Play materials designed to enhance children's pretense were investigated; namely, how the specific characteristics of the play sets (thematically open-ended village set vs thematically closed-ended train set) influenced children's play communication regarding their co-construction of shared meanings. Participants included 44 7-year-old focal…

Preschool environments offer an abundance of opportunities for exploring the physical world where children can learn "engineering concepts" and "principles" (theories or laws). Yet how teachers design motivating conditions for engineering thinking has not been fully investigated. The study reported in this paper examined how…

Parents recognize the potential benefits of technology for their young children but are wary of too much screen time and its potential deficits in terms of social engagement and physical activity. To address these concerns, related literature suggests technology usages with a blend of digital and physical learning experiences. Towards this end, we…

To support digital literacies in schools, fundamental reorientation and rethinking is required to develop 'appropriate' pedagogical practices which are aligned with (and extend) the current curriculum. To achieve this, new flexible frameworks and tools are needed to support educators to work creatively and productively within the current…

Research Findings: The goal of this study was to investigate the role of play behaviors in the links between child shyness and teacher-child relationship quality in preschool. Participants were 212 (102 girls) young children (M = 58.32 months, SD = 10.72) recruited from 10 classrooms in three preschools in central Italy. Parents evaluated…

House of Imagination works with educators, artists and creative professionals to develop a creative approach to learning and researching experimental sites for pedagogical innovation. In our partnership work, our creative methodology, with everyone an artist, drives the ambition for artistic excellence. House of Imagination's signature project…

Discussions surrounding early years' theorist Piaget's philosophy of learning schema styles and their potential impact upon children with a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder will be highlighted within this position paper. Furthermore, this paper will also focus on the need for a Schematic Driven Pedagogy implementation to connect both…

The purpose of this article is to investigate the efficacy of Sandplay Therapy (SPT) in reducing children's kindergarten entrance anxiety in an effort to provide front-line preschool teachers with insights and strategies for addressing the emotional distress of children in their first days of nursery school. As a case study, the application of SPT…

This article discusses the work of Susan Isaacs (1885-1948), the IOE's (Institute of Education), first director of the Department of Child Development. In addition to introducing child psychoanalysis to the UK, Isaacs was instrumental in mapping out the basis for a conceptual understanding of the role of aspects of imagination (which she termed…

In an exploratory, intensive case study, we investigated the well-being of young children (0-4 years) with a time-sampling design. The total sample included 940 individual observations for 30 children during four consecutive weeks. Data collection involved external coding of videotaped episodes and caregiver- and parent-reported measures.…

Although research supports play for children's learning and development, many teachers and schools do not support play or relinquish it to recess or "If time." Teachers need to experience how they learn through play to advocate for play in their classrooms. It is not enough to say, "play is learning"; they need to learn through…

In UK HE institutions there is a growing realisation and appreciation for academic disciplines to seek research partners beyond their own subject (QAA. 2018. Enterprise and entrepreneurship education: Guidance for UK higher education providers. Accessed 1 April 2020.…

This study explores the place of play in KS1 classrooms and the perspectives of teachers and headteachers in adopting play-based practices at the start of primary schooling. Data were collected from a survey of KS1 teachers asking for their views of play as an integral part of KS1 pedagogy. This was followed by interviews with eleven headteachers…

Problem solving is an important cognitive skill that children use to plan and navigate various developmental and social tasks. Although previous research was theory-grounded and systematic, to our knowledge, no research has observed and documented children's problem solving as a primary objective in naturalistic developmental contexts, such as…

There are some studies indicating that parents make a significant contribution to children's conceptual learning through play, whereas very few studies have been done to identify parents' pedagogical positioning in children's imaginative play for supporting their learning and development. This paper is seeking how Indian-Australian immigrant…