The level of reading competency in children makes a difference in their academic progress, and subsequently such progress influences their quality of life. The excellence of pre-primary education is based on curricular and procedural quality. The aim of the research was to find out how preschool teachers develop reading literacy in preschool…

This article attempts to address the challenge that preschool teachers face, when integrating a specific content area, science, with play. The study builds on the theoretical framework of Play-Responsive Early Childhood Education and Care (PRECEC), in which teaching, and play are understood as a mutual activity. In this mutual activity, teachers…

Engagement with nature is crucial for child development and kindergarten educators' pedagogical beliefs about nature play significantly affect children's access to and experiences of nature in kindergarten. This study examines the role of nature play in children's holistic development, engaging 12 Chinese kindergarten educators through in-depth…

Early childhood education is a sector often mis-represented in the media and public domain, depicting a sector beleaguered by low salaries, lack of professional recognition and inadequate working conditions. Missing from this depiction is the fullness of the everyday teaching and learning experiences of early childhood educators, and subsequent…

The transition to kindergarten (TTK) occurs at a stage in a child's development when it can have a direct impact on later school success. For children with disabilities, TTK may be especially challenging, and U.S. federal policy provides limited guidance and mandates related to use of practices to support children with disabilities and their…

Offering insights from a research-practice partnership, we examine how five pre-K-6 teachers discussed using LGBTQ+-inclusive children's literature as backup to counter curricular censorship and community pushback.

Research has shown that effective leadership in early childhood education (ECE) can positively influence its quality. Yet, there is limited research on ECE leaders (ECLs), particularly teacher leaders. The goal of the current study was to examine how ECLs in Israel, with a dual role -- as kindergarten teachers and as teachers' leaders -- perceive…

The quality of early childhood experiences is crucial to a child's development and educational success. Yet few early childhood education and care services in the world today offer a consistently high level of educational quality. In particular, educational quality depends on the context's characteristics. The aim of this study was therefore to…

Emotion-focused teaching in early childhood promotes children's early academic and social-emotional development and can occur through planned or informal classroom interactions. We observed video recordings of preschool teachers engaging in typical teaching practices and carrying out researcher-assigned book reading and social-emotional learning…

Early childhood educators' math anxiety and its relation to their frequency of pedagogic actions was examined through a questionnaire completed by 352 participants (aged 21-65) representative of the Swedish municipality where the study was conducted. Our sample contained 189 certified preschool teachers and 163 preschool caregivers who…

Teachers' perceptions of their teaching and learning activities are critical, especially given that the Malaysian preschool curriculum has undergone multiple revisions recently. The purpose of this study was to measure Malaysian teachers' perceptions on teaching early mathematics. The study aimed to assess teachers' perception of six constructs,…

The contradictions of human development nowadays are related to the educational environment, which is characterized by changes induced by globalization and modern technologies; therefore, the activation of the potential of personality is becoming increasingly important, which is impossible without the training of purposeful and motivated teachers…

This article reports how Swedish teachers' aims and practices were modified by an ecosystem services development project that introduced insect hotels, bird boxes and planting to ten preschool yards. Teachers' understanding of ecosystem services, human--nature relationships and the impact of these on nature connectedness showed that their…

Preschool teachers are an essential part of the education system in the United Sates. The problem is that research and data about the development of literacy skills exist for kindergarten and upper grades, but there is minimal research on preschool teachers' perceptions on the development of literacy skills in a play-based learning environment.…

Preschool picturebook read-alouds have the power to capture the attention of young students by providing an immersive experience that stimulates imagination while addressing learning objectives. The instructional strategies or practices that teachers use during picturebook read-alouds impact student engagement with the story and narrative…