Teaching English as a foreign language in early years has become prevalent in response to contemporary trends of English as a global language. However, early childhood teachers may face challenges that would prevent children from achieving success in learning English in different educational contexts. This study explored the challenges that…

This article shares the story of a preschool teacher who courageously embarked on a yearlong journey of re-envisioning how an important milestone in children's lives--their birthdays--were celebrated in the classroom. She accepted the preschool leadership's invitation to align birthday practices with the center's identity influenced by the Reggio…

In this conceptual paper, we propose a new three-pronged theoretical framework derived from Chinese philosophy: (1) "Tian Shi" (timing); (2) "Di Li" (context); and (3) "Ren He" (human capital). Specifically, we delineate the nature of "Tian Shi, Di Li, Ren He" required for the successful translation of…

Risky play, accompanied by thrilling feelings with real or perceived risks, is beneficial for children's development. Playground quality and teachers' attitudes about risk can influence preschoolers' risky play opportunities. In this study, 10 U.S. preschools' outdoor environments were rated using the Seven Cs Scale. Playgrounds scored lowest in…

The current study aims to understand the expectations of pre-service preschool teachers regarding what kind of environment we will live in in the future and the reasons behind these expectations in terms of sustainable development (SD). To this end, the current study was conducted based on a phenomenological model with the participation of 77…

This study explored teachers' understanding of utilizing mindfulness practices with students at New Jersey Township School District. Students today are faced with a significant amount of stress and anxiety within their lives, which can have a significant impact on their learning, memory, behavior, and both physical and mental health. The New…

During the early stages of childhood, educators play a pivotal role as influential figures in a child's life. The dynamic between teacher and child holds the potential to either foster or jeopardize the child's developmental trajectory. The present study investigated the predictive role of teacher-child relationships in behavior problems for…

Kindergarten educators play a crucial role in promoting young children's technological awareness and ensuring that they possess the necessary skills and knowledge to integrate technology effectively into their teaching practices. This study examines the factors that influence early childhood educators' use of digital educational aids, that is,…

Recent studies demonstrated that the adult-preschooler interaction during shared book reading (SBR) contributes to its effectiveness (Mol et al., 2008). The level of abstraction, or complexity, of the mathematical questions adults formulate during SBR serves as an indicator of the interaction quality. We aimed to investigate the chance of…

Grounded in Developmental Systems Theory, especially Ecological Systems Theory, and through the strength-based and whole child lenses, this study examines 15 interviews with Head Start professionals and explores alignment degree of their school readiness perception and practices. Adopting dual mapping, theme screening and in vivo coding, the…

Early childhood educators in the United States and worldwide face the growing challenge of "schoolification,"--the imposition of conventional academic content from later grade levels into their classrooms (e.g., Ring & O'Sullivan, 2018). The science of learning offers a different approach with evidence to support more active,…

Districts across the country are using Preschool to Third Grade (P-3) approaches to address long-standing barriers to achieving positive outcomes for young children, for example by helping increase children's readiness for elementary school. P-3 approaches are promising for realizing these results because they demand investments in the systems…

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a developmental disorder that impacts areas of social communication and social interaction. The prevalence of ASD has increased in the last ten years. Symptoms and behaviors include restrictive and repetitive movements, highly restricted and fixated interests, insistence on sameness, and hypo or hyper-reactivity.…

The current study examined the contexts in which a preschool teacher professional development intervention was more versus less effective in improving student outcomes. We used a fixed intercept, random coefficient (FIRC) modeling approach to explore the contextual characteristics inside and outside school walls that predicted differential…

Purpose: Emotions are an important aspect of work performance but are often overlooked, especially amongst preschool teachers whose work environment is laden with emotional job demands. The present study aims to examine the mediating role of emotional exhaustion in the relationship between emotional labour and contextual performance.…