This article draws on the articulation of a value for reflexivity that has accumulated within qualitative methods debates in the past decade. It demonstrates how reflexivity is interwoven with the concept of ethical mindfulness. The argument has developed from a consideration of the ethical dilemmas that were a salient aspect of an ongoing…

Although curiosity is an undeniably important aspect of children's cognitive development, a universally accepted operational definition of children's curiosity does not exist. Almost all of the research on measuring curiosity has focused on adults, and has used predominately questionnaire-type measures that are not appropriate for young children.…

Using data from 24 countries, which participated in the 2006 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), we examine the relationship between parental science employment and students' career expectations. In contrast to prior PISA-based studies, we find that the link between parental employment and adolescent plans to work in science is…

The twentieth century began with children having virtually no universally accepted rights but ended with the most powerful international legal instrument supporting their rights: the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. The challenge for interested parties in the twenty-first century is effective implementation of this Convention.…

In this paper the authors carefully study the problem of liberty as it applies to school choice, and whether there ought to be restricted liberty in the case of homeschooling. They examine three prominent concerns that might be brought against homeschooling, viz., that it aggravates social inequality, worsens societal conflict and works against…

Researchers have suggested that children who are interested in literacy activities and voluntarily engage in them are likely to become better readers than children with less literacy interest. Literacy interest, along with engaging literacy activities and responsive teaching, are important components in children's early literacy experiences. This…

This study presents a comparative study of the free-time activity preferences of 9- to 11-year-old children in the UK and USA, as drawn by them in art workshops. Six themes emerged relating to sport, outdoor play, family/peers, media, special occasions and other (indefinable) activities. The children's talk about their drawings revealed additional…

The influences of child participation in interest-based learning activities on the development of 17 preschoolers with autism was the focus of this brief report. The children's mothers identified their children's interests and the everyday family and community activities that provided opportunities for interest-based learning. Parents then…

Research Findings: The aim of this study was to shed light on how children perceive the differences between their early childhood setting and primary school and what they felt they learned when they started primary school. The children's playschool teachers were co-researchers, participating in the data generation, as well as participants in the…

The purpose of the present study is to investigate how children aged 4-6 perceive and are motivated by foreign language learning in kindergarten. The central part of the paper focuses on the tendencies and guidelines for the teaching and learning of foreign languages at the pre-school level and on children's motivation for foreign language…

The research question addressed in this paper is: What specific elements in the outdoor environment draw children's attention? The new approach to Welsh early years education--the "Foundation Phase: Framework for children aged 3-7 years in Wales" (DCELLS 2008)--requires the inclusion of both teacher-led and child-initiated activities and…

The current study examined the relations between children's literacy interest and parent and child characteristics (i.e. parents' education level and child's gender), parental expectations of their child's school attainment and achievement and the child's positive and problem behaviours. Participants were 61 preschoolers from predominately…

The author grew up as an Illinois farm girl, born in 1922. Both her mother and her grandmother had been teachers trained in Froebelian progressive education methods, and both knew the value of building on children's interests. At about age 9, she became interested in butterflies and made her own museum, including rocks, butterflies, and insects…

The Chinese government has shifted the pattern of rural schooling over the past decade, replacing village schools with urban boarding schools. The stated goal is to improve school quality, while deploying resources more effectively. However, the new boarding schools fail to provide a safe, healthy environment or protect and enable students' human…

Children's interest in exploration is the hallmark of their curiosity. As people who are significant in organising children's environment, how teachers and parents respond to children's exploratory behaviours may promote or hinder the child's desire for further investigation. With reference to Kurt Lewin's concept of "total situation",…