This article describes a teacher in Vietnam being trained in and using process-oriented child monitoring (POM) in their classroom. POM is a child observation approach that can be used to determine students' levels of wellbeing and involvement in the classroom, which helps a teacher understand if deep-level learning is taking place. POM is an easy,…

Given the recent attention on early childhood mathematics education, it is important to understand how early childhood educators conceptualize the work of mathematics teaching and learning. This article describes a study of preschool educators' conceptions of mathematics teaching and learning in the context of a multi-year professional development…

Research shows that conversations and daily interaction among teachers and children is crucial for their development. Observing children and interpreting their thinking processes is a significant factor in intentionally planning curriculum that emerges from children's thinking, assists them in making connections, and extends their learning. This…

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.…

Background: This article reports on the evaluation of a professional development programme for underqualified Grade R practitioners, many of whom work under challenging conditions. Aim: The study aimed to evaluate the practitioners' confidence, knowledge and practice of play. Setting: The programme involved a 5-week training programme for 1000…

This article focuses on professional development among teachers within a Swedish national network on toddler mathematics education. The activities within this network can be understood as participant-oriented collective professional development based on a knowledge of practice approach. An inventory of toddler mathematics was performed within this…

Professional development for early childhood educators (ECE PD) is an essential component of supporting a professional early childhood workforce. Yet research on ECE PD frequently centers on narrow fidelity data, while teachers' individual voices and teaching contexts are only rarely considered in order to understand teacher experiences with PD…

In this article, the author examines the ways in which a classroom quality metric framed the teaching and learning experiences of teachers and children in three Head Start classrooms. Using comic subjectivity theory, the author critically analyzes the ways in which the high-stakes classroom quality measure used in Head Start settings directed her…

Within the United States, publicly funded pre-Kindergarten (pre-K) is a borderland of teacher practice--somewhere between early childhood and Elementary approaches to pedagogy. For pre-K teachers, this can mean negotiating many different, and oft-competing conceptions of what curriculum and practice should look like in order to support the…

This longitudinal study examined the influence of prekindergarten teacher characteristics and classroom instructional processes during mathematical activities on the growth of mathematics learning scores in prekindergarten, kindergarten, and first grade. Participants attended state-funded and Head Start prekindergarten programs. Mathematical…

Findings are presented regarding childcare providers' use of evidence-based strategies to promote preschoolers' social-emotional competence in 38 urban childcare classrooms. Descriptive results from classroom observations and childcare teachers' interviews indicated that in the absence of training, childcare teaching staff implemented few of these…

Research Findings: Most infant teachers have been prepared to be early childhood educators with minimal theoretical or practical exposure to infancy. This study highlights the outcomes of a professional development program (PDP) designed to support a group of infant teachers who lacked specific infancy preparation to re-envision their roles. Data…

Vietnam is promoting active teaching and learning as a key strategy to enhance children's learning in preschools. This change depends largely on building the capacities of teachers to implement child-centered education in practice and handover the initiative for learning to children. Vietnamese teachers need to be better equipped with pedagogical…

Research Findings: The present study assessed the extent to which early childhood educators utilized small-group literacy instruction and explored factors potentially associated with the use of this evidence-based practice. The classroom activities of 83 early childhood educators were observed in the fall and spring, and videos were coded to…

This study used a single-case, multiple baseline design to examine the effectiveness of collaborative coaching on three Early Head Start (EHS) teachers' use of responsive communication strategies with toddlers with communication delays. Child communication targets and teacher communication strategies were measured as secondary outcomes. The…