In this study, the authors investigate the ways in which young students demonstrate their critical mathematical thinking (CMT). Students aged 5-6 who are beginning their first formal year of education participated in the study. Data is presented from individual clinical interviews undertaken with 16 students. These interviews were analysed using…

Foundation and Year 1/2 teachers at Saint Martin de Porres Primary School, a Catholic School in Laverton, Melbourne have been collaborating with a team of researchers from Monash University on a four-year project led by Professor Peter Sullivan and colleagues. The teachers have been trialling and implementing a series of lesson sequences as part…

Critical thinking when engaged in science problem solving around even simple tasks such as the Piagetian volume conservation task is a complex endeavor. Tasks such as the conservation task often require the interaction of multiple cognitive systems. Parity judgment, retrieval, and lateral thinking are three examples of such systems interacting…

Children's transition to school has been widely investigated, but most studies do not clearly define its starting point. By drawing on the cultural-historical concept of the social situation of development, and selecting 'role adjustment' as the unit of analysis, this paper seeks to clearly define the starting point of children's transition to…

A child's transition from pre-K to kindergarten is an important time. It builds the foundation for academic, behavioral and social-emotional skills, as well as positive family-school connections, for years to come. Starting kindergarten is also a big shift for many children, one that requires them to adjust rapidly to new routines and…

Intraindividual variability is a key component in explaining children's development and learning. Studying this type of variability on the micro-timescale can help us understand real-time constructive processes and the subsequent long-term development. The aim of this article is to study the process of children's understanding of…

This cross-sectional research was conducted to probe how 626 Taiwanese children's conceptions of learning differ by age and gender via drawing. Participants were from the kindergarten, the first grade, and the third grade. A coding scheme categorizing the people, learning domain, and place in the drawings was developed. Chi-square tests were then…

This article evidences the existing inter-relations between the rights perspective, the listening approach and participatory research with children, emphasising its contributions to the ECEC research field. Specifically, the contributions of visual participatory research in the field of early years transitions are discussed to illustrate the…

The transition to formal education is a critical transition in children's lives that has importance for socio-emotional and behavioral functioning. In the transition process, teachers are key players who work intensively with children and their families. This article focuses on teachers' perceptions of children´s socio-emotional behavior during…

The study focused on challenges and gaps faced by children during the transition period from early childhood development (ECD) to primary education and possible solutions to them. It adopted the qualitative methodological approach through the use of Focus Group Discussions with councillors, education officials, child care workers, chiefs, parents…

In Germany, there exists a traditional gap between kindergarten and primary school. Transition research has led to a new understanding of the need for cooperation between different educational institutions and the family at this time. This article emphasises that educational transitions affect not only the child but also the parents, who actively…

Twenty-four children (ages 6-9) with mild mental retardation received individualized instruction with either emphasis on Piagetian concepts or emphasis on verbal and number concepts. Although both groups made significant gains over a year, the children receiving the Piagetian emphasis usually gained more and progressed at almost the rate of…