How do early years practitioners construct what it means to be professional? How do they perceive the relationship between Froebelian theory and practice, if at all? What value do they attach to early years qualifications? This paper explores these questions drawing on data from thirty-three interviews with early years practitioners working in six…

This study examines the perspectives of a group of 10 UK undergraduate students and one Master's student on a residential field trip to four Danish forest kindergartens. Two dimensions are examined: the impact of collaborative reflection and co-construction of knowledge on student learning; and the influence of cultural assumptions on…

This paper discusses collaborative research between academics and practitioners to enhance the level of play engagement in nine groups of toddlers in The Netherlands. Researchers and pedagogic counsellors designed a structured experiment to test the effects of four pedagogical strategies: confronting the children with a rearranged activity corner;…

We analyse a training proposal in the Degree in Early Childhood Education at the University of Cantabria (Spain), which consists of the elaboration of a critical and collaboratively created dictionary of concepts identified as important by the participating students. Through enquiry projects in which they adopt the role of researchers, they…

The conceptions early childhood educators (ECEs) hold about infants can guide their pedagogical practices in ways that can enable and constrain infants' experiences. Literature regarding infants' development and the role of adults in infant learning theoretically positions infants as both being capable of independent learning, and needing adult…

In Germany, the field-based element in the education/training of early childhood educators is given high priority in the development of professional competencies. Nevertheless, Germany lacks a firmly anchored regulatory and curricular framework for early childhood education and care settings as "workplace learning sites" ("Lernort…

A wealth of literature exists that describes the process of knowledge transfer (KT) as activities, interactions and mechanisms that foster the dissemination, application, and contextualisation of acquired learning into practice. However, little of this literature addresses the idiosyncratic nature of early childhood education and care contexts…

Professional experience in preschool settings comprises an important part of the education of preschool teachers. During their placements, students are expected to link theory to practice, to integrate university-based knowledge with workplace-based knowledge and skills essential for their future profession. They often refer to a perceived gap…

The article examines Danish pedagogue students' supervision during their placement periods in early childhood settings. Throughout the long history of Danish pedagogue education, discourses relating to the placement element have been located either within a "work" paradigm or a "scholastic" paradigm. These two understandings of…