Many students pursuing social work and human services courses have experienced adverse childhoods. This article focuses on their learning about self-care, an important skill for future practice. Interviews with 20 undergraduate students with a history of childhood adversity found unmet needs both for conceptualizing self-care and developing…

Dialogue can be an excellent weapon for justice and liberation, which 'silenced' groups could use to challenge the status quo and authenticate their efficacy. Over the years, there has been a preconceived negative focus on Africans which has suppressed African children's autonomy. Consequently, there is a need to liberate the position of children…

Background and Context: Vygotsky's sociocultural theory emphasises the importance of language, mediation, and the transfer of skills and knowledge from the social into the cognitive plane. This perspective has influenced the development of PRIMM (Predict, Run, Investigate, Modify, Make), a structured approach to teaching programming. Objective:…

Research Findings: The present study provides an initial descriptive comparison of the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale-Revised (ECERS-R) and the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale-Third Edition (ECERS-3) in a relatively large sample in 1 state that uses the Environment Rating Scales within its Quality Rating and Improvement System…

This brief report outlines policy approaches that have the potential to strengthen the organizational conditions of early care and education (ECE) programs as a means to quality improvement. The ultimate goal is to enhance the ability of all ECE programs to support young children's learning and development by improving the quality of teaching and…

Actual exposure to the details of trauma within the classroom setting is considered to be a necessary part of preparation for social work practice with traumatized clients. This article reviews the reasons why it is important for faculty to understand students' possible reactions to exposure to trauma content. One factor believed to increase the…

This research investigated the effects of different pedagogical approaches on the learning of length measurement in kindergarten children. Specifically examined were the pedagogical approaches of guided instruction, center-based learning, and free exploration in the context of a play-based learning environment. This mixed design research was…

This multiple case study utilizes interviewing, shadowing, classroom observation and document review to investigate holistic educators' perspectives on essential outcomes of holistic education, how desired outcomes are supported, perceived self-efficacy and perceived likelihood of success. Participants include kindergarten and upper elementary…

The relationship between experience, emotions, cognition, and learning is of increasing interest to educators and researchers who recognise that efforts to promote student engagement and learning must take into account factors beyond the purely cognitive and instrumental. The significance of experience considered as a unity in regard to child…

The indigenous communities in Africa, specifically Kenya, which is the focus of this article, had their own well-developed motivational systems that positively enhanced teaching and learning programmes in the community. These motivational systems were manifested in behaviours that were presented as sequential cultural tasks that demanded active…

This study evaluates a model for considering domain-general and domain-specific associations between teacher-child interactions and children's development, using a bifactor analytic strategy. Among a sample of 325 early childhood classrooms there was evidence for both general elements of teacher-child interaction (responsive teaching) and…

The implementation in 2009-10 of the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) spearheaded the efforts of the Australian Commonwealth government to institute a national curriculum. The theme of the new early childhood framework follows three guiding concepts: Belonging, Being and Becoming. In this article, we discuss these three concepts in order to…

Children's life experiences can position their exploration of global cultural communities within early childhood classrooms. Some early childhood educators, however, are concerned that many young children do not have direct experience of global cultures and thus believe that differences between cultural practices will be confusing to young…

Reflection is a high impact practice that develops teacher candidates' learning. Critical reflection requires teacher candidates to continually examine their own thoughts, perspectives, biases, and actions. Reflective practice facilitates the development of new knowledge, skills, and dispositions in teacher candidates by fostering critical…

This article discusses social and emotional competence and its importance in young children's development. Foundations for children's social and emotional competence are developed during the early years and are linked with school success and later-in-life well-being. We discuss three factors affecting children's social and emotional interactions…