This study aims to conceptualise a drama-integrated curriculum devised from process drama as an approach to play-based pedagogy and curriculum to realise the policy initiative of learning through play. By investigating teachers' perspectives and practices in relation to the curriculum of a local kindergarten, examples of effective…

In an online graduate-level early childhood education course, the authors sought to playfully disrupt and transform educators' conceptions of children's "dark play," as provoked by contemporary popular culture. Embracing the imaginative potential of darkness and liminality, the course participants problematized and expanded their…

In this paper we grapple with the ways in which real-world issues directly impact children's lives and ask "what else" gets produced through encounters with children's global news media, specifically within the contexts of the United Kingdom and Norway. Our aim is to experiment with storytelling and worldling practices as a means to open…

Borderlands of practice are spaces where teachers are engaged in negotiating multiple conceptions of "best practices" within their daily teaching practice. Teachers at work in borderlands must actively negotiate varied conceptions, expectations, and assumptions about what is "best" for their students. These conceptions often…

Positive risk-taking in the context of outdoor physical play is important for fostering children's optimal health and development. Despite this, there is mounting concern that many developmentally beneficial activities are now seen as dangerous and something to be avoided. However, perceptions of risk are very much subject to cultural…

This project involved examining the most widely used instrument designed to evaluate the quality of early learning environments, the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale-Revised Edition (ECERS-R). There are many aspects related to the way that the ECERS-R is used in practice that can vary from one observation to the next. The method in which…

This study reviews 208 articles on early childhood mathematics education sourced from the ERIC database and published between 2000 and 2005 in order to determine the adequacy of the literature. The document analysis identified a heavy emphasis on (1) mathematical concepts and instruction, and (2) articles addressing the school years compared with…

The questions raised in this article have to do with how to take due care of the subjectivity of the persons involved in a research project. My main point is that a researcher's self-reflection on ethical problems is inextricably a part of doing research in early childhood settings, if we want to create knowledge which is valid and takes care of…

Disruption can be a result of a wide array of circumstances, but is commonly identified as a "control problem" in early childhood classrooms. In this article, the author argues that the recognition of disruption as a "control problem" is embedded in and governed by the social power and values entrenched in teaching discourses.…

This article examines the multifaceted nature of pre-primary music teachers' and supervisors' beliefs and practices in music education. It focuses on the general process of creativity (particularly as applied to music education); the classroom setting and how it influences the way music educators approach teaching and learning; and the structuring…