This article shares the story of a preschool teacher who courageously embarked on a yearlong journey of re-envisioning how an important milestone in children's lives--their birthdays--were celebrated in the classroom. She accepted the preschool leadership's invitation to align birthday practices with the center's identity influenced by the Reggio…

This paper argues that when young children are given an opportunity for their voice to be heard, they are competent communicators and social agents who can co-create cultural practices as theory makers. The paper draws on video recorded data from a small study that focussed on how young children (3-5 years) participated in an end-of-year cultural…

For many years, activists in Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) have called for the sector to engage closely with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families and communities. However, less is documented on how mainstream services might achieve authentic, sustained engagement at a local service level. This paper showcases educators who…

The article examines how a Mexican second grade dual language teacher guided his Latinx bilingual students in exploring Día de los Muertos, a cultural practice. Through the Día de los Muertos project, parents responded in a variety of ways. Some parents learned about Día de los Muertos for the first time, other parents remembered participating in…

Pedagogical documentation within early childhood centres is a key component of pedagogy and teacher accountability. In Singapore, documentation is a requirement specified under legislative policies included in the national Pre-school Accreditation Framework, with parents often perceived as the main audience. This paper reports on a study utilising…

Aesthetic education is fundamental to young children's holistic development and future lives. The development of aesthetic sensibility has been promoted in early childhood education in various countries and is an important issue in Taiwan's current educational practice. This paper aims to examine the aesthetic domain of the "Early Childhood…

The study uses the Wabash National Study on Liberal Arts Education to test how arts attendance in college facilitates growth in socially responsible leadership, diversity orientation, and the importance of political and social involvement. The study uses the Socially Responsible Leadership Scale (SRLS) and the Miville-Guzman Universality-Diversity…

This case study using ethnographic methods addresses how teachers shape cultural processes related to girlhoods, and the roles of children's play in this dynamic. Poststructuralist theory of the carnival was used to analyze gendered, classed power dynamics within two rural Appalachian preschool classrooms influenced by a popular local festival.…

Teachers first need to participate in cultural activities and must be enthusiastic about improving themselves. It is thought that supporting personal qualifications of teacher candidates through different ways can have positive effects on intercultural sensitivity. The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between personal…

This article examines the socio-cultural significance of birthday cakes with the purpose of reflecting upon birthday cake practices enacted in four early childhood settings in England. I argue that birthday cakes occupy an ambiguous place in early childhood practice: seen to be both "risky"--a term I problematise--"and"…

The teaching of values has seen renewed interest, as educators, policymakers and parents seek ways of increasing peaceful coexistence for children in a conflict-driven world. Education systems are again reviewing values as part of their core mission. Confucian values form the core of most Asian cultures, penetrating different levels of social…

For over 400 years, Wabankaki children of Maine and eastern Canada have been assimilated into schools established by European immigrants. Low high school graduation rates, poor achievement outcomes, and overrepresentation of students in special education reveal an "invisible crisis" that threatens the survival of the indigenous culture…

Children's participation in cultural activities within the community, and the particular cognitive and socioemotional skills that they gain as a result of their participation, have been thoroughly studied (Cole, 1990; Gallimore & Tharp, 1990; Moll et al., 2005; Scribner & Cole, 1981). However, the connection of these skills to school learning or…

The focus of this article is on the learning and teaching processes of six teacher candidates, made possible by the study of a work of art in their internship placement. The interns observed and worked closely with two Lincoln Center Institute (LCI) music Teaching Artists (TAs) and six classroom teachers to provide students in kindergarten through…

The "Out of the Box" Festival of Early Childhood is a unique public event in Australia designed to enrich the creative and cultural lives of children aged 3-8 years and their communities. The research linked to this festival is based on the premise that parents' participation in, and value of the arts, impacts engagements with, and value…