Early Childhood Education Research Research Articles

Beyond omission: analysing the erasure of disability and inclusion in the developmentally appropriate practices

ABSTRACT The 4th edition of the National Association for the Education of Young Children’s (NAEYC) guidelines for developmentally appropriate practice (DAP) had an opportunity to provide the field an inclusive blueprint. While there was an attempt in this edition to respond to decades of critiques (e.g. Bloch [1992]. “Critical Perspectives on the Historical Relationship Between Child Development and Early Childhood Education Research.” In Reconceptualizing the Early Childhood Curriculum: Beginning the Dialogue, edited by S. Kessler, and E. B. Swadener, 3–20. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.; Cannella [1997]. Deconstructing Early Childhood Education: Social Justice and Revolution. New York, NY: Peter Lang.; Escayg [2019]. “Who’s got the Power?”: A Critical Examination of the Anti-Bias Curriculum.” International Journal of Child Care and Education Policy 13 (1): 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40723-019-0062-9.; Langford [2010]. “Critiquing Child-Centered Pedagogy to Bring Children and Early Childhood Educators Into the Center of a Democratic Pedagogy.” Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood 11 (1): 113–127. https://doi.org/10.2304/ciec.2010.11.1.113.; Pérez and Saavedra [2017]. “A Call for Onto-Epistemological Diversity in Early Childhood Education and Care: Centering Global South Conceptualizations of Childhood/s.” Review of Research in Education 41 (1): 1–29. https://doi.org/10.3102/0091732X16688621.; Souto-Manning and Rabadi-Raol [2018]. “(Re)Centering Quality in Early Childhood Education: Toward Intersectional Justice for Minoritized Children.” Review of Research in Education 42 (1): 203–225. https://doi.org/10.3102/0091732X187595.), the new edition continues to centre dominant developmental approaches where adults hyperfocus on children’s differences or individual characteristics rather than on changing educational structures and practices that promote inequity (Ferri and Bacon [2011]. “Beyond Inclusion: Disability Studies in Early Childhood Teacher Education.”). The revised guidelines do not go far enough to address inequity and to give teachers and programmes tools for addressing injustice for all young children. This manuscript builds on previous critiques of DAP by explicitly addressing the exclusion of disabled children from the guidelines.

A Review of Trends in Scandinavian Early Childhood Education and Care Research from 2006 to 2021

A Review of Trends in Scandinavian Early Childhood Education and Care Research from 2006 to 2021

Meeting increasing childcare demands: Can childminders help?

Dr Antonia Simon, associate professor and Lynn Ang, professor of Early Childhood Education, Pro-Director and Vice-Dean Research at UCL Institute of Education, discuss the fall in the number of childminders. They outline how this group of early years educators is an important part of meeting future demand for places in the sector, given the Government's offer of ‘free’ education and care for children of working parents.

Development of the ProProfs platform as an E-Quiz for Arabic Language Learning in Early Childhood Education

The development of technology has a huge impact on the education system, there are many free platforms that provide applications to create learning media. One of them is the ProProfs platform, this platform can be used to create online Quiz. The purpose of the research is to utilize and develop the ProProfs platform as Arabic learning media for online Quiz at the Early Childhood Education level. This research method uses the Development Method (Research and Development) using the ASSURE model whose steps are as: (1) analyze student characteristics; (2) determine learning objectives; (3) choose methods, media, and learning strategies; (4) use learning materials; (5) conduct evaluation and revision. The results of this study explain that the ProProfs platform can be used to improve Early Childhood achievement with evidence that these children have memorized more than 100 Arabic vocabulary. The conclusion of the research is to explain that the ProProfs platform can help teachers in making E-Quiz, so that students are happy and interested in learning Arabic. The limitation of the study is that researchers only conducted research in Early Childhood education, which incidentally these children do not understand technology and need supervision from teachers, for that the researcher hopes that future researchers can conduct research with the same platform but developed at a higher level.

Artificial Intelligence and Robotics for Young Children: Redeveloping the Five Big Ideas Framework

Purpose To align with the artificial intelligence and robotics (AIR) research and policy agenda, this paper puts forth an adapted five big ideas framework specifically tailored to teaching young children about artificial intelligence (AI) via robotics. Design/Approach/Methods Grounded in early childhood education research, the proposed framework emphasizes the use of robotics and play-based learning to make AI accessible and encourage engagement among young children who have not started formal schooling. Findings We comparatively analyze the commonalities and differences in AI big ideas between the original K-12 framework and the redeveloped early childhood education framework. To pique children's interest, key concepts are presented through interactions with robotics and robot role-play. This paper also provides recommendations for age-appropriate topics, storytelling, and play-based teaching methods. Originality/Value This framework aims to equip researchers and educators with strategies for successfully integrating introductory AI education into early childhood classrooms. Teaching AI in a developmentally responsive manner can help nurture young children's curiosity toward and understanding of an increasingly AI-driven world.

‘I feel like the Wicked Witch’: Identifying tensions between school readiness policy and teacher beliefs, knowledge and practice in Early Childhood Education

AbstractThis paper critically examines the tensions arising between Reception teachers' professional beliefs and knowledge, and the school readiness agenda in England. It scrutinises how the increasing academic expectations placed on children to ensure they are ‘ready for school’ may conflict with teachers' understanding of how young children learn, their pedagogical philosophies and classroom practices. In this paper, cultural‐historical activity theory (CHAT) is utilised as a methodological and analytical framework, specifically harnessing Engeström and Sannino's work on ‘manifestations of contradictions’. This theoretical lens is applied to elucidate the specific contradictions that surface at the policy–practice interface and to explore how teachers navigate these conflicts and tensions. Data were gathered through interviews with two Reception teachers and analysed to identify four distinct contradiction categories: dilemmas, double binds, critical conflicts and conflicts. The findings make a critical contribution to ongoing debates about the implications of the school readiness agenda on teacher beliefs, professional knowledge and the impact on children. Furthermore, this paper extends an original contribution to the practical application of CHAT in Early Childhood Education (ECE) research and emphasises the utility of identifying linguistic cues as an effective strategy to reveal contradictions in textual data, thereby furthering understanding of policy–practice tensions in ECE.

The Relevance of Implementing a Holistic Curriculum with Holistic Peer Parenting in Early Childhood Education

The growth and development of Early Childhood (EC) is holistic. Thus, the development process requires facilities to help it, the implementation of the curriculum and parenting patterns in the learning process must also be able to be holistic and comprehensive. This research aims to see the relevance of the curriculum to holistic peer parenting in early childhood education research, the method used is grounded theory, systematic design, data collection techniques and the development of instruments used in this research is through cross-checked observations with an interview process. with teachers, and document analysis. The analysis technique is a cycle consisting of; data collection, coding, axial coding, selective coding, and conventional coding. The results of this research are that the implementation of the existing curriculum in the field is very relevant to the holistic parenting pattern of peers because peer parenting is directly integrated into the curriculum/learning implementation process, where both can develop all of the child's basic potential such as intellectual, physical, spiritual, emotional, social and aesthetic), as well as the relationship between the individual and other people, the individual and natural environment, the student's self and the external maximally and completely. However, in the process, the teacher must be able to help, guide, and direct so that the process can achieve all the achievements in the curriculum.

The Influence of the Inquiry Project-Based Learning Model on Critical Thinking Skills in Early Childhood: A Quantitative Experimental Study

This study aims to measure the impact of the Inquiry Project-Based Learning model on the critical thinking abilities of children aged 5-6 years at Budya Wacana Kindergarten, Yogyakarta. The research methodology adopted an experimental quantitative approach with a pre-experimental design, specifically the one-group pretest-posttest design. The sample consisted of 35 children selected through the Total Sampling technique. Data were collected using observation sheets and documentation, with instruments focusing on five indicators of critical thinking ability. Data analysis employed normality tests, homogeneity tests, and paired sample t-tests using SPSS 25. The results indicated a significant increase in posttest essential scores of thinking (86.03) compared to the pretest (47.60), with a t-value of -31.352 and a significance of 0.000. These findings affirm the effectiveness of this learning model in enhancing early childhood critical thinking skills while also opening opportunities for further research in early childhood education. This study has significant implications for educational practice, suggesting integrating the Inquiry Project-Based Learning method into the curriculum and highlighting the need for teacher training to implement this method. However, limitations exist, such as focusing on a limited sample size and not evaluating long-term effects.

Fostering Independent Learning in Early Childhood: A Case Study on Montessori Pedagogy at PAUD Montessori Futura Indonesia

The primary objective of this research is to assess the effectiveness of Montessori pedagogy in nurturing independent learning in early childhood education, specifically at PAUD Montessori Futura Indonesia. Utilizing a descriptive case study approach, the study examines daily routines, learning activities, and the role of educators in fostering independence. The findings indicate that children consistently engage in independent behaviors, such as choosing activities autonomously and requiring minimal teacher intervention. Educators are instrumental in crafting activities that bolster independent learning, and the learning facilities are strategically organized to facilitate this objective. The practice of age grouping within the institution further enriches the learning environment by instilling a sense of responsibility among older children. These outcomes have considerable implications for both research and practice in early childhood education, suggesting that Montessori pedagogy can effectively promote independent learning. However, the study is confined to a single educational setting and does not explore the Montessori approach's long-term effects or adaptability in diverse socio-cultural contexts. Future research is recommended to investigate these areas for a more holistic understanding of the efficacy of Montessori pedagogy in promoting independent learning.

Femininity, class & status: the societal devaluation of the female early years workforce

ABSTRACT This thesis responds to contemporary debates about early childhood education and the gendered nature of the workforce, drawing on feminist theory, interpretive methodologies and practitioner accounts. This project amplifies the female voice of practitioners in the workforce, using data drawn from semi- structured interviews with 11 early years practitioners. Drawing on intersectional feminist theories surrounding women’s liberation from misogyny, and Foucauldian conceptualisations of power, this project will highlight the role of femininity on predominantly working-class early childhood practitioners, and how it distorts their identity and their relationships with colleagues under the current neoliberal regulation of the sector. Through analysing the qualitative data, this thesis will explore the impact of the assumption that women are the traditional caregivers on practitioners themselves; how the patriarchy reproduces this norm by perpetuating misogyny and marginalisation; and how this notion affects women’s oppression and the consequent movements towards liberation. This thesis offers two conceptual and empirical contributions to the field of early childhood education research. Firstly, the theoretical underpinnings of Foucauldian and feminist theory with interpretive methodologies to explore women’s oppression in the early childhood workforce. Secondly, in exploring the role of gendered language and gossip in interactions between early childhood professionals, this thesis analyses the extent to which patriarchal language surrounding gossip is used to trivialise and devalue the female voice and probes the extent to which gossip is a form of power for women. This study contributes important perspectives on how current drives towards the ‘educationalization’ of early years settings can have harmful consequences for the professional development of early childhood educators, rather than raising the standards of childcare in the UK.

Parent–child play and coping: experiences of parents and young children during the pandemic

ABSTRACT Play can create a safe environment for children to escape from worries. The global COVID-19 pandemic and stay-at-home orders were stressful events for young children and families. This case study documents children’s and parents’ play, emotions and coping strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic in Turkey. Five mothers and their young children participated in our study, and we used the Parent Play Preferences Questionnaire (PPPQ), a semi-structured interview, and mother–child tasks for data collection in the Summer of 2020. Findings showed young children’s daily activities and play changed, and both mothers and children experienced various emotions. Children were aware of the precautions taken to protect themselves from COVID-19, and they attempted to keep the play characters safe in their play. Children reported missing friends, school, playgrounds and playing with others. Our study highlights the importance of parent–child conversations and play to cope with unexpected events in children’s lives and captures children’s voices in early childhood education research.

The Hidden and Invisible: Supporting Science Learning in Infant-Toddler Group Settings

ABSTRACT Science concept formation has a long history in early childhood educational research. Most of the studies in the field focus on the way children form science concepts as preschoolers. However, less is known about the nature of science concept formation for children under 3 years of age. This study explores how early childhood teachers create the conditions for the formation of science concepts for infants. The research design drew on the Conceptual PlayWorld model, a collective form of practice for learning and development through imagination and play. Thirteen infants with a mean age of 1.2 years (1 year and 3 months) participated in the study. Visual methods were used for digital data collection and analysis. The analysis drew upon the cultural-historical concepts of the interrelation between everyday and scientific concepts and the concept of real and ideal forms. The analysis foregrounded four key elements for introducing science concepts in infants’ everyday educational reality: 1) making meaningful interrelations between the everyday concept and the scientific concept, 2) consistently using scientific language, 3) using appropriate analogies, and 4) using early forms of a scientific method. The overall findings open new understandings about the nature of science concept formation of infants, informing pedagogical practice in this under-researched area.

Toddlers with the Doll Carriage: Children Doing Space of Participation in Early Childhood Education

AbstractThis article focuses on child participation in early childhood education (ECE). The theoretical basis for this study is a relational approach that highlights the significance of spatiality and materiality. Drawing from these theoretical perspectives, child participation is understood as a space that children actively do in various combinations of social, material and cultural relationships. The study relies on a relational understanding of the child as not only being, but also becoming by doing space within one’s environment. The methodological framework draws on narrative childhood studies that emphasize the multimodality of children’s narration. The research material consists of small stories from a Finnish ECE centre. The analysis focused on children under 3 years of age doing space of participation with material items in ECE. The study shows that space of child participation is dynamic in the everyday relationships. The findings illustrate children’s doing space of participation as a tension-filled phenomenon which requires children to balance between the active agency and adapting to the expectations of the environment. The findings uncover the three-fold nature of the space—namely, the social, material and cultural dimensions—that is meaningful for child participation. The doll carriage as a material item played a crucial role in children’s doing space of participation: it provided opportunities for children to formulate the ownership of the space, to construct peer relationships, and to shape and defend the borders of one’s space. The study contributes theoretically and methodologically to ECE research by opening new perspectives on the participation of young children.

A Systematic Review of Curiosity and Wonder in Natural Science and Early Childhood Education Research

ABSTRACT Disagreement exists about how to best spark young children’s motivation to learn natural science. Both curiosity and wonder are considered important motivational factors for learning during early childhood (0–8 years). This systematic literature review explores research about scientific curiosity and wonder in early childhood education and care published from 2010–2020. The review outlines the population of interest (participants in the study, age of children, study location), methodological trends, and how curiosity and/or wonder are included in the research. The search yielded 300 peer-reviewed articles, of which 33 were included for analysis based on eligibility criteria. The main results showed that: (a) the term “curiosity” was more commonly used than the term “wonder,” (b) few studies elaborated on their understanding of the two terms beyond them being naturally present in children, and (c) curiosity and/or wonder were emphasized as means to learn natural science or considered as stimulated by it, although few studies discussed how children’s curiosity and wonder can be observed and nurtured. With a better understanding of what defines the terms curiosity and wonder and how to foster these qualities in early childhood education and care, we can learn to better support children’s intrinsic motivation for science learning.

Fusing the horizons between aspirations of continuing professional development and the realities of educators’ experiences in practice: Interpretative hermeneutic phenomenology in early childhood education

ABSTRACT This article presents an argument for the use of interpretative hermeneutic phenomenology as an insightful and innovative methodology for research in early childhood education. In providing guidance for the use of this methodology, this article will focus on a doctoral study investigating preschool teachers’ experiences of engagement with a continuing professional development (CPD) programme aimed to inform their pedagogical practice. The CPD programme focused on promoting and supporting inclusive pedagogy, practice and culture in the early education setting. The research study considered the phenomenon of engagement with the programme on participants’ perceptions and practices of inclusion with the emphasis on their “lived experience” working in practice with young children. Findings from the research, validated by the philosophical principles of Heidegger, illustrate the importance of consideration of participants’ individual contextual realities when addressing teacher education through acknowledgment of other perspectives that influence the effectiveness of the learning experience. The professional identity of the early years’ educator and societal perception of this role is presented as having a direct influence on participants’ engagement with the CPD programme. Interpretive phenomenology and the hermeneutic principles underpinning this approach are presented here as central to understanding the professional role and the subsequent development of effective teacher education in the early years.

Exploring Everyday Nationalism and Methodological Nationalism through Migration Research in Early Childhood and Early Childhood Education

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 impact of story-inspired programming on preschool children's computational thinking: A multi-group experiment

Computational thinking (CT) has received worldwide attention due to its alignment with developing 21st century skills such as creativity, problem-solving, and digital competence. With the increasing provision of programming tools such as robotic toys and tablet apps in the sector of early childhood education (ECE), many ECE researchers and practitioners tend to link CT to programming. However, children are reluctant to sustain their interests in programming activities, and may be further demotivated by debugging failures. This multi-group quasi-experimental study aimed to evaluate the effects of a story-inspired approach in bridging the gap between programming and CT for preschool children. Building on previous literature suggesting storytelling as a powerful, culturally responsive pedagogy, 5-year-old children (N=108) were involved in nine weeks of CT learning via one of the three conditions: Story-Inspired Robot Programming (SIRP), Story-Inspired Tablet Programming (SITP), and unplugged CT education. Results revealed that children who participated in the SIRP and SITP conditions showed improved CT scores, relative to unplugged CT education, even after controlling for baseline CT scores. No gender or family socioeconomic effects were found to influence the benefits of story-inspired programming interventions. These findings suggest that storytelling as a culturally responsive approach, whether using robots or tablets as a programming tool, can provide young children with more inclusive and sustainable CT learning experiences.

Exploring the role of Black feminist thought in pre-service early childhood education: On the possibilities of embedded transformative change

As a Black feminist scholar who teaches in an early childhood studies program, the author has witnessed how dominant theories and methods used for pre-service early childhood education and care disconnect students from their lived experiences. The detachment of social location in theoretical text, and particularly in developmental discourse, is not isolated to the field; it is instead a result of the fragmentation of knowledge, which is central in the modern colonial project. The author explores what the possibilities are for Black feminist scholarship in pre-service early childhood education and care while unpacking the many racial and intersecting injustices in the field. The dominant research and pedagogy practices in early childhood education and care have limitations, with omissions of the nuances of the critical engagement of students, families and community more broadly through lived experience. When assumptions of detached and ‘objective’ knowledge are centred, then ideas that challenge norms and the status quo are omitted or peripheralized, when they are included. The article explores the possibilities of what the author calls ‘embedded transformative change’ – a change that is central to pedagogy and research in the field of early childhood education and care as opposed to being placed at the margins. Through embedded transformative change, members of pre-service early childhood education and care programs can think of themselves as active agents in change and liberation.

Classroom video in early childhood teacher education: reviewing the literature to inform research and practice (Videos de clase en la formación de docentes de infantil: revisión de la literatura para guiar la investigación y la práctica)

ABSTRACT We reviewed the empirical research literature in which videos of classroom practice had been used to foster the learning of pre-service and/or in-service early childhood education (ECE) teachers. The first goal was to identify research trends and gaps to inform the work of ECE researchers. Most studies have been conducted with in-service teachers within professional development programmes and stand-alone projects. No research has investigated how ECE teachers’ learning is affected by the situation type featured in videos, the teachers showcased, the length of videos or the age of the children videotaped. The field needs more large-scale studies focusing on the impact of specific video-related variables and conducted in diverse learning settings. The second goal was to illustrate diverse ways in which classroom videos have been used to foster ECE teachers’ learning. Key studies showcasing effective approaches are presented. The significance of this article relies on being the first systematic review focusing on classroom videos in the field of ECE, thereby contributing to raising ECE teachers’ awareness of their learning ecologies.

Keyword Network Analysis of Research Articles in the Asia-Pacific Journal of Research in Early Childhood Education : Research Trends From 2007 to 2021

This study aimed to explore changes in research articles published in the Asia-Pacific Journal of Research in Early Childhood Education (APJRECE) over time. To that end, keyword network analysis was conducted on a total of 244 research articles published in the journal during the 15-year period (both overall and in 5-year increments) from 2007 to 2021. The following results were obtained: first, discussions on common, important topics in early childhood education were held continuously and changes in keyword trends were observable within each of the different 5-year periods. Second, although APJRECE articles initially focused on qualitative studies, a balance of quantitative and qualitative research with some mixed-method papers and literature reviews was eventually attained. Third, an analysis of APJRECE articles by region revealed that the journal included studies from diverse locations, including East Asia, Southeast Asia, Oceania, North America, Africa, Europe, and the Middle East. These results confirm that APJRECE functions well as an international journal and that it provides a platform for academic exchange. Additionally, the results indicate that it has addressed and considered a wide range of topics and issues in early childhood education over time.