The early childhood education (ECE) sector has been subjected to increased governance, which has manifested in an increased focus on monitoring and steering the daily life of preschools. It is well documented that instruments of governance change teachers' priorities and practices. Changes are not always in line with the aims of the governing…

The Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE) is an international, non-profit educational organization. The Association's purpose is to advance the knowledge, theory, and quality of teaching and learning at all levels with information technology. "EdMedia + Innovate Learning" took place in Amsterdam, The…

This study explores how children construct their belonging in culturally diverse early childhood settings in Finland and Iceland. Belonging is understood as a holistic phenomenon that is constructed through various relations. The study is a multiple-case study, influenced by ethnographic approaches, conducted with children in two preschool…

Despite the growing importance of in-service teachers' mentalization in early childhood education (ECE), studies on pre-service teachers are scarce. We embedded a newly developed version of video enhanced reflective practice (VERP) program in an online study module in a bachelor's degree program to promote Finnish ECE student teachers'…

Problems encountered in top-down school reforms have repeatedly highlighted the significance of teachers' agency in educational change. At the same time, temporality has been identified as a key element in teachers' agency, with teachers' beliefs about the future and experiences of the past shaping their agentic orientations. However, research on…

With this study we have a twofold aim. Firstly, to develop a model for identifying and analyzing the status of students' scholarly thinking, and secondly to design and evaluate an educational practice with the aim of supporting these skills. A series of webinars connected researchers and students from Finland, Norway and Sweden and gave the…

This paper investigates adult-child interaction in the early years of education. The intention is to understand how children's initiatives and practitioners' responses support and/or hinder children's agency. Our ethnographic data include 150 h of video data supplemented by observational field notes from a Finnish Early Childhood Education (ECE)…

Cultural misrepresentation simplifies cultures and their minorities, promotes racism, nationalism and eventually weakens democracies by spreading false information through audio-visual media. Intercultural film literacy education combines intercultural education and film literacy and uses a film as a starting point to discuss the cultural context,…

The present study explored pre-primary students' investigative activity during a longitudinal, integrative technology education project: the Power Creatures project. Investigative activity refers to the way young children act in a learning context that combines inquiry-based activities with creative hands-on activities, such as designing and…

Connected learning is claimed to support children to connect their formal learning with wider social network and media tools in an interest-driven and inquiry-oriented manner. In a formal context there are few successful implementations of connected learning. This study explores how a kindergarten community of 8 adults and 42 children, equipped…

This study sought an answer to the question whether the digitalization of play is technological mutation or digital evolution. To this end, 14 studies published over the last five years were reviewed and discussed under four themes, namely digital technology and children, parents', and teachers' perceptions of digital technology, screen effects,…

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…

In this study, we investigated how Finnish children used photographs and drawings to discuss their preschool day experiences in focus groups. Building on sociocultural perspectives on mediated action, we specifically focused on how these visual tools were used as mediational means in sharing experiences. The results of our embodied interaction…

This study explored what kinds of phonological strategies are used by children and how they scaffold each other while they solve tasks in a digital literacy game. The theoretical basis of this study lies in Vygotsky's thoughts on the role of social interaction in learning and in the concept of peer scaffolding. The data included eight videotaped…

This book demonstrates clear links between play and Australian education policy and framework documents, including the Early Years Learning Framework and National Quality Standards. It provides clear and in-depth coverage of essential theories, including good coverage of the Reggio Emilia approach and provides real life examples of professional…