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This paper explores feminist philosopher Sara Ruddick's concept of ‘maternal thinking’ and considers the applicability and use of her ideas for early childhood pedagogy. This is illustrated through a small-scale case study, undertaken in early years settings in England, in which three dimensions of maternal thinking are evidenced in the work of early years practitioners: preservation of the child, fostering the growth of the child and the child's social acceptance. We argue that ethics of care are central to an articulation of contemporary early childhood pedagogy and must be advanced through engagement with students of early childhood in higher education (HE). This practice is demonstrated in a second case study, reporting a participatory research project with university students. Care-full values, practice and thinking are vital in order to challenge the status quo and emphasise early childhood pedagogy as important work towards the creation of a more equitable and sustainable society. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Three aspects of young children's social cognition - accurate encoding of social cues, hostile attributions and response access/generation - were assessed among 128 children (64 girls) attending three-, four-, and five-year-old classrooms (ages ranged from 36 to 73 months). Hostile attributions and the quality of strategy generation were both significantly associated with teacher-rated peer competence and aggressiveness, even when children's receptive vocabulary scores and age were controlled. For girls, hostile attributions, but not cue encoding or response generation, was associated with teacher ratings of competence and aggression. For boys, hostile attributions were associated with teacher ratings of competence, and response generation was associated with teacher ratings of competence and aggression. Regression analysis, controlling for sex, age and receptive vocabulary, revealed that both hostile attributions and the quality of social strategy generation, but not encoding of cues, made unique, significant contributions to the prediction of teacher ratings of competence and aggression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]