In early childhood education and care, Nordic social pedagogy approach is challenged by a learning orientation that often results in unproductive "either/or" thinking. Therefore, based on the two approaches and by analysing several dimensions of Froebel's ideas and prevailing social-historical activity (play) theory, the author deduces…

Children are born with an intrinsic drive and natural curiosity to explore the world around them. Just as young children are attracted to the natural world, they too are enticed by the physical challenges and risk-taking experiences that such environments provide. Based on research conducted at one of Canada's first Forest Kindergartens and using…

This article outlines a small-scale research project that attempted to involve primary aged pupils actively in the redesign of their school playground. The project stemmed from concerns raised by school staff regarding the frequency of problematic behaviours during unstructured times, particularly lunchtimes, and the decision to redesign the…

The study described in this article sought to enhance the social interaction skills of 3 preschool children using video modeling. All children had been assessed as having difficulties in their interactions with peers. Two were above average on internalizing problems and the third was above average on externalizing problems. The study used a…

This article is informed by two studies in Australian primary school playgrounds and provides a critique of the interaction between adults and children during recess breaks in the school day. The study investigates the contours/lines of force that shape the moral geographies of playgrounds through management and supervision strategies. This…

Young children with developmental disabilities (DD) frequently have delays in social play skills. Students with DD may require social skills instruction in order to be successful in playing cooperatively with others. These opportunities to practice social play skills learned from specialized interventions must be available throughout the school…

The association between early language performance and later language and literacy outcomes warrants investigation of strategies teachers can use to maximize children's oral language development during early childhood. Despite a consensus that a language-rich environment is desirable for CHL, there is a limited body of research investigating…

Drawing on the theory of dialogism and the literature on children's culture and cultural resistance, this article investigates the contextual and textual features of the cultural making of a group of children in sociodramatic play in a Hong Kong kindergarten. Different from other, similar studies, this study reports that under the gaze of the…

A pioneer in the infant/family field in the United States, Magda Gerber was the founding director of Resources for Infant Educarers (RIE), known for its unique two-generation approach to the care and education of young children. This paper offers a summary of Gerber's teachings from the late twentieth century with citations pointing to their…

Many factors impact intervention implementation in everyday practice, including the social validity of these interventions. As a way of addressing social validity, this study aimed to understand the perspectives of multiple stakeholders of school-aged children and adolescents who use aided and unaided augmentative and alternative communication…

In a review of the methodology of the Bauhaus (Germany's famous art school of the Weimar Republic era) in light of more recent scientific research on creativity and especially in light of the work of László Moholy-Nagy, the author examines the emphasis the school placed on play and positive emotions and concludes that it evinced a highly…

This article examines the theory of dynamic systems and its use in the domains of the study and coaching of team sports. The two teams involved in a match are looked at as two interacting systems in movement, where opposition is paramount. A key element for the observation of game play is the notion of configuration of play and its ever-changing…

Theorists have speculated about the symbolic underpinnings of theory of mind (ToM), but no study has examined them across the main developmental span of ToM. Here, the onset of symbolic understandings in three domains (pretend play, language, and understanding representations) and ToM was examined. Fifty-eight children were tested on batteries of…

This article focuses on the structures of humor and joke telling that require particular kinds of attentiveness and particular relationships between speaker and audience, or more specifically, between classmates. First, I will analyze the pedagogical and relational preconditions that are necessary for humor to work. If humor is to work well, the…

The processes and patterns of strategies used by children when drawing on the computer with friends and acquaintances were investigated in a case study. The participants were five-and-six-year-old children and the study took place in their home settings. The data collection methods consisted of interviews, observations, audio recordings, video…