This work focused on increasing Year 3 students' use of critical thinking and taking the "second-person perspective" (2ndPP) when interpreting and resolving life issues. Previous research indicated the Personal Viewpoints Pedagogy (PVP) elicited social thinking that exhibited strong perspective-taking and precursors to critical thinking…

Teachers in the early years of primary school play an important role in supporting students' oral language skills; however, there is evidence to suggest many Australian teachers are not adequately prepared to provide systematic, evidence-based instruction in oral language and early literacy. The aim of this study was to describe the observed and…

High-quality early childhood education is a vital experience for young children with and without disabilities. Social and communication experiences in the context of play represent a core curriculum that sets a foundation for later learning and participation. Using a new self-report instrument, this article describes data collected in a…

The aim of this study is to investigate whether the model method is effective to assist primary students to solve word problems. The model method not only provides students with an opportunity to interpret the problem by drawing the rectangular bar but also helps students to visually represent problem situations and relevant relationships on the…

Play is traditionally considered the foundation of learning in the early years. Because play is characterized by free choice, it can be difficult for adults to ensure all learning is useful for children. The intervention described here took a novel approach to this problematic. It exposed 17 four-year-olds to different adult demonstrations to see…

Despite the importance placed on how children come to solve single-digit addition problems, many children count on to solve these problems when they are expected to use accurate retrieval-based strategies. In this study, we assessed if a subitising intervention improved the rate at which problem-solving practice promoted retrieval, using a…

Objective: Early childhood is considered a window of opportunity for lifestyle interventions, as this is a critical life-stage at which children accumulate knowledge and skills around behaviours such as eating and physical activity. This study examined how exposure to a settings-based healthy lifestyle programme influences knowledge and preference…

Australian and international research has identified that many generalist teachers have limited confidence and experience in teaching the Arts in the early years of schooling and education. There is also a significant gap in the provision of quality professional learning programs for teachers. Research has identified that appropriate training and…

This article reports on outcomes of an Australian pilot school-based early intervention program called Got It! (Getting On Track In Time!). Findings contribute to evidence for the effectiveness of interventions for children with early-onset conduct problems. The Got It! program incorporates universal and targeted components for children ages five…

While there is widespread agreement on the importance of incorporating problem solving and reasoning into mathematics classrooms, there is limited specific advice on how this can best happen. This is a report of an aspect of a project that is examining the opportunities and constraints in initiating learning by posing challenging mathematics tasks…

Despite extensive changes in early childhood inclusive education policy and practice, various barriers continue to inhibit access and participation of children with special needs in inclusive schools. Often mentioned barriers include negative beliefs, lack of understanding of inclusive pedagogy and the effectiveness of professional development to…

As part of a project that is examining how to support teachers in the use of challenging tasks and those teacher actions that encourage students to persist, we focused on the activities of students and teachers during seatwork. We describe the nature of teacher interactions with students, student behaviours when working on challenging tasks, and…

This exploratory study investigated young children's beliefs and opinions about computers by actively involving children in the research project. Fifty two children, four to six years old, were asked a set of questions about their favourite activities and their opinions on computer use before and after a seven month computer intervention…

The aim of this study was to determine the role of semiotics in assisting young Indigenous students to engage with and identify the general structure of growing patterns. The theoretical perspective of semiotics underpinned the study. Data are drawn from two Year 3 students, including analysis of pretest questions and two conjecture-driven…

This article reports on the evaluation of one topic in an enrichment program designed for children in their early years of learning. The program is responsive to an increased understanding of the benefits for very young children of programs that not only take advantage of the sensitive periods for learning but that also assist parents to a take a…