Research Findings: This descriptive study used sequential analysis to examine both preschool teachers' responsiveness to children's utterances in sociodramatic play and the children's responses to their teachers' utterances. Eleven teachers in a Head Start program were videotaped while interacting with children in the dramatic play center. Salient…

In 1984, the "Australian Journal of Environmental Education" commenced. At that time, this author was 6 years old, in her first year of primary school at Tieri State School in Central-Western Queensland, and knew nothing of the "Australian Journal of Environmental Education" (AJEE), or environmental education for that matter.…

The Convention on the Rights of the Child calls for children to be treated as human beings with a distinct set of rights, instead of as passive objects of care. They can and should be agents in their own lives. Child-initiated pedagogy recognizes this by respecting children's individual and collective views, interests, and motivations.…

Children's interests are widely recognised as pivotal to meaningful learning and play in the early years. However, less is known about how children's diverse interests may contribute to relationships and interactions within peer cultures. This article builds upon previous studies to argue that participation in sociocultural activity generates…

This research focused on making visible children's funds of identity [Esteban-Guitart, M., & Moll, L. (2014). Funds of identity: A new concept based on the funds of knowledge approach. "Culture & Psychology," 20(1), 31-48] and incorporating these resources into an inquiry-oriented, play-based, preschool curriculum. Participants…

In the summer of 1899, [John] Dewey gave two series of talks at Honolulu High School on Tuesday and Friday evenings from 8:00 to 10:00. The first set of five lectures was entitled "The Life of the Child;" the second set, "Movements in Nineteenth Century Thought." The first talk of the lecture series was delivered on the evening…

While scholars have recognized the importance of page breaks in both the construction and comprehension of narrative within picture books, there has previously been limited research that focused directly on how children discuss and make sense of these spaces in the text. Yet, because of their nature as dramatic gaps in the narrative, page breaks…

This dissertation portfolio is comprised of three first-authored pieces of writing that investigate the oral language and emergent literacy development of Spanish-speaking children with specific language impairment (SLI). Each piece features a unique but complementary aim. The first study investigates group differences on a battery of emergent…

Children's interests are a common foundation for early childhood curricula. Yet, little research is available about the fundamental nature of children's interests and analytical ways to recognize and engage with these. Early work on children's interests adopted a psychological perspective and associated interests with activity choices. Recent work…

Supporting children's oral language development during the preschool years is critical for later reading success. Research shows that preschool teachers may be missing opportunities to engage children in the kinds of conversations that foster the development of rich oral language skills. Teachers hoping to support these skills can provide children…

Technology, digital media and popular culture form an important aspect of young children's life-worlds in contemporary post-industrial societies. A problem for early childhood educators is how to most effectively integrate these aspects of children's life-worlds into the provision of play-based learning. Traditionally, research has considered…

There is a continuing international concern about a decline in the pursuit of post-compulsory science. One suggested cause concerns the role that young people's narrow perceptions of scientists may play in deterring them from pursuing science qualifications and careers. Research would suggest that the ages of 10-14 appear to be a critical…

Alternative instructional and curricular models are regarded as more comprehensive and suitable approaches to providing quality physical education (Kulinna 2008; Lund and Tannehill 2010; McKenzie and Kahan 2008; Metzler 2011; Quay and Peters 2008). The purpose of this study was to describe the impact of the Early Steps Physical Education…

In this article, Bryan R. Warnick explores parents' authority to make educational decisions for their children. In philosophical debates, three types of arguments are typically invoked to justify parents' rights: arguments based on the welfare interests of children, arguments based on the expressive interests of parents, and arguments based on the…

The purpose of this paper is to describe effective methods of developing pretend play that is intrinsically motivating for young children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) using the topic of circumscribed interests. Children with ASD often develop very specialized interests, known as Circumscribed Interests (CI). However, their limited and…