As the first early childhood e-Fellow, the author worked with five case-study children at Westmere Kindergarten to research whether Internet and communication technology (ICT) can enhance young children’s storytelling. This article shares the story of one of the case-study children, Casper, to illustrate the overall research findings, which suggest that ...

Can traditional definitions of professionalism be reconceptualised to respond to the unique and evolving characteristics of quality early childhood practice? As part of a larger analysis, this article explores the views of teachers working in care and education settings on the nature of professional behaviour in early childhood education.

This article looks at how the belief system of “special” education can act as a barrier to inclusion in early childhood education for children with disabilities and their families. The author suggests that changes in special education thought and practice are necessary if early childhood education is to progress inclusion ...

The findings of a recent Teaching and Learning Research Initiative project. Researchers used a collaborative whakawhanaungatanga approach to explore how early childhood educators in settings other than kōhanga reo encourage whānau Māori to participate in early childhood education. They identified strategies by which early childhood educators are implementing their understandings ...

This article looks at ways of bridging the discontinuities young children experience between three settings: the home environment, the early childhood setting, and the new entrant classroom. It highlights the empowerment that occurs for children, families, and teachers in early childhood and school settings when children’s experiences at home are ...

The question of how to define and describe quality in early childhood services has been a matter of debate, both in New Zealand and internationally. This article discusses definitions of quality, drawing on examples from Norway and Japan to demonstrate the complexity involved in judging what is good or bad ...

A child’s spontaneous literacy efforts are more likely to be connected to writing than to reading. This study found that children’s early efforts to write are not mediated through oral language but arise on the basis of the activities involving writing that children are able to observe and take part in.

Teachers in a Centre of Innovation reflect about their action research, which focused on how children’s working theories were developed through complex and sustained learning. Overlapping communities of practice support teachers’ professional judgements and dissemination of action research findings.

English participants in a cross-national study frequently discussed concepts of independence and risk, often seeing independence as structured choice making and risk to children as something to be avoided. These interpretations contrast with the discussion in a parallel study in Denmark, which focused on interdependence, not risk.