Recent studies have shown that playing with coding toys enhances children's skills in STEM-subjects, especially problem-solving abilities. However, there is limited knowledge of early childhood education and care (ECEC) teachers' roles in facilitating children's problem-solving through coding-toy play activities and the high-quality pedagogical…

Risky play provides multiple benefits for children's development. This study compared teachers' perceptions of risky play in one kindergarten in Norway and one in China, including the concept of risky play, the roles of teachers, the protective strategies adopted, and the factors limiting the practice of risky play. The aim of the article is to…

We investigated the role of physical characteristics of kindergartens' outdoor play areas in teacher-rated physical aggression (PAgg) among 423 children followed annually from ages two to four years. We used data from the Behaviour Outlook Norwegian Developmental Study which follows children from southeast Norway, a country where almost all two-…

The purpose of this article is to elucidate how a student teacher in Norwegian Early Childhood Education is enabled to relate practical experiences to theoretical concepts in conversations with a practicum teacher. We aim to demonstrate how the teacher and the student actually employ theoretical concepts during a practicum. The methodological…

The significance of learning to think critically from a young age is well documented. Early childhood educators play an essential role in children's critical skills development. Therefore, it is crucial to understand their perceptions of this concept. This qualitative study explored Norwegian early childhood educators' perceptions of critical…

In this article, we explore the concept of "mimamori" and its impact on early childhood education and care (ECEC) in Norway and Japan. "Mimamori" is a teaching method whereby teachers refrain from giving children direct instructions, which is in line with the Froebelian approach to pedagogy. It is interesting to investigate how…

This article presents a case study on changing food practices from traditional cold sandwich meals to hot meals in a Norwegian kindergarten. Data were sourced from interviews, complemented by non-participatory video observation and observational notes. Building on Fullan's model for understanding a change process, this paper presents the…

This study explores teacher talk in the early phase of a project in a Norwegian elementary school where Lesson Study is used as a method for professional development. The study focuses on inclusion and aims to explore what beliefs about student needs and teacher role and responsibilities become evident, and how these beliefs can challenge…

Sustainability involves a temporal dimension connecting the past, the present and the future. This article explores the significance of time for sustainability education. It discusses how the understanding of this temporal dimension shapes humans' relationship with the world and affects the political engagement of the educator with sustainability…

Digital technology is a central part of young children's everyday lives in most societies today. This paper contributes to current research by exploring two teachers' pedagogical strategies when creating digital stories together with groups of six kindergarten children (age 4-5). The study has a qualitative, multiple-case study design. The…

This comparative study investigated how early childhood education and care practitioners in South Korea and Norway perceive the concept of children's well-being and their own roles in supporting and facilitating children's well-being. Data were collected through online questionnaires from 198 practitioners and analysed utilising chi-square…

Using data from more than 7000 children from the Norwegian Mother, Father and Child (MoBa) study, this study explored the role of school readiness and teacher-child closeness in the early child education and care (ECEC) setting for the prospective academic and social development of children with early externalizing problems. Mother, ECEC teachers,…

Within the early childhood education system, early childhood teachers are the weak element in two hierarchies, the governance hierarchy and the epistemological hierarchy. From the perspective of early childhood teacher professionalization, this is a paradox because professionalism is intrinsically linked to a relatively high degree of professional…

In recent years, play-based learning (PBL) has attracted attention, debate and controversy across different national contexts. There is no definitional consensus which may have undesirable consequences for enacting its potential in professional practice. The aim of our study was to synthesize international research on ECE practitioners' views on…

Purpose: This article examines how early childhood curriculum documents in two culturally different contexts are associated with current concepts of sustainability and principles of early childhood education for sustainability (ECEfS) in China and Norway. Design/Approach/Methods: Applying critical document analysis, the study explores a number of…