Engagement with nature is crucial for child development and kindergarten educators' pedagogical beliefs about nature play significantly affect children's access to and experiences of nature in kindergarten. This study examines the role of nature play in children's holistic development, engaging 12 Chinese kindergarten educators through in-depth…

In the Republic of Ireland, the Department of Children and Youth Affairs recommends implementing play-based learning in early education curricula. This research study set out to explore the following research question: What are pre-school teachers' beliefs, understandings and uses of play-based approaches to develop language and literacy skills in…

Outdoor play comprises a highly significant play category through which children learn, develop, express themselves, socially and physically interact with their surroundings. Research, however demonstrates outdoor play is not substantially utilized within Greek preschool environments. This study was conducted during the 2019 academic year, aiming…

There is increasing interest in early childhood science education and a corresponding increase in research in this area. Studies have shown that in some countries the teaching of science in the early years remains low. These studies show that science pedagogy in the early years needs attention, despite the myriad opportunities afforded for the…

This paper explores the views and attitudes of a small group of teachers concerning the early years outdoor teaching and learning environment. Further their responses are compared to an online survey of teachers examining their attitudes to the early years outdoor environment. This extends the current knowledge as to the drivers for teachers'…

The negative impacts of COVID 19 on children's holistic development have been reported by researchers around the world. This qualitative study explored teachers' and parents' perspectives on the impact of physical/social distancing and school closure policies on children's socioemotional development. The study was conducted in fall 2020. The…

Interest has grown internationally in the concept of physical literacy [Dudley, D. 2015. "A Conceptual Model of Observed Physical Literacy." "The Physical Educator" 72: 236-260; Edwards, L., A. Bryant, R. Keegan, K. Morgan, and A. Jones. 2017. "Definitions, Foundations and Associations of Physical Literacy: A systematic…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between the Penn Interactive Peer Play (PIPPS-HK) and the Preschool Play Behavior Scale (PPBS-HK) to establish concurrent validity of both scales. A total of 1,622 children age 3 to 6 and 152 teachers in 10 kindergartens (about 160 students and 15 teachers randomly selected from each…

This interim report presents the ongoing progress of a collaborative project between the Centre for Teacher and Early Years Education (CTEY), UCL Institute of Education and the Faculty of Education, Beijing Normal University (BNU), which aims to (re)construct school readiness from Chinese children's perspectives. In this report, we first set out…

Using a holistic support framework, this study investigated teachers' conceptions of effective play-based learning development and how their perceptions of its effectiveness related to whole-child development. Data were collected from a mixed method study. A total of 286 questionnaires from 50 Hong Kong kindergartens were collected and then 29…

Teachers can play important roles in supporting children's development through play, but require training to better understand this role. Practice-based coaching shows promise in its ability to train teachers in use of evidence-based practice, but has not been used for play support practices. The present study sought to explore using…

Children with autism spectrum disorder experience delays in the development of nonverbal social communication gestures to request and to share (joint attention) as well as play skills such that intervention is required. Although such tools exist in research settings, community stakeholders also require access to brief, simple, and reliable tools…

Well-being is a significant concept in research, policy and practice in education, but consensus about what it is is challenging. In addition, the well-being of children under eight is under-researched. Using online surveys, this paper looks at the perspectives of 155 parent/carers and 285 practitioners in England on young children's well-being.…

Parents (n = 141) and preschool workers (n = 81) completed a survey regarding their perspectives towards: (a) the existence of bullying in preschool, (b) interpretations of bullying, (c) the roles of bullies and victims, and (d) gender differences. Findings suggest that both groups largely believe that bullying occurs in preschool. Excluding…

Conducted at two separate natural outdoor classrooms with preschool-aged children from three to five years old, this qualitative research study investigated how outdoor environments supported children's creativity and imagination. Although many studies have explored the development of creative arts in the young children, few have focused on…