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Infant and toddler pedagogy has flourished as a specialized area of practice in early childhood care and education settings, yet it remains an under-researched area. There is also limited empirical research internationally that explores cultural meanings of meaningful provision for this young age group. This ethnographic study explored pedagogies of care with 1-year olds in four cultures-England, United States, New Zealand and Hong Kong-guided by Froebel's education philosophy and a view of pedagogies of care as embodiments of culture. The researchers employed sociocultural and ecological theoretical perspectives (Darling, 2016) to attend to cultural meanings at the micro, macro and temporal levels in relation to people, contexts and processes. This lens enabled the researchers to resist the positivist tendency to normalize and unify all children's experiences and maintain the integrity of diverse interpretations. Inspired by Tobin et al.'s (1989, 2009) cross-national research on preschool in three cultures, the researchers utilized a video-cued multivocal and layered interpretation approach to elicit the 'voices' of 1-year-olds, their teachers/practitioners and families. This paper focuses on each researcher's discussion of the ways Froebel's principles of autonomy in learning and freedom with guidance were seen to unfold. The nuances of how these principles were manifested in pedagogies for infants and toddlers is explored in relation to each country's curriculum and cultural ideals. Keywords autonomy, culture, early childhood care and education, freedom with guidance, Froebel, infants and toddlers, pedagogy, Introduction As more is understood about the potential for learning from birth, further attention is given to what can be learned from sensitively observing children's autonomous actions. Learning to be [...]

This reflective essay describes the author's experiences as an observer in a behaviorist infant classroom. The author developed four categories of practice to describe what happened in the behaviorist infant room: (1) curricular focus on training typically developing infants to meet typical developmental milestones, (2) the use of highly structured play by staff as the means for meeting their training goals for the babies, (3) particular uses of language by staff in the behaviorist classroom, and (4) ways in which the staff's adherence to core beliefs in behaviorism led to a lack of recognition of infants' individual expressions of needs and wants. The article concludes with the author's reflections on researchers' ethical responsibilities when faced with an environment that they consider inappropriate and potentially harmful to children., Eyes (and Ears) Opened by a New Experience It was my privilege and delight to spend several months of 2009 learning, playing, laughing, and participating in the activities of dozens […]

Abstract To most effectively meet the needs of young primary-grade children for whom English is not the home language, teachers must come to understand each child's family culture, how the […]

Abstract This study examined the relationship between educational background and the philosophical orientation of early childhood educators who worked as caregivers and teachers of preschoolers, ages 3 to 6 years, […]

Abstract. Studies consistently find a discrepancy between teachers' self-reported beliefs about developmentally appropriate practices (DAP) and their actual, observable classroom practices. Teachers attribute the discrepancy to a variety of environmental [...]