Drawing on theories of deliberative democracy, this article analyzes initiatives in educational settings to develop deliberative capabilities--defined here as a person's motivation and abilities to explain their views based on thoughtful considerations, reciprocal engagement, and more inclusive and respectful communication. Building and expanding…

Presently, in Malta, syllabi are being replaced by learning outcomes. For ages 3-7, the outcomes are framed holistically (e.g. identity, communication, etc.), and it is recommended that children learn mathematics informally through play and projects. For ages 8-11, learning outcomes are subject-based, and new mathematics textbooks are being phased…

The scope of this study was to discriminate factors, which could improve students' social relationships in kindergarten classrooms. In this research, 147 volunteer children participated, 67 female students and 80 male students. Every student was between 4.5 and 5.5 years old and they were all attending urban public kindergarten located in central…

The curriculum states that Swedish school-age educare (SAEC) should offer students a meaningful leisure time and stimulate their development and learning through SAEC teaching, which is defined as a combination of care, development, and learning. In recent decades SAEC has relocated from a social to an educational arena with a different…

This study explores how children construct their belonging in culturally diverse early childhood settings in Finland and Iceland. Belonging is understood as a holistic phenomenon that is constructed through various relations. The study is a multiple-case study, influenced by ethnographic approaches, conducted with children in two preschool…

Play can create a safe environment for children to escape from worries. The global COVID-19 pandemic and stay-at-home orders were stressful events for young children and families. This case study documents children's and parents' play, emotions and coping strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic in Turkey. Five mothers and their young children…

The school-age outcomes of autistic children who received early interventions (EI) remains limited. Adaptive functioning, social, peer play skills, problem behaviours, and attitudes towards school of 31 autistic children who received community-based group early start Denver model (G-ESDM) were compared to 28 age matched autistic children who…

This research takes up the challenge of interpreting the two newest grounds of human rights protection across Canada -- gender identity and gender expression -- for professional practice in early childhood education. To date, no human rights tribunal ruling on these grounds has engaged early childhood education, and while the legal duty remains…

COVID-19 infection is an additional burden to the life of the Rohingya children living in cramped camps of Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh. BRAC has introduced Humanitarian Play Lab (HPL) for children's playful learning in the camps since 2017. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the modality was changed from face-face interactions to a telecommunication model.…

Social and emotional learning (SEL) has gradually implemented in Chinese schools and is considered as an effective way to improve students' performance. This research aimed to study the influence of SEL on students' bullying behavior, and the role that social and emotional competence (SEC) and peer relationship play in SEL and students' bullying.…

The influence of curriculum and policy documents on the decision-making of educators is of particular interest in the field of early childhood. Reports of competing pedagogical approaches with a 'push-down' of curriculum alongside advocacy for play-based pedagogies raise questions as to the potential of curriculum and policy documents to create…

Research Findings: Early childhood teachers' talk is a key ingredient in children's early language and literacy development, but there has been little systematic synthesis of observational studies that examine relationships between teacher talk and child oral language. In this systematic review of 54 studies, we investigate and synthesize the…

Many Montessorians uphold the belief that, for children, work is preferable to play, and that play, especially fantasy play, is antithetical to work. In recent years, children have experienced disruption to their social and emotional development as a result of COVID-19 lockdowns. Recent research suggests that play in a variety of forms is a…

Early object name learning is often conceptualized as a problem of mapping heard names to referents. However, infants do not hear object names as discrete events but rather in extended interactions organized around goal-directed actions on objects. The present study examined the statistical structure of the "nonlinguistic" events that…

The article highlights connections between music and movement activities and emergent literacy development among infants and toddlers. I review how music is linked to phonological awareness, oral language, vocabulary, and other related skills that support reading, like executive function. I also highlight the benefits of including…