Mentoring is highly valued to support teachers' professional growth. Yet little is known about mentors' experiences and roles in supporting early childhood education teachers in Aotearoa New Zealand. This study sought to fill that gap by asking mentors how they foster teachers' capacity, as well as the barriers and enablers they have experienced…

Teachers play a critical role in deciding what curricula are used in their classrooms. We examine the factors that teachers describe as influencing their sustainment or discontinuation of a literacy curriculum, "Zoology One," following their participation in a randomised controlled trial (RCT) examining the curriculum's efficacy. This…

Early Childhood Environmental Education (EECE) and Early Childhood Education for Sustainability (ECEfS) are becoming increasingly integrated into preschool curricula, highlighting their key role in shaping environmentally conscious and sustainably oriented generations from an early age. The mentioned concepts represent the theoretical starting…

This article attempts to address the challenge that preschool teachers face, when integrating a specific content area, science, with play. The study builds on the theoretical framework of Play-Responsive Early Childhood Education and Care (PRECEC), in which teaching, and play are understood as a mutual activity. In this mutual activity, teachers…

Mathematical understanding in early childhood lays the foundation for children's later academic achievement, yet little is known about individual differences in U.S. early childhood educators' mathematics instruction in preschool classrooms. The present study explored the range of intentional mathematics instruction occurring in early childhood…

This paper aims to (1) explore how notions about STEM in different contexts, times, scales and places affect STEM-practices in ECE and beyond, and (2) with this as a point of departure, highlight the need and potential of using feminist perspectives and a feminist pedagogy in STEM-related courses within ECTE (Early Childhood Teacher Education). To…

While academic interest in belonging in early childhood education and care (ECEC) settings has increased in recent years, the interplay between parental and educators' notions of belonging is under-researched. This article explores preschool educators' experiences of working with families of young children and their perspectives of parental…

Team-based leadership is increasingly recognized as valid for raising workplace quality. Developing effective teams of leaders, though, is barely understood, scantly researched and not simple or straightforward. Mentoring has been recognized as valuable within teams and with the support of critical reflection can assist in augmenting team-based…

The shortage of qualified Early Childhood Teachers is one of the most complex challenges facing the Australian early learning sector. The Early Childhood Elevate Mentoring Program (ECEM) was conceptualised, developed and implemented with ECTs to enable them to support Diploma trained educators as they studied an accelerated Bachelor of Early Years…

Leadership in early childhood education and care (ECEC) undoubtedly plays a crucial role in preschool quality, yet it is seldom discussed in studies. This study aims to identify various leadership profiles of preschool leaders using a person-centered approach and predict these profiles based on leaders' characteristics and the preschools they…

This study explores readiness for change (RFC) in infant and early childhood education through the perspectives of Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health (IECMH) consultants and social-emotional (SEL) coaches. Specifically, this research examines how these professionals perceive educators' RFC, identify barriers and facilitators to engagement,…

The study examined conceptualisation and implementation of play-based curriculum and pedagogy in early childhood education in preschools in Oromia Regional State. The study employed mixed research method with concurrent triangulation design. A researcher selected the samples of the study by using purposive, availability, stratified and simple…

Background: Effective collaboration between parents and teachers is a crucial component of early childhood education (ECE) institutions in Indonesia. Both parties hold a fundamental responsibility for imparting knowledge within the formal school setting and the informal home environment. Aim: The present study investigates the patterns of…

Current research and literature emphasize the crucial role of group experiences in children's learning during early childhood. However, despite the frequent use of the term 'group', little attention has been paid to its position in children's learning and the diverse perspectives that inform it. This study addressed this gap by applying a…

Teachers play an influential role in children's health behaviors and there is evidence to support the need for children to be more physically active within preschool. To increase children's physical activity, teachers need to be intentional about promoting active play. To date, most research has focused on teachers' promotion of physical activity…