Mainstream images of "toddler" tend to serve a humorous purpose in mass media, most often presenting children of this age (18 months-3 years) as out-of-control. This assumed "barbaric" toddler promotes early childhood as a time for intervention, expecting adults to be the shapers of behavior and knowledge within discourses of…

This paper examines compassionate pedagogies in relation to an emotionally intense experience in a long day-care centre. Video observations were made of international preservice teachers undertaking an infant-toddler professional experience in Australia. The study is informed by Vygotsky's cultural-historical concept of emotional experience…

Early care and education (ECE) settings are influential in shaping children's early experiences. Informed by the Job Demands-Resources model, this study had two aims. First, we examined how ECE teachers' physical (i.e. muscular skeletal strain and infectious disease experience) and psychological (i.e. depression and job dissatisfaction) job strain…

Infant and toddler pedagogy has flourished as a specialized area of practice in early childhood care and education settings, yet it remains an under-researched area. There is also limited empirical research internationally that explores cultural meanings of meaningful provision for this young age group. This ethnographic study explored pedagogies…

Research Findings: The Classroom Assessment Scoring System Toddler (CLASS-T) is one of the most commonly used measures to assess the quality of teacher-child interactions in toddler classrooms. Despite widespread use of the CLASS-T, few studies have examined the factor structure of the CLASS-T for use in Early Head Start (EHS) and subsidized child…

Research shows that high quality programs can support positive outcomes for all children, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds. Little research has examined the perspectives of directors working with infants and toddlers in families who are experiencing low socio-economic status (SES) in early childhood settings. This qualitative…

Now in a second edition, this popular resource shows teachers and childcare providers how to work with young children based on current neuroscience research. Revised and expanded, it contains a wealth of practical and specific activities and materials to use with infants and toddlers to enhance growth and development. For each activity presented,…

The twofold aim of the present study was to examine the relationship between toddlers' physical and social spontaneity, as well as to investigate the interaction effects of gender, geographical background, and mother's occupational status on preschoolers' playfulness. Participants were 650 preschool children (353 boys, 297 girls), attending…

This article reports findings from a small-scale case study that captured parents' views about their experiences of a targeted government funded programme of early childhood education and care for the 40% 'most disadvantaged' two-year-olds in England. The programme is funded in the context of national government policies oriented to (i) closing…

Designed to spark an interchange of ideas, this book presents early childhood education as a nuanced, shifting, and complex field. Readers will bear witness to several decades of the lived experiences of influential leaders engaged in conversation about seven major topics: systems of early care and education, diversity and children's rights,…

Increasing child engagement and improving social-communication (SC) and play skills for young children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) may provide a foundation for future academic and social development; yet preschool practitioners may not have the resources to successfully identify and target these skills for all children in their classrooms.…

The present study examines the quality and domains of teacher-toddler interactions and associations with structural characteristics using data from 95 German early childcare settings. The results of the confirmatory factor analysis supported a two-factor structure of interaction quality assessed by the CLASS Toddler: emotional and behavioural…

Worldwide, a large number of infants, toddlers, and preschoolers are enroled in formal non-parental early childhood education or care (ECEC). Theoretically, lower adult/child ratios (fewer children per adult) and smaller group sizes are hypothesised to be associated with positive child outcomes in ECEC. A lower adult/child ratio and a smaller…

Sustained shared thinking dialogues which focus on teacher talk with preschool learners have long been considered an important route to learning progression. Toddlers, however, seldom engage in dialogues through talk alone, and their encounters are often fleeting. As a consequence, they are often positioned on the periphery of learning dialogues…

Object exploration is considered a driver of motor, cognitive, and social development. However, little is known about how early childhood education and care settings facilitate object exploration. This study examined if children's exploration of objects during free play was facilitated by the use of particular spatial components (floor, tables,…