In this article, the authors report on the initial results of a mixed methods study that examined the beliefs that preservice teachers have about teaching real-world contexts, including those related to injustices, controversial issues, and children's home and cultural backgrounds. Data collection included a survey with 92 preservice Pre-K-8…

This study explores how female teachers construct their occupational identities as teachers within early childhood education (ECE) settings. The combination of feminist scholarship and the use of teacher life history method allow these women to describe themselves as professionally trained and educated teachers who love teaching and children even…

Although there is literature explaining how female ethnographers negotiate male-dominated research settings, there is a lack of literature explaining how male ethnographers negotiate female-dominated settings. It is, more or less, taken for granted the research settings males choose will be suitable for them. The field of early childhood…

This article provides an overview of the Education Meets Play study that will investigate early childhood educators' use of play-based learning, now mandatory under the "National Quality Standard". By building on what can be gleaned about educators' approaches to play-based learning prior to the implementation of the "Early Years…

We explored the use of the learning study (LS) model in developing Swedish pre-school science learning. This was done by analysing a 3-cycle LS project implemented to help a group of pre-school teachers (n?=?5) understand their science educational practice, by collaboratively and systematically challenging it. Data consisted of video recordings of…

This paper aimed to explore how preschool teachers' experience their strengthened teaching mission, specifically when working with scientific exploration. The study was based on the philosophy of the life-world, a branch of the phenomenological movement. Life-world philosophy focuses on the concrete reality humans inhabit and is responsive to its…

In the eyes of adults, conflicts between children are often treated as problematic social interactions that should be prevented. This study describes how young Korean-American children's conflict negotiation was a central part of their peer culture at a Korean heritage language school in the United States. Eleven young Korean-American children…

In order for students to be successful in school, strong foundations are needed at the earliest grades. In a district in central Mississippi, many students entering public school from Head Start were not able to identify alphabet letters or produce letter sounds, based on results of the 2011 Standardized Test for the Assessment of Reading (STAR).…

The "Miao" ethnic group is among the 56 minority groups in China. Their ideas of education for young children differ from that of the mainstream education system in China. This study examines the scenario of early childhood education for "Miao" children living in villages of Guizhou Province. It discusses the history and…

Tomorrow's inventors and scientists are today's curious young children--as long as those children are given ample chances to explore and are guided by adults equipped to support them. "STEM Starts Early" is the culmination of a deep inquiry by the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop and New America embarked on an exploratory…

Tomorrow's inventors and scientists are today's curious young children--as long as those children are given ample chances to explore and are guided by adults equipped to support them. "STEM Starts Early" is the culmination of a deep inquiry by the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop and New America embarked on an exploratory…

Practicum is the cornerstone of teacher education. Triadic assessment of practicum is an established model in early childhood initial teacher education in New Zealand. Based on a phenomenographic study on assessment of practicum, this paper presents a new perspective on triadic assessment. Interview data are collected from 35 participants (20…

Continuous professional learning and development (PLD) is an essential component of effective practice in any profession. PLD as a professional responsibility and workplace requirement in early childhood (EC) settings is now embedded in Australian national policy. What PLD looks like and how it happens in EC settings is a hot topic both locally…

Children's interests and thinking emanate from their daily lived experiences in their families, communities and cultures. This paper substantiates the view that the construct of "funds of knowledge", understood through the lens of "cultural repertoires of practice", provides an analytical tool for early years teachers to…

Background: Previously, the nature of teacher-child relationships (TCRs) has been explored through dimensions of close, conflicted, and dependent. However, this "variable-centred" approach is limited, as many relationships can be characterized by more than one characteristic or trait. A "person-centred" approach would allow for…