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This study was designed to determine the psychometric properties of the School Readiness Assessment Tool (SRAT), a new measurement tool for assessing school readiness. The measure aims to assess preschool children's school readiness by estimating their academic, motor, social, emotional, and self regulation skills. Both academic and motor skills are assessed through direct child observation while teacher ratings evaluate social-emotional and self-regulation skills. 228 children attending preschool participated in the study's first phase and 185 children in the second phase. The results show that the items of the new measurement tool had sufficient internal consistency. Both study phases also showed strong evidence of face (content) and construct validity (i.e., convergent and concurrent validity). Overall, the results show that SRAT is a promising new measure for school readiness among preschoolers in Türkiye. In addition to the evidence from randomized control trials, studies should be conducted to determine its psychometric properties with diverse samples, such as rural children and children not enrolled in preschool education.

The study aims to investigate the influence of the online professional development (PD) program focused on precollege engineering education on science teachers' teaching engineering self-efficacy. A nested mixed research design was employed to conduct the study, in which the basic qualitative design was integrated into a weak experimental design and data collection was interrelated. The quantitative dimension of the study utilized the engineering teaching self-efficacy scale, while the qualitative dimension utilized the teachers' reflections as a data collection instrument. Fourteen science educators were selected through purposive random sampling in a province in the Black Sea region of Türkiye. The study's results suggested that the self-efficacy of science teachers in teaching engineering was significantly enhanced by the PD program, which focused on engineering education. The qualitative results were consistent with the quantitative results. Considering the study's results, practitioners and researchers were provided with suggestions for future research in the field of teacher education or PD programs.

The current study is located among the body of language teacher identity research by focusing on the identities of pre-service language teachers in Japan. This study looks at how pre-service language teacher identities are situated among Japanese values and belief systems and investigates how participants are coping with disrupted language teacher identities as they are preparing to embark on teaching careers. Three pre-service teachers took part in this study, and data originated from narrative frames and semi-structured interviews. These participants are preparing for future employment as K-12 English teachers in Japan. Drawing upon grounded theory and Gross' (2015) process model of emotional regulation, findings illustrate the conflicted manner in which pre-service teachers are constructing their nascent language teacher identities against the backdrop of Japanese values and belief systems and the realities of teaching in Japan. In this context, the participants are approaching their future careers with deeply held emotions of both hope and dread, complicating the development of empowered language teacher identities. Additionally, this study found that the participants were able to employ Gross' (2015) emotional regulation strategies to varying degrees of success. This article concludes with implications for pre-service teachers and pre-service teacher training programs in Japan and abroad.

Within the field of K-2 computer science (CS) education, unplugged computational thinking (CT) activities have been suggested as beneficial for younger students and shown to impact young students' skills and motivation to learn about CS. This study sought to examine how children demonstrate CT competencies in unplugged sequencing tasks and how children use manipulatives to solve unplugged sequencing tasks. This case study approach examined two unplugged sequencing tasks for six children ranging from ages five to eight (pre-kindergarten to 2nd grade). Children showed evidence of several CT competencies during the sequencing tasks: (1) pattern recognition, (2) algorithms and procedures, (3) problem decomposition, and (4) debugging. The strategies and use of manipulatives to showcase CT competencies seemed to evolve in complexity based on age and developmental levels. Taking into account children's abilities to demonstrate CT competencies, this study suggests that sequencing is a developmentally appropriate entry point for young children to begin engaging in other CT competencies. In addition, these unplugged sequencing tasks can also be easily integrated into other activities commonly experienced in early childhood classrooms.

In the global context, male participation in early childhood education is notably low, with only 3% of the workforce in mainland China comprising male professionals. This study delves into the intrinsic motivation of male kindergarten teachers, employing the framework of self-determination theory. Qualitative research, comprising face-to-face interviews with seven Chinese kindergarten teachers, aims to uncover the factors influencing their intrinsic motivation at work. By understanding their perspectives on intrinsic motivation, this research offers valuable insights to professionals in the field of early childhood education.

The article examines the current situation of language instruction in higher educational institutions in the Republic of Kazakhstan. Higher educational institutions play a crucial role in providing professional training in the country. The official language strategy focuses on developing the Kazakh language as the language of science. The researchers performed a survey among educators and students from both national and regional universities in the country. They then analysed the findings to identify the issues within this domain. The survey included 122 participants from 16 different universities. An investigation was conducted to analyse respondents' answers using both quantitative and qualitative methods. The results of the study were used to identify the critical problems. The concerns were identified based on the viewpoints and stances of both native and foreign scientists, and implications were provided.

The preschool period is recognized as a crucial phase for fostering the social development of children. Self-regulation during the developmental period contributes to management skills in social contexts and thus helps establish positive standards of behavior for peer relationships. Effective interventions can improve self-regulation skills. The main purpose of this study is to detect the predictive impact of self-regulation skills on peer relationships in preschool children. The participants consisted of 165 children of Turkish extraction (between the ages of 5 and 6). 81 of them were girls, and 84 were boys. The Self-Regulation Skills Scale for Children aged 4-6 (Teacher Form) and the sociometry technique based on peer nomination were utilized. The study results asserted that young children's self-regulation variables (inhibitory control, attention, and working memory) influenced their levels of being positively and significantly liked by peers. Moreover, young children's self-regulation variables (inhibitory control, attention, and working memory) affected their levels of being negatively and significantly disliked by peers. Also, inhibitory control, attention, and working memory significantly predicted the levels of social preference.

We compare the institutional standards and expectations for English language arts (ELA) educators from the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), the leading professional organization in this field, and the state of Georgia. By conducting a critical policy analysis of documents from NCTE and the Georgia Department of Education (GADoE) we sought to understand the tension between standards set for training English education students in institutions of higher education and the standards those teachers would be required to use in Georgia K-12 schools. We analyze these documents through Cooper et al.'s (2004) policy analysis framework, which questions the normative, structural, constituent, and technical dimensions of policy development. We found that the ideological beliefs and values embedded in the policies and documents from NCTE and GADoE have developed divergent sets of expectations for ELA teachers in Georgia, particularly around how teachers respond to oppression in our society; how we understand the overall purpose of ELA instruction; and the scope of responsibilities for educators. We end by presenting implications for educators working among these two sets of policies, in recognizing where these expectations may overlap as well as diverge.

Recently, numerous training programs have been proposed to enhance children's creative abilities. This study aimed to examine the impact of a SCAMPER-based training program on developing creative thinking among kindergartners in Jordan. The intervention is expected to provide evidence that could serve as a foundation for fostering creative thinking in young children and helping them express their creative abilities. SCAMPER encompasses seven thinking skills: Substitute, Combine, Adapt, Modify, Put to Another Use, Eliminate, and Reverse/Rearrange. The program consisted of 20 interactive games where participants were encouraged to think in novel ways through playful questioning, fostering diverse thinking skills. This quasi-experimental study utilized the Jordanian version of the German Test for Creative Thinking-Drawing Production, with its psychometric properties verified for kindergartners. Data were gathered from one kindergarten, with a sample of 62 children randomly assigned to two groups: an experimental group of 30 children and a control group of 32 children. Means and standard deviations were calculated for the pre- and post-test results, and an analysis of covariance was conducted to investigate the effectiveness of the intervention at the 5% significance level. The findings revealed a statistically significant effect of the intervention on creative thinking development among the experimental group. Based on these findings, interventions aimed at enhancing creativity in early childhood are recommended.

K-12 education as an enterprise always has two main aims; to teach basic skills and knowledge and to cultivate moral citizenry. There is substantial evidence that empathy can promote morality and character development through education. To shed light on what has been done and to identify the pathways already established, a thematic review of research focused on empathy development in K-12 science education has been conducted. A systematic examination of literature published before January 2024 resulted in 28 publications being analyzed in terms of their general characteristics and the specifics of the designed interventions. Results show that educational interventions can improve empathy skills; these studies use collaborative learning environments, take 3-10 weeks to implement, and the most preferred strategy is recognizing different perspectives of a given situation with reflective exercises. All of the studies reviewed positively affected students' affective and cognitive domains. For future research, more interventions designed to improve empathy skills in parallel with the science curriculum are proposed to supply teachers with new comprehensive resources to implement.

Nowadays, artificial intelligence, which is used in different fields with the increase in the number of works and transactions carried out in digital environment, is also used in the field of education. The main purpose of this study is to examine the views about artificial intelligence of preschool children, their mothers and teachers. The research was planned with phenomenology research design, one of the qualitative research methods. The study group of the research was formed by selecting a total of 30 people in the convenience sampling method, including 5 preschool teachers teaching in public and private independent kindergartens, 1 student from each teacher's 5year-old class and his/her mother. The data were collected through interviews and the interview questions were prepared by the researchers as open-ended questions. According to the results of the research, it was concluded that although the teachers defined artificial intelligence on the correct scientific basis, they did not have sufficient knowledge, did not use it in educational environments to increase the productivity of children and were worried. Considering the answers given by mothers and children to the questions about artificial intelligence, it can be interpreted that artificial intelligence is not defined correctly and there is a lack of knowledge, mothers have concerns that artificial intelligence may be harmful for their children, and children see artificial intelligence as a living being that they can talk to. [Paper presented at the International Preschool Education Congress (8th).]

Let's explore adultism (in early childhood education)! The first part of the article answers seven questions frequently posed by adults who first come in contact with adultism, involving concepts of adult power, children's dependence and protection, limits, guilt, the intersectionality of discrimination, and the internalization of adultism. It explains how adultism constitutes fertile ground for the cultivation of every form of discrimination. The second part of the article focuses on remedies for adultism, specifically looking at some of the practices that we implemented in our multicultural pedagogical community with children of early childhood age. We look at basic pedagogical choices, matters of organization of time and space, and details of interactions of adults and children. The article concludes that there is no given recipe against adultism, and invites adults to discover the immense, barely charted terrain of anti-adultist action.

The aim of this study is to determine the number sense skills of preschool (Kindergarten) children. In the study, survey design, one of the quantitative research methods, was used. The study group consists of a total of 114 children attending all the kindergartens (5 kindergartens) in the city center of Tunceli in the 2020-2021 school year. The data collection tool used in the study is the "Preschool Number Sense Test" developed by the researchers. In the analysis of the data, the correct answers obtained by using number sense skills, the correct answers obtained by using rule and operation-based methods, the false answers obtained by using number sense skills, the false answers obtained by using rule-operation-based methods and the questions left unanswered were considered. As a result of the analysis made, it was determined that preschool students used rule- and operation-based methods more in problem-solving when dealing with questions, and it was seen that they used number-sense-based methods less frequently.

Teachers are essential in ensuring children and society are aware of neurodiversity by actively incorporating inclusive children's literature into their classroom activities to promote understanding and acceptance of neurodiverse individuals. Integrating such literature may enhance children's awareness and acceptance of neurodiverse individuals. Many teachers encounter barriers to promoting neurodiversity awareness through this medium. This paper draws upon Vygotsky's sociocultural theory (1962) to analyze teachers' perceptions and beliefs concerning neurodiversity and their practices for using children's literature to promote neurodiversity awareness. This qualitative research study investigated the barriers teachers face in promoting neurodiversity awareness. Data collection involved semi-structured face-to-face interviews with eight K-2 grade teachers. A thematic analysis was used for interpretation. The findings indicate inadequate teacher knowledge and understanding, lack of collaborative professional development, and limited access to appropriate educational resources are significant barriers to promoting neurodiversity awareness in classroom activities through inclusive children's literature.

An animation-based drawing learning model involves simple animation from the beginning to the end of the drawing, with the teacher acting as a facilitator and guide. The research is based on the fact that there are still many children who have difficulty expressing themselves through their drawings due to low imagination. The goal of this study is to develop a practical drawing learning model based on animation for children. 153 children aged 5-6 years participated in this study. An observation sheet was used to collect data on the shape and color of objects in children's drawings. Both qualitative and quantitative data analysis was utilized. The results revealed that limited trial, large scale trials, and wide-scale trials have a positive effect on children. The impact has been observed to exhibit a rising pattern. The results showed that the animation-based drawing learning model can be implemented in children 5-6 years old to stimulate drawing artworks.

The Merdeka Belajar curriculum is the current curriculum developed by the Indonesian Ministry of Education, which should be implemented thoroughly in 2024. Project-based learning is identically engaged with this curriculum, which offers many advantages to enrich the quality of education. This method has been promoted and implemented in several schools across the region in Indonesia, yet many teachers still need help applying it. This research explores the project-based learning steps for preschool teachers in Bandung through a community service program by Industrial Engineering lecturers in Indonesia. There were 42 participants from 35 kindergarten and playgroup schools who joined the PJBL workshop. With an active learning workshop delivery, a significant result has been achieved that could increase their understanding of the PJBL concept. The "A Healthy House" project was an example of the topic covered in the workshop. To check the participant's knowledge of the PjbL steps, the questionnaire was distributed two times, before and after the workshop ended. Using the Mc Nemart test, the PJBL workshop has significantly impacted the teachers. They could understand the principles of PjBL and the steps of the methods.

This research aims to compare the social studies curricula of Thailand and New York State, USA, analyze their similarities and differences, and propose guidelines for improving the Thai social studies curriculum. The study employed a qualitative research methodology, using documentary analysis of the Thai Basic Education Core Curriculum B.E. 2551 (Revised B.E. 2560) in the social studies, religion, and culture learning area, and the New York State K-12 Social Studies Framework. The findings revealed that the social studies curricula of Thailand and New York State differ in many aspects, including their fundamental philosophies, goals for student development, curriculum structures, learning content, and instructional approaches. The Thai curriculum emphasizes cultivating morally good citizens with a love for the nation, while the New York curriculum focuses on developing knowledgeable, skilled citizens who actively participate in a democratic society. In today's rapidly changing world, the development of Thailand's social studies curriculum should foster 21st-century skills, digital citizenship, and a sense of global citizenship among learners while maintaining Thai identity and values. Policy-level recommendations include creating a new vision, designing a flexible curriculum, developing online platforms, and integrating artificial intelligence. At the practical level, suggestions include creating community learning innovations, using the city as a classroom, developing a competency-based curriculum, and building learning communities with local partners.

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is America's most common childhood disorder. Although an ADHD diagnosis can bring positives, recent research uncovers potential negatives associated with diagnosis. This study examines understudied racial-ethnic heterogeneity in the relationships between an early elementary school ADHD diagnosis--with or without medication treatment--and children's future perceived self-competence, teacher-rated school behaviors, and parent-rated educational expectations. Findings are consistent with the notion that diagnosis can trigger racialized patterns of stigma. That is, relative to undiagnosed matches of the same social class and regardless of medication use, diagnosed Black children demonstrate worse teacher-rated school behaviors, diagnosed White children report poorer perceived self-competence, and parents of diagnosed Hispanic children report poorer educational expectations. Racialized patterns of stigma might amplify the consequences of negative-ability stereotyping on Black children, academic pressure on White children, and mental health stigma on Hispanic children. Findings also highlight the challenges of identification posed by differential unobserved selection into diagnosis.

This longitudinal, mixed-methods study reports on the development and implementation of an early phonological awareness screening and intervention program for struggling emergent readers in a French immersion school in Manitoba. The program was created by a professional learning community made up of the school administrator, teachers, and clinical support staff. This paper describes the process of developing the phonological awareness program and the intervention itself. Forty-two children participated in the phonological awareness intervention that lasted 10 weeks. The intervention was given in English in kindergarten. Significant gains were found in the phonological awareness skills of the children who participated in the intervention. Results also indicated that children's phonological awareness skills in English predicted their French reading levels in Grade 1. In addition, we provide insight into the roles played by key members of the school's PLC through qualitative analysis of a series of semi-structured interviews. The work of the school's professional learning community offers a model that may be implemented by other school teams to promote equity and accessibility for all learners in FI programs.

French immersion (FI) programs are becoming increasingly culturally and linguistically diverse as a result of growing migration to Canada. In the present mixed-methods study, I explore the perspectives and ideologies of teachers, principals, and central office staff in eight school divisions in Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Alberta with respect to refugee-background students in FI programs. Through the triangulation of survey responses (N=126) and interviews (N=40), I examine perspectives pertaining to four themes: 1) suitability of FI for refugee-background students; 2) language learning; 3) challenges facing refugee-background students; and 4) supports and resources in FI programs. Adopting the theoretical perspective of sociolinguistics for change, I discuss three underlying ideologies shaping the perspectives of FI educators across the Canadian Prairies: 1) English-first ideologies; 2) deficit ideologies; and 3) ideological tensions between inclusion and support.

Through the lens of transformative learning theory, this qualitative study examines how pre-service teachers (PSTs) in a teacher education program in rural Appalachia shared their perspectives on their preparation to work with diverse students. It examines how their lived experiences and their teacher education program impacted their approach to understanding and addressing diverse needs of their students. Results illustrate the unique way the pre-service teachers [re]imagined their program to better equip future PSTs for diverse classrooms. We argue for programmatic approaches to developing a teaching corps prepared for diversity in the classroom and challenging the shortsighted notion that students in rural Appalachia are unwilling to face the realities of diverse classrooms.

This study investigates the way a kindergarten teacher implemented a three-stage project to support children's map understanding. The project, the Map and Play, was designed to help children understand the relationship between reality and its abstract representation. The guided play was adopted as the pedagogical approach because it empowers children to make independent decisions, encourages critical thinking, and offers opportunities for exploration. At the same time, adults take part in purposeful activities alongside the children. The research employed an ethnographic methodology involving classroom observations, video recordings, and interviews. Content analysis was used to explore the data sources. The results illustrated the stages taken to introduce children to the idea of map considering scientific research about how to foster map understanding. The data displays occasional mistakes made by the teacher, offering valuable insights into the dynamics of classrooms where similar activities might be introduced. The MPP was a promising experience for kindergarten children in enhancing their map reasoning and use of spatial language. Still, there is a need for teacher training to guide this complex learning process effectively.

Inclusive education presents a significant challenge for contemporary society. All children should have the opportunity to develop according to their educational needs within an inclusive environment. The effectiveness of the school support team plays a crucial role in achieving this goal. This research aimed to explore the perspectives of teaching staff in kindergartens, including headmasters, teachers, and teaching assistants, regarding inclusive education, with a specific focus on their views and attitudes towards the roles of school special educators and teaching assistants in preschool education. A mixed-methods research strategy was employed to achieve this aim. Data were collected using a self-constructed questionnaire containing both closed and open items, completed by 394 respondents from 142 kindergartens. The findings indicated that teaching staff perceived the existence of a school support team as having a positive impact on addressing various children's issues and enhancing teachers' work. These results contribute to a broader understanding of the roles and responsibilities of the members of a school support team in kindergartens.

The purpose of this research was to study and compare children's collaborative behaviours through organising experiences based on the engineering design process. This research was conducted in the context of Thai early childhood classroom. The study group used in this research was 30 students from Kindergarten 3/1 Anubansamsen School (The Government Lottery Office Support) studying in the second semester of the academic year 2022 using a cluster random sampling method. The instruments used in the research were: 1) an experience plan based on the engineering design process for early childhood children; and 2) an observational form of early childhood children's collaborative behaviours. Statistics used for data analysis were mean, standard deviation, and t-test dependent. The results of the research revealed that, before organising experiences based on the engineering design process, early childhood children showed collaborative behaviours at a moderate level (M = 19.06). After the experience, the collaborative behaviours of early childhood children overall were at a very good level (M = 42.46). When comparing the collaborative behaviour scores of early childhood children, it was found that after the engineering design experience, the scores were significantly higher than before, at a statistical level of 0.01.

Background: Early childhood education (ECE) is crucial in cultivating creativity, especially in today's tech-savvy world. This study explores the impact of collaborative project-based learning (PjBL) with computer and play motivation on kindergarten children's creativity. Aim: Our research aimed to determine if collaborative PjBL, combined with computer-based activities, enhances creativity compared to independent PjBL. We also examined the influence of play motivation on computer-based creativity. Setting: The study was conducted in Makassar Lotus Kindergarten, Indonesia, involving 30 Grade B kindergarten students. Methods: We employed a post-test control group design and systematically selected two matched classes. The experimental group engaged in collaborative PjBL, focussing on computer activities to foster creativity, while the control group experienced independent PjBL. Creativity assessment encompassed originality, art, fluency, flexibility, self-actualisation, and creative skills. Results: Collaborative PjBL had a more significant impact on children's computer-based creativity than independent PjBL. Children with high play motivation also exhibited higher creativity levels during computer-based activities. Conclusion: This study underscores the potential of collaborative PjBL in promoting creativity among kindergarten children in the digital era. It highlights the significance of innovative teaching methods and children's intrinsic motivation in nurturing creativity. Contribution: These findings contribute to the ongoing discourse on effective ECE strategies that harness technology to foster creativity.

STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) education is a 21st century learning approach that is extremely important to students and children nowadays. Many developed countries have emphasized this approach to early childhood education (ECE). Although there are some challenges in promoting children's cognitive development in preschool, there are some best practices that early childhood educators can use as a guideline in planning, implementing, and evaluating their development at school. Four databases were used to find the best practices consist of Scopus, ERIC, Web of Science, and Science Direct. These databases are consulted to analyze published articles that produce findings on the best practices and challenges of implementing STEM activities that have been recorded either in kindergarten or preschool environments. The findings revealed there were 23 themes for the best practices and 10 themes for challenges that were successfully analyzed. In order to ensure that STEM education can be implemented with better quality in the future, educators should know the best way to implement the activities by practicing the best practices. In addition, educators also need to take action wisely when there are challenges in implementing STEM activities so that children can acquire meaningful experience when participating in the activities.

In this paper, we examine 4- and 5-year-old Anishinaabek children's text creation and identity (re)formations while involved in collaborative writing with their Anishinaabek teacher about the moose hunting practices of their northern community. The teacher took on a role as an emergent writer alongside the children, voicing her memories of moose hunting with family members and her thinking as she drew pictures and used the marks, letter-like forms, and letters that her students used to create the collaborative text. Inductive analysis of talk and nonverbal communication in the video recordings of the teacher's interactions with the children, as well as analysis of the collaboratively created text and the children's independent texts, shows that the teacher created spaces for children to learn Anishinaabek cultural knowledge alongside literacy skills and knowledge.

Executive function skills are crucial for children in the 21st century, serving as indicators of their readiness for learning. Children with well-developed executive function skills can effectively accomplish various tasks, solve problems using diverse strategies, and collaborate with others happily. This research aims to: 1. Identify the necessity for fostering executive function skills among early childhood students in Nonthaburi Province. 2. Analyze the causes underlying the necessity to promote executive function skills in early childhood students. 3. Propose strategies to enhance executive function skills in early childhood students. The research consists of two phases. Phase 1 involves identifying the necessity for developing executive function skills among early childhood students, with a sample group comprising 12 volunteer kindergarten teachers randomly selected from 12 classrooms and 328 early childhood students aged 5 to 5 years 11 months (162 boys and 166 girls). The research instrument used is the MU.EF-101 assessment. Data analysis involves calculating the mean and standard deviation of T-scores for working memory, inhibitory control, and shift/cognitive flexibility. Phase 2 analyzes the causes of necessity and proposes strategies to promote executive function skills in early childhood students. The data sources for this phase are 12 teachers, and the research instruments include fishbone diagram recording forms and group discussion recording forms. Findings suggest that parental involvement is crucial in training children to perform tasks independently and in teaching children patience. Additionally, teachers should analyze children's behaviors to plan appropriate learning activities based on their context. Teachers must encourage children to think and make decisions independently, encourage when mistakes occur, and ensure the availability of suitable tools and toys that promote the development of executive function skills in early childhood students, which teachers or parents can conveniently utilize.