ABSTRACT Clean water is a basic necessity for sustaining life. Not only important for drinking, water is also necessary for good health and sanitation. The United Nations emphasizes the need for clean water in their Sustainable Development Goal 6, which seeks to ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all people of the world by 2030. Despite the global attention related

ABSTRACT In an era when education researchers and policymakers alike are paying increasing attention to the cultivation of global mindedness among teacher candidates, the current push for accelerated teacher preparation programs, combined with increasingly stringent state assessment requirements, has had the unfortunate effect of steering the focus away from purposeful attention to cultural differences

ABSTRACT Today’s PK-12 teachers and students navigate an increasingly interconnected and interdependent world. This growing interconnectedness and need to navigate life and work in our globalized world have prompted calls for teacher educators around the world to design changes in coursework that inspire teachers to create learning experiences to foster PK-12 learners’ development of global competence

ABSTRACT In this qualitative study of a short-term study abroad program from Chile to the United States, teacher candidates in English pedagogy reported developing globally competent teacher attributes. Through the experiences in the program, the Chilean teacher candidates reported that their international perspectives were enhanced, their repertoire of teaching strategies and skills was broadened

ABSTRACT This article introduces the Collaborative Online Learning Across Borders (COLAB) teaching and research program. It outlines the development of the cross-national collaboration, and examines the learning in four teacher education programs in New Zealand and the United States of America. COLAB aims to support teacher candidates, in the US and abroad, to begin their teaching career with insights

ABSTRACT In this article, we examine one teacher’s enactment of critical literacy pedagogy in a 7th-grade English language arts classroom in a New York City public school. By conceptualizing critical global literacies in relation to preservice and in-service teaching practices that reflect neoliberal interests, we attend to pedagogy inclusive of culturally, linguistically, and socially diverse learners

ABSTRACT An exploratory case study of four 5th- to 12th-grade English language teachers in a Romanian public, competitive, bilingual high school focused on how these English language teachers taught about American culture to enhance student growth in the areas of global competency. Specifically, the study explored: 1) How are English language teachers advancing and enhancing student growth in the area

ABSTRACT Using the theoretical framework of pedagogy of compassion and single embedded case study methodology, this article explores how a teacher negotiates the contours of migration and social transformation to promote education for global citizenship. The research site was a former white school in South Africa. The research sample was a female Indian teacher and Grade 7 students. Data collection

ABSTRACT This study examines how reading bullying-themed children’s picture books and role-playing based on these books help young children develop perspective-taking abilities and empathy as well as understanding of bullying. Twenty-one 5-year-old children enrolled in a Flower Garden childcare center located in a metropolitan city in South Korea participated in this study, as well as their teacher

ABSTRACT This study explored children’s perceptions of a canine-assisted social-emotional learning program developed within the framework of a canine therapy program at a mid-sized Canadian university. Data collection made use of interviews, field notes, and observations. Children (N = 8, 5 – 11 years) from an after-school program participated in a six-week intervention after which participants were

ABSTRACT The important role of early self-regulation skills has been repeatedly demonstrated in research. However, there is a lack of studies that have simultaneously examined the influence of hot and cool self-regulation skills on school performance and behavior problems in a longitudinal design from preschool to elementary school and controlling intelligence. Our study was conducted in Germany with

ABSTRACT Evidence was generated from a cross-section of 5,375 students who were completing primary education in 2014, as well as from their parents and school heads, across 309 primary schools located throughout Bangladesh, a South Asian country belonging to the global lower-middle-income category. Though the official duration of preschool education in Bangladesh was one year, some private kindergartens

ABSTRACT Shyness is a form of social isolation and withdrawal stemming from concerns about social judgment, particularly during new situations or tests. Shy students are afraid of interacting with others, leading to problems and frustration at school. Teachers play an important role in identifying and helping these students. The research objective was to compare teachers’ and counselors’ strategies

ABSTRACT This study investigated how specific characteristics of multipiece, miniature, realistic play props (thematically open-ended village set versus thematically closed-ended train set) designed to enhance children’s pretense influenced their scenario creativity, object transformations, and the frequency and use of specific internal-state language. The sample consisted of 7-year-olds (n = 52) focal

ABSTRACT Reading motivation is an important factor that can predict reading performance in elementary school. The present study aimed to investigate whether reading motivation could mediate the relationship between reading skills at the beginning of school and reading performance in the middle of elementary school. Longitudinal data from 979 students (52% girls) in Russia were used. Data on early reading

ABSTRACT Family-early educator partnerships are foundational to early childhood and early childhood special education, and collaborative decision-making regarding child and family need is recognized as a critical component of these partnerships. This study investigated how two Part C early intervention home visitors and four parents communicated during home visits, and discursively selected strategies

ABSTRACT This article reports the findings from a study that explored children’s interactions and their perceptions of working in groups in a primary classroom. Group work among children has been researched widely to highlight its efficacy in influencing children’s cognitive and social learning in mainstream classrooms. Such research, however, appears to ignore children’s own perspectives, and thus

ABSTRACT Three early childhood teacher educators from different institutions engaged in a collaborative self-study to explore the role of empathy in preservice teacher professional development. The two-fold purpose of the study was to: 1) develop and refine their practices to build teacher candidates’ empathy in their interactions with children, families, and colleagues and 2) reclaim accountability

ABSTRACT This study explores the utility of the Early Development Instrument (EDI) as a population-based measure of school readiness in Crete, Greece, during times of economic austerity. It is unique in that no similar investigation examining school readiness for grade one has been conducted in this country. More specifically, it identifies kindergarten children who are vulnerable (fail to meet age-appropriate

ABSTRACT The present study was carried out with 120 Native Tamil speakers to know the effects of age and instructional language on narrative comprehension and inference-making ability. Children from 3rd to 5th grades (8 to 11 years) were divided into Group A (n = 60; Monolinguals) and Group B (n = 60; Bilinguals). Seven questions were framed to assess literal content (2 questions), coherence inference

ABSTRACT The purpose of this article is to determine the effectiveness of role-playing games (RPGs) as an intervention program to reduce bullying. Eighty-six French 6th-graders were randomly assigned to either the empathy training program involving three RPG sessions of 60 minutes or to the control condition in which students benefited from three sessions of video and discussion on the topic of school

ABSTRACT ECEC-based physical activity (PA) interventions have reported modest changes; however, those that are underpinned by theory seem to report more favorable outcomes. To date, no ECEC-based PA interventions have been underpinned by professional development-focused theories, despite professional development being a consistent component in such interventions. The aim of this study was to describe

ABSTRACT Interest in providing one-to-one technology to students is increasing, particularly in low-income schools. This study examined the impact of one such approach on kindergartners’ math and literacy development during an academic year in a small urban public school district. A district-wide outreach program provided tablets to every kindergarten student in the district. Classrooms were randomly

ABSTRACT Spanish-English-speaking dual language learners (SE-DLLs) from low-income backgrounds are at risk for experiencing academic difficulty compared to peers of ethnic-majority, middle- and high-income backgrounds. Caregiver language input is a consistent predictor of later developmental and academic outcomes. The current study targeted caregivers (n = 9) of young SE-DLLs from low-income backgrounds

ABSTRACT This study examined families’ experiences of a publicly funded, play-based early learning program for children in the year before school entry. An online survey was conducted with parents and/or guardians (n = 291) to learn about their child’s outcomes in the program, their perception of play-based learning, attitudes toward the program, and how the program supported their family. Socio-demographic

ABSTRACT The increasing adoption of educational technology in school classrooms has resulted in greater use of electronic devices to take lesson notes. Recent research comparing performance of adult students who recorded lecture notes using computer keyboards with that of students who handwrote their notes shows somewhat conflicting findings about their factual recall and conceptual understanding.

ABSTRACT The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine one rural Kenyan community’s attempts to improve the educational attainment for primary school girls in the region. Data were gathered through field notes; school artifacts; and interviews with teachers, community members, and grade eight girls. The asset-building theory of change (social, human, physical, and economic) was used to analyze

ABSTRACT The debate over an optimal age for learning a second language has been active for decades and includes dispute about whether learning derives mainly from nature or nurture. This article explores to what extent exposing native Portuguese preschool children (3–5 years old) to a specific pedagogic approach for learning English is effective in positively impacting emergent literacy skills. An

ABSTRACT Many children find writing to be a challenge. This exploratory case study included four students with a learning disability who had writing goals/objectives in their individual education program. The students participated in a larger project in which they learned and practiced writing with an iPad art app. Planning a text with digital art offered students the opportunity to think about key

ABSTRACT While the majority of children in Sweden attend preschool, children of immigrant background have lower enrollment rates. Limited research has explored why immigrant families do not attend preschool. This study helps to fill this void by exploring the perspectives of 10 skilled immigrant mothers who do not send their children to preschool. Data were collected from semi-structured interviews

ABSTRACT This article examines how the environment and routines within preschools can support second language use and development. It suggests that certain imitable aspects common to Swedish preschools make the environment suitable for L2 use and development. Data build on a qualitative synthesis of two studies from which typical routine activities where children with Swedish as L2 participate are

ABSTRACT Recess in the United States is decidedly limited in elementary schools, despite numerous research findings that support unstructured play as a vehicle for development across multiple domains. It is widely understood that recess breaks promote prosocial behaviors, physical activity, and attentiveness in class. However, few researchers in the United States have explored effects of multiple daily

ABSTRACT Educators now recognize the importance of providing students early on with practice to build necessary 21st-century work-related skills, such as collaboration. School robotics programs are increasingly being used to meet the goals of STEM standards-based content assessment and the development of collaboration skills. However, limited investigations focus on how robotics programs develop collaboration

ABSTRACT In this study, we examined American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) Head Start directors’ perceptions of the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS) and critically examined those perceptions to provide insight into the cultural appropriateness of the CLASS in the AI/AN Head Start context. Based on qualitative data from 76 AI/AN Head Start administrators, our findings provide evidence

ABSTRACT In this qualitative case study, we draw from a larger, federally funded, multiyear study focused on preparing teachers to work with English language learners, which includes an increasing population of refugee background students. We report on the experiences and perspectives of two experienced upper elementary teachers teaching in a magnet school for refugee students, who make up 75% of the

ABSTRACT This longitudinal study examined the relationship between executive function (EF) and mathematics with rural and urban preschool children. A panel of direct and indirect EF measures were used to compare how well individual measures, as well as analytic approaches, predicted both numeracy and geometry skill. One hundred eighteen children, ages 39 to 68 months, were given EF and mathematics

ABSTRACT Although a number of studies have emerged in recent years on the role parents play in their children’s musical development, few have examined fatherhood. Through this phenomenological interview study, the author considers the lived experiences of musical fathers and their children, which are retrospectively recounted by three father-child pairs. The data are interpreted through the lens of

ABSTRACT Low-income children often enter kindergarten behind higher-income peers in math; gaps also exist in social-emotional aspects of school readiness, fueling interest in cross-domain relations and whether – and which – social skills matter for promoting early math skills. With a sample (N = 76) of mostly low-income, minority preschool children, we investigated the extent to which children’s adaptive

ABSTRACT This article examined perceptions on curriculum implementation regarding rural Zimbabwean early childhood development (ECD) teachers in 2017. The study aimed to locate teachers as agents of change in schools by reviewing their perceptions in implementing the recently introduced ECD framework. In this qualitative multiple case study, 30 rural teachers from Zimbabwe’s 10 provinces shared their

ABSTRACT This study provided workshops for parents on either early literacy or socio-emotional learning to examine the impact on their children’s reading and social skills development (n = 576 parents; n = 584 children). Parents of kindergartners were offered interactive workshops designed to help them identify everyday opportunities to support reading skills or social skills development. Families

ABSTRACT Growing plants is a popular and easy method to facilitate preschoolers’ scientific exploration and positive attitude toward the environment, as it creates an awareness that nature is a magical place to be explored. This study examines a year-long garden-based curriculum in South Korea, specifically a cotton project, and its effects on 4- to 6-year-old children’s (n = 165) scientific and nature-friendly

ABSTRACT Scientific inquiry is an often misunderstood concept in many elementary classrooms. On the inquiry spectrum, teacher-directed (TD) scientific inquiry is prevalent in schools. From a critical and social constructivism framework, TD inquiry programs affect students’ original/unhindered questions, called primal inquiry (PI), and processes in science as well as classroom climate factors, such

ABSTRACT Classroom physical environment has been widely researched over the past few decades. In this respect, more recent attention has focused on the provision of structural and symbolic features; however, no study has been conducted to compare the structural and symbolic features of classroom physical environment in English as a foreign language (EFL) elementary learners’ classrooms. To this end

ABSTRACT The focus on improving children’s readiness for kindergarten has intensified globally. While most studies examine this issue prior to children entering kindergarten, little is known about how education stakeholders make sense of readiness once children enter kindergarten. This article addresses this gap by examining how a range of stakeholders made sense of kindergarten readying children for

ABSTRACT The present study analyzes the psychometric properties of a Spanish-adapted version of the Working Memory Rating Scale (WMRS). This instrument allows teachers to perform a screening of children with possible working memory (WM) difficulties, putting them at risk of academic underachievement. A sample of children age 8.5 to 12.33 years old was evaluated with the WMRS, objective WM measures

ABSTRACT In recent decades, Ireland has experienced an increase in diversity due to immigration. The purpose of this study is to explore how three Irish-born primary-grade children of Nigerian immigrants in Ireland, one girl and two boys in the 5th and 6th grades, describe experiences of racism and perceive being Irish in a predominantly White, but increasingly diverse, country. Drawing on the case

ABSTRACT Literature has shown the importance of social cognition for emotional wellness. However, to our knowledge, few studies so far investigated the relationship between social cognition and anxiety in childhood. No study systematically examined social cognition in relation to specific domains of anxiety. By a correlational design and multivariate models, we explored in a sample of 337 children

ABSTRACT Home schooling is a growing practice in many Western countries. Examination of the practice has entailed collection of “hard” data, such as academic achievements and success rates in higher education, as well as investigation of the practice from the perspective of parents. It is very important to examine homeschooling from the perspective of the children studying in this framework, yet only

ABSTRACT The Singapore government has launched kindergarten curriculum reform since 2003 to promote constructivism in teaching and learning, which seems to contradict the traditional pedagogy. Using video analysis, we examined the actual classroom dialogue in six Chinese language classrooms to understand to what extent the constructivist pedagogy has been implemented in Singapore kindergartens. Evidence

ABSTRACT Using a psycholinguistic and a holistic bilingual perspective, this study examined the writing conceptualization progressions in Spanish and English of 16 simultaneous bilinguals from preschool through kindergarten. The children were enrolled in a bilingual early childhood program where literacy instruction was primarily in Spanish. We adapted a clinical method used in previous studies to

ABSTRACT The current study attempted to investigate the nature and impact of home math talk of low-income primary caregivers of Head Start children during home cooking (N = 46). Using hierarchical regression analysis, we examined the predictability of total math talk and specific types of math talk (i.e., number talk, operation talk, and measurement talk) for children’s math skills assessed in the

ABSTRACT Teachers are increasingly using new technologies such as tablets and apps during shared reading experiences at preschool. However, little is known about how teachers scaffold young children’s shared reading with interactive e-books such as tablet-based storybook apps and how it compares to using printed books. In this observational study, a teacher read a storybook app to children ages 2 to

ABSTRACT Young children are often enrolled in either AM (morning) or PM (afternoon) sessions in early childhood programs. However, little research is available on this routine practice. We used multilevel analysis to investigate if there are differences in the literacy, math, and social outcomes for children who participate in AM or PM sessions beyond those that can be explained by differences in child

ABSTRACT Annually, approximately 27% of early childhood care and education professionals turnover, or leave their positions or the field, which may negatively impact quality in two ways. First, continuity is disrupted when teachers leave, severing important relationship bonds among teachers, children, and families. Second, professionals who are considering leaving may be unhappy and distracted, which

ABSTRACT This study explored the benefits of using critical multicultural education (Critical multicultural education examines all forms of marginalization in order to develop new possibilities and opportunities for all groups) in the current context of globalization. Preservice teachers (N = 17) experienced a variety of instructional activities, including intentional analysis of hidden bias (Hidden

ABSTRACT Drawing on qualitative case study data gathered from a range of managerial, teaching, and non-teaching staff members across four British primary schools, this article focuses on the activities used to enhance the social, emotional, and behavioral skills of children within these establishments. The data revealed how staff hoped to improve the pupils’ levels of emotional intelligence (EI) through

ABSTRACT This study looked at the factors Latina mothers want to see in their children’s preschool centers, in order to provide a more holistic approach for defining high-quality preschools. A qualitative study was conducted in which 40 Latina mothers from a western region of the United States were interviewed to understand their views about quality preschools and what they look for when selecting

ABSTRACT By critiquing universal approaches to addressing children’s play, this study aims to examine early childhood pre-service teachers’ discourse on young children’s play in a local context. With a multivocal ethnography, pre-service teachers in Myanmar, South Korea, and the United States participated in a project in which they created, exchanged, and discussed digital photo essays cross-culturally

ABSTRACT Preparing educators to understand teaching as a cultural activity is a crucial element of teacher education programs. International field experiences have shown to accomplish this goal when combined with cross-cultural mentoring and critical reflection. This qualitative eight-month study used ethnographic methods to examine significant experiences of six U.S. preservice teachers while being

Many of the popular theories, perspectives, and practices regarding human development that currently guide early childhood education and care programs worldwide are inadequate because they situate human development as a universal phenomenon. Although nature has universal effects, differences in nurture, particularly cultural differences, affect human development in diverse ways (Woodhead, 1998, 2006)