High quality early childhood teachers have a wealth of knowledge and use a range of skills in their daily classroom practices, and research has consistently demonstrated the positive influence effective early childhood teachers have on children's development and long-term outcomes. Given the importance of practicum experiences in the development…

Based on fieldwork conducted in two day care centres in Denmark, this paper explores knowledge and action as relational and intertwined phenomena in nursery teaching. Engaging with perspectives from actor network theory, emphasis is put on the socio-material distribution of knowing and acting. That is, how the nursery teacher becomes part of…

In the light of sustained interest in the potential value of young children's narrative play, this article examines Vivian Gussin Paley's approach to storytelling and story-acting, in this case with 3- to 5-year-olds. It scrutinises how children's narratives are co-constructed during adult-child and peer interactions through spoken and embodied…

Background: Children with developmental language disorders (DLDs) often struggle with classroom behaviour. No study has examined whether positive teacher-child relationships may act as a protective factor for children with DLDs in that these serve to enhance children's important classroom-learning behaviours. Aims: To examine the association…

In early childhood education, teacher professional development is crucial due to the impact of teachers on children's learning. This study presents the experience of action-research included in a teacher professional development program focused on improving pedagogical interaction from a sociocultural perspective. From 2012 to 2015, three cohorts…

The purpose of the study is to examine the impact of early childhood teachers' reading attitudes, the total number of the books they have read about their profession, the total number of the books they have read on general topics, and their teaching experience on their teaching efficacy. Participants consist of 362 early childhood teachers from 51…

Student problem behaviors occur across all classroom settings, but preschool children are three times more likely to be expelled than students in kindergarten through twelfth grade. Determining the extent to which preschool students exhibit problem behaviors may help promote preventative practices in early childhood settings. This study examined…

In this study, Activity Theory (AT) is used to analyse general patterns for how cultural and historical factors interact with the shaping of science activities in preschools. Data was produced from field notes, video observations, video stimulated recall group discussions and individual interviews with preschool teachers at fourteen preschool…

In this study, pre-primary teachers' views about professionalism and professional development in state nursery schools in Greece were investigated using a survey. This investigation of teachers' responses regarding specific issues of professionalism and professional development revealed that the majority of the teachers in the sample valued the…

This study examines the information and communications technology (ICT) resource known as interactive whiteboards (IWB) and seeks to determine whether their effective use in Kuwaiti kindergartens generates better student outcomes. A review of the literature suggests that it is quite possible for IWB and ICT in general to further improve upon…

This paper reports on an Australian study around early childhood educators' attitudes and beliefs on the use of touchscreen technologies by very young children, under three years of age. The study adopted an ecological perspective and educators and directors of early childhood centres completed an online survey and were interviewed on this…

Standardised testing in early childhood education has a direct impact on how teachers teach. In 2015, Western Australian early childhood teachers were invited to complete a questionnaire to provide feedback on their perceptions of standardised testing in the context of the "Early Years Learning Framework for Australia" (EYLF)…

Young children aged 4-5 years are online in rapidly increasing numbers. This is due to the accessibility of the internet afforded young children via touchscreen technologies. In Australian, the United Kingdom and United States of America, calls have been made for cyber-safety education to be provided for young children in their early childhood…

The goal of this study was to examine longitudinal associations among unsociability and indices of socio-emotional functioning in a sample of young Chinese children. Participants were N = 360 children (M[subscript age] = 4.72 years, SD = 0.67) recruited from kindergarten classes in an urban area of China. Assessments of unsociability and…

The prevalence of food allergies is a growing concern in the United States. Approximately 8% of the pediatric population has some form of food allergy. Many of these children are either in the preschool and primary school setting, which is where the majority of allergic reactions occur. If the symptoms of a food allergy reaction are not treated…