While academic interest in belonging in early childhood education and care (ECEC) settings has increased in recent years, the interplay between parental and educators' notions of belonging is under-researched. This article explores preschool educators' experiences of working with families of young children and their perspectives of parental…

How preschool teachers and children spend their time in preschool sets the stage for child engagement and learning. To describe characteristics of environments and activities and to compare child engagement in indoor and outdoor free play, systematic observations of children and teachers were performed in 78 Swedish preschool units. Results showed…

In some Western contexts, the pedagogical practices of teachers are to intentionally involve in play-based learning through sustained shared conversations to extend children's thinking (Meade, A., Williamson, J., Stuart, M., Smorti, S., Robinson, L., & Carroll-Lind, J. (2013). Adult-child sustained shared thinking: Who, how and when? Early…

Research Findings: Talking about emotions with their caregivers help young children develop emotional competence, and is particularly beneficial for children who display elevated externalizing behaviors. However, prior descriptive work has shown that teacher-child emotion talk in preschool classrooms is scarce. As children are spending increasing…

This study investigated whether two educational strategies, providing material and active adult support during play, promote pretend play quality in a group of preschoolers. The sample consisted of 101 preschoolers (50% females; mean age at t1= 43.02 months, SD= 5.94) from 14 Swiss educational play groups. These were randomly allocated to the…

Social competence is the ability to achieve interpersonal goals by engaging in social behaviors that are appropriate and context-specific. It develops early in childhood as children interact with others and it is a significant contributor to children's social development. The purpose of this article is to describe a practical method for how early…

The aim of this study was to investigate in what ways children's language development could be supported from the staff at Swedish preschools in the 'Tambour situation' (the transition time at the preschool's reception area). The support of Physical Language Learning Environment and Language Learning Interactions were observed for children (1-5…

Teachers incorporate information from various sources as they form their academic expectations for students. The student record of prior achievement is the most salient factor that educators use to form their expectations for children's achievement. Research on the factors that influence educator expectations has primarily focused on the ways…

Research on children's peer interactions shows many benefits for children's development especially in developing children's social competence. Drawing on a case study data from a study that investigated peer interactions among under-three year old children in three Malaysian childcare centers, this paper provides a picture of how the children's…

This study examined children's use of narrative strategies and social purposes in dramatic play through a sociocultural theoretical lens. We analysed language and nonverbal communication in play scenarios involving 17 kindergarteners and their teacher. Children used language and other communication modes to develop plot, character, and setting.…

The way educarers conceptualize their role in the education and care of infants can influence their pedagogical practices and interactions with infants in their care. The Early Years Development Framework was developed to provide key principles, practices, and learning outcomes to guide educarers working with children under 3 in Singapore. It…

Teachers' emotions in the classroom shape their ability to nurture positive relationships with young children. There is increasing interest in understanding how teachers manage and express their emotions on the job through the use of emotional labour, or the deliberate expression or suppression of emotions to achieve organizational goals. This…

The family--school relationship develops largely during face-to-face interactions between parents and teachers. Research shows that reciprocal and informal communication reinforces collaboration, especially between schools and families from minority groups. Yet, teacher practices regularly express a reluctance to implement reciprocal…

The preschool years are fundamental for children's social development as they navigate novel and complex social situations, which include interaction sequences and relationship features. As young children notice aspects of human difference, they develop schemas by classifying and situating attributes (e.g., skin color, hair type, communication…

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child was the first international treaty to emphasize the importance of listening to children's views and including them in decision-making processes. In that line, the primary aim of this study was to show how the quality of preschool outdoor environments can be improved through a participatory…