Abu Dhabi Education Council's new school model recognizes the value of play, although anecdotal evidence suggests that there are challenges to play in the preschool context. This article reports on challenges from the English Medium teacher perspective. Findings show that challenges are related to: (a) children meeting teacher expectations…

This paper reports on a pilot study of the social interactions between two children labelled with special educational needs and their peers in an early years setting. Data from play observations and staff interviews are used to examine the dynamics of friendship groups that the two children have developed and the way that they attempt to make new…

In this article, we explore the reality of Icelandic preschool teachers who are, as in most other countries, predominantly female. The gendered nature of the role and the current identity adopted by preschool teachers appear to impact on their perceived status and professionalism. In this process, stakeholders in early childhood education (ECE),…

This article reports on the findings from a small-scale study of early childhood educators' perceptions of their roles, responsibilities and ideas related to professionalism. Twenty-five early childhood educators from Canada (Ontario), Nigeria and South Africa participated in qualitative interviews to address the following questions: (1) In what…

This article describes how early years practitioners working in different settings, with different experiences and qualifications, can work and learn together. It is a small-scale case study of an eight-month project, with a grass-roots approach, involving early years settings within the reach area of an inner-London Children's Centre. The data…

Constant changes in a modern world and scientific knowledge from the growing field of Positive Psychology appear to make a previously unheeded contribution to preschool teacher competences. The aim of this study was to explore preschool teachers' opinions concerning the need for positive psychology knowledge and its implementation. A nine-item…

This grounded theory study explores beliefs about disability and inclusion from the perspectives of educators of young children in their respective roles as elementary school teachers and early childhood educators, in Ontario, Canada. The social relational model described by Reindal is used as a theoretical framework for interviews with four…

This paper explores the issue of early childhood professionalism from a socio-cultural perspective. In particular the article is concerned with how pre-school teachers conceptualise their professionalism by making sense of the work they carry out on an everyday basis in early childhood institutions. In analysing teachers' perceptions special…

There is a small body of work examining how picture books can be used with young children and their families to develop understandings of contemporary issues including diversity and practices towards inclusion. This article describes a study in one New Zealand kindergarten that explored teachers' interpretations of children's responses to a…

In Scotland in recent years there has been growing interest in a more play-based pedagogy commonly described as Active Learning. The research reported in this article is an exploration of moves towards creating an active play-based learning environment in six Primary 1 classrooms in Scotland and is concerned with (i) the children's experiences in…

This paper presents research that examines the links between practitioners' understanding of play and its relationship to learning, their pedagogic interactions with children and children's own perceptions of their play. Previous research has shown a mismatch between practitioners' understanding of play and their practice. This research identifies…

The aim of this study is to provide insights into the social construction of participation in joint activities in Finnish preschool and primary school classrooms. The article deals with two issues: How do teachers promote participation in a preschool classroom as compared with a primary school classroom? What similarities and differences are…

In Wales, concerns about the perceived over-formalisation of young children's educational experiences led to the introduction of a Foundation Phase Framework for children aged three to seven years that advocates a more holistic, play-based approach. Following the staging of the Reggio Emilia travelling exhibition, funding was secured for a project…

This study explores educators' reflections on professional childcare practice in different national contexts. The data were collected by showing video clips of classroom activities in Japanese, Dutch and German pre-schools to experienced German and Dutch pre-school teachers. The clips were used to elicit their opinions on playing and learning in…

This study assessed the impact of the role of the teacher in two children's centres in England and identified some of the supporting and limiting factors that influenced outcomes. The teachers worked across several settings in the private, voluntary and independent (PVI) sector, with the aim of enhancing early years practice and practitioner…