In 'The role of play', the fifth article we are highlighting from the extensive "FORUM" archive available online, Maggie Gracie draws on material and observations she had collected during a year of study in an infant and reception class in the mid-1970s to develop ideas about the need to enable pupils to develop genuine autonomy of…

This article explores how gastrostomy feeding tubes can impact the early childhood education and care (ECEC) experiences of children. It presents findings from a small-scale study, which utilised the perspectives of early years educators and parents. The findings indicate that feeding tubes have both an opportunistic and restrictive impact within…

Historically Danish preschool has emphasised play and downplayed curricular planning. Over the last 20 years, there has been heightened emphasis on learning and goal orientation. This article explores the consequential framing of play as result of that shift. This is done first by discussing the changes in policy and discourse in Denmark in…

The last 15 years have witnessed a quiet revolution in the understanding of spatial skills, and the authors are finding that these all-important science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) competencies are rooted in spatial knowledge. Spatial skills are the tools use to visualize and navigate the world. Spatial skills allows people to…

The amount of intentional, instructional, purposeful play has decreased in primary grades, and didactic, test-driven instruction has increased. Emerging neuroscientific evidence is beginning to highlight the significant effects the toxic stress from poverty has on developing brains. Almost half of American children can be considered to come from…

This commentary aims to encourage a research-based, critical, inquiring approach to the development of play-based learning in primary schools. I suggest that this approach could build from the wealth of knowledge in the early childhood education sector. I also invite greater collaboration between early childhood and primary teachers, particularly…

This paper argues that play should be central to children's lives throughout early childhood, including their time in school. First, it charts the history of early childhood education in Scotland through four stages: (1) pioneer of kindergarten; (2) early adopter of formal education; (3) promise of a recalibration through Curriculum for…

The current early years emphasis on ensuring young children achieve 'school readiness' has contributed to a context of academic pressure in early years settings in England. The debated term 'school readiness' is vaguely expressed in England's early years curriculum as 'Children reaching a good level of development in the prime areas of literacy…

The extent to which academic instruction should be a major goal of the curriculum for preschool and kindergarten children is a constant topic of debate among the many parties concerned with early childhood education. The main argument presented in this report is that the traditional debates in the field about whether to emphasize so-called free…

Iceland has a strong tradition of universal public early childhood education and care (ECEC) services for children. The traditional pedagogy is founded on play-based learning with the holistic view of the development of the child is central to practice. With increased interest in education following the 2008 financial crisis, there are signs that…

The introduction of the "Early Years Learning Framework and the Australian Curriculum-Mathematics" in Australian preschools and primary schools has caused early childhood educators to reconsider what may be appropriate levels of mathematics knowledge to expect from children as they start school. This paper reports on initial data from an…

Because of the substantial impact on outcomes for children, states and school districts across the country are addressing issues surrounding early learning opportunities and school readiness for young children. Full-day kindergarten plays an important role in both. Colorado has made significant investments in full-day kindergarten as a means of…

A preschool program in rural Bangladesh was evaluated in terms of cognitive and social outcomes of children. The preschools provided a half-day program, 6 days a week, with free play, stories, and instruction in literacy and math. Four hundred children between 4.5 and 6.5 years were assessed, half in preschools and half in villages where there…

The study examined the unique relationship between multiple dimensions of classroom behavioral adjustment problems and salient social-emotional competencies for urban Head Start children. These relationships were investigated using a hierarchical model that controlled for the variance in social-emotional outcomes attributed to age, gender, and…

During the first half of the 1990-91 school year, 446 children were served by the Chapter 1 Prekindergarten Program of the Saginaw, Michigan school district. A process evaluation was conducted to monitor the program and assess whether it was being implemented as planned. This year, the process evaluation consisted of half-day classroom…