In this artistic essay using (re)photography, we analyse two interactions in a Washington DC, classroom that features a play-based approach to child development. The pioneers of early childhood education helped frame play as a method of learning. However, the racial memory of a place continuously disturbs this pioneering conceptualisation of the…

This paper diffracts Deleuze and quantum physics through Winnicott's work to argue for an enrichment to playing. The roots of the play-cognitive hierarchy in Freudian psychoanalysis makes visible that progression and the stages that a child must pass en route to rationality continue to feed educational assumptions that a child must leave playing…

The use of standardized assessment tools for the evaluation of quality in early childhood education and care (ECEC) is on the rise, yet a greater understanding of the applicability of these tools across contexts is still needed. This study investigates the factor structure of two assessment tools, the Classroom Assessment Scoring System Pre-K…

Reflection is a continuous process that is an essential part of an educator's work and their commitment to being a lifelong learner, actively working to improve professional practice (Division of Early Childhood [DEC], 2022). Reflective practice allows practitioners to continue to refine their knowledge and skills to become more effective in their…

This paper is a combination of a grandfather's musings over his grandson's drawings, combined with a reconsideration of hermeneutics as an early childhood educational theory.

Drawing upon slow scholarship and autobiographical methods, this paper presents four vignettes constructed from virtual meetings across the span of several months. Although we had originally intended to write a more formal paper about the ways in which the reconceptualist movement connects to our own scholarship, the writing process became less…

While the importance of early childhood education is well documented, a struggle continues around the world to adequately fund early childhood programs and provide access for all children, especially those living in precarious contexts. In this article, the author has constructed a posthumous interview with Katie-Jay Scott (1981-2021), a…

Background: Studies indicate that access to nature may increase general human health and wellbeing. As a learning environment, the outdoors can also positively influence children's personal and social growth, healthy development, wellbeing and learning abilities. To maximise the potential offered by outdoor learning, it is necessary to gain deeper…

The relationships between museums and schools have been strengthened in recent years but little previous research has studied the activities that museums offer for children from 0 to 6. The present article analyses the role of early childhood education in museums' programs in Catalonia. A total of 118 museums and 296 activities have been analyzed…

Early childhood education and care programmes provide opportunities to enhance children's learning and development, especially when high-quality learning experiences and educator-child interactions are embedded within them. However, the quality of early childhood education programmes varies greatly. Quality in early childhood education and care is…

The aim of, Jane's, Soundwaves Early Childhood Music lead, and Karen's, Early Childhood Studies lecturer, inquiry is to encourage new insights into how multiple relationalities and learning play out, throughout Soundwaves, an early childhood music education (ECME) programme. We work with Barad's diffractive methodology to shape our…

As a retired educator, the author had been wondering how to make meaningful changes in their life. Marian White-Hood made a commitment to join the owner [of the new child care center] in her pursuit of intergenerational inclusivity. How do children learn their history, language, values, social emotions, or agency? Do children magically absorb the…

Play, which is both a context and process for children's learning, has become a pivotal pedagogical component in global early childhood education. The uptake of intentional teaching has contributed to the shift in understandings of play, from viewing play as a means of recreation and entertainment to a more socio-cultural perspective that…

Generative artificial intelligence (GAI) is rapidly becoming ubiquitous in many contexts. There is limited scholarship, however, in the fields of Developmental Psychology and Early Childhood Education exploring the implications of generative AI for babies and young children. In this Perspectives piece, we discuss potential use cases,…

This paper makes a case for developing a theory of quality ecologies in early childhood education and care, and presents our initial thoughts around how that might be done, including how it might create a space for further thinking, research and discussion. First, the politicised, positivist nature of dominant contemporary interpretations of…