this study were to assess the…

Educational robotics (ER) uses robotic kits as a channel for education and collaborative learning in a play setting. Thanks to adaptability of robots, ER could facilitate inclusion of special-needs children, such as children with Down syndrome (DS), in learning programs. In a previous study, we provided evidence that ER could promote superior…

Although early childhood caregivers in South African townships integrate singing into their teaching on a daily basis, they are often unaware of how to facilitate other musical interactions through movement, playing instruments or body percussion. The 'Bejazzled' action research project was initiated to facilitate these interactions through…

In this article, I address African indigenous knowledge of early childhood development by discussing young children's cultural spaces of care, play and learning among the Guji people of Ethiopia. I analyze practices in the cultural spaces of young children and show how participatory community-based care and learning are pivotal in the tradition of…

The purpose of this study is to reveal the perceptions of today's children surrounding play. A phenomenological method was used in the research, designed qualitatively for the purpose of revealing pre-school-aged children's perceptions of play in their pictures. A total of 97 children being educated in two different preschools in the fall term of…