This study seeks to explore how the belonging and participation, as well as its related concepts, are framed in the national curriculum guidelines of the Netherlands, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden. We employed a scoping study with concept-mapping methodology. The results reveal macro level principles related to human rights and values,…

This study focused on what values teachers saw in nature-based learning, what outcomes they saw for their students, and what factors have enabled them to do nature-based learning. This explanatory sequential mixed-methods study looked at nature-based learning in St. Louis elementary schools with kindergarten through second-grade students. We used…

This study focused on what values teachers saw in nature-based learning, what outcomes they saw for their students, and what factors have enabled them to do nature-based learning. This explanatory sequential mixed-methods study looked at nature-based learning in St. Louis elementary schools with kindergarten through second-grade students. We used…

A prominent phenomenon in education in Europe and internationally is the demand for research-based education, which is also the case in Sweden, the context of this study. Therefore, greater academic demands have been placed on teachers, which can present a distinctive challenge for teachers who were educated when teacher education prioritised…

Learning stories have been used in Aotearoa New Zealand early learning settings for over two decades to capture children's learning while honouring the intent of "Te Whariki" to nurture children's languages, cultures, and identities. This article provides a brief overview of a listening, dialogic investigation into ways the community of…

The purpose of this mixed methods action research study was to determine the effectiveness of a gender-responsive early childhood teaching workshop for community college practicum students. The problem addressed in this research is a lack of competency (knowledge, skills, and behaviors that support positive gender identity development in young…

More than sixty years after "Brown v. Board of Education," racial and economic segregation in American schools is deepening. At the same time, dynamic racial and economic change in cities and suburbs offers new opportunities for intentional school integration. School leaders are an integral part of those opportunities. We draw on the…

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the need for higher education institutions to take a holistic approach to early childhood teacher preparation, which includes fostering students' social connections at the university. Using an online survey, this study examined perceptions of whether and how the pandemic disrupted sense of belonging (SoB) and…

This study investigated the impact of a course-based community asset mapping (CAM) project on undergraduate students' capacity for identifying and understanding assets within communities surrounding specific schools. The mapping project was grounded in the literature on culturally sustaining pedagogy and experiential education and involved teacher…

In theory, collaboration is a key component of education in Aotearoa New Zealand. In practice, however, cross sector collaborative relationships are not so easily established or maintained, even when collaboration is 'mandated' through government policy. This research explores the perspectives of nine teachers from one Kahui Ako/Community of…

This joint Dear Colleague Letter (DCL) written by Swati Adarkar, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy and Early Learning, U.S. Department of Education (ED) and Katie Hamm, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Early Childhood Development, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) highlights various sources of funding streams to support high…

This article focuses on children's perspectives of belonging to a place, in this case a Finnish preprimary school setting. This study explores "place-belonging" in photographs originally taken by the children in their preprimary school activities. "Photo-telling" was applied as a methodology to link narrative and visual…

This paper reports an Action Research Inquiry that aimed to develop research supervision as a learning strategy, in order to facilitate early childhood undergraduates' completion of a primary research project and dissertation in the final year of their degree programme. Researchers in this context are conceptualised as a community of practice…

This article investigates early childhood education and care (ECEC) leadership through the concept of community of practice (COP). The focus is on ECEC leaders' perceptions regarding their leadership during the educational changes taking place in the context of Finnish ECEC. The purpose is to increase understanding of how leaders see themselves in…

The significant shortages of special educators across the United States, particularly in our rural communities, can negatively affect the delivery of high-quality services that enable young children and families to flourish (National Coalition on Personnel Shortages in Special Education and Related Services, 2019). We present our Project STRIDE…