Purpose: This research aims to understand the learning with regard to didactic knowledge of an early childhood teacher who participated in a Lesson Study (LS) on the topic of patterns, as well as her perspective about LS as a teacher education process. Design/methodology/approach: This is a qualitative case study of an early childhood teacher who…

Education systems around the world, faces the major challenge of including all children in schools. Differentiated instruction (DI) is proposed as a pedagogical approach that support social, emotional and academic success for all students in the context of heterogeneous classrooms. Although, recent research draws the attention to the inconsistent…

This study explores how brief in-service training influences preschool teachers' awareness of competences relevant for building high-quality teacher-child relationships. A pre- and post-test design was used, with a 5-h training session in-between. Thirty-four in-service preschool teachers completed a video-based task before and after training.…

Literature and research have shown that professional development constitutes an essential dimension in constructing both work and professional identity. An important aspect in such development is training. In the field of adult education, different authors (Pratt, 1993; Mezirow, 1985; Schön, 1996; Silva, 2007) emphasize the importance of placing…

In recent years, there has been considerable investment at the European Union level in expanding early childhood education and care (ECEC) facilities. In line with this quantitative substantial initiative, research and social policies are increasingly focusing on the quality of such facilities. High quality depends, among other things, on…

This paper examines the role of professionalism in teachers' change in practice related to dialogue and argumentation. Data were collected from 14 pre-primary and primary school teachers who participated in a professional development programme with an emphasis on promoting values such as tolerance, empathy, inclusion and social responsibility…

Within the enhancement of technology and its ongoing integration into formal education setting, learning environments have been challenged to operationalize and arrange systems that engage pedagogy and technology together. The nature of this ongoing transformation is closely related to the paradigms that reign in the twenty-first century, in a…

Introducing English as a foreign language (FL) has become widespread in ECE in Europe, typified by initiatives involving specialist teachers of English visiting settings for short periods of time a week. This paper shares data from a study in Portugal that involved analyzing collaborative practices for evidence of approaches to integration in the…

This report uses the most recent Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) data, primarily from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2015 and Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) 2013 cycles, and seeks to evaluate the Ibero-American, countries where Spanish or Portuguese are the predominant…

This paper aims to describe and analyse a case study on professional development that was centred on the "Effective Early Learning (EEL) Programme". This process was a part of a larger dissemination project of the EEL programme nationwide, designed to train specialised facilitators at a local level who could, in turn, support the…

This book contains a compilation of papers presented at the International Psychological Applications Conference and Trends (InPACT) 2019, organized by the World Institute for Advanced Research and Science (W.I.A.R.S.). Modern psychology offers a large range of scientific fields where it can be applied. The goal of understanding individuals and…

Teaching is a form of public service that may give personal fulfillment to those who are involved in it. It is important to highlight the personal dimensions of teaching along with the professional dimensions to help illustrate the teacher's role as a public servant. This paper discusses the practice of one Portuguese kindergarten teacher…

In the European context the continuing training of early childhood educators in terms of information and communications technology (ICT) remains limited and is in need of development. The KINDERET project has been funded through the European Commission's "Leonardo da Vinci" programme aimed to identify and understand the theoretical and…

We are delighted to welcome you to the International Psychological Applications Conference and Trends (InPACT) 2016, taking place in Lisbon, Portugal, from 30 of April to 2 of May, 2016. Psychology, nowadays, offers a large range of scientific fields where it can be applied. The goal of understanding individuals and groups (mental functions and…