(2021). Embracing complexity in the culture of early childhood education. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal. Ahead of Print.

ABSTRACT This paper draws on data from an ongoing study on pre-service (PS) teachers’ perceptions of early childhood/elementary classrooms, conducted during a university course on arts and creativity in early childhood education (ECE). The study focuses on PS teachers’ perspectives on arts and material pedagogies in ECE classrooms via pre- and post-class drawings of an ideal classroom and written reflections

(2021). Research into multilingual issues in ECEC contexts: proposing a transdisciplinary research field. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal: Vol. 29, Multilingual Childhoods, pp. 319-335.

ABSTRACT Multilingual education is mandatory in early childhood education in several European countries. Scholars working in first, second and foreign language learning have shown the effectiveness of interaction-promoting and language-modelling strategies for language development. In addition, teachers in bilingual contexts have been translanguaging to foster language learning. To this day, few research

ABSTRACT This paper presents data collected within the context of a teacher education course designed to raise student teachers’ critical language awareness. Firstly, we describe the process of selecting, editing and constructing a bank of thematic extracts of filmed classroom interactions and interviews for use in teacher education. Secondly, we explore the impact of these materials on students’ willingness

ABSTRACT This article explores the construction of multilingualism in the semiotic landscapes of two kindergartens, one in Norway and one in Germany. Semiotic landscape is here understood as the visual linguistic environment, including various semiotic resources, such as texts, symbols, drawings or pictures. In kindergarten, semiotic landscapes construct and transform views on languages and multilingualism

ABSTRACT The current study was part of a large project focusing on bilingual development11 Broadly, a child’s bilingual development can be defined as growing up in a home or being engaged in an educational environment where two different languages are spoken or taught in the preschool classroom context. Its aim was to theorize free play as a social and language learning activity that provides opportunities

ABSTRACT The Swedish preschools have evolved to be more diverse in terms of language and culture amongst the attending children. Previous research on newly arrived children in the Swedish preschools focusses on, amongst other things, how to provide for the best reception or education, but less is known about the newly arrived children’s own communicative ways when they start preschool. The aim of this

ABSTRACT Many refugee families face challenges in their new educational environments. This qualitative research study aims to explore the experiences of six Syrian refugee families who arrived in Iceland from Lebanon in 2016 and settled in three municipalities (Stjórnarráð Íslands 2019 Stjórnarráð Íslands [Government of Iceland]. 2019. Fjöldi flóttamanna [Number of refugees]. Retrieved from https://www

ABSTRACT The paper describes the role parental language ideology and the home literacy environment play in heritage language (HL) literacy learning of bilingual Arabic-English-speaking children in the UK. Information about the under-reported literacy practices of Arabic-English-speaking families will enhance current knowledge about HL literacy practices within the home. Data were collected over a period

ABSTRACT This study investigated the reasons Irish parents chose to send their children to Irish-medium preschools settings over other forms of early childhood education. The international literature on parental decision making regarding childcare and relevant studies on immersion education in Celtic countries were reviewed. A parental questionnaire, informed by this literature, was distributed through

ABSTRACT Introducing English as a foreign language (FL) has become widespread in ECE in Europe, typified by initiatives involving specialist teachers of English visiting settings for short periods of time a week. This paper shares data from a study in Portugal that involved analyzing collaborative practices for evidence of approaches to integration in the FL. Taking a qualitative approach to data collection

ABSTRACT In the present study, we investigated the grouping of Greek parents of preschool children according to their beliefs about literacy by using a mixed-method approach. The sample included 147 parents of preschool children attending the 13 public kindergartens in the town of Pyrgos, in Greece. The participants completed a paper survey and 20 of them participated in semi-structured interviews

ABSTRACT The quality of instructional supportive interactions between preschool teachers and children positively relates to learning and developmental outcomes of children in institutions of early childhood education and care. The main focus of preschool teacher research, therefore, is on the impact of preschool teacher competencies in interaction quality. Previous research has shown that self-efficacy

ABSTRACT Talking about a specific child’s development and current issues is an organisationally integral part of the partnership between parents / families and educational institutions with respect to children’s upbringing and education. In Germany, the programmatic emphasis on the equality of all participants in annual formal meetings of parents and pedagogic staff in early childhood education results

ABSTRACT In this systematic review, we investigated how content knowledge (CK) and pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) in the domains of mathematics, science and literacy are represented in current research regarding early childhood pre- and in-service teachers. In our systematic literature search, we found 151 publications, of which 42 remained in the review after a close screening of the abstracts

ABSTRACT Science competencies acquired at early years are basic and influence on children’s later development. Gender differences in these early science competencies may explain the often-reported gender differences in later science abilities. Research in this field was not usually focused on pre-schoolers. In this study, we focus on the interaction between five- to six-year-old pre-schoolers and a

ABSTRACT In this study, the effect of STEM education on the creativity of 5-year-old children was examined. This article presents the relationship between STEM education and creativity in early years of childhood. The semi-experimental method with pretest-posttest-control group is used to observe the difference of creativity scores between study group and control group. ‘Torrance Tests of Creative

(2021). From playing with numbers to playing with clay. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal: Vol. 29, No. 2, pp. 153-156.

ABSTRACT In toddlers, the transition from home to childcare might elicit high levels of the stress hormone cortisol. Measuring cortisol may give an indicator for children’s experience and hence, may help improve this transition. We applied linear mixed model analyses to investigate the cortisol levels of 119 toddlers during their transition to childcare across time of day (morning, afternoon, and evening)

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of pedagogical intervention on early childhood education professionals’ emotional availability to children with different temperament characteristics. Participants were 136 children (intervention group = 87; control group = 49) aged 1–6 years from 16 early childhood and care centres in Finland. The PedaSens intervention was a 9-month programme

ABSTRACT In this study, we explored how free play and scaffolding practices in Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) related to children’s externalising problems both in ECEC and later in school. Furthermore, we aimed to reduce the knowledge gap of whether these relations depended on children’s differences in emotional temperament. We used structural equation modelling to analyse data from 7421

ABSTRACT Pretend play in early years is considered key to the development of both children’s and pre-service teachers’ skills. Teachers’ involvement in pretend play might be an effective tool for supporting children’s play skills and self-confidence, communication, cooperation and decision-making. Drawing on qualitative interviews with pre-service and in-service teachers and on children’s observations

ABSTRACT In the survey conducted among graduates of pedagogical faculties of four universities: in Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Ukraine, differences were found in the self-assessment of professional competence acquired in the course of studies. This study contributes to future deliberations, emphasising the importance of curricular and systemic changes, i.e. moving away from the system

ABSTRACT This article focuses on different rationalities of governing children in the context of different ECEC facilities, how the rationalities potentially influence the ways children are cared for and educated, and how this is related to the reproduction of social inequalities. Inspired by Foucault’s work on government, it focuses on the ways parents understand how their children should be formed

ABSTRACT Child care quality in general, and caregiver-child interactions in particular, are salient predictors of children’s outcomes. While the importance of process quality is well known, the complex relations between structural quality and process quality are far less researched in family child care, compared to centre based child care. Flanders shows unique features to do so, considering its high

ABSTRACT This article sets out to discuss physical prerequisites for creativity. Creativity has come to be regarded as one of the most valuable attributes a person can have, at least in today’s Western societies. This article builds on and incorporates material from a Swedish project called Entrepreneurship Liminal space, Creativity, and Understanding. The article covers analysis from interviews and

ABSTRACT The concept of open functions was introduced to capture an intended feature of van Eyck’s seminal play sculptures – they do not suggest a specific action. In a recent study, Van der Schaaf, A. L., S. R. Caljouw, and R. Withagen. (2020. “Are Children Attracted to Play Elements with an Open Function?” Ecological Psychology 32: 79–94) aimed to determine the degree of openness of Parkour play

ABSTRACT This article describes a ceramic arts research project that provided children with opportunities for meaning making using bone china clay, a medium with strong cultural and historical links to the city where the research took place. The children were positioned as artists and their work was curated and presented for exhibition by an international ceramic artist, affording equal status to their

ABSTRACT In the discourse on children and early childhood education, the concern to ‘give children a voice’ has become increasingly important in recent years. The starting point for this development is the idea of a ‘competent child’ whose perspectives, perceptions and ideas are valuable and important. For this reason, ECE has set itself the goal of attentively listening to children and taking them

ABSTRACT Quality in early-childhood education and care is a decisive element in children’s development and learning, with professional standards of practitioners a critical element in ensuring quality provision. An on-going research project into professional development (PD) initiatives for ECEC practitioners in Denmark focuses on a practice-based initiative engaging with the Abecedarian Approach to

(2021). Creating forums for plural Covid narratives and dialogues in early childhood. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal: Vol. 29, Plural Narratives about COVID–19 and Early Childhood, pp. 1-5.

ABSTRACT As the COVID-19 virus has spread worldwide, much attention has been paid to its impact on the health and wellbeing of adults, with less attention to how the virus has impacted on young children. This article draws on documentation and video data from a kindergarten in Aotearoa New Zealand. It discusses the working theories of 4 year-old children whose teachers encouraged them to draw, construct

ABSTRACT The COVID-19 pandemic poses multiple challenges for young children in the modern world. Listening to, and capturing, the experiences and perspectives of young children on the pandemic are congruent with our sense of an inclusive, democratic society which values solidarity and the right to be heard, yet too often the voices of young children are excluded from consideration. This paper reports

ABSTRACT The article presents preliminary findings from a family survey about children’s experiences during the COVID-19 lockdown, which was administered through the pediatric network SICuPP (Italian Society of Primary Care Pediatricians – Lombardy) in Northern Italy. The study involved 3443 parents with children aged from 1 to 5 years and from 6 to 10 years living in Lombardy region, the earliest

ABSTRACT We explored the factors associated with the stress signs among children during the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan. Although children showed increased stress signs, they also showed increased development of good behavioral traits during this period. Parenting styles were significantly correlated with the psychological and physical stresses experienced by children. While a punitive parenting style

ABSTRACT The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a world crisis of an unprecedented nature. In March 2020, due to closing of non-essential private and public educational institutions, early childhood professionals had to quickly adapt and respond to the demands for social distancing, hygiene, new protocols and transition to online education. Alternatively, educators engaged in distance teaching and learning

ABSTRACT School closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic have disrupted the education of 91% of students worldwide. As a critical process in supporting young children’s resilience, play is increasingly recognised as a valuable pedagogical strategy within a shifting educational landscape during the pandemic. This study reports on findings from a survey on play in early childhood education of 310 early

ABSTRACT This article is an early commentary on a kindergarten story from Aotearoa – New Zealand during the COVID-19 nationwide lockdown in 2020; detailing community outreach and new ways of providing a kindergarten experience for children at home. A backdrop to this commentary is the political context of a popular Labour-led government managing a pandemic with the intent to eliminate the virus, which

ABSTRACT The COVID-19 pandemic tremendously disrupted ECE in the U.S., closing many private programs and nearly all public preschool and primary classrooms. To understand this impact, we used multiple strategies, including a nationwide survey of parents; a review of state policies, guidance and resource documents; and scans of media coverage to obtain information on how the pandemic has shaped policy

ABSTRACT This article describes and analyses the corona virus pandemic consequences on Brazilian early childhood education, on small children families' life conditions and on teacher's work, since March 2020, when preventive measures, such as social distancing and schools closure, were adopted by states and municipal authorities in the country. The text covers four main aspects of this situation: (a)

This article analyses the impact on Early Years Education policy of the crisis provoked by COVID 19 pandemia and raises some questions about the future. For a better understanding of this impact COVID 19, I present the construction of this educational level since the nineteenth century contrasting two essential models – the educational assistance model and the pedagogical educational model. A current

(2021). Correction. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal: Vol. 29, Plural Narratives about COVID–19 and Early Childhood, pp. i-i.

(2021). Correction. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal. Ahead of Print.

ABSTRACT This article describes and analyses the corona virus pandemic consequences on Brazilian early childhood education, on small children families' life conditions and on teacher's work, since March 2020, when preventive measures, such as social distancing and schools closure, were adopted by states and municipal authorities in the country. The text covers four main aspects of this situation: (a)

ABSTRACT This article is an early commentary on a kindergarten story from Aotearoa – New Zealand during the COVID-19 nationwide lockdown in 2020; detailing community outreach and new ways of providing a kindergarten experience for children at home. A backdrop to this commentary is the political context of a popular Labour-led government managing a pandemic with the intent to eliminate the virus, which

(2020). Editorial. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal: Vol. 28, No. 6, pp. 771-773.

ABSTRACT This study explored early childhood educators’ experiences and understanding of bullying in early childhood. Fourteen early childhood educators were interviewed. All the interviews were transcribed and analyzed using Interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA).The results showed four themes: (1) Educators’ emotional burden from children’s unexpected behavior, (2) Ambiguity of conscious

ABSTRACT Partnerships between parents and professionals in early childhood education and care (ECEC) are widely acknowledged as important for children’s well-being and learning. For children with immigrant backgrounds, bridges between the different social contexts that surround them are especially significant. The current paper synthesizes research-based knowledge on the barriers to and facilitators

ABSTRACT In most majority countries, early childhood educators’ work occurs in a context increasingly dominated by neoliberal logic. A large body of literature emphasises that neoliberalism flourishes in society by fuelling mutual distrust and competition among people to pursue individual performance and material gain. This system has crept into education systems which were set up with very different

ABSTRACT This comparative study investigated how early childhood education and care practitioners in South Korea and Norway perceive the concept of children’s well-being and their own roles in supporting and facilitating children’s well-being. Data were collected through online questionnaires from 198 practitioners and analysed utilising chi-square analyses. The results showed that South Korean practitioners

ABSTRACT Research on the predictivity of activity settings, preschool teachers’ activities, and children’s activities for interaction quality is inconsistent and cannot be transferred easily to specific national preschool contexts. The present study addresses this issue by assessing the interaction quality of 185 children aged 3–5 years attending 61 preschools in Austria using the Individualized Classroom

ABSTRACT This study examined kindergarten teacher students’ images of teacher, of children, and kindergarten at the beginning of kindergarten teacher education in 1992, 2008, 2013, and 2017. Theoretical examination of images and studies of teachers’ images formed the basis of this study. 156 students participated in the study voluntarily. Data was collected through drawings and open-ended questions

ABSTRACT Educational policies increasingly emphasise early childhood science engagement. As key influencers in children’s early learning, parents (n = 85) attending a science workshop in three urban schools in Ireland were surveyed regarding their attitudes towards science. Seventy per cent of parents believed that science education should begin in the pre-school years, before the age of four. Despite

ABSTRACT The aim of this study is to explore ECEC-teachers’ attitudes toward gender through a transformation of the classic fairy tale ‘The Princesses and The Pea’. The stereotypes presented in fairy tales can be limiting for children today because they can reinforce traditional ideals of femininity and masculinity. The Norwegian ensemble Dybwikdans challenge gender stereotypes in ‘The Princess and

ABSTRACT The aim of this study is to provide more knowledge on how outdoor time in Norwegian kindergartens is used as a resource for educational activities regarding science education and physical education. Through a questionnaire and a focus group interview, the study investigated early childhood teachers’ perceptions of their work with these subjects and included twelve teachers representing nine

(2020). Panel of referees. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal: Vol. 28, No. 6, pp. i-v.

ABSTRACT Guided by the transactional approach, this grounded theory study examined the reciprocal relations between the effects of participation in a preschool education intervention program on Syrian refugee children and their mothers’ parenting practices and concept of child. 128 children participated in a school-based intervention program in resettlement communities in Turkey. 32 mothers were individually

ABSTRACT Children possess different levels of mathematical skills when they begin their formal education. The home environment perhaps holds the key to such disparate maths skills in children’s in early years. The aim of this study is to examine home maths activities and mothers’ maths talk as the predictors of children’s maths talk and early maths skills. The home interactions of 40 preschool children

(2020). The importance of making explicit in educational research the role of pedagogy and teachers. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal: Vol. 28, No. 5, pp. 623-627.