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Background: Children's holistic development includes physical, cognitive, socio-emotional, moral and affective development and lies in early childhood development education (ECDE). According to research, children learn through different age-appropriate teaching and learning pedagogies. Therefore, the importance of implementing a play-based methodology in the early years. This study was underpinned by the theory of play as a spiral of learning. Aim: This study aimed to demonstrate how a play-based pedagogy could be utilised to enhance holistic development in young children. Setting: Three ECD centres in Gauteng, South Africa participated in the Thutopapadi (play-based learning) research. The action learning set (ALS) consisted of one Grade R teacher and two practitioners; the Grade R facilitator and three North-West University researchers. Methods: We employed a qualitative approach within the participatory action learning and action research (PALAR) design to interrogate the extent to which a play-based pedagogy could be useful in enhancing the holistic development of young children. Transcriptions of meetings held by the ALS and photovoice were used to generate data. The participants reflected on and communicated about themes discussed during the ALS. We used the principles of thematic content analysis to analyse the generated data. Results: The results of this study proposed that to support holistic development in young children, practitioners and parents should maximise the use of a play-based methodology in both social and learning environments. Conclusion: Follow-ups should be made to ensure that the pedagogy that is being used in early childhood development education centres corresponds with the needs for the development of young children.

This study established the effects of a researcher-developed curriculum-based intervention programme. The intervention was grounded on principles of Feuerstein's ideas about 'mediated learning'. The aim of the intervention was specifically to address children's executive functions, which are generally regarded as prerequisites for cognitive development. We studied a selected group of South African grade R learners (n = 20). A quasi-experimental design was employed to collect quantitative data on rotational basis from experimental groups A and B, by means of dynamic assessment with the Children's Inferential Thinking Modifiability (CITM) test during pretest, post-test and delayed post-test occasions. The test data was intended to elicit the extent to which the intervention that had focused on enhancing executive functions had contributed to the participants' application of cognitive and metacognitive skills and strategies. Qualitative data captured participants' application of cognitive processes in the input, elaboration, and output phases of the designed learning process, as well as the characteristics of their inhibitory control functions. A striking finding was the improvement noted in the children's application of the following executive functions, namely working memory, cognitive flexibility and inhibitory control.

This article stems from a research project in five early childhood development (ECD) centres in South Africa, and focuses on parent-practitioner collaboration for sustainable development in early years education. Using a qualitative approach, we followed a participatory action learning and action research (PALAR) design to answer the main research question: "How can parent-practitioner collaboration support education for sustainable development in the early years?" Participants formed an action learning set (ALS) in which they acted as co-researchers and equal partners to construct their own meanings in order to advocate for social change. Data were collected in the ALS during Cycle 3 of the PALAR process. We relied on transcribed, recorded ALS discussions and photovoice activities to generate data, and used thematic content analysis to collaboratively analyse the data. Our findings disclose that education for sustainable development is possible when parents and practitioners collaborate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]