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This study focuses on the early years program at International School Hong Kong (ISHK), a school with an explicit mission towards global mindedness. The program aims to move beyond narrow conceptions of us/them, north/south, and east/west binaries. Instead, ISHK urges children to view the world holistically through a range of perspectives. Within the context of ISHK, the early childhood program encourages children to understand the concept of interdependence through strong relationships and caring for others and the environment. The school draws from both Deweyan and Confucian philosophies in an effort to blend ideas of the East and West. Confucian ideals, in particular, support the need for a child to become junzi ([Chinese characters omitted], an exemplary person) through harmonious relationships, respect and appreciation of differences, coexistence with others, and compassion for the natural world. Deweyan views of democratic relationships support children in learning to work together and find common ground with others. Findings from this study suggest that children at ISHK learn to engage with and challenge peers, encounter and respect cultures other than their own, and investigate ways to conserve the planet. Through this program, children appear to be building early competencies for long-term global engagement.

Field experiences during teacher preparation programs support teacher candidates in forming and reforming teacher identities through real-world teaching situations. Trying out teaching approaches with children, reflecting on practice, and collaborating with cooperating teachers support teacher candidates in building a teacher identity. However, at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, public schools closed in many states, requiring that field placements either end or change significantly. This is a study of five teacher candidates in an early childhood teacher preparation program. These candidates' field placement ended in March 2020, requiring that university faculty develop an alternative teaching placement. Using Bourdieusian theoretical concepts of habitus, field, and doxa, this study explores how the candidates perceived this change and how they were able to continue to reflect and build their teacher identities.

The case study, H is For Hurricane and M is For Maria explores the public Montessori System of Puerto Rico as an educational philosophy of resilience. The authors present a counternarrative to early literacy development on the island by focusing in on two public Montessori schools from Vieques, Puerto Rico. The study was conducted one year after the passing of Hurricane Maria. Data collected, highlights the strong effectiveness of combining children's home life experiences together with foundational early literacy development. Through this piece, teachers and parents share how they teach early literacy by making the absolute most of what surrounds them physically and culturally. Puerto Rico is poorer than the poorest state yet has had the fastest growth of public Montessori schools, than anywhere else in the United States. Major conclusions state that access to public Montessori education in Puerto Rico offers children an advantage in early literacy development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]