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• Parents across cultures want to raise prosocial children who help others. • Raising helpful toddlers draws upon ethnographic, cross-cultural & laboratory data. • Parents report positive interaction & attributions, higher parenting self-efficacy. • Toddlers took more initiative to help in the family; parents described less stress. • Indigenous-heritage helping socialization suggests early education best practices. Helping other people benefits children and is fundamental to a functioning society. A novel training, Raising Helpful Toddlers (RHT), focuses on beneficial Indigenous heritage parent socialization practices previously described. RHT participants were thirty U.S. toddler parents/caregivers, aged 28–46, 26/4 female/male ratio; 73.3 % White, 13.3 % Asian, 6.7 % African or Black/African American, 3.3 % Asian and White, 3.3 % American Indian and Hispanic, and highly educated on average, with children aged 12 to 48 months. RHT consists of a 2-hour online training, followed up with daily logs and interviews to support the training while collecting qualitative data. Feasibility was indicated by high rates of parent recruitment, satisfaction, and use of RHT strategies. Average parenting self-efficacy increased at post-test, with a moderate to large effect size, according to a repeated-measures t -test, t(28)=3.792, p <.001, d = 0.58. Many parents reported improvements at post-test including less stress when doing chores and changed beliefs, actions, and speech. Results suggest that parenting practices described in Indigenous-heritage families can be beneficial across cultural contexts. Keywords: Indigenous, Parenting, Family, Intervention, Early Care, Early Education, Prosocial Behavior, Moral Development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is currently a lack of a more integrated perspective on reading literacy education. In preschool reading activities, it’s important to maximize an individual's potential for reading literacy development with limited nurturing energy. Based on self-regulated theory and metacognitive models, this study explored the pathway model of the influence of joy (interest in reading) and instruction (metacognitive strategy) on reading literacy in this context, with further investigation in different family contexts. Using PISA 2018 data, the model results showed that 1) preschool home reading activities contribute to individual student's interest in reading; 2) interest in reading, as a mediating variable, positively predicts reading literacy in preschool home reading activities; 3) reading instruction without interest in reading (purely metacognitive strategies) fails to produce a significant mediating effect; 4) there is a significant chain mediation from preschool family reading activities to interest in reading, to metacognitive reading strategies, to reading literacy; and 5) the characteristics of the pathways affecting reading literacy differ according to family backgrounds. We propose theoretical and practical recommendations based on these results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Recently, a confluence of factors has focused elementary school leaders on early education. One factor is that nearly 60 percent of all public elementary schools in the U.S. today have a Pre-K program in the building. Yet, prior research reveals that leaders are often not prepared to effectively lead early education programs. This study assesses the current state of early education leadership preparation among UCEA-affiliated programs. Method: Using a sequential explanatory mixed-methods approach, our study draws on survey data from 232 principal preparation faculty members at UCEA-affiliated programs, follow-up interviews with 20 purposively sampled survey respondents, and content analysis of 113 program web pages. Findings: We found that preparation programs currently afford little attention to early education leadership coursework and content, despite faculty expressing it as an important goal. Only four percent of faculty from the survey reported that their program required a course focused on child development and/or early education—a finding corroborated by the website analysis. Last, our interviews reveal reasons for the limited engagement with early education leadership, including time constraints, limited faculty experience, and licensure and accreditation requirements. Implications: Policymakers aiming to improve early education leadership may revise principal certification requirements that could prompt revisions in principal preparation programs. Principal preparation programs, similarly, could revise their programming to intentionally expose principal candidates to key topics in early education leadership. A bi-directional and concerted reform effort is likely needed to meaningfully advance change in this area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, I describe moments from a first-grade classroom whereas co-researchers, the classroom teacher and I found ourselves challenged by ways we experienced disruption in the classroom. Upon further analysis we saw these moments as opportunities to embrace culturally sustaining pedagogies, recognizing students' enactment of their culturally situated ways of knowing and being as important, disrupting traditional approaches to schooling. Insights described provide recommendations for practice as well as questions to consider regarding how educators can engage in this approach, as well as how administrators and higher education faculty can support and mentor educators in developing their pedagogical practice to value and sustain students culturally diverse ways of knowing and being in early education classrooms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Early education leaders need to embrace transformational leadership styles that promote growth and achievement to contribute to the success of the entire community. Research in this area is necessary because, according to conversations with school inspectors, the leaders of early education institutions in Romania need an adequate understanding of leadership styles, as seen by the lack of professional development courses available. Our research aimed to assess the impact of transformational leadership style on early education leaders' success as measured by operational indicators such as effectiveness, satisfaction, and extra effort. In this study, we employed the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQX5) and focus group method. To determine the dominating style of the leaders in the study, correlations, regressions, and the Chi-square test were used to analyze the data. The findings indicate a connection between transformative leadership and a growth mindset that characterizes leaders. These aspects lead to high effectiveness and stimulate the individual towards continuous personal and professional development. We can conclude from the investigation that the outcomes of the leader's behavior are closely related to their leadership style and growth mindset. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Early childhood education is a field of educational policy that has been little ad- dressed despite the scientific evidence about the importance of child development in the early years for achieving academic excellence in later stages of life; the issue of improving the quality of the services and interactions provided by caregivers of infants, toddlers, and young children has also been overlooked. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to provide an analysis of the policies for professionalizing early childhood education teachers. The review of the regulatory framework and the strategic programs of the 2018-2024 six-year term is taken as the axis to analyze the main challenges for the professionalization of teachers at this educational level for the 2024-2030 term. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined how parents, teachers, and administrators conceptualised dual-language immersion (DLI) education and its goals at Bobcat Canyon School (BCS, pseudonym), a private preschool in the Southwestern USA where 64% students were White and 36% were students of colour. Through interviews with 15 parents, eight teachers, and two school administrators, the study exposed a conceptual confusion among the school community about what DLI education is and that BCS advertised a DLI brand without appropriate understanding and implementation. The analysis revealed that with a framework of neoliberal linguistic instrumentalism, the preschool conceptualised its DLI as an enriching context for students to obtain a cognitive, social, and academic edge. Cognitive development, social competencies, and school readiness were primary goals while bilingualism/biliteracy was a secondary bonus if achieved. The study exposed the need for the field to establish unique objectives and models of DLI at the preschool level and educate all stakeholders on the short- and long-term effects of DLI education. The study calls for promoting the historical mission of DLI in private programs and all existing DLI programs to examine their conceptual underpinnings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study is a researcher-practitioner action inquiry which was used to explore children's sensory experiences with a focus on the sense of smell (olfaction). We critically considered the early childhood theories that positioned children's sensory learning within equitable, socially just early childhood approaches and connected them to an action inquiry approach. The data comprise a systematic documentation of the odours experienced by children in the classroom, an olfactory log of the kindergarten space as well as children's 'smellmaps' from outdoor 'smellwalks'. We interpret children's olfactory experiences and reflect on the ways in which the multi-sensory approach to literacy might extend the field's understanding of the multi-dimensional ways in which educational researchers and practitioners can cultivate their joint inquiries in early childhood education. We present implications for adopting an olfactory researcher-practitioner collaboration in early childhood and conclude that such an approach exemplifies a sensorially sensitive early childhood curriculum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses the research problem that arises from evidence that, despite supportive policy contexts, enactment of pedagogies that attend to young children's participation rights in classroom settings is highly variable. We report our exploration of the ways in which the child, and child participation are constructed in early education settings in Wales, where legislation and policy around children's rights has been a key feature of the Welsh Government agenda post‐devolution. Data were gathered via a qualitative online bilingual (English and Welsh) survey offered via email to teachers of children aged 3–7 in Wales. The overarching research question of the project was: How do teachers of children 3–7 years understand and enact the notion of participation as it relates to the children they teach? Data analysis focused on research participants' apparent constructions of the children they teach and their capabilities, and unpacked the ways in which these constructions relate to the reported opportunities for participation. The discussion is informed by the notion of the threshold concept, described by Meyer & Land as akin to a portal that opens new and previously inaccessible ways of thinking. We consider the extent to which the conceptual construction of the capable child maybe a threshold concept in shaping the realisation of children's participation rights in educative contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to compare the psychological resilience of children who receive Montessori education with those who do not receive Montessori education(the group attends a school where education is provided according to the Preschool Education Programme of the Ministry of National Education). The study used the Relational Scanning Model Comparison Types to compare the psychological resilience of children who received Montessori education with those who did not. The research involved 99 children aged 3–6 years who received regular preschool and Montessori education during the 2021–2022 academic year. It is reported that no developmental or neurological defects were observed in any of the participants. The study group comprised 50 children aged 3–6 years from a private kindergarten affiliated with National Education in Nilüfer district and 49 children aged 3–6 years from a private Montessori kindergarten in Nilüfer district. According to the study, children who received Montessori education demonstrated comparatively higher levels of psychological resilience than those who did not receive Montessori education. It has been observed that there exists a weak but meaningful correlation between the psychological resilience of children and their social relationships/social performance, particularly in those who have received Montessori education for an extended duration. As a result, it can be inferred that Montessori education positively impacts children's psychological resilience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the potential of a voice-controlled collaborative robot to promote computational thinking (CT) skills in preschoolers aged 4 to 6 in Southern Chile. During a week-long workshop, 34 children engaged in activities designed to develop several CT components while interacting with a robotic arm. Pre- and post-workshop assessments utilizing the TechCheck-K tool revealed significant improvements in CT skills. The findings of this preliminary study demonstrate the effectiveness of voice-controlled robots as innovative tools in early education, significantly enhancing young learners' understanding of CT concepts, practices, and perspectives. This research advocates for further exploration of robotic integration in educational settings, highlighting their potential to improve or extend preschool learning environments and foster CT skill development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Background Early childhood education offers opportunities for stimulation in multiple developmental domains and its positive impact on long-term outcomes and wellbeing for children is well documented. Few studies have explored early education in children born very preterm (VPT;

Introduction: This work arises from a previous research, "Pikler educators early in the morning" carried out in the Emmi Pikler Nursery School in Budapest through Systematic Observation. In it, Piklerian choreographies were found in observed educators' behavior during the studied three daily activities: feeding breakfast, dressing to go to the garden and free play accompanying. All of them share certain Piklerian principles, which are synthesized in three central keys: the stability of the educator's behavior, her strategic and intentional positioning, and an active emotional control. Objectives: This study aims to contrast this synthesis of results by means of an in-depth interview with the two observed educators, and to apply the methodological approach of indirect observation within mixed methods for its analysis. The objective is to confirm whether the three central keys are recognized as their own and to look for new theoretical-practical elements within the studied educational approach. Materials and methods: We applied an in-depth interview and analyzed it following the guidelines of indirect observation. The participants were the two educators previously observed, a translator from the Pikler team, and the three observers, authors of this work. An ad hoc observation instrument was elaborated, and the three macro-stages QUAL-QUAL-QUAL proposed within mixed methods were rigorously followed. Results: Lag sequential analysis was used to conduct data analyses. We deepened in prospective lags and obtained the response pattern underlying the interview. Then, we performed a concurrence analysis to investigate the relationship between the central keys obtained in our original research and Piklerian ideas. Conclusion: In-depth interview within mixed methods has been a novel and generous tool leading us to substantial and methodological contributions, despite the simplicity of performed analyses. Interviewed educators' response pattern is a faithful reflection of the Piklerian modus operandi. The study of concurrences shows that Piklerian education is something natural, integrated in its professionals, with the exception of emotional control, which still requires permanent reflection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Students' early learning gains from Pre-K often converge with similar students who did not attend Pre-K in early elementary school. • We find that skill heterogeneity does indeed moderate student learning gains over the kindergarten year, particularly for students who attended Pre-K. • We provide evidence that Pre-K attendees scoring higher at the beginning of kindergarten, relative to the average score in their classroom, made smaller achievement gains throughout their kindergarten year. • These findings have important implications for Pre-K effectiveness research and the educational environments that subsequently sustain or constrain Pre-K's longitudinal effects Students' gains from Pre-K converge with similar students who did not attend Pre-K in elementary school. One theory for convergence is that students who attend Pre-K enter kindergarten classrooms that are skill heterogeneous, and these students are positioned near the top of the classroom skill distribution. Kindergarten teachers, however, focus their instruction on students toward the bottom of the skill distribution, which generates observed convergence. We explore this theory by analyzing data from six rural school districts in North Carolina (N = 655, aged 4–6, 51 % female, 77 % non-White). We find mixed evidence in support of this hypothesis. Our measures of kindergarten classroom heterogeneity were inconsistently related to skill convergence based on both the outcome measure and the specific construction of the heterogeneity measure, but all significant associations were in the predicted direction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, the authors draw on feminist theorizations to examine ethnographic data, illustrating how femmephobia is enacted among boys in kindergarten. They also examine how teachers' well-intended responses may inadvertently legitimize femmephobia when a femininity-affirmative orientation is not applied. The authors argue that intentional gender-affirming actions by education stakeholders are necessary for promoting and supporting fluid gender explorations in kindergarten, especially in terms of valuing and validating femininity among boys. Specifically, they consider the potentials of femininity-affirmative pedagogy as one approach to countering femmephobia and working towards gender inclusion and equality in early education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Early childhood education is very important in setting the course for children’s later lives. In the context of the development of early childhood education, the Islamic religion places special emphasis on the development of children by celebrating their natural playful nature. Therefore, this study aims to examine learning through play in the context of Islam. This study uses qualitative methods through library research to obtain primary sources on the approach of play therapy according to Islamic viewpoints. The views of Western scholars are also consulted to identify the similarities and importance of early childhood education. All information can be obtained from sources such as journals, books, the Quran, hadiths, and articles. The information is collected and sifted to be analysed using content analysis methods. The results of the analysis show that from the western point of view, the playful approach in early childhood education has already become the practise of educational style in the context of Islam as well as the practise of Rasulullah SAW. By explaining play in conjunction with religious elements, children’s development in terms of knowledge and understanding can even be promoted from a holistic point of view that includes social, emotional, physical, and spiritual aspects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There has been a growing concern for developing children's social-emotional abilities recently. Studies that address the importance of music in children's lives have concluded that it is closely related to emotional regulation and social interactions. Emotional development reflects children's ability to identify and express their own emotions and also those of others. Social development refers to children's abilities to relate effectively and appropriately to adults and children of a similar age in different social situations. Our research aimed to verify the influence of musical activities on the development of social-emotional skills of 4- and 5-year-old preschoolers. The research design was an experimental one, examining the oscillation of the dependent variable (level of social-emotional skills) concerning the independent variable (musical activity-based choice) and the oscillation of the dependent variable when the independent variable did not intervene. The study was conducted over 15 weeks and the participants were 46 preschool children from an urban extended-day kindergarten. The instrument used within the research was the Preschool Behaviour Observation Form, developed and adapted based on the dimensions of the domain Social Emotional Development from the Early Childhood Curriculum, 2019. Analysing the results, the development level of social-emotional skills increased by 61% in the experimental sample due to the introduction of the independent variable. Summarising, the implementation of optional activities based on musical activities in the kindergarten educational process significantly impacted the children's socio-emotional development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digital technologies are increasingly present in the daily lives of adults and children, which increases the need to better understand this digital world. Given today's society, the premises of the key competencies that early childhood education must provide future students based on the Curriculum for Early Childhood Education and supported by constructivist theory (of Vygotsky's zone of proximal development), this study aims to investigate the development of computational thinking for the child in preschool education. Using as a method for the case study, the observation of children's behavior during nine weeks in which we carried out specific activities, we tested three hypotheses regarding the development of computational thinking, using both connected and nonconnected tools, the levels of communication and collaboration between the participating children. The results show that the use of educational robots in different stages of teaching, learning and evaluation helps in the development process of children by understanding the cause-effect relationship, acquiring spatial and temporal orientation skills, developing communication skills and supporting socio-emotional interactions with children of the same age. Decomposition, abstraction, pattern recognition and algorithms were the four components of computational thinking analyzed and all obtained a score above the mean of the Likert scale used. Future research is needed to study the more in-depth effects of STEAM activities on children's cognitive acquisitions and social-emotional skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Early Education is a strategic area for individual and social development. Kindergartens are spaces for ethical practice, where teachers make decisions for the children they are responsible for. The major aim of this theoretical study is to propose approaches to ethical decision-making in working with young children, with the role of improving self-reflection for teachers and future teachers. The secondary aims of the study are: 1. To identify the values and ethical guidelines for ethical-decision in Early Education; 2. To establish core concepts for approaching ethical issues, including the use of ethical codes; 3. To propose case studies in order to stimulate teachers' ethical reflection. A set of basic ideas of professional ethics in Early Education is presented below: (a) The Early Education profession is primarily an emotional, relational and ethical practice. Teachers bring to school their personal values, from the places where they live. (b) In order to make ethical decisions teachers need to understand the difference between the professional ethics area and the personal area. (c) Teachers should not confuse personal dilemmas with professional ethics dilemmas. Our study can provide guidelines for developing a professional learning protocol to support teachers' ethical reasoning. Reflection on issues of ethical practice exposes teachers and future teachers to various perspectives, expanding their knowledge of children and teaching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Early childhood education offers opportunities for stimulation in multiple developmental domains and its positive impact on long-term outcomes and wellbeing for children is well documented. Few studies have explored early education in children born very preterm (VPT; <32 weeks of gestation) who are at higher risk of neurodevelopmental disorders and poor educational outcomes than their term-born peers. The purpose of the study is to describe and compare the educational environment of children born VPT in European countries at 5 years of age according to the degree of perinatal risk. Methods: Data originated from the population-based Screening to Improve Health In very Preterm infants (SHIPS) cohort of children born VPT in 2011/2012 in 19 regions from 11 European countries. Perinatal data were collected from medical records and the 5-year follow-up was conducted using parental questionnaires. Outcomes at 5 years were participation in early education (any, type, intensity of participation) and receipt of special educational support, which were harmonized across countries. Results: Out of 6,759 eligible children, 3,687 (54.6%) were followed up at 5 years (mean gestational age 29.3 weeks). At 5 years, almost all children (98.6%) were in an educational program, but type (preschool/primary), attendance (full-time/part-time) and use and type of school support/services differed by country. In some countries, children with high perinatal risk were more likely to be in full-time education than those with low risk (e.g. Estonia: 97.9% vs. 87.1%), while the inverse pattern was observed elsewhere (e.g. Poland: 78.5% vs. 92.8%). Overall, 22.8% of children received special educational support (country range: 12.4–34.4%) with more support received by children with higher perinatal risk. Large variations between countries remained after adjustment for socio-demographic characteristics. Conclusions: There are marked variations in approaches to early education for children born VPT in Europe, raising opportunities to explore its impact on their neurodevelopment and well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Only a very few studies to date have comprehensively assessed children's knowledge of sexuality. In this study, we examined the level of sexual knowledge among children aged 3–6 years in Finland. We analysed children's explanations of what they saw in drawings related to genital naming, conception and childbirth, safety skills, and adult sexual activity. Levels of knowledge were generally low. The largest number of correct answers were given for genital naming and safety skills. Knowledge increased with age. Children's gender was not related to their total level of knowledge. There was a correlation between children's ability to name their genitals and their knowledge of safety skills. The results suggest that only what is known about can be protected. Building on the findings of this study, age-appropriate sexuality education should be provided to all children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evidence linking maternal subjective wellbeing (SWB) to early childhood development (ECD) is scarce. Subjective wellbeing measures an individual's negative and positive affect, life satisfaction, and optimism for the future. During ECD, growth occurs in family niches where a mother's physical, emotional, and mental wellbeing affects her child through processes that harness motor, cognitive, and socioemotional functioning. Few studies in Nigeria have examined the SWB of women and much less its association with ECD outcomes. This study examined the association of maternal and caregiver SWB with child literacy and cognitive and socioemotional indices. We posit that a primary caregiver's dissatisfaction with life and hopelessness may predispose their child to poorer developmental outcomes. We conducted a structural equation modeling using Stats 16 E and data from a nationally representative sample of Nigerian women 15 to 24 years and their focal child 3- to −4 years old (N = 3176). Findings suggest an average to a high level of SWB among the women. The SWB construct had a weak, inverse association with child outcomes. The weak direct path does not change when standardized or mediated by family investments such as early education, children's books, or stimulating activities with the child (total effects −0.04). The results also highlight the positive strength of the association of family investments and its robust path to child outcomes (total effects, 0.79, p < 0.001). The study suggests that SWB is a weak proxy for mental health. Findings also underscore the need to invest in child development, child engagement, and family strengthening programs. Highlights: Nationally representative sample showed a high subjective wellbeing (SWB) level among mothers/caregivers aged 15–24 years old. Religion and educational level are associated with high levels of SWB. Maternal happiness, life satisfaction, and optimism have weak and inverse associations with child development outcomes. Investment in early education, children's books, and stimulating activities is associated with higher child development indices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study used mixed methods to explore how Israeli special education preschool teachers' professional identity and social support predict their job satisfaction. Participants in the quantitative portion included 192 Jewish special education preschool teachers (Mage = 34.37, SD = 8.75) with an average of 10.66 (SD = 8.40) years teaching. A separate sample of 10 teachers (Mage = 37.77, SD = 5.86; Mexperience = 7.7 years, SD = 3.98) participated in semi-structured interviews. Quantitative results revealed that professional identity related to type of preschool framework and job satisfaction, but only experience and social support significantly predicted job satisfaction. Qualitative results supported the quantitative results, emphasizing themes of satisfaction, challenges, and coping mechanisms, particularly the importance of social support. Additional support for these teachers can promote job satisfaction, facilitate retention and teacher well-being and foster better outcomes for children with special needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Teachers' perceptions of their teaching and learning activities are critical, especially given that the Malaysian preschool curriculum has undergone multiple revisions recently. The purpose of this study was to measure Malaysian teachers' perceptions on teaching early mathematics. The study aimed to assess teachers' perception of six constructs, namely, (1) knowledge about early mathematics, (2) readiness to involve in the early mathematics, (3) understanding of the importance of early mathematics, (4) past experience in mathematics, (5) attitudes towards early mathematics, and (6) importance of knowledge about teaching early mathematics. This study gauged the 76 Malaysian preschool teachers using a set of questionnaire. As this research discovered, the teachers in this study believed that they knew about early mathematics, were eager to get involved in early mathematics activities at preschool, understood the importance of Mathematics literacy, were positively disposed towards it, and considered mathematical knowledge regarding preschoolers to be critically valued. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Snapshot of school policies that may influence kindergarteners in America. • Examined associations between school policies and kindergartners' academic learning. • Readiness assessments, retention polices, and title I funds to serve kindergarteners are common. • These school policies are applied differently across schools in America. • School policies were not related to children's academic learning. The current study examined the prevalence and usage of three theoretically informed school-level policies, namely the use of readiness assessments, retention policies, and Title I funds in kindergarten classrooms across the United States. Using the nationally representative Early Childhood Longitudinal Study Kindergarten Class of 2011, we examined whether these school-level policies in kindergarten were related to children's academic learning both generally, and specifically for those who had attended pre-K. Results revealed that the use of kindergarten readiness assessments, kindergarten retention policies, and Title I funds in kindergarten were widespread across the nation. However, application and usage of these school-level policies were varied. Moreover, these school-level policies were generally not associated with children's academic learning broadly or differentially for those who had attended pre-K in the year before kindergarten. This study establishes a national snapshot of the kindergarten landscape in the United States and opens a door for future research to continue to explore how kindergarten specific school-level policies shape children's learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the field of education, work discussion groups focus on teachers' emotional experience with their students and offer a safe environment in which professionals can freely interact and explore the dynamics and relationships in their workplace. A psychoanalytic therapist usually leads them. They are considered particularly important for preschool education, as young children provoke intense emotional reactions in adults. Although the effectiveness of work discussion groups in preschools has been positively evaluated, their application is considered financially unaffordable. This paper presents the function of a work discussion peer group in preschool education, that is with a preschool teacher as facilitator. To do so, the facilitator's point of view is presented in this paper in the form of a reflective account. A group consisting of six kindergarten teachers was formed. It met for seven sessions. After each group meeting, the facilitator kept a reflective diary. The topics of the meetings included the facilitator's struggle to be seen as a peer, the group dynamics, the development of the group and the importance of supervision, which are all discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Families face challenging decisions about early care and education (ECE) for their children. Decisions about what is best for each child and family are constrained by family and contextual factors and are prone to disruptions. This study provides a descriptive look at patterns of ECE settings children were in the year prior to kindergarten, beginning in Fall 2019 through Spring 2021, a period during which most ECE arrangements were disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, and into the 2020–2021 kindergarten year. Analyses of survey (N = 121) and interview (n = 25) data from families whose children entered kindergarten in Fall 2020 revealed multiple and cascading disruptions during this time. Disruptions were nearly universal, and families made continual accommodations as they juggled employment needs and children's ECE needs. Findings from this study have implications for how actual and anticipated disruptions may have a greater influence on families' child care decision-making into the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

IntroductionThis work arises from a previous research, “Pikler educators early in the morning” carried out in the Emmi Pikler Nursery School in Budapest through Systematic Observation. In it, Piklerian choreographies were found in observed educators’ behavior during the studied three daily activities: feeding breakfast, dressing to go to the garden and free play accompanying. All of them share certain Piklerian principles, which are synthesized in three central keys: the stability of the educator’s behavior, her strategic and intentional positioning, and an active emotional control.ObjectivesThis study aims to contrast this synthesis of results by means of an in-depth interview with the two observed educators, and to apply the methodological approach of indirect observation within mixed methods for its analysis. The objective is to confirm whether the three central keys are recognized as their own and to look for new theoretical-practical elements within the studied educational approach.Materials and methodsWe applied an in-depth interview and analyzed it following the guidelines of indirect observation. The participants were the two educators previously observed, a translator from the Pikler team, and the three observers, authors of this work. An ad hoc observation instrument was elaborated, and the three macro-stages QUAL-QUAL-QUAL proposed within mixed methods were rigorously followed.ResultsLag sequential analysis was used to conduct data analyses. We deepened in prospective lags and obtained the response pattern underlying the interview. Then, we performed a concurrence analysis to investigate the relationship between the central keys obtained in our original research and Piklerian ideas.ConclusionIn-depth interview within mixed methods has been a novel and generous tool leading us to substantial and methodological contributions, despite the simplicity of performed analyses. Interviewed educators’ response pattern is a faithful reflection of the Piklerian modus operandi. The study of concurrences shows that Piklerian education is something natural, integrated in its professionals, with the exception of emotional control, which still requires permanent reflection.

Language constitutes the central core of a child’s psychic structure and plays a predominant role in the overall process of personality development. Effective communication through language necessitates the cultivation of four fundamental skills, collectively recognized as linguistic abilities: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. The present study is underpinned by the premise that at very early ages, children do not sequentially or discretely acquire these four skills; instead, they evolve almost concurrently. Therefore, the aim of this research was to examine the prevalence of linguistic skills in two official reference documents that provide a unified perspective on the legal and pedagogical framework governing early education in Romania. The Early Education Curriculum and the official document Fundamental Milestones in the Early Learning and Development of Children from Birth to 7 Years were subjected to analysis using the semantic software Tropes v8.2 (developed by Pierre Molette and Agnès Landré), available in Romanian. Through the extraction of a series of references from the texts and subsequent statistical analysis, the interplay between explicit and implicit elements in the representation of linguistic abilities was brought into focus across all five developmental domains.

Over the years Artificial Intelligence (AI) has revolutionised not only industries but also education worldwide. With the 2020 pandemic, teachers around the world have had to reconfigure their teaching process, so AI products are becoming more and more prevalent in early childhood settings to enhance the learning and development of pre-schoolers. Although robotic toys (Bee-Bot, Robot Mouse, Robotbloq Qobo, Ozobot) have been used for several years as modern teaching tools, teachers in Romania face some difficulties in integrating them into the teaching process, either because of lack of adequate training in handling these tools or because of the infrastructure needed for this purpose. The use of robotic toys in kindergarten activities is a matter of teachers' perceptions, so they decide on the use of robotic toys in the teaching process and the types of activities that would allow their use for teaching purposes. In our study, we aimed to measure teachers' perceptions of children's use of robotic toys and their incidence of using them appropriately, in the teaching process, integrated into Experiential Domain Activities. In this way, we will be able to make correlations between the use of these tools and teachers' perceptions, highlighting the benefits they bring to the teaching process and consequently to the development of children in early education.

This study investigates the potential of a voice-controlled collaborative robot to promote computational thinking (CT) skills in preschoolers aged 4 to 6 in Southern Chile. During a week-long workshop, 34 children engaged in activities designed to develop several CT components while interacting with a robotic arm. Pre- and post-workshop assessments utilizing the TechCheck-K tool revealed significant improvements in CT skills. The findings of this preliminary study demonstrate the effectiveness of voice-controlled robots as innovative tools in early education, significantly enhancing young learners’ understanding of CT concepts, practices, and perspectives. This research advocates for further exploration of robotic integration in educational settings, highlighting their potential to improve or extend preschool learning environments and foster CT skill development.

The article describes the issue of positive psychology and its application to education, as well as concepts such as well-being and quality of life. Attention was paid to selfesteem and the role of adults in building self-esteem in children. The organization of the study is described, and the self-esteem-supporting activities used at the one of the preschool and school institution in Bialystok.

An adequate education and educational management in the spirit of sustainable development is a necessity applicable at the level of all national and world economies. The situation highlights that, among the 17 objectives contained in the Agenda, the one specific to educational management is also introduced, through which it tends to approach and apply measures to ensure a quality, inclusive and fair education, as well as a promotion of learning opportunities throughout life for all individuals, directed towards sustainable development. Education, the level of individual education, as well as the level of community education, has a fundamental role in the awareness and understanding of the concept of sustainable development, in the formation of skills and beliefs to apply it in practice. Without adequate education, without an effective educational system, sustainable economic and social development remains a difficult goal to achieve. Precisely for this reason, an educational management suitable for sustainable development is imperatively necessary.

Classroom assessment is a critical part of teaching and learning and is a potentially useful tool for enhancing learning outcomes. It provides information on where learners are with their learning goals and what they need to do to improve their understanding and meet the intended learning outcomes. In response to the agent's need for proper interpretation of classroom assessment, researchers and policymakers have developed guidelines, principles, and models to help teachers understand and implement effective assessment conceptions. Despite these initiatives, research continues to show that teachers struggle to interpret assessment policies and implement practices aligned with contemporary formative assessment notions. This paper presents a narrative review of 52 pieces of literature related to pre-primary and primary science and mathematics education assessment between 2008 and 2023. To respond to the proposed research questions using Tanzania as a case study, and focusing on science and mathematics in pre-primary and primary education, we performed this narrative review of the literature on formative assessment and its potential to improve classroom teaching. Findings indicate that principles and models alone are insufficient to create the necessary changes in classroom assessment and thus call for the need for integrated and focused professional learning initiatives that enable teachers to collaboratively explore new assessment practices. Findings indicate further that such professional learning models require ongoing support by knowledgeable practitioners. In addition, effective support strategies require time and effort to develop learning cultures that recognize the value of assessment for learning and translate it into action.

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The need to give basic economic information and teach economic concepts to children at an early age is the theoretical and practical basis of many international studies reflected in the works of many researchers; The paper examines regional and global studies on economic education and economic awareness in early education, particularly among preschool children; focuses on theoretical and legal approaches to the age classification of early childhood children based on national and international legislation; identifies the optimal age for the formation, development, and strengthening of economic awareness among preschoolers, and suggests the ways and appropriate educational materials to achieve this goal. The research is based on a complex, interdisciplinary methodology and includes document examination, comparison, classification and systematization, content analysis and data synthesis. In accordance with the objectives of the study we have reviewed works in the fields of economics and economic consciousness, pedagogy, psychology, early childhood education and education in general. Our research hypothesis is that economic education and building of economic awareness at an early age are essential for raising and shaping a successful citizen. The following conclusions were drawn from the research: * promoting the growth and enhancement of economic awareness and teaching basic economic concepts through simple language at an early age (4-6 years according to our classification) is the basis for creating a future successful citizen equipped with the essential life skills; * financial education is often equated with economic education, that we believe is not correct, since it is a narrower field based on specific financial concepts (e.g. money, loans, savings, etc.), while economic awareness and education encompass the fundamental concepts of relationships related to practical issues in the routine life. * the national and international scientific-legal basis of the child's age and development stages are in harmony with each other and completely correspond to the commonly accepted norms; * the review of scientific literature revealed that while diverse criteria are used to classify the stages of child development, the basic divisions include the child's physical, cognitive, speech/language, and social/emotional development. * Although scientific works from both Georgia and abroad extensively analyze the age division of young children according to their growth and capacities, no particular age group has been directly linked to the learning/teaching of economic concepts and economic awareness; * based on the works of Georgian and international scientists that have studied, we believe that the best age for children to promote fundamental economic education and develop economic awareness at an early age is between 4 and 6 years (inclusive), which is pre-school or early education age. * early development and reinforcement of economic awareness enhances students' readiness for a greater comprehension of social science fundamentals in general at later stages of education. * considering the vast number of studies on the value of early childhood education, we think it's important to study this issue in Georgia more thoroughly and broadly, as well as to cooperate with other researchers/experts in this field for creation of a methodological framework for the development of economic awareness in young children. * and finally, we believe that children's literature, particularly fairy tales, stories, and rhymes on socio-economic topics can indeed illustrate basic economic concepts and teaching them to children using the right approach directly ensures the achievement of the goal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of International Journal of Educational Psychological Studies (EPS) is the property of Refaad for Studies, Research & Development and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Estudios Pedagogicos (Valdivia) is the property of Estudios Pedagogicos and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Tesla Revista Científica is the property of Puerto Madero Editorial Academica and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Tesla Revista Científica is the property of Puerto Madero Editorial Academica and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of International Journal of Educational Research (22196064) is the property of Association of Arab Universities and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Employing a qualitative research method, this paper aims at shedding light on the role of parents in the educational work of preschool institutions from the perspective of educators. The emphasis is placed on creating work programs, choosing activities in accordance with children's interests, and cooperation and partnership with educators who are in daily contact with children. The research is oriented towards a qualitative methodological setting, and the basic method of collecting empirical data is an expert interview. The obtained data were analyzed through a qualitative content analysis, and the selected participants were five educators with the professional title of a Bachelor of Preschool Education and a Bachelor of Social Pedagogy, who work in preschool institutions every day. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Letter names are some of the many preschool accomplishments that are of particular relevance to later academic challenges. However, many children enter school without having fluent letter name knowledge. The current study evaluated the effects of a taped-letter (TL) intervention delivered through PowerPoint on the accuracy of letter identification in three young children using a multiple probe across participants design. The participants were trained to say the letter name when the PowerPoint provided a printed letter on the screen and to echo the computer model of the correct response. Each training was followed by an assessment in which the participant was tested on letter identification accuracy. The TL intervention was successful in increasing letter identification to at least 23 letters for all participants within 8–11 intervention sessions. These results extend and add to the findings of previous studies demonstrating the effectiveness of taped interventions in teaching academic skills and demonstrate that similar taped interventions can be easily developed to teach early academic skills using a computerized platform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This meta-analysis aims to clarify the relationship between teacher–child interaction and children's outcomes in language, mathematics, literacy, social development, and self-regulation based on the perspective of the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS). A total of 24 studies with 139 independent effect sizes and 67,919 participants were included through literature search and screening. The results show that CLASS is moderately correlated with children's outcomes in language, mathematics, self-regulation, and correlated with children's literacy and social development to a low degree. Apart from within-domain links to children's outcomes, most CLASS domains have cross-domain links to children's outcomes. These links are also influenced to varying degrees by the level of economic and social development, children's commonly used language, child outcome measurement tools, and the emotional support domain score of CLASS. Future studies should standardize the presentation of key information and explore the interaction of multiple variables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study aimed to explore the associations between children's emotional reactions to stories and their school readiness skills. One hundred and fifty kindergarten children (Mage = 66.98 months; 66 boys) were interviewed to examine their emotional reactions to a story, and the children's kindergarten teachers reported on the children's school readiness skills: verbal abilities, approaches toward learning, and social skills. Using bibliotherapeutic terms and methods, the children's identification with the main character in the story, their insight about the story, and their ability to connect the story to their own experiences were coded. Findings revealed associations between the children's emotional responses to the story, specifically, the children's identification and echoing with all three school readiness indicators (verbal abilities, behavior, and approaches toward learning). Additionally, the children's insight into the story mediated the link between verbal abilities and approaches toward learning and between verbal abilities and hyperactivity. Practically, the current study offers a new approachable method that practitioners can use as a possible emotional tool in early education. Children's responses to a story can provide a unique opportunity to better understand children's perceptions of different narratives and socio-emotional situations, which can direct educators in their work. Empirically, the current study can guide further research and training on utilizing stories to understand children's readiness for school. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]