How children understand the psychology of a story (i.e., the intentions and experiences of its characters) is pivotal to comprehending its point. In this study we investigate empirically how 5-year-old children in a Japanese kindergarten manage mental state verbs and adjectives when collaboratively retelling a tale heard. The tale, an example of a…

Vojvodina is one of the most ethnically diverse regions in Europe where, according to the latest census in 2011, Hungarians are the largest non-Serb national minority group. In recent decades, this northern province of Serbia has faced continuous depopulation, forcing schools and nurseries to face an uncertain future. We argue that despite the…

This mixed-methods study aims to explore the patterns of teacher and their effects on teachers' lives and work. To do so, the researchers went into one international school in Thailand and requested participation from 25 foreign language (FL) teachers. All the participants completed and returned a questionnaire and participated in one-on-one…

This study addresses children's Kyoiku (education) as it is explored by two kindergartens in Japan. It reports how the teachers, parents and children defined and experienced children's education and draws on the sociocultural concepts to understand their perspectives. Situated in the personal, educational, and sociocultural landscape of the…

This integrative text spotlights what educators need to know about children's cognitive development across grade levels (PreK-12) and content areas. The book provides a concise introduction to developmental neuroscience and theories of learning. Chapters on general cognitive abilities probe such crucial questions as what children are capable of…

School-based curriculum innovations have been widely implemented in Chinese kindergartens since the turn of the new millennium. However, in the absence of professional guidance, Chinese kindergartens have been forced to "ride a blind horse" when developing curriculum. The aim of this study was to understand the nature of and mechanisms…

A few popular explanations attempt to argue for a weaker relationship between socioeconomic status (SES), parental involvement (PI), and achievement among Asian Americans compared to their white counterparts: Asian American students' Confucian culture, strong motivation for upward mobility as immigrants, unique forms of parental involvement…

The present study was designed to examine the relationship of Korean mothers' psychological resources and discipline style to their children's emotional self-regulation development. Structural equation modeling was conducted with a sample of 234 Korean mothers of kindergarten-aged children in the Incheon area in South Korea. The results indicated…

The Student-Teacher Relationship Scale (STRS) is one of the most extensively used instruments that evaluate the quality of teacher-child relationships. The STRS has a strong theoretical background based on attachment theory and research on parent-child and teacher-child relationships. The purpose of this study was to examine the dimensional…

This article explores the way in which an early childhood community was able to support the active participation of a disabled child. The Huakina Mai model provides a framework that conceptualises the participation of all members in terms of being active, ecological, pedagogical, equitable and inclusive in nature.

Because of the taboo in Chinese culture, there is little research on Chinese children's perception of "death". The research on preschoolers' cognition of "death" could deepen our research on children's cognition process, guide children's life education, and improve the psychologic intervention on the children who experience…

Childhood socioeconomic status (SES) is associated with persistent academic achievement gaps, which necessitates evidence-based, scalable interventions to improve children's outcomes. The present study reports results from a replication and extension of a family-based training program previously found to improve cognitive development in lower-SES…

The article describes Tools of the Mind--an instructional program developed 25 years ago and now implemented in a variety of early childhood settings across the United States and in Canada. Based on the principles of cultural-historical psychology, this program addresses developmental and learning needs of young children by offering a…

This article presents Norwegian and Croatian students' perspectives on conditions for their professional growth during undergraduate kindergarten teacher education. The data gathered through focus group interviews are theorized using the cultural-historical wholeness approach that identifies institutional conditions for the development of certain…

This article presents a case study exploring how national guidance for kindergartens in Kazakhstan was interpreted in practice. Document analysis of the "State Education Standards of Preschool Upbringing and Education," together with stakeholder interviews and observations of six Astana kindergarten settings, illustrates how competing…