A contemporary concern about children's loss of contact with the natural world accompanies an ongoing urbanization and their reduced independent mobility. Children are becoming increasingly reliant on adults in accessing outdoor play and this is giving rise to more such experiences being shared. This research has explored the contemporary…

The aim of the article is to analyse aesthetic encounters in Danish early childhood and care (ECEC) centres and create knowledge of and a language for aesthetics as sensitive encounters and vibrant matters between humans and the world. The article thus challenges traditional assumptions about and understandings of aesthetics as simply impression,…

We used photographic activity schedules to increase the number of play activities completed by children with autism during unstructured time on the playground. All 3 participants engaged in more playground activities during and after training, and they continued to complete activities when novel photographs were introduced.

Technology plays a large role in the daily experiences of young children. Presently, technology is used both to support and enhance 'educational' activities and in the context of children's play. The aim of the present study is to understand how much time teachers in early childhood centres across 8 countries implemented technology into their…

This paper explores one child's use of their schema to construct their knowledge and understanding within the early years curriculum for Wales -- the Foundation Phase (FP). It considers how a knowledge of schemas can facilitate practitioners in supporting children along their learning continuum and inform classroom pedagogy. This paper explores…

This study highlights the potential of play to support young children's mark-making and writing and, in turn, shows how writing can become a driver of play. By detailing elements of this symbiotic relationship, the intention was for teachers as practitioner-researchers to deepen their professional knowledge of how best to support young children in…

Mobile learning from a posthumanist critical perspective is the co-figuration of learner with geolocative mobile devices that blurs boundaries of the networked body. In this study, four art education researchers explore geolocative co-figurative possibilities of mobile learning. The authors theorize co-figurative agency and heighten awareness of…

The purpose of this six-week, naturalistic inquiry study was to explore how middle school students at an international school in Warsaw, Poland experienced embodied literacies in their drama elective and their experience with revision through students' creations of performance and puppetry vignettes that represented their fictional stories. This…

In the course of a study on the impacts of changing early childhood policy in Aotearoa New Zealand since 1989, the illustrations accompanying three major government reports and policies stood out as encapsulating the changes in underlying discourses. This enabled the illustrations from these three policy reports to be used for a historical…

Early childhood education settings are characterized by the use of play-based learning and the assessment of children's play by teachers to promote further learning. A problem with technology use in early childhood settings is that little is known about how children learn to use technologies through play. This lack of knowledge makes it difficult…

Walter Benjamin wrote about pedagogy from the start of his writing life to its close. He was also an activist in the youth movement in Germany. This essay explores the importance of childhood, play, toys and education to his wider body of work--including his interests in photography, literary form, language acquisition and use, modern art. The…

This photo essay focuses upon the literacy practices of two groups of preschoolers as they built, illustrated, and dictated stories in response to their participation in a "Castle Project." Data, including literacy artifacts, photodocumentation, sociodramatic play scenarios, and conversations are qualitatively analyzed, coded, and…

What is the nature of art/science collaborations in museums? How do art objects and activities contribute to the successes of science centers? Based on the premise that art exhibitions and art-based activities engage museum visitors in different ways than do strictly factual, information-based displays, I address these questions in a case study…

Young children have the capability of making decisions, informed choices, and self-assessing their progress on their choices. In this classroom of 4- and 5-year-olds, children used pictorial contracts, rubrics, and various self-assessment techniques as a method for continuous learning. Gathering and reflecting on their own evidence about their…

This study explores children's narratives of their curiosity and imagination through innovative use of an information technology app--Our Story. Novel use of the app allowed children to express and record their opinions they considered significant to them. The research captured children's approaches to everyday situations through their play.…