In light of the devastating effects of COVID-19 on early childhood care and education (ECCE), with this study we aimed at illuminating the self-efficacy and well-being of ECCE teacher educators, from the perspective of 9 participants in 7 higher education institutions (HEIs) across 5 South African provinces. The study, conducted by 2 ECCE teacher…

Background: This study explores the experiences of early childhood education (ECE) leaders during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, drawing insights from case studies in Finland and South Africa. Theoretical frameworks of contextual and pedagogical leadership inform the understanding of ECE leadership. Aim: The aim is to analyse…

Parents of young children are often unaware of the general importance of play in children's development and their own roles in children's play. Lack of leisure, lack of space, the COVID-19 pandemic, Early Childhood Centre teacher communication and use of media and digital toys for children, have affected and reduced children's free play. Drawing…

Background: Litigation has been utilised to advance a range of socio-economic rights in post-apartheid South Africa, including the right to basic education. Nonetheless, there has not been significant litigation or sustained broad-based mobilisation around issues impacting the early childhood development (ECD) sector in the democratic era. The…

The COVID-19 pandemic has led all role players in the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) sector in South Africa, including the particular non-profit organisation (NPO) under investigation, into unchartered territory. The organisation, which is involved in training and mentoring community-based Early Childhood Development centres in…

The forced closure of South African schools left learners with many challenges, especially in language learning. This study aims to explore the perceptions of teachers teaching the same subject to the same grade during the COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose is to analyse learning losses and changes in the scholastic achievement of primary school…

This interpretive study documents experiences of teachers regarding the impact of parental participation on the learning process of Foundation Phase learners during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The period investigated stretched from the "hard" lockdown in South Africa instituted on 26 March 2020, until the reopening of the physical…

The extended lockdown in 2020 found South African educators employing innovative strategies to teach and assess Foundation Phase learners. Educators had to make do with reduced hours in the classroom and experienced new challenges in delivering curriculum content to learners that had barely grown accustomed to the formal classroom setup. Empirical…

Background: The spread of the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) has escalated the need for studying the home learning environment (HLE). With learners spending more time at home, understanding about learning at home, especially in disadvantaged communities, is paramount. Aim: The aim of this research study was to explore the HLE for foundation…

While the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is still considered as a pandemic in recent human history, evidence from World Health Organization (2021) so far has recorded a total of 116,521,281 confirmed cases of COVID-19 with 2,589,548 as a total of deaths from over 215 countries or territories worldwide. Recognizing that COVID-19 is not only…

COVID-19 affected the teaching practicum placement of approximately 650 fourth year BEd Foundation Phase student teachers at University N in April and July 2020. The teaching practicum is seen as a purposeful, organised, supervised, mentored and assessed educational activity required for the completion of a teacher education programme. During the…

COVID-19 has caused a change in the demography of the Early Childhood Education (ECE) teaching fraternity. This paper problematizes the ECE curriculum delivery gap created by the influence of COVID-19. Central to this paper is the assumption that online learning might limit the stimulation of children's holistic development. Reflecting on their…

As a result of the global COVID-19 pandemic and resulting lockdowns across the world, digital access has become paramount, as most aspects of education have moved online. Drawing together five case studies located in South Africa, Argentina, the Netherlands, India and Ethiopia, this article assesses the role of film education during the COVID-19…

Early childhood care and education (ECCE) has gained recognition as an important means of promoting the holistic development of the inseparable social, emotional, cognitive and physical facets of education in the early childhood years. Since early childhood development poses challenges to many young children, the prolonged mandatory closure of…

Recent evolutions, such as pervasive networking and other enabling technologies, have been increasingly changing human life, knowledge acquisition, and the way works are performed and students learn. In this societal change, educational institutions must maintain their leading role. They have therefore embraced digitally enhanced learning to…