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THIS STUDY EXAMINES the experiences of early childhood teachers in their everyday pedagogical work. The data for this qualitative study consists of the diaries of early childhood teachers. Layder's (1993) research map has been used to structure the theoretical background and provide an analytical frame to categorise the data. The results show that early childhood teachers' work is complex and demanding, but they did encounter successes in their work. Certain common themes were identified on the levels of Layder's research map. These themes, which were experienced both as successes and challenges, included laws and steering documents, values and attitudes, pedagogical principles and solutions, leadership, collaborative structures, interaction, professional self-conception and skills. The challenges in the teachers' work were caused by differing professional values, a lack of discussion, and inoperative organisational structures and practices, among others., Introduction Pedagogical work in early childhood education and care (ECEC) has become more challenging because of the complexity caused by the increased diversity of families and children, complicated daily situations, [...]

This paper describes the development of preschool literacy education in Slovakia, beginning with the communist era, when the country was isolated from broader international academic discourse and early literacy research, then the period after the fall of the totalitarian regime up to the present day. It describes how the traditional approach to teaching literacy, relying on an obsolete model of reading and writing instruction taught at primary school, has resulted in preschools having limited capacity to develop children's literacy. It also explains attempts to reform the preschool literacy curriculum after the fall of the totalitarian regime. The first of these followed Slovakia's most comprehensive education reform act in 2008, but it underestimated the specific role of written language in children's language and cognitive development and in subsequent academic performance. Consequently, the reforms merely reproduced the traditional approach to literacy development within the new format of a decentralized curriculum. The consequences of the 2008 education reform act, and the pressure exerted by the results of international student assessments, resulted in a strong initiative from the academic field to reform the preschool curriculum on an evidentiary basis. The authors of this paper describe how they developed the thinking behind the new preschool literacy curriculum. The paper looks at how this became part of Slovakia's national preschool curriculum which was implemented in 2016, including the process in which the curriculum was reviewed by the institutions of the Ministry of Education and by professional organizations involved in early childhood education in Slovakia. Keywords Early literacy development, literacy curriculum, preschool education, Slovakia, Introduction Student literacy has become a much-discussed quality indicator of national education systems since many countries now take part in international student assessment surveys, such as the Program for International [...]

THIS ARTICLE AIMS TO DESCRIBE the level of implementation (LOI) of the Jump Start study, and examine the relationship between LOI changes and the support types provided to early childhood education and care (ECEC) centres. Direct observations were conducted in 21 ECEC centres at six months and 12 months after the start of the intervention. Each centre's LOI percentage was calculated and classified into high, medium or low implementers using objective criteria. Support strategies were determined by LOI at first observation. Pearson correlations between the support types and LOI were calculated using SPSS Statistics (version 23.0). In most cases (86%), ongoing support led to an increase in LOI, 17.5% on average. Phone calls were the only type of support significantly related to the positive LOI change (r = 0.532, p = 0.013). It was difficult to detect other effective support types due to the combined and small variance in support types provided to each centre., Introduction Physical activity (PA) interventions in early childhood education and care (ECEC) settings have shown mixed results, with most interventions reporting only moderate effects on PA outcomes (Alhassan, Sirard & [...]

Often children's opportunities to play are constrained by particular interpretations of play that instrumentalize its value in the service of adult-defined, future-oriented goals for children. As an alternative, we draw upon specific theoretical insights of play and playfulness, to closely examine the power of the present and past in childhood and adulthood, through ongoing play episodes created and re-created by co-playing, co-authoring adults and children. This particular playing collective takes up common popular cultural scripts embedded in the film Frozen, and through intertextual and multimodal adventuring, indoors and out, reveal emergent and playful uncertainties and potentialities that can occur when children and adults are committed to play as 'a thing by itself' (Huizinga, 1950, p. 45). Keywords: play, playfulness, co-playing, Frozen, popular culture, outdoor adventuring, multimodal learning Les occasions de jeu offertes aux enfants sont souvent tributaires de certaines interpretations du jeu qui en instrumentalisent la valeur au service de buts definis par des adultes et orientes vers l'avenir. En quete d'une solution de rechange, les auteurs puisent plutot dans des theories sur le jeu et le ludisme afin d'analyser soigneusement le pouvoir du present et du passe dans l'enfance et a l'age adulte a travers des episodes de jeu recurrents crees et recrees par des adultes et des enfants jouant et inventant ensemble. Ce collectif de jeu particulier reprend des scenarios culturels populaires inscrits dans le film Frozen et, a travers des aventures intertextuelles et intermodales se deroulant a l'exterieur et a l'interieur, revele de nouvelles incertitudes et potentialites ludiques qui peuvent surgir quand des enfants et des adultes s'engagent dans le jeu << comme une chose en soi >> (Huizinga, 1950, p. 45). Mots-cles: jeu, ludisme, collectif de jeu, Frozen, culture populaire, aventure en plein air, apprentissage multimodal, Play, Playfulness, and Early Learning and Childcare Curricula in Canada Across Canada, within early childhood practice, policy, and research, there has been an intensified focus on the possibilities of play [...]

THIS PAPER REPORTS ON the emerging findings of the first year of an inquiry-based professional development program called Educational Leadership in Early Childhood Settings (ELECS). The program was funded by the then Early Childhood Policy and Strategic Projects Division of the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development (Victoria, Australia) and delivered under the auspices of the Bastow Institute of Educational Leadership. The intent of the program was to support early childhood educational leaders to mentor early childhood educators in the implementation of the Victorian Early Years Learning and Development Framework (VEYLDF). The paper interweaves some of the initial data drawn from the program evaluations through a review of the early childhood leadership literature. The paper includes examples of participant understandings of themselves as educational leaders and demonstrates how their involvement in the program informed their leadership in relation to the VEYLDF. The paper concludes with a discussion of the outcomes of the program in terms of the participants' changing perceptions of early childhood leadership., Introduction The title of this paper draws from Duignan's (1997) research into leadership as a 'dance' and resonates with more recent struggles to understand the complexities involved in leading. For [...]

THIS PAPER REPORTS ON the findings of a study into the perceived everyday science practices occurring within an early childhood centre in a southern part of Australia. In drawing upon cultural-historical theory, the study maps the possibilities for everyday science learning through photographic documentation (n = 223) and through undertaking a science walk with an early childhood teacher in order to establish how the environment was perceived for creating opportunities for science learning (planned or otherwise). The results foreground: science within the constant traditional areas within the preschool, building science infrastructure into the centre, and using science in everyday life in the centre. The findings show the importance of a sciencing attitude on the part of the teacher for affording meaningful science learning for preschool children., Introduction While there are a growing number of studies that have examined the science learning of pre-schooler children, little research has been directed towards how the physical environment of a [...]

THE DEVELOPMENT OF 'WORKING THEORIES' is a key learning outcome for New Zealand's early childhood curriculum Te Whariki (MoE, 1996, p. 44). Working theories are described as combinations of knowledge, skills and attitudes which support children's developing understanding of the world, and guide their actions, problem solving and learning. This article reports research into the working theories of a group of children in one early childhood setting, and argues that working theories serve a variety of purposes linked to effective action within children's specific sociocultural contexts. This, and the fact that the social and cultural context provides resources with which children construct working theories, is used to argue a case for sociocultural pedagogies to support children in creating and modifying working theories. A case study is provided from the author's research. With recognition that the implementation of sociocultural pedagogies is somewhat difficult for early childhood practitioners (Anning, Cullen & Fleer, 2004), the article offers some specific strategies related to supporting children's working theories., Introduction 'Working theories' form one of the two learning outcomes of New Zealand's early childhood curriculum Te Whariki (MoE, 1996). Working theory Is a term relatively unique to this curriculum, [...]