Early Childhood Education School Research Articles

Important intergenerational transmission of knowledge in promotion of well-being and cultural identity in Greenland

ABSTRACT The “Kinguaariit Inuunerissut” (KI) camps, meaning “generations in well-being” in Greenlandic, was a pilot initiative designed to enhance cultural identity and intergenerational connections through culturally relevant activities. The outcomes of the KI-camps have informed the development of a broader KI-concept aiming at tailoring and implementing elements from KI-camps into early childhood education services, after-school programmes, and schools. In this paper we present the results from three workshop held in January 2024 in Sisimiut, Greenland where 28 older participants and 28 professionals were asked about essential knowledge and skills to be passed down to younger generations. The focus was on songs, storytelling/myths, the spiritual world, animals, plants, skills in nature/home, and handicrafts. Results shows that older people and professionals agree on the importance of passing down cultural knowledge through all the different categories and support the need to integrate these elements into educational programmes to preserve cultural heritage and strengthen community cohesion. The findings will guide the integration of intergenerational activities into municipal institutions and contribute to culturally relevant health promotion strategies in Greenland.

O LÚDICO NA EDUCAÇÃO INFANTIL: CONCEPÇÕES E PRÁTICASDOCENTES

This article is a section of a Master's Dissertation and aims to analyze how the knowledge of playfulness in early childhood education is contextualized in teachers' pedagogical practices based on the reality of a municipal early childhood education school. The justification is to reevaluate the pedagogical work, seeking to understand that while educators encounter challenges in developing a playful approach with young children, their practice becomes much more expressive and enjoyable for the children’s school experience. A learning environment where playfulness, creativity, and spontaneity prevail becomes far more conducive to learning. The methodological design was non-experimental, descriptive, cross-sectional, with a mixed approach. It was non-experimental because there was no manipulation of variables or comparison groups. The researcher observes what naturally occurs without interfering in any way. It is a descriptive investigation because it aims to describe the characteristics of a certain population or phenomenon or establish relationships between variables. As for the results, we emphasize that, although there was a comparison regarding the teachers’ years of service, it did not influence the findings. What became evident is that both teachers work with the same goal: to motivate the students’ learning processes through playful tools.

Links between Duration of Early Childhood Education Participation and School Readiness Domains: A Study with Malaysian Public Preschool Children

Links between Duration of Early Childhood Education Participation and School Readiness Domains: A Study with Malaysian Public Preschool Children

Spanish validation perceived ease of ICT among future early childhood education and primary school teachers

AbstractThe use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) has been increasing in education. Despite its benefits, not everyone perceives its use with the same ease. This raises the need to observe the perceived ease of use (PEOU) of ICT among future teachers, which requires a valid and reliable instrument to measure this variable for the Spanish population. The aim of this study is to validate PEOU among trainee early childhood education and primary education teachers studying at Spanish universities and observe the factorial invariance across gender. Two studies were conducted: the first study consisted of an Exploratory Factor Analysis with 474 students (Mage = 21.17; SD = 4.03), while the second study tested the scale based on 796 students (Mage = 21.25; SD = 3.99). The results found that PEOU is a valid and reliable measurement scale consisting of two factors (FI. Difficulty [α = 0.89] and FII. Ease [α = 0.81], and that there are no gender differences. In conclusion, it provides a scale to assess PEOU of ICT among the Spanish adult population.

Are Our Schools Carrying Out Effective Environmental Education? In-Service and Pre-Service Teachers’ Perceptions

Faced with the environmental challenges facing today’s society, it is necessary to form critical, conscious, committed and competent citizens that can take action. Children represent, at the same time, the need for care and hope for a better and more sustainable world. The school is the ideal place to carry out this training. All citizens pass through school for many years and many hours a day. Everything in the school is designed to teach people how to learn and live together: the people who work there, the infrastructure, the rules, the resources and the opportunities to share daily actions. But are schools prepared to carry out effective environmental education? Several reasons have been pointed out as potential explanations of the lack of awareness and sustainable behavior observed in a large part of the population. Surely, one of the most important is the lack of adequate organization, which leads to a lack of long-term planning, of people in charge, or of an evaluation and communication of the results. In this paper, we present a study on environmental education carried out in a group of Early Childhood and Elementary education schools using structured interviews conducted by students of the Catholic University of Valencia San Vicente Mártir. The results obtained are congruent with the contributions made by previous studies, which have highlighted the lack of coherence between training, attitudes and teaching practices. The conclusions drawn seem to indicate that, although practicing teachers are aware of the importance of the subject, the presence of environmental policies in the school and the implementation of good educational action are far from being considered optimal, given the current need for them.

Meningkatkan Kemampuan Membaca Al-Qur’an Melalui Metode Tahfizh di PAUD Fithri Desa Teluk Pulai Dalam Kualuh Leidong

Reading the Koran is one of the lessons given to young children to develop children's religious potential. The aim of this research is to describe the process of improving the ability to read the Al-Qur'an through the tahfizh method at the Early Childhood Education School in Teluk Pulai Dalam Village, Kualuh Leidong. The research method in this research is Classroom Action research. The tahfizh method used by Fithri PAUD teachers in Teluk Pulai Dalam Village little by little, with regular repetition, young children at Fithri PAUD are starting to be able to memorize one, two or three short surahs as taught by their teachers in class. Based on Classroom Action Research conducted in cycle I, information was obtained that the level of student ability in cycle I was 18% in the fluent category, 29% in the moderate category, and 53% in the poor category. After carrying out the second cycle using the Tahfizh Method, information was obtained that the level of students' ability in the second cycle was 53% in the fluent category, 29% in the moderate category, and 18% in the poor category, after carrying out the third cycle, the level of students' ability in the third cycle was 82% in the fluent category, the medium category is 18% while the less category is 0%. This shows that the Tahfizh method has a significant influence in improving the ability to read the Koran in Fithri PAUD Teluk Pulai Dalam Village, Kualuh Leidong

The Processes of Insertion and Sociability of Haitian Migrant Children in Early Childhood Education

The number of children, both accompanied and unaccompanied, currently crossing international borders in search of humanitarian refuge, has increased significantly in the last few decades of the Twenty-first Century. In Brazil, the presence of Haitian migrant children cannot be ignored, as, in addition to the lack of public policies, they are also victims of racism and xenophobia. Schools face a massive impact of migration, which alters their social structure. Often, the school community is not adequately prepared to cater for these children, as is the case with some schools in the Brazilian municipality of Balneário Camboriú. This research, which is linked to the Postgraduate Program in Education at the University of Vale do Itajaí, initially aims to investigate how Haitian migrant children interact with each other, and with Brazilian children, in two early childhood education schools in Balneário Camboriú. It also intends to investigate, based on the presence of Haitian migrant children, the processes of subjection or transgression of expressions of whiteness as a practice of power and representation of white identity, and to analyze the Municipality’s Curricular Proposal regarding Ethnic-Racial Education. The study is based on the Sociology of Childhood, Racial Studies, and Migration. The research is qualitative and is based on a literature review in two databases. The studies analyzed indicate that one reason for the lack of interest and knowledge about ethnic-racial diversity issues in schools is the existing gap in this theme in both initial and continuing teacher education.

Effectiveness of Early Childhood Education on Student Learning Outcomes in Tehsil Rahim Yar Khan

The research aims to determine the association between Early Childhood Education (ECE) and mental, societal, and emotional development. The objectives of this study are: 1) To assess how well ECE affects the students' learning results. 2) To promote the holistic development of a child. 3) To investigate issues and also create suggestions about the execution of ECE programs. 4) To increase the literacy rate and decrease the dropout level. 5) To encourage a child’s curiosity about his/her environment. A descriptive quantitative design was used for this study. The hypotheses predict a positive effect of ECE on learning outcomes. The results support the hypotheses, showing a significant positive impact of ECE on Student Learning Outcomes (SLO) and improved cognitive, communal, and demonstrative development. The population of this study is all ECE government schools of Tehsil Rahim Yar Khan. 140 ECE schools were selected using a simple random sampling technique. ECE teachers, ECE caregivers, and head teachers were selected from each school and 420 (male and female) individuals participated as a sample. For data collection, one self-structured questionnaire was used which consists of 65 items. After data collection, it was examined with the help of SPSS. The findings suggest that effective ECE is crucial for enhancing SLOs. It is strongly associated with successful learning outcomes for students and plays a vital role in a child’s entire life. ECE creates an environment that develops interest, boosting children to discover learn, and grow. ECE also encourages inspiration, imagination, and investigation crucial for lifelong learning.

Gender socialization and supportive school settings for elementary-aged LGBTIQ+ children

Despite a breadth of research, policy, and legislation, significant barriers to inclusion continue to persist for LGBTIQ+ children across many educational settings, particularly among Early Childhood Education (ECE) and elementary school spaces. This work aims to address the vulnerabilities of LGBTIQ+ children in school spaces by highlighting the socialization of heteronormativity and cisnormativity in ECE and elementary settings as a key intervention point for children’s mental health. Through a narrative literature review, we identify the current realities experienced by many gender and sexually diverse students in schools, including the impact of overlapping systems of oppression (i.e., homophobia, transphobia, racism, and sexism) putting queer students at increased risk of harmful mental health outcomes, along with a review of literature on protective factors that have been shown to mitigate these risks. Lastly, we discuss key whole-school interventions in the socialization of cisheteronormative gender in elementary school spaces, which include rights-based frameworks for students, inclusive curricula, and policies. We posit that these universal strategies provide both upstream and responsive support to the mental health needs of all students, including LGBTIQ+ children. Through this study of key literature, and integration of theory on the socialization of gender, we aim to provide educators and school administrators with tools to better support the wellbeing of LGBTIQ+ children and youth now and into the future.

School Electricity Consumption in a Small Island Country: The Case of Fiji

Electricity consumption in buildings is one of the major causes of energy usage and knowledge of this can help building owners and users increase energy efficiency and conservation efforts. For Pacific Island countries, building electricity demand data is not readily accessible or available for constructing models to predict electricity demand. This paper starts to fill this gap by studying the case of schools in Fiji. The aim of the paper is to assess the factors affecting electricity demand for grid-connected Fijian schools and use this assessment to build mathematical models (multiple linear regression (MLR) and artificial neural network (ANN)) to predict electricity consumption. The average grid-connected electricity demand in kWh/year was 1411 for early childhood education schools, 5403 for primary schools, and 23,895 for secondary schools. For predicting electricity demand (ED) for all grid-connected schools, the stepwise MLR model shows that taking logarithm transformations on both the dependent variable and independent variables (number of students, lights, and air conditioning systems) yields statistically significant independent variables with an R2 value of 73.3% and RMSE of 0.2248. To improve the predicting performance, ANN models were constructed on both the natural form of variables and transformed variables. The optimum ANN model had an R2 value of 95.3% and an RMSE of 59.4 kWh/year. The findings of this study can assist schools in putting measures in place to reduce their electricity demand, associated costs, and carbon footprint, as well as help government ministries make better-informed policies.

Interpersonal Relationship and Job Satisfaction among Early Childhood Education Teachers in Edo State, Nigeria

The study examined interpersonal relationship and job satisfaction among early childhood education teachers in Edo State. Three research questions were raised for the study and one of the research questions was formulated into hypothesis. The study is descriptive research and adopted a descriptive survey design. The population of this study comprises all the one thousand and twenty-one (1021) public early childhood education schools and one thousand two hundred and sixty-three (1263) early childhood education teachers in Edo State. A multi-stage sampling technique was used to select a sample of one hundred and two early childhood schools and one hundred and twenty-six early childhood teachers in the three senatorial districts of Edo State. A questionnaire (IRJSAECETQ) which was validated with a reliability coefficient of 0.88 was used to elicit data from the respondents. The research questions were analyzed using mean and standard deviation while hypothesis was tested using Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient. The findings from the analysis of the study revealed that the level of interpersonal relationship among early childhood teachers is low; the level of job satisfaction among early childhood education teachers in Edo State is also low. The findings also revealed that there is a positive and significant relationship between interpersonal relationship and job satisfaction among early childhood education teachers in Edo State. Based on the findings, the study recommended that the level of interpersonal relationship among early childhood teachers, pupils and the school authorities should be improved upon by establishing and maintaining effective and frequent communication among the early childhood education teachers, head teacher, and pupils as it has been proven in this study that there is a significant relationship between interpersonal relationship and job satisfaction among early childhood teachers Keywords: Interpersonal relationship, Job satisfaction, early childhood education, early childhood education teachers.

Developing an autistic child assessment model through art therapy on concentration ability in inclusive early childhood education: A case study in Indonesia

The aim of this study is to produce a product in the form of an assessment model for autistic children through art therapy to improve their concentration ability in inclusive early childhood education schools. This research is conducted as a Research and Development (R&D) exploration employing the ADDIE model, which involves (1) analyzing the need for implementing assessments in the field, (2) designing assessment models based on the results of field analysis, (3) developing the assessment model through validation and revision towards a product that is ready for trial, (4) implementing assessment models for autistic children in five inclusive early childhood education schools in Surakarta to test the feasibility of the model, and (5) evaluating to determine the final product. The population consists of autistic students from inclusive early childhood education schools in Surakarta. Research instruments include interviews/observations, questionnaires, tests, and product validation instruments. Data analysis was conducted to observe the mean difference between the two samples using a t-test. Based on the independent sample test, a significance value (2-tailed) of 0.019 was shown. In other words, autistic children who undergo assessment with an art therapy approach exhibit better concentration skills compared to autistic children who undergo assessment without the application of the art therapy approach.

ENHANCING EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION IN SAUDI ARABIA: UTILIZING GAMIFICATION FOR ENGAGING AND EFFECTIVE LEARNING

Gamification, integration of game elements and principles into non-game contexts, has emerged as a promising educational strategy worldwide. In context of Saudi Arabian schools, known for commitment to innovation and excellence, potential of gamification to transform traditional teaching methods into engaging learning experiences is of particular interest. This comprehensive study, conducted within positivist research paradigm, and employed cross-sectional research design and quantitative survey research method. It collect data from representative sample of 565 early childhood teachers & utilized statistical analyses, including ANOVA, correlation analysis, multiple regression analysis, & MANOVA, to examine impact of gamification. Results revealed that gamification strategies could be effectively integrated, but teacher training and resource support were central. The gamification positively influenced student engagement and motivation, with variations across grade levels and types of early childhood education schools. The study underlines standing of localized research & offers recommendations to enhance the successful implementation of gamification in Saudi Arabian early childhood education schools, contributing to improved educational outcomes and experiences.

Supporting and Inhibiting Factors of Outdoor STEAM Learning in Early Childhood Education

Research shows that it’s important for kids to get out and play. By combining outdoor learning and STEAM, it will provide a new perspective on the lesson theme and can connect school content with the real-world problems. However, some things support and hinder outdoor STEAM learning in early childhood education. This study aims to determine the supporting and inhibiting factors of STEAM outdoor learning in early childhood education. The subjects of this research were 34 early childhood education schools in Central Java. This research data is qualitative, collected through observation, documentation, and interviews techniques. The observation technique was used to make direct observations in the field and documented them in the form of videos and photos. Research data management was carried out using the QSR NVivo software. The data analysis technique used was the qualitative data analysis technique from Miles and Huberman which includes data reduction, data presentation, and drawing conclusions. Testing the validity of the data in this research used source triangulation techniques through the cluster analysis and comparison diagram features in the QSR NVivo software. Based on the coding result of the research data using the help of NVivo QSR software, it is known that the biggest supporting factors of outdoor STEAM learning in early childhood education are environment, media, teachers, and infrastructure, while other supporting factors are area, cost, weather, new ideas, new experiences, and situations. The biggest inhibiting factors of outdoor STEAM learning in early childhood education are adaptability, security, and infrastructure, while other inhibiting factors areweather, support; environment, pollution, and situation. The results of this study can be used as a guideline for outdoor STEAM learning in early childhood education and make the inhibiting factors a challenge for teachers to facilitate outdoor learning as a form of maximizing the use of the environment as a learning resource in early childhood education.
 Keywords: STEAM, outdoor learning, early childhood education

Outdoor learning across the early years in Australia: Inconsistencies, challenges, and recommendations

In this article, we explore inconsistencies in the implementation of outdoor learning across Australian early years’ education. The benefits of outdoor learning justify regular employment of this pedagogical approach in both early childhood education and primary school settings. Early childhood education services provide daily outdoor learning opportunities as required by Australian national policy documents. However, Australian primary schools are not subject to such requirements and teachers often face challenges regarding outdoor learning, thus regular implementation in primary classes can be a low priority. As children in the year before school and the first year of school have similar learning and developmental needs, we argue that the benefits of outdoor learning should be available to all children across the early years. We also recommend regular outdoor learning in the first year of schooling to promote continuity as children transition from early childhood education to primary schools.

‘This is not a weapon’: Rethinking children's worlding practices with Karin Murris

This article draws on the concept of the posthuman child presented by Murris in her book The Posthuman Child, where the child is not understood as an object of study (‘i’ and ‘I’), nor as a subject (‘ii’ and ‘I’), but as a phenomenon (‘iii’). ‘iii’ constructs reality from intra-action with all the human and more-than-human surrounding elements. This research seeks to overcome the adult/child, nature/culture, or body/mind binaries. As opposed to the adult need (‘I’) in which the construction of meanings has a representational character, ‘iii’ carries out a non-representational worlding. In order to carry out our analysis, we conducted three diffractive readings of an event that took place in an Early Childhood Education school with 4- and 5-year-old children, thinking with Murris’ ‘i’, ‘ii’, and ‘iii’. This event facilitated the inclusion of all the agents involved, human (children and adults) and more-than-human (space, environment, materials, etc.). In our analysis, we seek to overcome the epistemic injustice pointed out by Murris. Our article highlights the need on the part of the adult (‘I’) to understand the child's graphic expression not as a representational end product, but as a product resulting from learning (a drawing), arising from intensities and concretised in a material-discursive practice carried out by the child as a phenomenon (‘iii’). This leads us to rethink the learning spaces at school with a need to generate decolonised spaces in which children's freedom to create worlds prevails, generating new knowledge from/in/through intra-actions with other more-than-human agents.

Engaging stakeholders to inform policy developments in early childhood education and outside school hours care

The application of engagement strategies to ensure democracy of decisions is increasingly valued and adopted by governments to ensure trust in the process and ownership of the outcome. This paper describes the approach and methods used to engage early childhood education and care (ECEC) and outside school hours care (OSHC) stakeholders in the contemporizing and updating of Australia’s national Approved Learning Frameworks (ALFs): Belonging, Being and Becoming: The Early Years Learning Framework for Australia (EYLF) and My Time Our Place: Framework for School Age Care (MTOP). Theoretical underpinnings of a robust stakeholder engagement strategy ensured a range of methods were developed to communicate with and encourage participation by the diversity of stakeholders who are invested in ECEC and OSHC in Australia – broadly defined as approved providers, teachers, educators, families, children and young people, regulatory authorities and other professionals who provide support and advice. A mixed-method, sequential 3-Stage design was developed to gather the insights, responses, and perspectives of stakeholders who provided, worked in, used, attended, or supported ECEC and/or OSHC settings. Stakeholder feedback included survey ratings and written comments, focus group and panel discussions, educator documentation and video-diaries, and the writings, talking, and drawings of children and young people. Evaluation methods focus on the number, diversity, and depth of stakeholder responses. In conclusion, we reflect on the usefulness, benefits, limitations, and effectiveness of our approach to participatory engagement to inform government policy development and decision making.

Museums Thinking About Early Childhood Education: Present Role and Perspectives

ABSTRACT The relationships between museums and schools have been strengthened in recent years but little previous research has studied the activities that museums offer for children from 0 to 6. The present article analyses the role of early childhood education in museums’ programs in Catalonia. A total of 118 museums and 296 activities have been analyzed and categorized. Results show that the activities that museums offer for early childhood education schools are limited. Guided visits and workshops are the most representative activities, and the majority of them are focused on the age range from 3 to 6. Future studies can deep in the age range from 0 to 3 in order to improve the relationships between early childhood education and museums.

Feeding difficulties in preschool children at an early childhood education school

Feeding difficulties in preschool children at an early childhood education school

A Systematic Review of Early Childhood Education and Primary School Readiness for Transition Through Play-Based Pedagogies

This systematic review is based on studies that explored school readiness and transition through play-based pedagogies in Early Childhood and Primary Education. Relevant literature involved global literature whose search was conducted by independent researchers following the keyword string, which included among others, stakeholders’ roles in school readiness, transition, and play-based pedagogies. The literature search was done from May to August 2022 following the Preferred Reporting Item for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Protocols (PRISMA). Twenty peer-reviewed studies were identified, appraised, and included in the review. Findings from international literature showed that teachers’ implementation of play-based pedagogy revealed a significant and positive relationship to all domains of children’s holistic development. Learner assessment for school readiness and transitioning from pre-primary to primary through play-based pedagogies included academic, social, and personal learning during periods of play. The types of play-based assessments for school readiness identified included: (1) withdrawal assessment, (2) observational assessment, (3) embedded assessment, (4) teacher questioning/interview, (5) Photographs/videos and (6) documentation walls. While literature showed a positive connection between parental involvement and a child’s readiness for school including successful transition from preprimary to primary school, there was limited evidence pointing specifically to the influence of parental involvement in play-based pedagogies for school transitioning.