Previous research has highlighted the need to improve teacher education programs with the intent of preparing infant-toddler professionals as working with infants-toddlers and families requires a unique skill set. The following mixed methods research study supported these assertions by examining the early childhood education (ECE) undergraduate…

This paper reports the findings of a narrative review of international research literature about babies' and toddlers' engagement with the outdoor environment whilst attending ECEC (Early Childhood Education and Care) settings. Based on the in-depth review of 21 papers, it identifies four dominant themes in the literature: the outdoors as a space…

This study followed three preservice student teachers as they navigated a semester-long infant-toddler practicum designed to enact a relationship-based approach to teaching and learning. Selected participants were in particular and contrasting placement settings, which served as a catalyst for engaging in critical reflection in multiple ways.…

The "UN Convention on the Rights of the Child" is one of the most widely-ratified human rights treaties, yet the visibility of children in the early years, in the mandatory government reports to the "UN Committee on the Rights of the Child" and in the Committee's concluding observations to States Parties, is relatively low…

Toddlers contribute to early childhood education and care (ECEC) environments in unique ways in contrast to older children and adults. In this article, we explore early childhood teachers' stories about toddlers, thinking, and time. We follow a moment with a toddler's story told with his fingers, and discuss it through teachers' stories. Our focus…

Stories are a way that children under 3 years of age learn to share meaning with others. Most research with this age group has focused on 1:1 parent-child story relationships at home, largely book reading. These studies have positioned children in the role of story listeners rather than story tellers. Here, I explore new possibilities about the…

In this study, we reconstruct the types of work performed by early childhood education and care (ECEC) professionals working with children up to three years of age from an interactional perspective. The theoretical framework of the investigation is social organization of work defined by Strauss and colleagues in regard to medical sector. Analysis…

In recent years, limited research attention has been directed to what happens in science education before the age of 3 years. We present the findings of a study that followed 13 infant-toddlers aged 0.1-2.2 years (mean 1.8 years) and their educators from a childcare centre. Under the conditions of an educational experiment, the results of our…

Family engagement in childcare is important to ensure the optimal growth, development, and safety of children. Previous research has explored family engagement practices, but limited research is available on the application of theory to explain the uptake of family engagement principles. The purpose of this study was to explore the use and…

Background: Despite evidence on their short-term effectiveness, the long-term effects of group-based parenting interventions are unclear, programs are hard to scale up, and effects on parents of infants and toddlers are mixed. Objective: We evaluate the impact of a parenting intervention, "Crianza Positiva," that combines 8 group…

The increasing societal and linguistic diversity in schools challenge traditional teaching approaches and call for pedagogies that cater to the growing number of multilingual pupils. Translanguaging pedagogies can offer multilinguals a productive learning environment that helps them leverage their resources for learning. Translanguaging studies in…

This research presents the findings of an 8-month ethnographic case study of one infant/toddler classroom in the southeastern United States. Participants included the classroom's two (white, female) teachers and a racially diverse group of 12 children between one to 2 years of age. Grounded within an ethics of care theoretical framework, this…

By troubling notions of time-as-progress and human exceptionality, this paper considers what shifts in conceptualisations of children's literacies and futures might be possible in the context of faltering of capitalist logics of progress. The paper draws on a 3 year ethnographic study with families and young children in northern England, which…

This study considered the songs currently in use in Gaelic groups for 0-3 year olds in Scotland, whilst investigating how practitioners use them in the groups. In this article, I argue that Gaelic Early Years practitioners insufficiently understand the potential of song in relation to Gaelic language acquisition with young children and their…

Early childhood education and care (ECEC) has been found to be beneficial for the development of children below three years. However, many children do not attend ECEC facilities. Frequently, structural family characteristics (SFC), such as migration background, educational attainment and income, are used to explain differing probabilities of…