This article provides insight into the process and implementation of a professional development workshop that was created for and provided to educators who were interested in implementing more playful pedagogies in their educational settings. The workshop focused primarily on meeting the needs of all learners through meaningful and engaging…

Purpose: Telehealth delivery increases accessibility of parent-mediated interventions that teach parents skills and support autistic children's social communication. Reciprocal Imitation Training (RIT), an evidence-based Naturalistic Developmental Behavioral Intervention (NDBI) focused on imitation skills, a common difficulty in autism, holds…

As artists and teachers in a Teacher Training Faculty, we have designed proposals for children that transfer our own experience as creators in the studio to the educational field. In this way, the classroom is configured into a versatile workplace, like the studio, allowing us to carry out and analyse different workshops for children with the aim…

The purpose of this participatory action research (PAR) project was to support teachers to integrate play as a primary pedagogy in the math program. The theory of action was: If teachers develop a mathematical program integrating play pedagogy, then teacher capacity will expand to support the implementation of play in math instruction. I conducted…

Early childhood educators in the United States and worldwide face the growing challenge of "schoolification,"--the imposition of conventional academic content from later grade levels into their classrooms (e.g., Ring & O'Sullivan, 2018). The science of learning offers a different approach with evidence to support more active,…

Background: The evidence on loose parts play suggests its potential for positive impact on physical activity levels, social-emotional and cognitive outcomes, and the overall quality of play experiences in the outdoors. The facilitator plays a key role in ensuring these effective measures are fostered. However, literature specific to facilitators'…

In this study, we evaluated three lessons from a manualized social play skills intervention, Play20. Play20 is a focused intervention that is designed to improve early social skill development in children with autism spectrum disorder through naturalistic play. First, we evaluated the procedural fidelity of instructor implementation of Play20, and…

This paper aims to explore the impacts of a Learn to Play programme in specialist schools for children with multiple developmental issues. Specialist schools are schools dedicated to children with IQs below 70 and who may also have other developmental issues. The Learn to Play programme focusses on facilitating children's enjoyment and ability to…

This dissertation in practice (DiP) seeks to influence two main issues, first parents have a limited knowledge about play and second play is on the decline in homes and schools. It has been suggested that parental beliefs, education, and income levels have some influence on a parents' ability to engage in purposeful play (Ivrendi & Isikoglu,…

In 2001, the Chinese Ministry of Education issued "Guidelines for Preschool Education (GPE) (trial version)" to call on early childhood practitioners to use a child-centred and play-based approach to teaching and learning. In order to implement the requirements, many kindergartens in China have carried out the play-based kindergarten…

This study examined the effects of using behavioral skills training (BST) to teach peer models to engage students with moderate to severe developmental disabilities in interactive play. Two separate multiple-baseline across participants designs were used to determine the effectiveness of BST on the peer models' implementation of the procedural…

Kindergarten teachers are confronted with an evolving context for teaching and assessment. Recent reforms throughout the world have resulted in two fundamental shifts: (a) a growing emphasis on academic learning and increased use of assessment to support and monitor students' academic and developmental progress and (b) the use of play as a…

Kindergarten teachers are confronted with an evolving context for teaching and assessment. Recent reforms throughout the world have resulted in two fundamental shifts: (a) a growing emphasis on academic learning and increased use of assessment to support and monitor students' academic and developmental progress and (b) the use of play as a…

Family routines provide young children with predictable, repeatable, and functional contexts for learning about the world. Participating in family routines is a critical pathway by which all children learn. While the use of family routines in caregiver-implemented interventions (CIIs) is supported by theories, research, and recommended practices,…

Although a growing number of caregiver-mediated intervention models for families with children with autism are being examined in efficacy trials, few have been transferred to community implementation. Furthermore, little testing has explored implementation strategies to support caregivers' strategy use with their children. In partnership with a…