In this article I discuss children's everyday uses of recorded music (such as CDs, Mp3-files) in the light of sociological notions of "children" and "childhood". The discussion provides perspectives on musical engagement and musicality that supplement perspectives within developmental psychology. The study is based on…

Because professionalism in early childhood education and care (ECEC) is measured by standards relating to caring, men in the field are often held to expectations associated with female behaviors. This research examines the tensions arising from this encounter and explores alternative solutions which male ECEC workers around the world have…

In computer gaming situations in kindergartens, the pre-school teacher's function can be viewed in a continuum. At one extreme is the teacher who takes an intervening role and at the other extreme is the teacher who chooses to restrict herself/himself to an organising or distal role. This study shows that both the intervening position and the…

The UN Convention of the Rights of the Child and especially article 12 has put children's right to participation high on the agenda in early childhood settings in many countries. Based in a qualitative study done in early childhood institutions in Norway, this article analyses how salient features of dialogues between children and teachers create…

Many countries face a growing debate on the balance between ensuring children's safety and allowing children to play in physically and emotionally stimulating and challenging environments. This study is theoretically and conceptually situated within this debate, focusing on how early childhood education and care (ECEC) practitioners perceive the…

For young deaf children a co-enrolment setting with hearing children in nursery school is recognised as a useful provision for inclusive education. The aim of the study reported in this article was to gain knowledge about pathways into literacy for young deaf children in a co-enrolment setting. The questions raised in this article are: How are…

This article is based on a collaborative study in Iceland, Sweden and Norway of the youngest children in institutional settings, such as preschools. At the present time, preschool curricula and frameworks are changing to include increased learning. However, preschool teacher education lacks sufficient focus on this age group. New preschool…

Research suggests that the relation between student-teacher conflict and children's externalizing behavior might be reciprocal, and possibly also between student-teacher conflict and children's social skills. Because children with externalizing behavior also tend to display low levels of social skills, we do not know if one or both of these…

Photo elicitation has become an important method to produce data in qualitative research. There is quite an extensive literature indicating the benefits of photo elicitation in order to facilitate collaboration in meaning making between researcher and the interviewee. This article addresses dilemmas associated with using photo elicitation in a…

This study examined play and learning in the natural environment and on the playgrounds of Slovene preschools. It included 140 preschool teachers and 264 parents of children who attended preschools in 21 Slovene towns. Data were collected through questionnaires with questions referring to time spent outdoors, children's outdoor activities,…

This article reports on a study of literacy practices in a Norwegian preschool where deaf and hearing children are enrolled in the same group and where communication is based on both sign language and spoken language. The aim of the study was to explore pathways to literacy for young deaf children within this setting. Our implicit assumption is…

It can be difficult for students to relate theoretical knowledge and practical skills when making the transition from the classroom to professional practice. The concept of coherence has been suggested as an appropriate way to address how the relationships involved (i.e. between theoretical knowledge and practical skills and between classroom…

Narratives require the integration of many different linguistic skills and can be used as an ecologically valid measure of child language development. This study investigated the narrative skills of 18 six- to seven-year-old prelingually deaf children who received simultaneous bilateral cochlear implants (CI) between 5 and 18 months of age. No…

The purpose of this study was to examine the role and responsibilities of Norwegian kindergarten (i.e., preschool for ages 0-6 years) from the perspective of participants involved in multidisciplinary collaboration on behalf of children with severe disabilities and their families. The authors employed a multiple-case study approach comprising 26…

This article focuses on how kindergarten can encourage children's participation based on the idea of democratic community. The Norwegian Kindergartens Act emphasises children's right to participate and kindergarten is seen as an arena for learning. We discuss planned conversations between pre-school teachers and children during ongoing…