This study investigates how nation is taught, learned, practiced, and performed in early childhood educational settings in Australia and Hungary. Analysis, based on comparative multi-sited ethnography, reveals nationhood as a taken for granted, unreflexively promoted framework for organizing social life. The "pedagogy of nation" operates…

The structural indicators in this report provide an overview of some key features of early childhood education and care (ECEC) systems. The choice of indicators was based on current research and the factors listed in the recommendation of the Council of the European Union on high-quality ECEC systems. The recommendation identified five main…

This report contains more than 30 structural indicators on education policies in five areas: early childhood education and care (ECEC), achievement in basic skills, early leaving from education and training (ELET), higher education and digital competence. The Eurydice project on Structural Indicators for Monitoring Education and Training Systems…

European education agendas have emphasized the importance of early childhood education in providing the foundations for lifelong learning. Central to the success of early childhood education is the quality of provision, with the workforce being key. While qualifications levels are frequently cited as important for the quality of provision here we…

This report contains more than 20 structural indicators on education policies in four areas: early childhood education and care (ECEC), achievement in basic skills, early leaving from education and training (ELET) and higher education. The Eurydice project on Structural Indicators for Monitoring Education and Training Systems in Europe provides…

Early childhood education (ECE) institutions may be one place for young children to obtain a significant proportion of their daily physical activity (PA). Even though young children are generally considered to be very active, and recess time is considered an important environmental factor for promoting PA, evidence suggests that young children…

Children's physical education in early childhood settings has always been underpinned by an emphasis on play. This is viewed as foundational for child development (movement education, cognitive growth, socialising functions, emotional development). However, where priorities about childhood obesity prevail, increased 'prevention' efforts have…

This article examines the role of state ideology in the formation of kindergarten curriculum documents in socialist Hungary during the 1970s and in contemporary neoliberal Australia. The study explores two landmark curriculum documents, of Hungary and Australia, respectively, comparing the ways in which "the child" is conceptualized in…

Many studies have linked quality in early childhood education and care [ECEC] to school performance, but the mechanisms of how ECEC process quality affects children in ways that lead to improved school performance is unclear. In this study on 7431 children in Norway, we test the hypothesis that the relation between process quality in ECEC and…

This quantitative study examines the connection between the years that children spent in early childhood education and care (ECEC) and their social orientations and main objects of attention. The data were collected within the Progressive Feedback project by observing children: 20,457 observations of 972 six-year-olds from 360 child groups in…

The potential for professional development initiatives to improve quality in ECEC is an area of increasing international interest. This article presents insights from an ethnography into the manifestation of a two-year practice-based continuous professional development initiative (Educational Quality in Daycare: EQD) informed by the Abecedarian…

For those experiencing them, educational transitions include not only the present time but are embedded within institutions that precede and extend beyond the individuals. This article explores how, as an institutional space, the early childhood education and care (ECEC) setting is (re)produced within young children's encounters with others during…

In this paper, we present an argument for Practitioner Inquiry (PI). We briefly introduce PI, and we indicate how PI recasts the professional and political role of the Early Years Practitioner (practitioner). At the core of this article is the work of the early childhood pioneer, Friedrich Froebel (1782-1852). Froebel provided principles to…

Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) has received widespread attention worldwide and technology companies designed educational applications (apps) focusing on STEM. Young children have access to tablets and smartphones and they engage with a variety of apps every day. Prior research showed that young children learn from…

This article aims to provide insights of social justice awareness in young children's pretend play (2-6 years old) involving shopping activities in the nursery and the children's museum. Previous literature acknowledges the importance of grocery exhibits and relevant learning centres in the cognitive and socio-cultural development of children, but…