In our interconnected world, what does it mean to teach global environmental issues to young children? Using theoretical foundations from the social justice learning community and child-directed, inquiry-based learning best practices, this practitioner reflection details a seven-week, student-centered, interdisciplinary learning experience…

Preparing children and youth for a world of growing complexity, diversity, and mobility requires fresh educational approaches and deliberate pedagogies. In this article, we explore the role of storytelling in making sense of crucial global transformations affecting children's lives. We examine how migrant children and their peers in two classrooms…

Intercultural competence is a necessary disposition for teachers in the United States who instruct an increasingly diverse group of P-12 students in inclusive settings. Viewing the world and inclusive practices from multicultural and global perspectives can be difficult when the majority of one's experiences occur within their own culture. The…

Climate change is an urgent global issue that requires concern and action among a climate literate citizenry. Early childhood climate change education (CCE) affords strong potential for developing this climate literate citizenry. Early childhood educators are critical for this endeavor, and their climate change perspectives, teaching practices,…

The belief that English language teaching (ELT), for its global scope, should not only focus on furnishing learners' language skills but also on raising their awareness about critical global issues, like environmental crises, led to the 'greening' of ELT textbooks. However, the ecopedagogical import of the green contents in ELT textbooks has a…

Young children's engagement in Education for Sustainability has focussed predominantly on their participation in environment-based initiatives or practices. Reasons for this include a notion that wider dimensions of sustainability, including social, political and economic areas of concern can be too complex and overwhelming for young children.…

Gender-based violence (GBV) is a global health issue that affects significant proportions of women and girls. Despite research showing that children understand and perform stereotypical gender norms from as young as 3 years, addressing gender with young children is controversial. Programs that aim to teach gender fairness and respectful…

In a rapidly shifting twenty-first century context, early childhood education and care (ECEC) must consider contextual, scientific, and policy realities in order to realize its social obligations to young children. The current status of ECEC globally bears both good and bad news; many countries are paying attention to the importance of the early…

Early years education in Europe and elsewhere around the world is currently in the spotlight due to political and economical changes and subsequent promises of effective investment into its provision. In this article we analyse everyday preschool practices in Slovakia in terms of tensions between policies, the teachers workforce and the concept of…

Many early learning settings are more culturally diverse than ever before. Due to widespread migration, early learning classrooms now include students from a rich variety of racial, ethnic, and cultural groups. One classroom may contain students from a dozen countries and even more cultural experiences. To produce conscientious and creative global…

Teacher shortages are a pervasive global issue that is expected to continue, especially in low-performing, high-needs schools [O'Connor, E. A., Malow, M. S., & Bisland, B. M. (2011). Mentorship and instruction received during training: Views of alternatively certified teachers. "Educational Review," 63(2), 219-232]. In an effort to…

Young Canadian boys and girls aged nine to eleven were asked to consider their personal futures, the future of their community and the future of the world. Mixed methods were employed for data collection and analysis. Responses were compared with those given by children in eight countries and the discussion focused on the importance prior…

Good quality instruction in the early years of education has a positive impact in helping newcomers in universities and colleges to adapt to the new environment. This concept is widely applied in contemporary higher education because of the numerous benefits it offers to the students and the instructors. It, is not therefore, subject to the…

This volume contains papers submitted to the 12th Annual International Conference of the Bulgarian Comparative Education Society (BCES), held in Sofia and Nessebar, Bulgaria, in June 2014, and papers submitted to the 2nd International Partner Conference, organized by the International Research Centre 'Scientific Cooperation,' Rostov-on-Don,…

Culturally, childhood is often understood as a time of innocence which can mean that issues such as ecological sustainability are considered too problematic for early childhood practice. By drawing on findings from a research project that focused on issues of ecological sustainability in early childhood centres in New Zealand from Western and…