The purpose of this qualitative study is to investigate the significance of how pre-K and kindergarten teachers' perception and implementation of instruction prepares children for literacy in both grade levels. Three research questions guided the study: Are pre-K and kindergarten curricula aligned with implementing emergent literacy skills in…

Preschool programs, as they have rapidly become more academically oriented, are squarely centered in a debate about developmentally appropriate practices in early childhood. Nature-based preschools are increasingly embraced by parents as a healthy choice compared to more academically focused programs. The Whitaker Preparatory School, a pseudonym,…

Studies have shown that children with Special Educational Needs (SEN) are less engaged in social interactions with peers. The study attempted to investigate how Swedish preschool teachers in inclusive preschool settings implemented an evidence-based program called Play Time/Social Time; how they interpreted children's interaction; and how their…

There is growing concern about the mental health and resilience of today's children and difficulties with self-regulation are implicated in educational outcomes, cognitive problems, internalizing problems such as depression and anxiety, externalizing problems such as aggression, and physical health problems. Self-regulation is a growing topic of…

Early childhood practitioners frequently attempt to identify the cause of outcomes experienced by their learners. This is sometimes referred to as causal attribution. Causal attribution may be affected by prior success and failure of a learner, the amount of effort exerted by the learner, the ability level of the learner, and knowledge of any…

Background/Context: In the context of increasing accountability mandates in the preK-12 education system, the importance of professional development (PD) supports for early childhood educators is recognized. Education leaders emphasize the importance of partnering with teachers to inform the development of effective PD approaches. This partnering…

In early childhood education, there is a movement towards nature preschools as an alternative model by which to combat the readiness gap. Although educators recognize - and researchers demonstrate - the value of nature-based early childhood education, dissonance exists between the belief in the value of nature-based early childhood education and…

Many developed countries have been concentrating lately on the quality of preschool education. Generally, what is considered one of the most important aspects of quality preschool education is quality teaching performance, which has been focused on in many research studies. Research also investigates the level of reflection in preschool teachers,…

Science is an important domain in early childhood education. Though, initial results indicate that preschool teachers rarely offer science activities. Against this background professional development aims to encourage preschool teachers to provide science activities more frequently. In Germany, professional development is often offered as…

The purpose of this case study was to propose collaborative inquiry (CI) as counterdiscourse in professional development literature by acknowledging the multiple forms of personal and professional knowledge of five preschool practitioners. Data were collected from transcripts of CI group meetings, semi-structured participant interviews, researcher…

Just as students experience productive struggle or spend time in the 'zone of confusion' when engaging with challenging tasks, teachers also experience similar difficulties and periods of confusion when engaging with new pedagogical approaches. Prior to a 19-week lockdown due to Coronavirus (COVID-19) during 2020, two Foundation teachers…

Teaching assistants are a common presence in pre-kindergarten programs, but their role and the dynamics between lead teachers and their assistants are understudied. The classroom behaviors of lead teachers and assistants from 80 public prekindergarten classrooms were examined for similarities and differences in their roles and to determine how…

Although there have been calls in the early childhood field for effective approaches to preparing the workforce to support optimal early child development, there is a gap in understanding how different types of professional development predict teachers' beliefs about children and their self-reported classroom practices. Using the National Survey…

This study contrasted face-to-face and remote coaching models using an empirically-based professional development model, The Early Education model (TEEM). Child care teachers (n = 174) were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 conditions: remote coaching (n = 59), face-to-face coaching (n = 66), and business-as-usual (n = 49). This study examined…

Online professional development programmes have a long tradition in adult education. However, in early childhood education, such programmes are only just beginning to be developed. Before online professional development courses can be made inclusive, accessible and widely available to early childhood educators, they must meet a few basic…