This study aims to conceptualise a drama-integrated curriculum devised from process drama as an approach to play-based pedagogy and curriculum to realise the policy initiative of learning through play. By investigating teachers' perspectives and practices in relation to the curriculum of a local kindergarten, examples of effective…

The purpose of the current study is to determine the opinions of children attending forest kindergarten about the concept of environment. The participants of the study are thirty six 50-70 month-old children attending a forest kindergarten. In line with the purpose of the study, the triangulation design, one of the qualitative research models, was…

Death always brings questions for the living. How do we teach and learn in a context of death and pandemic? This essay recounts and reflects on experiences of "playing in the face of death" in a graduate-level adult learning community at the onset of COVID-19 in New York City. Play became a healing and holy act of pedagogical love and…

Background/Context: There are recent trends of bringing highly defined, teacher-directed pedagogies into early-childhood contexts in Australia, the United States. and other Western contexts. While the justification for these moves is often the improvement of outcomes for young children, they ignore the large body of research that attests to the…

This book is an exploration of story and its importance in early childhood. It provides a thorough theoretical foundation, and considers how to practically implement the use of stories to aid children's wellbeing and holistic development. The chapters cover topics including cognitive and emotional development, creativity, play, mathematics,…

The kindergarten classroom changed over the past few decades from an environment focused on developmental needs toward an environment that focuses on the academic expectation. Educational mandates for standards-based curriculum reduced the social interactions for children to support development and academics in the kindergarten classroom. It is…

Recess provides an opportunity to promote physical activity among schoolchildren. There is limited research on the effects of specific recess interventions, such as moveable equipment, physical structures, or painting playground, on motivational and affective-emotional variables. The study investigated the impact of a recess intervention based on…

Many individuals with autism experience difficulties with reliable, meaningful communication often impacting their academic and social engagement. As the first and most frequent communication partners, parents of children with autism may struggle initiating or maintaining meaningful communicative interactions, and thus require training, tools, and…

Tree climbing is one aspect of nature play; however, it is limited in many areas due to fear of liability, heightened safety awareness, unclear policies, accessibility, and restrictive outdoor play time. This study investigated current practices concerning tree climbing in early childhood settings with the objective of creating recommendations,…

Children's authentic participation is increasingly recognized in early childhood education as a basis for improving children's engagement and learning outcomes. This study explored the implementation of the Photo Projective Method in a kindergarten in Japan. Participants were two teachers and 35 children, aged 5 years, enrolled in one kindergarten…

A distinctive feature of game-based learning environments is their capacity to create learning experiences that are both effective and engaging. Recent advances in sensor-based technologies such as facial expression analysis and gaze tracking have introduced the opportunity to leverage multimodal data streams for learning analytics. Learning…

This paper describes the textual practices of kindergarten children as they co-created and participated in a movie theatre play context within their rural classroom. Data informing this paper were drawn from classroom videos of children (aged 3-5 years) as they engaged in activities associated with the movie theatre, field notes from action…

Center-based classroom community interventions create opportunities for young children with autism to connect with peers. Yet, there has been little examination of the peer interactions of toddlers with autism who experience core challenges in social communication and play skills that may create barriers to successful peer interactions. Classrooms…

To engage young children meaningfully in educational research requires careful scrutiny of ethics and of methodological choices [Vandenbroeck, M. and B. de-Bouverne. 2006. "Children's Agency and Educational Norms: A Tensed Negotiation." "Childhood" (13): 127-143; Dockett, S., J. Einarsdottir, and B. Perry. 2009.…

In this article we illustrate how one teacher used PhET cannonball simulation as an instructional tool to improve students' algebraic reasoning in a fifth grade classroom. Three instructional phases effective to implementation of simulation included: Free play, Structured inquiry and, Synthesizing ideas.