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In 1968, OMEP established the "International Journal of Early Childhood" (IJEC). In 50 years of publication, the journal has become an important platform for knowledge-sharing within the early childhood education community. Theory, policy, and practice change over time and content of the journal reflects the emergence of various topics. At the same time, the everlasting theme of 'play' has remained a common topic. The aim of this article is to examine the thematic trends in published topics, through a systematic analysis of the keywords used in IJEC articles, published from 1969 to 2017, in an analysis of 646 articles. Keyword network analysis can identify the relational structure between keywords, including identification of major research topics, and their relationships through the production of network images. The results showed distinct research trends in early childhood education across different periods. From an historical perspective, the findings demonstrate the changes and continuities in research topics published over time, not only as an academic analysis, but also as representing global directions of research in early childhood research, across countries with very different socio-cultural backgrounds.

The rapid spread of the coronavirus virus (COVID-19) has been responsible for massive global impacts on the lives of children, families and communities. It is important to document these effects for the Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) sector. This report focuses on the Asia-Pacific region and ECEC sector, given limited regional studies on the impact of COVID-19 on early childhood education. It draws attention to the effects of the pandemic across five member countries of the "Organisation Mondiale pour l' Education Préscolaire" (OMEP)--Australia, China, Japan, Korea and Thailand. The authors describe initial responses to control the spread of the pandemic in each national context and identify socio-political factors that enable broad understandings of national responses to COVID-19. In relation to the ECEC sector, responses are discussed in terms of cultural differences, economic issues, educational and professional concerns and educator wellbeing. While important government actions have rightly focused on virus suppression, it also remains important to maintain attention on the rights of children to ensure that the health crisis does not also become a child's rights crisis and that sufficient attention is given to children's safety and wellbeing.

This article discusses how early learning might be made sustainable for children. It considers the application of Goal 4 of the Sustainable Development Goals to early childhood education to ensure that inclusive and equitable quality education that promotes lifelong learning opportunities is available to all children. Early childhood practitioners and researchers are encouraged to implement curricula and pedagogies that can support sustainable learning. While educational research about sustainability is necessary, understandings of sustainability policies and values are also required. Values related to sustainability promote a certain type of pedagogy in which the child should be allowed to take initiatives, think, and reflect. This requires high-quality early childhood education. How sustainability concepts can be applied to both content and pedagogy are discussed, as well as different preconditions that are necessary so that all children can access education for sustainability. Important preconditions of education for sustainability include a need for awareness that lifelong learning is applicable to early childhood education, as well as educated staff who are aware about what is relevant for young children to learn about sustainability.

This study investigates the perceptions and attitudes of Korean early childhood teachers about education for sustainable development (ESD). A total of 301 Korean early childhood teachers participated in a survey which was purposefully developed for this research. The survey focused on three areas of interest: understanding of concepts about sustainable development and ESD; importance for ESD in early childhood education and the implementation of ESD practices; and personal intentions about a sustainable lifestyle. The teachers who participated were recruited from kindergartens and day-care centers. Overall, findings suggested that the majority of teacher respondents had reasonable understanding about sustainable development and ESD from different knowledge sources. The teachers considered that ESD in early childhood education was very necessary or fairly necessary. However, 59% of teacher respondents had not implemented any ESD programs or activities. Of those teachers who had implemented activities then, commonly, this activity was circle-time discussions. The teachers indicated positive intentions about personal practices for a sustainable lifestyle. These personal values that teachers held make it more likely that they would implement ESD programs in their classrooms. However, teachers need to be provided with opportunities for professional development to increase their knowledge about how ESD programs are designed and implemented effectively with young children.

The article discusses significance of early childhood education (ECE). in United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals. It states that path to sustainability depends significantly on how societies educate their next generations, and mentions that all SDGs directly or indirectly impact young children, and conversely, high quality, comprehensive ECE programs contribute to many of the global goals. It notes that SDGs adopt a bottom-up approach, assuming active collaboration among stakeholders.