Science education in the early years is vital in assisting young children to come to know about and understand the world around them. Science in Early Childhood covers the theoretical underpinnings and practical applications of teaching science in early childhood settings in way that is engaging and accessible. It is a comprehensive resource for students, as well as early childhood teachers and carers and provides up-to-date coverage of the Early Years Learning Framework. This text explores the (...) current issues and debates in early childhood science education from an Australian perspective, whilst recognising the links to international practice and research. A summary at the start of each chapter helps students identify the key themes and ideas in early science education and application boxes throughout the text illustrate how theories relate to practice. Written by experts in the field, Science in Early Childhood is essential reading for pre-service teachers. (shrink)

Publication date: 29 September 2016 Source: Author: Aida Cornelia Stoian This study highlights the results of an empirical research, whose purpose was to study the teachers` option of primary and preschool education to use learning situations for training pupils’ skills in relation to seniority in teaching and learning environment and to identify of the level of conceptual representation of the learning situations term in the opinion of teachers in primary and preschool education.We made a questionnaire (...) in order to identify the frequency teachers can organize learning situations and the teachers` conceptual representations of learning situation.The results have confirmed the conclusions to get teachers` adhesion to organize learning situations for pupils’ skills training, to develop teachers’ skills in harmonizing all the methods, means and teaching strategies with the objective and subjective factors determining the interaction between teachers and pupils. (shrink)

This book offers current international initiatives, developed for working with children from "Birth to Eight" by a diverse group of noted professional authors. Their readings present an overview of early education as it evolved from the Froebelian kindergarten to today's practices in various Early Education settings around the globe. The international voices of the authors represent a balanced perspective of happenings in various nations and lend a conversational approach to each chapter. The chapters analyze the Universal Preschool Education movement (...) promoted by various countries, states, and agencies; examine model curriculum programs in a variety of teaching/learning settings; and identify directions the community can take in promoting effective early education programs. Particular attention is given to key issues and concerns faced by practitioners and families world-wide. Studies reveal successful approaches to bilingual education in a Chilean kindergarten, research findings on gender differences in primary school girls for learning science in Wales, literacy development strategies for teaching in UK multicultural classrooms and childhood centres, the process of integration special education with early childhood practices in China, and exemplars of community outreach to improve the well being of children through advocacy for governmental changes in early education policies and professional development. This book is for everyone interested in the well being of young children moving forward in a global age to meet the challenges of early citizenship in their world. (shrink)

The ontological turn in the humanities and social sciences has prompted some scholars of education to shift their focus of inquiry away from questions of epistemology (i.e., knowledge) to metaphysical matters related to being and the nature of existence. In this paper, I turn to ontology and make an argument for integrating and explicitly teaching theories of immanence in teacher education courses. I argue that integrating and explicitly teaching theories of immanence in teacher education courses can radically reorient (...) students’ thinking, being, and doing, which can fundamentally change how they are able to see, perceive, and make sense of events that unfold in their classrooms. Using vignettes of two encounters at an Italian preschool, I think with theory (Jackson and Mazzei 2012; St. Pierre, 2008, Ringrose and Renolds 2014) to demonstrate how philosophies of immanence reorient thought and produce “a lively new ontology” in which “the world’s radical aliveness comes to light” (Barad 2007, p. 33). The theoretical concepts I use include political theorist Jane Bennett’s (2010) concept of thing power, along with physicist Karen Barad’s (2007) concepts of entanglement and intra-action. (shrink)