This article provides an analysis of developmental discourses underpinning preschool physical education in Scotland's Curriculum for Excellence. Implementing a post-structural perspective, the article examines the preschool experiences and outcomes related to physical education as presented in the Curriculum for Excellence "health and…

Drawing on the work of Celia Genishi, this article discusses data from an ethnographic case study of young Latina/o children, starting in their four-year-olds classroom in a Head Start Program through their first grade year in a dual-language program in a public school. The children attended a bilingual Head Start program that followed a…

This sociolinguistic study explores complexities of supporting preschool emergent bilinguals' communicative competence in multilingual classrooms. These complexities were highlighted in the author's qualitative research of a three-month school-home literacy project in one Head Start classroom. This article investigates what supported the…

Within United States policymaking, there is widespread recognition that universal preschool works towards a societal good, advancing children's social and academic needs while expanding the economic landscape for a nation. However, in trying to deliver these benefits, all too often educational policies apply a rigid format that overemphasizes…

Governments around the world continue to grapple with issues relating to how preschool services should be delivered, what type of provision is most appropriate, and for what purpose. These issues are particularly pertinent in a fast evolving early years sector such as the United Kingdom and many parts of the world where early years education has…

Educational reforms across the globe have had implications for the work of preschool teachers and thus their professional identities. This article draws on a feminist discourse lens to examine data collected from a recent narrative inquiry focused on understanding the professional identities of five public preschool teachers in the USA. This…

Within United States policymaking, there is widespread recognition that universal preschool works towards a societal good, advancing children's social and academic needs while expanding the economic landscape for a nation. However, in trying to deliver these benefits, all too often educational policies apply a rigid format that overemphasizes…

Since early childhood has become the focus of national and supranational political spaces, issues around teacher learning have also gained a firm position in the debates. This has seen the literature on teacher learning largely being positioned within a managerial/alternative dichotomy, arising from a resistance to technical-rationalist discourses…

This qualitative study was an exploration of mothers' perspectives on home-school connections to better understand the variable ways families engage with schools in early childhood. The study was conducted in the USA, and included 47 mothers with preschool-aged children who participated in semi-structured interviews concerning their…

A growing body of research suggests that a range of "hidden" or "less tangible" aspects of early childhood practice play an important part in early childhood practice. The purpose of this article is to contribute to this existing research literature by identifying some of the complex ways that less tangible aspects…

Developmental Work Research (DWR) is a methodology for simultaneous research and innovation in workplace settings, developed by Finnish researcher Yryo Engestrom. This interventionist approach builds on the principles of cultural-historical activity theory, articulated by developmental psychologists L.S. Vygotsky and A.N. Le'ontev. The…

Considerable attention has been paid across international contexts to structural factors affecting the sustainability of the early childhood workforce. While attention to these elements is vital, it can nevertheless overshadow less tangible elements that may contribute to, or assist in addressing, problems of workforce sustainability. In…

The ethnographic analysis presented here examines a play routine that centered on two four-year-old female children constructing and being "sassy girls". Data was gathered over the course of six months in one preschool classroom by acting as a participant observer, videotaping, audiotaping, and conducting formal and informal interviews…

Attachment theory is presented in this article as involving embodied relational processes within complex relational systems. Two narrative-like "events" are represented to illustrate very young children playfully relating -- connecting and communicating inter- and intrasubjectively. The ethnographic-inspired research methods included…

This article reflects on the significance of a series of encounters with a baby doll in an early years' classroom during an artist residency. The article takes an event when a small group of children encounter a baby doll as its starting point. By connecting this shared lived moment with Deleuze and Guattari's idea of machinic production and…