Infant and toddler pedagogy has flourished as a specialized area of practice in early childhood care and education settings, yet it remains an under-researched area. There is also limited empirical research internationally that explores cultural meanings of meaningful provision for this young age group. This ethnographic study explored pedagogies…

Research shows that high quality programs can support positive outcomes for all children, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds. Little research has examined the perspectives of directors working with infants and toddlers in families who are experiencing low socio-economic status (SES) in early childhood settings. This qualitative…

This study reports on a medium-scale Jamaican study, The Early Interactions Project, which measured environmental quality in 42 childcare facilities in Jamaica using Infant and Toddler Environment Rating Scale (ITERS-3). One of the overarching goals of the project was to quantitatively measure programme quality with the goal of providing…

High-quality early education and care experiences are critical for children's growth and development, families' ability to work, and the future health of society. In Greece, with regard to research for children under 3 years of age in early childhood education and care services, the issue of quality has been only marginally researched. The lack of…

Research Findings: This study examined whether teacher-child interaction quality varied as a function of type of activity in toddler classrooms in four European countries (Finland, Netherlands, Poland, and Portugal). It also investigated whether specific activity settings, namely levels of adult involvement, use of whole group, and children's…

Research in developed countries has found that paternal involvement has positive and significant effects on early childhood development (ECD). Less is known, however, about the state of paternal involvement and its influence on ECD in rural China. Using data collected in Southern China that included 1,460 children aged 6-42 months and their…

This conceptual article examines how ready-made assumptions about literacy both frame and limit understandings of new communicative practices in educational contexts. Proposing a tripartite heuristic that interrogates the appearance of literacy in terms of emergence, semblance and performance, it uses stories from a study of touchscreen tablets in…

This article unpacks ECE professional associations and unions (ECEPAUs) pathways of resistance to a 'Universal Nursery Policy Project' (UNPP) and how ECEPAUs have reconceptualized the professionalism of the nursery within the Chilean neoliberal agenda. Drawing on a post-qualitative methodology, with three datasets of participant observations,…

The psychological literature on the development of gestures during the first year of life has been limited. It has mainly focused on the development of pointing at around 11 months of age, considering it "the" gesture that allows triadic interactions. However, recent studies have argued for the importance of earlier ostensive gestures…

This study took place in the University of West Attica, Department of Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) in Greece, founded in 2018, which focuses on the learning, development and education of children under four years of age. Greece has a split early childhood education system, and there is minimal attention given to infant and toddler…

There is clear evidence that early mathematical development sets the foundation for success in later mathematics learning; however, there is little research which considers mathematics education for children under three years of age. This paper provides a snapshot of findings from a national survey of early childhood educators conducted as part of…

This paper outlines the findings of an empirical research study exploring how Early Years Educators (EYEs) support under-threes with their early reading development in England. The data were collected through a mixed methodological approach of an initial survey, five semi-structured interviews and four reflective Zines to explore the experiences…

Play is a central discourse in policy and practice pertaining to young children's learning, development and well-being in many countries around the world. Dominant ways of understanding and advocating for play often construct universalising notions of children and childhood, overlooking that play is always-already culturally situated and…

Research Findings: Driven by the universal two-child policy, the childcare services in China have stepped into a new era after 3-decade of neglect. This national study investigated the accessibility, quality, and administration of childcare services for children under age 3, by establishing a triangulation of survey, interview, and classroom…

The present study investigated the role of music education in early childhood education and care (ECEC) in relation to the daily activities of children ages one to three, i.e. "toddlers" (N = 918) in Finnish ECEC units (N = 327). A total of 23,142 random observations were conducted. The observations focused on children's involvement,…