Sound as an Activator for Research and Territory Recognition in Early Childhood

In the most recent edition of the Handbook of Reading Research, Ebony Elizabeth Thomas and colleagues (2020) identify the need to recontextualize critical literacy pedagogy and research in ways that center Black and Indigenous communities. Although critical literacy has a rich tradition in emancipatory work (e.g. Freire, 1996), Thomas et al. argue for the need to begin elsewhere, with the knowledge and traditions of Black and Indigenous communities, to produce literacy research and pedagogy that is more responsive to current social issues and iterations of racism. In this article, I combine their insights with those of early literacy researchers, such as Candace R. Kuby and Tara Gutshall Rucker, (e.g. Kuby, 2013; Kuby and Rucker, 2020) to suggest that the shifting of theoretical framings may be a useful way of broadening the context of critical literacies research and scholarship. Kuby and Rucker’s (2020) examination explores offerings from postructural and posthumanist theories for expanding conceptions of literacy in efforts to challenge our ideas of literacies, inequalities, and justice in early literacy research. Similarly, I analyze the affordances of Pro-Black and marginalized theories in critical literacies research, such as Black Feminist Thought (Collins, 2002), for understanding and expanding how we attend to positionality in early literacy educational research. Grounded in Black Feminist theories (Collins, 2002) and methodologies (Evans-Winters, 2019) as well my own positionality as a Black woman, this article takes up one specific concern from the call for this special issue, that is to address the lack of Pro-Black research in early literacy education. In so doing, I aim to broaden the ways that a historically praxis-oriented body of research in early childhood and elementary education, critical literacies research, is theorized and enacted by integrating more thoroughly Black women’s ways of knowing. I explore how to leverage our individual and combined perspectives, which are grounded in our rich history of resistance and thriving in the face of adversity, to produce knowledge and literacy practices useful for justice-oriented education. Through an analysis of academic literature related to critical literacies research and Black women educators in early childhood and elementary education, I address the question: How are Black women’s ways of knowing integrated in early childhood and elementary critical literacies research with participants who are Black women educators? I offer a sense of the extent to which Black women educators’ ways of knowing are associated with the term critical literacy and also identify fruitful strategies that critical literacies researchers can use to integrate Black women’s ways of knowing into the knowledge base and practices of critical literacies in early literacy research. Some strategies include integrating Black women educators' emotions and spiritual knowledge into the research and co-researching with Black women who are also participants.

THIS PAPER SUMMARISES THE reporting of early childhood (EC) research practices through a meta-analysis of 10 scholarly international EC education journals. The analysis included 506 peer-reviewed primary research articles published between 2009 and 2012 (inclusive) involving young children between the ages of birth and eight years. These were reviewed for child status within research, researcher perspective of children involved in research and respectful research culture within EC research. This review provides a broad picture of how young children are currently being involved in research and whether an ideological shift towards more participatory approaches is filtering through to EC research practice. The results indicated that for child status, 96.6 per cent of articles positioned young children in traditional roles as non-participant objects of research (64.6 per cent) and semi-participant subjects (32.0 per cent). Only 3.4 per cent of studies positioned children in inclusive, participatory roles as social actors (3.0 per cent) and co-researchers (0.4 per cent). Similarly, for researcher perspective, 70.2 per cent of articles were identified as research conducted on children, with the remaining 29.8 per cent as research with or by children. In terms of research culture, 89.7 per cent of articles were non- respectful by focusing on what children could do for the research, rather than valuing the children themselves. These results highlight a gap between rights-based EC research literature and the way in which research is being reported with young children. A new Rights-based Research Accountability Framework is presented to assist researchers in understanding how well their research upholds children's rights principles and what areas need to be addressed to transition towards more inclusive approaches.

Early childhood education is a critical stage in individual development. At an early age, children have the ability to absorb knowledge quickly, including in mathematics. The aim of this study was to identify trends and patterns of mathematics research in early childhood using bibliometric analysis. The data was obtained from the Scopus database which has been refined with 4 stages (identification, screening, eligibility, and inclusion). The results showed that the peak of publications related to mathematics research in early childhood occurred in 2022. 2017 was the year with the most influential publications. Journal “Early Childhood Education Indexed Journal Scopus with the highest quartile score (Q1) is the most popular place for publication of previous research related to this field. The United States is the most influential country in this field because both the number of publications and the number of citations are the highest than any other country. As for three focus study related study mathematics in children age early on the Scopus database from 1988-2023 namely, 1) mathematics, human, learning and gender; 2) early childhood, professional development, and teachers; 3) mathematics learning, early childhood, curriculum, and achievement.

An interpersonal relationship perspective is gaining influence in early childhood practice and research. The research presented in this special issue, "Relationships in Early Childhood Programs," focuses on adult–child, child–child, and adult–adult relationships as they develop in the context of early childhood programs. The authors address issues of importance to both practitioners and researchers: types and dimensions of early childhood program relationships; measurement of relationships; relationship processes that are central to program goals; and the importance of interpersonal relationships as a focus for practice, theory, and research.

Nowadays, Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) tools are used in many schools promoting formal and informal learning. STEM framework covers the educational needs of various age-groups starting from pre-school up to university. With this framework, students develop knowledge and skills while dealing with real-world problems. In the previous years, several reviews have been published aimed at STEM studies. Nevertheless, these reviews do not investigate a specific age group. Thus, the present book chapter is a systematic literature review on STEM research in early childhood, focusing on STEM studies for students under 8 years old. For this purpose, the chapter includes articles, which were emerged from search keys in six scientific databases. The review presents some major characteristics of the studies such as: (a) the number of participants in the intervention (sample size), (b) the intervention objectives, (c) the size of groups, (d) the equipment type, (e) the materials used, and (f) the type of research design. According to the findings, among others, STEM education in early childhood seems to successfully meet the teaching objectives, the group size is usually between 2 and 4 students, the long-term studies are absent and the quantitative methods are limited.

Feminist new material theories and affirmative critique is the returning point in this article. In early childhood education and research, critique and critical perspectives are given an important emphasis and might be taken for granted. Critic, criticism, critical perspectives, negation, opposite tactics, interpretation, explanation, reflection, and judgments have in education, according to Bunz, Kaiser, and Thiele, continued as analytical “tools” since Kant. Searching for complicity and rhizomatic entanglements with/in pedagogical and philosophical thinking practice might open for critical distinctions beyond subject/object, mind/body, knower/known, theory/practice, and nature/culture beyond Kant. The complicity and coemergence of any knowledge or critical assessment with what is known and with whoever knows is always already of perspectival, situated, and entangling nature. The interest of this article is complex and multifaceted. I want to elaborate on the politics of critique as well as experiment with matters of methodology. To critically address critique, I use seven previously copublished articles1 as data material. Being affectively attracted to intra-actions of what all matter offers—ways of looking and cutting together-apart—I wonder what an articleassemblage might generate inventively and relationally, also as critique. Resisting an idea of (re)presenting a summary of the articles, my wish is in line with feminist materialist diffractionists (Barad, Haraway)—experimenting with what the concept symbiogenesis might offer together with critical affirmative thinking. Sympoiesis is making-with, and according to Haraway—nothing is making itself, which invites to think of evolution as coevolution opening for intra-entangling and becoming-with potentiality and change.

Research Findings: Although assent has been part of research processes with young children for some time (e.g. National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical & Behavioral Research, 1979; Protection of Human Subjects, 1991), practical applications of assent are largely ambiguous. In the current study, we conducted a literature review of published early childhood (EC) research to better understand the scope of assent practices used. Nineteen peer-reviewed journals were reviewed over a 40-year period to investigate (1) the extent to which assent methodology is reported in EC research and (2) what information is included. A total of 39,043 articles were published between 1983 and 2023, and 1,158 articles were found to report assent procedures. Most articles provided no details about assent procedures. Rarely was information provided about who seeks assent, when assent is sought, and how often assent is waived. Practice or Policy: Merely discussing and advocating for assent is insufficient to guarantee its effective execution. Empirically based procedures for seeking assent, along with editorial and funding guidelines supporting detailed assent procedures in publications, are warranted. These additions will not only influence how researchers seek assent from young participants but also guide policy, ethical research practices, and best practice recommendations.

Why Become Involved in Research in Early Childhood? Orientation: 'It's Like Another Language' Exploring and Theorizing Perspectives Beginning the Research Journey: Determining Your Point of Departure Knowing What Has Gone before: Reviewing the Literature Guiding the Research Journey: Ethical Considerations Moving along Qualitative methodological pathways Taking the Quantitative methodological trail Drawing the journey to a close: Dissemination of the findings The Journey

What does the term ‘research’ in early childhood actually mean? What does research involve, and how do you go about doing it? This book explains exactly what ‘research’ is; it explores key ideas, themes and terminology to provide you with a clear understanding of its importance to your early years or early childhood studies degree. It will help you: · Understand what it means to think critically, and unpick childhood research · Learn how to analyse, examine and understand the importance of others’ research · Get to know how research is designed and carried out · Appreciate the importance of ethics · Get to grips with translating research into real life in an early childhood setting. Laying the foundations to develop your confidence in talking about research and making links between theory and practice, this book will support you as you begin your research journey into the world of early years.

This paper considers the intersections of migration research in early childhood/education with issues of nationalism. Based on four articles which address migration and inclusion in four Nordic states, first, we demonstrate how migration research can serve as a fertile source for studying everyday nationalism and exploring its operation in teaching and learning settings. Second, applying a critical lens to this type of migration research opens up a reflective space for evaluating the inherent methodological nationalism of some migration research approaches. Our explorations in the article establish the need to rethink the categorizations of migration research in early childhood / education. The set of questioning we develop aid in identifying on the one hand, everyday nationalism and its operation in early childhood / education and on the other hand, methodological nationalism. Without reflexivity on methodological nationalism, migration researchers will keep falling into the trap of reifying everyday nationalism through the analytical and practical categories they draw on for their research.

The development of self-regulation represents one of the hallmarks in early childhood. This special issue addresses important questions regarding the assessment and development of self-regulation, as well as influencing factors in early childhood: (1) How can self-regulation be assessed in early childhood? (2) How can parents support the development of self-regulation at this age? (3) How do parent and child beliefs contribute to the development of self-regulation in young children? Targeting the first question, Mulder et al., Metacognition and Learning (2019) explore the dynamics of self-control strategies during delay of gratification in two- and three-year-old children. Neale and Whitebread, Metacognition and Learning (2019) emphasize the second question by analysing the stability of maternal scaffolding across toys and time with 12 to 24 month old infants and its relation to effortful control. Gartner et al., Metacognition and Learning, 13(3), 241-264 (2018) contribute to the second and third question with their work on the relation of parents’ self-efficacy beliefs and co-regulation behaviour to child inhibitory control in two-year-old toddlers. The third question is also addressed by Compagnoni et al., Metacognition and Learning (2019), who report on the validation of a self-report instrument for assessing mindsets in kindergartners and its relation to self-regulation. The commonalities and differences among the four papers, and their empirical and theoretical contributions to the rising field of self-regulation research in early childhood are discussed by Claire Hughes, Metacognition and Learning (2019) and Nancy Perry, Metacognition and Learning (2019). This special issue constitutes an important step towards an understanding of the interplay of self-regulation with child and parent characteristics in early childhood.

This book aims to guide researchers through the process of undertaking research in the early childhood field. It starts by looking at the context of early childhood and how the conceptualisation of...

This chapter charts feminist research in early childhood and the generative potential it offers to continually revisit childhood and gender—and the important ways in which this has shifted over time. This review celebrates the significant contributions feminist scholars have made to the field; and demonstrates the potentialities within contemporary approaches such as new materialism and posthumanism to respond to postfeminist claims that gender is no longer an issue. Our intention is to identify the centrality of feminism to the field of early childhood studies and the continued relevance of gender to all early childhood debates. The chapter addresses the following issues: the influence of feminist theory to conceptualizations of the child/childhood; the relationship of feminist theory to post-structuralism and to queer theory in relation to understandings of childhood, gender, and sexuality; equitable and transformative pedagogies in early childhood education; advances in theoretical perspectives that contribute to contemporary understandings of gender in the lives of young children, including the tensions that can exist around some feminist perspectives and gender diverse and trans children; the perceived relevance of gender issues in early childhood policy and curricular frameworks; and identifying the current gender issues pertinent to early childhood education and to young children’s lives.

This article describes formative and design experiments and how they can advance research and instructional practices in early childhood education. We argue that this relatively new approach to education research closes the gap between research and practice, and it addresses limitations that have been identified in early childhood research. We provide examples of this approach's potential benefits, trace its origins, present its defining characteristics, illustrate a representative framework for conducting a formative experiment using an example from our own work and we argue that formative and design experiments introduce useful new metaphors into early childhood research.

Nine - Early Childhood Education Competencies