The goal of this study was to describe the experiences of fourth year Early Childhood Education (ECE) student teachers during their school practicum at the time of COVID-19 in Cyprus. Specifically, a group of 28 preschool student teachers was followed over the period of 13 weeks during their final practicum course. Through journaling they…

Research into pedagogical approaches used in early years' nature education, more specifically European and UK forest schools, remains according to Leather, 'undertheorised.' In a similar situation in Australia, the bush kindergarten programmes (referred to as 'bush kinders'), have had limited research attention. Influenced by European and UK…

This paper reports on a study carried out by tutors and students on Early Childhood Studies degree courses at a University in England. The research explored perspectives of three to six-year-old children's outdoor play in Danish forest kindergartens with the aim of troubling and informing approaches to outdoor pedagogy. Inspired by Somerville and…

Outdoor play comprises a highly significant play category through which children learn, develop, express themselves, socially and physically interact with their surroundings. Research, however demonstrates outdoor play is not substantially utilized within Greek preschool environments. This study was conducted during the 2019 academic year, aiming…

Bullying-related phenomena are reported as growing problems in early childhood education and care (ECEC), which calls for structures for teachers' handling of these problems. Using an approach that emphasises bullying as a social, socially situated and contextual phenomenon, we investigate how such an approach can facilitate a positive change in…

Mind Mapping can be used in any discipline as a tool for learning and organizing information. Mind Maps can be created as a group as a means of supporting brainstorming or individually to generate ideas. The aim of the present study was to explore preschool children's and teacher trainees' conceptions of school, friendship, and play through Mind…

Although education for sustainable development in early childhood has been a key issue globally at the preschool level for decades, in Bosnia and Herzegovina, it does not receive the attention it deserves. For the future professional role of preschool teachers, it is important for them to develop the concept of sustainability as a fundamental…

In Portugal, professional preparation for working with infants and toddlers is often characterized as insufficient and/or inadequate in light of the specific professionalism required for working with very young children. This study is situated in initial professional education (IPE) and, in particular, on practicum experiences within an early…

This study explores "toddling style" in adult-child interaction. Toddling style was conceptualised by Gunvor Løkken in relation to toddlers' playful and social style in peer groups; however, adults' position was rarely explored. Therefore, this article aims to examine adults' emotional and playful support in creating, maintaining and…

Educators' self-efficacy influences their practice and thus determines the quality of teaching in early childhood education and care (ECEC). This study analyzed educators' self-efficacy to teach physical education (PE) and the differences between pre-service and in-service early childhood educators. Early childhood educators (N = 381) completed a…

This research aims to reveal the perceptions of the preservice teachers on the play which are among the essential needs of the preschool children. In this descriptive study, a case study which is one of the qualitative research designs was used. 79 preservice teachers attending the third grade in the Classroom Teaching Department of state…

The purpose of this study is to investigate the opinions of the pre-service preschool teachers and preschool teachers on the course of "mathematics education in early childhood" that was conducted through a pre-service teacher-child interactive learning approach (with play and movement-based activities). This study was conducted in…

Efforts to improve education should not neglect to provide the rich play opportunities that benefit children in so many ways. In Tanzania, the pre-primary curriculum, for example, guides teachers to use play as the primary method of teaching and learning. Despite this policy mandate for play, however, abundant evidence indicates that Tanzanian…

Play and learning in the outdoors have been long-standing features of early years care and education. Unfortunately, children around the world no longer have sufficient opportunities for outdoor play for a variety of reasons. In the United Arab Emirates, climatic constraints limit outdoor play for 6 months of the year. One group of preservice…

Musical play is an activity in which young children more or less freely explore and create with sound with limited guidance from a teacher. This study explored the occurrence of musical play in Dutch early years education (4-5 year olds). Twenty early years classroom teachers were interviewed about the content of the music education taking place…