Learning Experiences For Young Children Research Articles

Re-inventing Vernacular Heritage for the Modern World: Integrating the Philosophical Values of Traditional Games in Early Childhood Education in Indonesia

Traditional games have a special place in the culture of every nation. They are an integral part of the cultural heritage of each country, meant not only for entertaining but also to pass down deep philosophical values. In Indonesia, many such games exist and they are being now integrated into early childhood education in order to infuse the philosophical values they propagate, into the children’s educational upbringing. This study explores the integration of the philosophies and values of traditional games in a project learning model in Indonesia to improve the problem solving skills in early childhood. The setting is the schools offering early childhood education in Indonesia. The research employs a qualitative approach using observations, interviews, and document analysis as data gathering techniques. It employs case studies where the observations take place and the interviews are held with the teachers of selected schools. Findings show that the integration of philosophies and values of traditional games in the project learning models provide rich and meaningful learning experiences for young children. It affirms that the values such as cooperation, perseverance, creativity, and fairness highlighted in the traditional games help in the development of problem-solving skills. These findings indicate the need to pay attention to cultural heritage in early childhood education and the importance of integrating cultural values in the learning process. The paper concludes that the integration of the philosophical values of traditional games in the project learning models can be an effective strategy to improve problem solving skills in early childhood education.

Cooking Class Activities: Fostering Independence and Building Self-Confidence in Early Childhood

Learning innovation is very important because it can provide fun and meaningful learning experiences for young children. Cooking class activities in ECE are one application of Project Learning, which is an implementation of the Independent Curriculum that involves children actively in the learning process. This qualitative research aims to discover how ECE teachers design cooking class activities, how students are involved during the activity, and what aspects of development young children achieve through this activity. The research was conducted at the Open Flow Learning Centre, Badung, Bali, using observation, interviews, and documentation methods for 4 ECE teachers and twelve students (three boys and nine girls). Through observations, it was found that cooking class activities at this institution are unique because they involve students from collecting ingredients to handling leftover ingredients that are not used. It was also observed that children had independence and self-confidence when carrying out activities. Considering the many benefits children get from cooking class activities, it is hoped that ECE teachers in other institutions can implement this activity to maximize children's involvement and development.

Analysis of Brain-based Learning Pattern in Early Childhood Education in Punjab

This study investigated teachers' attitudes towards Brain-Based Learning (BBL) in Early Childhood Education (ECE) using a descriptive approach and purposive sampling. Data from 209 teachers in Multan's Government schools where Early Childhood Education being taught were collected through a modified questionnaire based on Shelly Klinek's work (2009), but adapted and modified to align with the Pakistani context and the specific needs of the educational landscape in the region. The analysis of the collected data involved the use of statistical measures such as mean, standard deviation, and chi-square, with the software SPSS employed for the analysis. The findings of the study revealed a generally positive attitude among teachers towards the implementation of BBL in ECE. Moreover, significant mean differences were observed in various demographic factors, including teaching level, academic qualification, professional qualification, and teaching experience, concerning teachers' attitudes towards BBL at the ECE level. Recommendations include educational authorities organizing seminars or workshops focused on BBL in ECE to familiarize teachers, especially new ones, with brain-compatible classroom principles. Targeted professional development opportunities can effectively support teachers in implementing BBL, enhancing learning experiences for young children in early childhood education.

‘I'd rather learn outside because nature can teach you so many more things than being inside’: Outdoor learning experiences of young children and educators

Outdoor and nature-based activities promote better health and academic outcomes for children. The school context represents a critical opportunity to support increased outdoor time. Yet, outdoor learning (OL) is not being implemented consistently across school contexts, therefore, many students do not receive the opportunity to participate. This study was designed to support increased uptake of OL and explores young children’s perspectives of learning within an outdoor context and explores how educators support OL opportunities within an early learning context. This research places a focus on children’s voices in order to emphasize their perspective of the learning experience and to highlight experiential child-led processes within OL. We collected semi-structured interviews with students, their parents and school staff who were involved in OL. An exploratory thematic analysis was applied using QSR NVivo. Findings that emerged were organized under two main themes: Nature as the teacher and Child-led exploration of nature. Nature as a teacher contained three subthemes: 1) Seasonal change influencing inquiry, 2) Engagement with other living things in nature and 3) Dimensionality of the outdoors as an element that enhances learning – experiential immersive learning. Child-led exploration of nature contained one subtheme: Learning driven by play. These findings can be used to advocate for increased uptake of OL in education and to provide guidance to educators regarding how to include OL within their practice to enhance equitable access for children.

Abolition and ethnic studies in early care and education

The authors enter this conversation on equity, inclusion, and belonging in early care and education with abolition and ethnic studies as necessary standpoints that must be embodied to build what the world can and should be for its youngest inhabitants. Early care and education systems have been marked by damaging practices, pathologizing portrayals, and carceral pedagogies, which demand radical reimagining. The authors offer this writing as a collective—of early childhood educators, motherscholars, and community workers—realizing that there is more expertise and possibilities for change from the collective than any one person alone. This article shares how ethnic studies and abolition gave the authors the language and concepts to put their dreams of humanizing learning experiences for young children into action. They describe key concepts and examples of how abolition and ethnic studies can serve as methodological frameworks to attend to the survivance of young children and communities of color.

Group Music Activities in Chinese Kindergartens: Children’s Engagement and Teacher Perspectives

The paper aims to research group music activities in selected kindergartens in mainland China. Specifically, children’s engagement in group music activities and teachers’ perspectives of music curriculum practices to engage children are examined. The study was conducted in 44 classrooms across six kindergartens in mainland China. A mixed method research design was used to collect and analyse data. Observations of 1085 children’s engagement in group music activities were conducted. A survey and interviews gathered the perspectives of 89 teacher participants about music curriculum practices that engage children. The findings showed that the percentage of children engaged in group music activities was relatively high across the 44 classrooms. Teachers’ perspectives of music curriculum practices demonstrated an appreciation of play-based pedagogies to engage children in group music activities. The findings hold implications for the design and implementation of music learning experiences for young children in educational settings.

Hard-to-staff centers: Exploring center-level variation in the persistence of child care teacher turnover

High rates of teacher turnover in child care settings have negative implications for young children's learning experiences and for efforts to improve child care quality. Prior research has explored the prevalence and predictors of turnover at the individual teacher level, but less is known about turnover at the center level––specifically, how turnover varies across child care centers or whether staffing challenges persist year after year for some centers. This study tracks annual turnover rates for all publicly funded child care centers that were continuously operating in Louisiana from the 2015-16 to 2018-19 school years (n = 575 centers). We document high and variable turnover rates across centers throughout the state: The annual mean turnover rate was 40%, and each year nearly one-third of centers experienced high turnover, that is, lost more than half of their teachers. About 27% of centers experienced high turnover for multiple years in our panel, while 44% of centers did not experience high turnover in any year. Our findings underscore concerns that sustained staffing challenges may hinder efforts to provide high-quality child care.

Instructional Policy From Pre-K to Third Grade: The Challenges of Fostering Alignment and Continuity in Two School Districts

In an effort to improve learning for young children and respond to preschool fade out, some districts are working on “PreK-3” initiatives to create better connected learning pathways for children. In these pathways, primary grades continue to build on what children learn in preschool; they also present potential implementation challenges that are not accounted for in the literature. Using conceptual tools from institutional theory and empirical evidence from a study of two school districts, we show how challenges arise as districts try to bridge the divergent and entrenched institutional systems of preschool and elementary. Our findings suggest that these systems are each held in place by their own set of regulative, normative, and cultural-cognitive mechanisms that reinforce one another thereby providing an explanation for why beliefs and practices are so resistant to change. This analysis also points to practical implications that may lead to better connections and learning experiences for young children.

Parental Facilitation of Young Children's Technology-based Learning Experiences from Nondominant Groups During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically shifted family life across home, work, and education, especially families from nondominant groups. As schools and other educational programs moved online, parents became the primary facilitators for their children's learning. In this work, we conducted semi-structured interviews with 22 parents from nondominant groups. Insights from interviews highlight the technology-based learning experiences of young children during the pandemic, how parents facilitated these learning experiences, and the challenges parents and children encountered in these learning experiences. We summarize four parental facilitation patterns for children's learning (i.e., designing learning, finding resources, managing, and teaching) and highlight equity issues in distance learning, such as unequal access to learning resources and quality education. Finally, we further reflect on potential solutions to address the challenges parents have reported and share implications for designing technologies that better address children's and parents' needs during a crisis.

Leveraging the Biology of Adversity and Resilience to Transform Pediatric Practice.

Advances in science are fundamentally changing the way we understand how inextricable interactions among genetic predispositions, physical and social environments, and developmental timing influence early childhood development and the foundations of health and how significant early adversity can lead to a lifetime of chronic health impairments. This article and companion article illustrate the extent to which differential outcomes are shaped by ongoing interactive adaptations to context that begin at or even before conception and continue throughout life, with increasing evidence pointing to the importance of the prenatal period and early infancy for the developing brain, the immune system, and metabolic regulation. Although new discoveries in the basic sciences are transforming tertiary medical care and producing breakthrough outcomes in treating disease, this knowledge is not being leveraged effectively to inform new approaches to promoting whole-child development and preventing illness. The opportunity for pediatrics to serve as the leading edge of science-based innovation across the early childhood ecosystem has never been more compelling. In this article, we present a framework for leveraging the frontiers of scientific discovery to inform new strategies in pediatric practice and advocacy to protect all developing biological systems from the disruptive effects of excessive early adversity beyond providing information on child development for parents and enriched learning experiences for young children.

Local community involvement in Malaysian early childhood care and education centers

PurposeThe paper aims to explore the role and the involvement of local community within the context of Malaysian early childhood centers (nursery and kindergarten).Design/methodology/approachThe research used a mixed method with a questionnaire survey in the first phase and qualitative interviews in the second phase. Quantitative data were obtained from a survey completed by 3,519 staffs from nursery and kindergarten all over Malaysia. Qualitative data were collected from individual and focus group semistructured interviews conducted with 140 participants of the Malaysian public and private internal and external stakeholders ranging from the relevant personnel of the early childhood care and education (ECCE) centers (administrators, teachers and practitioners), academic experts, regulatory agencies and parents.FindingsSurvey results indicate that the parents and community involvement with ECCE centers from the perspective of the management and practitioners is in the medium category. A total of three overarching themes were identified from the interviews, namely expertise collaboration, resource sharing and operation monitoring. There exists diversity in terms of community engagement and cooperation with ECCE centers.Practical implicationsThe findings are expected to provide valuable guidelines to ECCE centers' management and leadership in the aspect of community involvement where it could help to enhance their efforts of providing quality learning experiences for young children attending their centers.Originality/valueThis study is part of a larger longitudinal and mixed methods project examining the quality practices in setting the standards in the Malaysian National Quality ECCE framework. These findings contribute to the understanding of community involvement with ECCE centers in the Malaysian context.

Breaking the limits of executive functions: Towards a sociocultural perspective

Executive functions refer to the neurocognitive processes that enable conscious control of goal-directed behaviour. Executive functions lay the neural and cognitive foundation for civilisation and culture with its far reaching effects in day-to-day planning, problem-solving, creativity, self-regulation, empathy and cooperative social behaviour. Though a celebrated area of research for cognitive scientists, contemporary studies find that most of the interventions that target executive functions promote academic achievement in children, but fail to transfer to real-life interpersonal situations. This suggests the need for breaking its cognitive shell and conceiving executive function development in the larger sociocultural context. Thus, the present paper inquires into the cultural space that provides collaborative learning experiences for young children to become efficient problem-solvers and empathetic social beings. After reviewing certain theoretical perspectives and research findings, it is concluded that the early experiences of scaffolding by more competent individuals, specific to the social context and culture, are the crucial determinant of positive executive function development and its expression in everyday situations. The process of such sociocultural influences seems to be mediated by learning appropriate rules that guide executive functions. The paper puts forth the need for culture-specific value-based training for children that can potentially improve the internally motivated execution of control in practical situations. Revival of activities inherent in cultures is also found to be a promising option for devising effective training methods.

A problematic legacy: diversity in American reading textbooks

PurposeThis conceptual paper aims to explore biases in reading textbooks that have been used to teach generations of Americans, including children in urban communities. While these texts are no longer used, the images they present and the ideas embedded in these texts unfortunately contribute to who we are as a nation.Design/methodology/approachThese texts were identified by Catherine Compton-Lilly as she trolled the historical archives of a major university.FindingsIn addition to an analysis of historic texts, more recent attempts to create culturally responsive texts often designed to serve children in urban communities are examined, and the learnings from these attempts are being explored.Practical implicationsThis conceptual paper points to the need for systematic analyses of biases operating in textbooks that are currently used in schools.Originality/valueThis work reveals and explores one way in which historical bias has historically infected the early learning experiences of young children in the USA.

Pursuing quality learning experiences for young children through learning in play: how do children perceive play?

ABSTRACT In Hong Kong, play-based learning has been highlighted in the latest curriculum guide in 2017. While adopting ‘child-centredness’ as the core value of kindergarten education can enrich children’s play experiences. However, little emphasis has been placed on how young children perceive play-based learning in the classroom. The aim of this qualitative research is to reveal young children’s unique perceptions of what play means to them. Data were collected through non-participant observation during delivery of a play-based learning curriculum in class and post-observation focus group interviews with the children whose classes had been observed. An interpretive method is employed to divulge their perceptions. Cross-analysis of the observation data and the children’s statements shows how the children perceived play and how they determined playfulness. Combining data from interviews and classroom observations, findings reflected the lack of consistency between what children described as play and how teachers practiced play-based activities in classes. This study evoked the concern for teachers in making developmentally appropriate pedagogical choice to engage children in learning through play. The importance of respecting children’s feelings about playfulness and teachers’ role in ensuring quality learning experiences is discussed.

A pedagogy of multiliteracies: Young children and multimodal learning with tablets

AbstractThe data reported in this paper are part of a larger case study with children from 2 to 12 years of age, that took place over 4 years. The data reported here pertains to children in the age range 4–8 years of age in Australia. The children were from low socio‐economic schools in one Australian state. The study was concerned with providing empirical evidence about learning ecologies in which teachers designed multimodal experiences to support young children to become literate in the 21st century. Using a participant observation methodology, both the pedagogical strategies and learning experiences of young children were documented in the form of narratives of early childhood practices. The aim was to consider the potential for new learning [Kalantzis, M., & Cope, W. W. (2012). New learning: elements of a science of education (2nd ed.). Melbourne: Cambridge University Press] with new technologies, and to support teachers to use tablets to transform their pedagogies and practices in the early years. The approach taken was to use the theoretical constructs of new learning and a pedagogy of multiliteracies [New London Group (1996). A pedagogy of multiliteracies. Harvard Educational Review, 60, 66–92] as the focus for designing the new learning ecologies. In this way, we moved away from an emphasis on digital childhoods to create contexts for multimodal learning in the 21st‐century childhoods. In doing this, the documented learning stories have multimodality as a uniting element, and digital technologies are viewed as being complimentary to other resources, rather than alternatives, or in competition with, traditional modalities. The paper illustrates the ways in which these multimodal learning ecologies can work to support emergent literacy which is viewed as a foundational skill needed by all children in order to thrive in their learning.

Findings from a Pre-kindergarten Classroom: Making the Case for STEM in Early Childhood Education

Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) in early childhood education is an area currently given little attention in the literature, which is unfortunate since young children are natural scientists and engineers. Here, we outline our mixed-methods design-based research investigation of a pre-kindergarten (Pre-K) classroom where two early childhood educators are incorporating STEM activities. We used a protocol consisting of a list of potential characteristics of effective and appropriate STEM curriculum for young children to structure our classroom observations. We also used semi-structured interviews, focus groups, and a questionnaire to collect data from multiple stakeholders (teachers, students, and parents), to examine how STEM activities were incorporated in Pre-K, to explore students’ engagement with STEM concepts, and to investigate parents’ opinions about STEM in general and STEM as experienced by their children. Our findings provide support for the inclusion of STEM-based learning experiences for young children.

Integrating Science Inquiry and Literacy Instruction for Young Children

Early elementary teachers are under great pressure to teach all children to read and write at highly proficient levels while simultaneously emphasizing STEM instruction to prepare students for the 21st century. Traditionally, literacy skills are taught in isolation from science instruction. However, reading and writing are the perfect tools to use for inquiry and reasoning, for creating a hypothesis, and for gathering, evaluating, and analyzing data. In this article, the authors describe how literacy and science instruction can be merged to create innovative, stimulating, and enriching learning experiences for young children.

Designing and creating an educational app rubric for preschool teachers

International studies indicate that the use of smart mobile devices and their accompanying educational applications (apps) can revolutionize young children's learning experiences. Although there is a vast array of educational apps for preschoolers, they are not actually educational in their majority. In this context, it is important for preschool teachers to be able to assess each app for its effectiveness in educational practice. To evaluate educational mobile apps, this paper presents a rubric (abbreviated as REVEAC) in four areas: contents, design, functionality, and technical quality, each having multiple aspects. In this paper, we discuss the known problems in using educational apps and we present a review of relevant literature, as well as the process of formulating REVEAC. Finally, the paper concludes with a brief discussion of REVEAC limitations and future work.

Transforming Early Childhood Education through Critical Reflection

There is tension growing in early childhood education between an emphasis on higher learning standards, teacher-directed activities, and evidence-based instructional methods and maintaining active, dynamic and integrated learning experiences for young children. This short essay highlights the ways in which our existing values and beliefs, theories, and epistemologies about early childhood education can be transformed using a critical lens.

The Use of Technology to Facilitate Music Learning Experiences in Preschools

THIS ARTICLE REPORTS ON the technologies preschool teachers use to facilitate music learning experiences for children in their classrooms and why they choose to use or not use technologies. A questionnaire was administered to 185 teachers in a metropolitan Australian city focusing on the kinds of technologies being used, for what music activities, and reasons for using and not using these technologies. 81 questionnaires were returned (a response rate of 44 per cent). Nine of the respondents agreed to a follow-up day-long classroom observation and interview with the researcher. Results revealed that CDs dominated teacher use of technology to provide song repertoire and a model for singing this song repertoire. However, multimedia-based technology was also utilised for music learning experiences (i.e. DVDs/video, television, internet websites). However, more recent digital technologies such as digital music players/recorders, musical toys with digitised components and tablets were rarely used. While preschool teachers value technology to facilitate music learning experiences for young children, constraints in using technology were identified, including cost and lack of knowledge about using these technologies with young children.