This paper shares methodological insights from our research which sought to centre children in the production of knowledge during the 2020 global pandemic to consider how this can inform research with children beyond the crisis. Drawing on our longitudinal participatory arts-based research with 30 children aged 9-12 during 2020-22, the paper…

This systematic review aims to identify the dimensions operationalized in different instruments that assess the developmental domains in Early Childhood Education through play. Research between 2015 and 2021 that dealt with quantitative developmental assessment instruments from 2 to 7 years of age were included. Instruments without psychometric…

This dissertation investigates how embodied learning within a Mixed Reality (MR) environment supports young children's science learning, focusing on a honeybee system. To do so, I designed three types of activities within an MR environment to enable young children to assume different perspectives as they create embodied models of honeybees as…

Certified child life specialists (CCLS) serve as an integral component of the health care team by attending to the psychosocial concerns that arise as children and their families face stressful situations. The CCLS provides individualized care to meet the developmental needs of infants, children, teens, and young adults and assists in coping with…

Playfulness as a learning technique is applied into the present research in a group of adult learners. Initially, a game scenario was designed and implemented for the subject of microeconomics. Following a qualitative research methodology, through observation and interviews with ten participants before and after the playful activity, the results…

This paper presents how a playful and embodied pedagogical approach (fun-ing) (Huxley, 2023) was applied to an international online poetry workshop for young people, and in doing so, foregrounds qualities of learning experiences, rather than neo-liberal skills-based outcomes alone. The methodology of fun-ing is grounded in a reflexive and emplaced…

In this article, the authors argue for a rethinking of kindergarten education from a critical feminist perspective. They illustrate how the devaluation and denigration of femininity and care - otherwise known as femmephobia - that permeates patriarchal societies is present in the seemingly innocent spaces of play in kindergarten. Tracing…

Real-time attention coordination in parent-toddler dyads is often studied in tightly controlled laboratory settings. These studies have demonstrated the importance of joint attention in scaffolding the development of attention and the types of dyadic behaviors that support early language learning. Little is known about how often these behaviors…

This open access edited volume reports on a unique network of innovative in-school and out-of-school programs, University-Community Links. UC Links connects university faculty and students with young people and their families in diverse communities around the world. Chapters in this volume describe programs in the United States (California) as…

This edited volume illuminates how intimate relations with place can transform early childhood pedagogy by presenting a diverse range of situated place stories. The book begins to answer big questions facing the early childhood education community, including: "What is situated, locally responsive education?", at a time when both…

Research about playfulness in adults has viewed it as something that emanates from personality and other individualized characteristics, and therefore many previous studies adopted a trait approach to predict playfulness, largely ignoring gender differences. The author conducted a facet-level analysis of the so-called big-five personality…

Through nine months of ethnographic observations and video-cued child interviews, this study explored two Korean immigrant children's perspectives on friendship in U.S. preschools. The study was framed by Bakhtinian dialogism and revealed that, compared to their teachers, who tended to identify friendship by observing the frequency of peer…

Physical literacy has gained worldwide prominence over the last decade by re-conceptualizing primarily the meaning of physical education. British educator Margaret Whitehead is the most famous proponent of this expression and expositor of its philosophical foundation and value. As such, physical literacy rejects dualism, is buttressed by monism,…

Recently play environments and materials have changed with digital materials becoming increasingly available for young children. Parents' preferences about the importance and appropriateness of digital play may influence the quality and the quantity of digital play opportunities children receive at home. The purpose of this research is to examine…

This study assessed the effects of portable video modeling on social interactions of four children with autism, three boys and one girl, 4- to 5-year-olds, in preschools in Iceland. Participants were shown 1-min videos on a small handheld device where a peer model initiated social interactions and played with two peers. A…