Towards Holistic Supporting of Play-Based Learning Implementation in Kindergartens: A Mixed Method Study,        Abstract Using a holistic support framework, this study investigated teachers’ conceptions of effective play-based learning development and how their perceptions of its effectiveness related to whole-child development. Data were collected from a mixed method study. A total of 286 questionnaires from 50 Hong Kong kindergartens were collected and then 29 principals, head teachers and teachers were interviewed after the completion of the survey. Results of quantitative analyses showed that school collaborative culture facilitated various aspects of children’s development through the mediation of teachers’ enactment of play pedagogy and home-school cooperation. Qualitative interview data also confirmed the survey results that the roles and functions of parents and teachers were significant in supporting the implementation of play-based learning in kindergarten settings. Findings of the study have shed light on the conceptualizations of effective play-based learning which are perceived by teachers as part of a school collaborative culture, teachers’ enactment of play pedagogy and home-school cooperation. The practical and policy implications of the study may suggest adopting a holistic support model in the analysis and actively seeking to integrate parents, teachers and kindergartens in constructing an optimal play learning experience for young children.

How do Children and Teachers Demonstrate Love, Kindness and Forgiveness? Findings from an Early Childhood Strength-Spotting Intervention Abstract Character strengths such as love, kindness and forgiveness promote emotional health, positive relationships and enhanced well-being for children and adults. Yet little research has investigated how early childhood educators practice love, kindness and forgiveness at work, or how they observe these virtues in children. A strength-spotting intervention was adapted from positive psychology to collect 216 written examples of teacher and child love, kindness and forgiveness from 16 early childhood educators while they attended professional development in a large northeastern city in the United States. Behaviors associated with these character strengths were then coded using content and thematic analysis. Teacher and child love were most frequently associated with empathy and spontaneous affection. Teacher and child kindness were frequently associated with helpfulness and friendship. Teacher and child forgiveness were characterized by giving someone another chance, letting go, responding with kindness and speaking positively. Empathy, generosity, helpfulness and courtesy emerged as interrelated expressions of love, kindness and forgiveness. These traits are discussed in relation to goals of social-emotional learning, such as promoting secure attachment relationships.

Building Playgrounds for Children of All Abilities: Legal Requirements and Professional Recommendations Abstract Schools and communities typically design and build playgrounds with little knowledge that the selected playground equipment meets the needs of children, caregivers, and teachers. In this article, the various categories of playgrounds are discussed and analyzed. The focus of this discussion includes an overview of the legal requirements and guidelines for school and community playgrounds, a description of prior research highlighting the inadequacies in currently available playgrounds, and an explanation of the trends in playground design over the years. We relate these topics to the need for universally designed playgrounds and a deeper commitment to designing playgrounds and play equipment that is empirically tested and meets the needs of all children, their teachers, and their families. By discussing practical examples and research findings to illustrate the gap between playground manufacturers and their play equipment and playground consumers, this paper serves as a meaningful resource for teachers and other stakeholders so they have the knowledge to advocate for their students with disabilities in playground endeavors. Taking recent research findings into account, we provide a vision for playground policy change.

Enhancing Peer Interaction in Early Childhood Special Education: Chains of Children’s Initiatives, Adults’ Responses and Their Consequences in Play Abstract This article focuses on the initiatives taken by children and the responses given by professional adults with regard to the pedagogy of enhancing peer interaction among diverse learners. The study took place in four integrated special groups of public early childhood education. In groups of this kind, typically developing children and those with special educational needs (SEN) spent time together on a daily basis. We analysed 12 videotaped play sessions with 33 (3- to 6-year-old) children and 10 adults to examine the children’s initiatives, the adults’ responses, and the consequences that ensued. The study revealed verbal and nonverbal initiatives followed by a variety of responses scaffolding the children’s interaction and participation. However, the nonverbal or faint initiatives, especially those taken by the children with SEN, were at risk of being unnoticed or ignored. These findings call for professional reflection on pedagogical sensitivity in recognizing and responding to the initiatives of children.

Infants’ Experiences of Shared Reading with Their Educators in Early Childhood Education and Care Centres: An Observational Study Abstract Research shows an association between mother-infant shared reading and children’s language and literacy development. Educators in early childhood education and care (ECEC) centres frequently interact with groups of similar-aged infants, yet infant-educator shared reading has received little attention. This naturalistic observational study videorecorded 20 focus infants (children aged under 2 years) from 20 separate ECEC centres as they went about their normal everyday activities. Each focus infant was videorecorded for approximately 3 h each (a total of 60 h of data), as part of a larger project investigating the language environment in ECEC infant rooms. The present study investigated whether the infants engaged in book-focused interactions with their educators, and if so, whether the infants participated verbally. Each infant’s book-focused interactions were identified and transcribed verbatim, and each infant’s room was assessed using the Infant/Toddler Environment Rating Scale Revised Edition (ITERS-R) (Listening and Talking Subscale). Nine of the 20 infants did not participate in any shared reading. The extent to which the remaining 11 infants engaged in shared reading ranged from minimal to extensive. In 85% of ECEC rooms, the ITERS-R score for using books was lower than that for helping children understand language and helping children use language. The findings suggest that many educators may be unaware of the importance of reading with infants. Given the benefits of shared reading for infants’ current and future language and literacy development, it is vital that every infant has the opportunity to participate in frequent, sustained, language-rich interactions with their educators.

Putting a Focus on Social Emotional and Embodied Learning with the Visual Learning Analysis (VLA) Abstract Research increasingly recognizes the importance of social emotional and embodied learning in early childhood, and yet few studies provide early childhood researchers and teachers with tools for documenting and interpreting the meanings made in these languages. At the same time, many early childhood teachers in Reggio Emilia-inspired programs and others take hundreds of photographs for documentation of children’s learning, and yet are uncertain about what to look for in them. In this qualitative study, which occurred in a Reggio Emilia-inspired preschool classroom in the southeastern U.S., photographs from regularly occurring classroom activity were analyzed with a research method called the Visual Learning Analysis (VLA). The VLA revealed evidence of children’s social emotional and embodied learning and made visible the teacher’s value of children as capable of reflection and of making choices about materials and learning spaces. It offered an opportunity to discuss how children explored and used materials according to their own timeframes within authentic social relationships. Findings from this study indicated that the VLA is a useful tool for teachers and coaches, as well as researchers, to see more in photographs of children engaged in classroom activity and suggest that the VLA process can support early childhood teachers’ professional development.

Imitation and Social Communication in Infants Abstract The authors of this study examined the relationship between motor imitation behaviors and social communication behaviors in 15–18-month-old infants, using a quantitative correlational research design. Imitation behaviors have been shown to be an index of later social cognition and language development, and a critical mechanism in language learning for typically developing infants. Social communication behaviors have also been demonstrated to predict later language skills. The authors looked for quantifiable correlations between motor imitation and social communication in typically developing 15–18-month-olds and the authors found a significant positive correlation between motor imitation and the social communication variable of language understanding. The authors demonstrated that motor imitation can be measured reliably in infants between 15 and 18 months, and that a demonstrable increase in imitation behaviors occurs in this age group. The naturalistic home-based play context of this study provided robust reliable scores and ecological validity to the results. The results suggest that motor imitation in 15–18-month-olds has a unique relationship to social communication that is specific to language understanding, and separate from verbal expression or gesture.

Early Reading Skills in English as a Foreign Language Via ICT in Greece: Early Childhood Student Teachers’ Perceptions Abstract ICT is an effective tool which can support young children’s reading skills in English as a foreign language (EFL), while teachers’ perceptions influence their classroom practices; however, there is limited empirical evidence on students’ perceptions on the use of ICT to enhance early reading skills in EFL. This study investigated early childhood student teachers’ perceptions regarding children’s reading skills in EFL via ICT, in Greece. A questionnaire was administered to 110 students. Students expressed positive perceptions indicating their willingness-intention to use ICT in teaching reading in EFL to young children. The skills and strategies most reported were that they will use computers (high percentage of agreement, over 70%) in their classrooms for the extension of children’s vocabulary and the motivation of children to read and to like reading. Students perceived as major barriers the technical support and the availability of resources. The greater the year of study, the more positive were their perceptions. Implications for early childhood pre-service teacher training and educational policy are discussed.

Project-Based Inquiry (PBI) Global in Kindergarten Classroom: Inquiring About the World Abstract In the current article, two kindergarten teachers and two university researchers explain how 45 kindergarten students collaboratively engaged in a specific inquiry approach called Project-Based Inquiry (PBI) Global. PBI Global consists of five-phases: (a) ask a compelling question, (b) gather and analyse sources, (c) creatively synthesize claims and evidences, (d) critically evaluate and revise, and (e) share, publish, and act. The teachers were in a master’s degree program that led to K-12 reading certification. The PBI Global was an assignment in the course, New Literacies and Media. Specifically, the teacher team addressed the question: How can teachers use inquiry and digital tools to teach global awareness with kindergarten students? Applying the PBI Global process, the teachers used the book, Same Same but Different (Kostecki-Shaw and Adam, 2015) as an anchor text to students’ exploration of the five senses through different cultural artifacts. Additionally, the kindergarten students utilized Flipgrids to explain their findings for an authentic audience of parents and community members. The article concludes with lessons learned about implementing the process and implications for other kindergarten teachers who may be interested in inquiry-based learning.

Promoting Young Children’s Understanding of the Situations and Prosocial Responses Related to Jealousy Abstract The present study investigated the effects of two emotion trainings on young children’s knowledge about jealousy. Participants were 53 kindergarten and first-grade children who were assigned to one of two experimental conditions or a control condition. Children in the first experimental condition (video condition) received discussions about the components of jealousy paired with the presentation of dynamic visual stimuli (i.e., animated video clips). Children in the second experimental condition (video and role-play condition) received role-play exercises along with the discussions and video clips. Children in the control condition participated in their typical school curriculum. After receiving three emotion-training sessions of 15 min each, children in both experimental conditions made significant gains in their knowledge of the situations and prosocial cognitive/behavioral responses related to jealousy when compared to children in the control condition. The two experimental conditions made similar gains, showing that both trainings were equally effective at helping children improve their knowledge about jealousy. Implications for supporting young children’s understanding of emotions are discussed.