In the early twentieth century, scientists and theorists—such as Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky— developed widely studied theories to explain how young children acquire knowledge. Scientists have continued to study children’s ways of knowing by care- fully observing and listening as children pursue new skills, explore materials, solve problems, work together with others, and encounter e…
This book addresses new avenues in child abuse prevention research that will expand our capacity to protect children. These new avenues result from the emergence of new research methods made possible through technologic advances, an understanding of the benefits of cross-disciplinary research and learning and the entrance of many young scholars in the field. The book explores what these avenues…
This book examines the everyday-life patterns of young adults under circumstances of vulnerability and precariousness. Its main focus is on the web of social relations that structure the everyday life of young people, for instance by providing resources and tools of solving problems, exerting pressures and voicing expectations, and shaping the person’s self-conception, identity, and well-bein…
Few things make Japanese adults feel quite as anxious today as the phenomenon called the “child crisis.” Various media teem with intense debates about bullying in schools, child poverty, child suicides, violent crimes committed by children, the rise of socially withdrawn youngsters, and forceful moves by the government to introduce a more conservative educational curriculum. These issues ha…
The ELC professional development model was designed to improve the quality of teacher candidates’ Practicum field placements and align teaching in field placements with Learning Standards used in the teacher education program. Teams of four educators from varied settings worked in a Practicum placement setting for one semester to improve their teaching and align it with Learning Standards.…
This book introduces a framework for examining bilingual identity and presents the cases of seven individual children from a study of young students’ bilingual identities in an Australian primary school. The new Bilingual Identity Negotiation Framework brings together three elements that influence bilingual identity development – sociocultural connection, investment and interaction. The cas…
This book moves beyond the traditional constructivist and social-constructivist view of learning and development in science. It draws upon cultural-historical theory in order to theorise early childhood science education in relation to our currently globalised education contexts. The book argues that concept development in science for young children can be better theorised by using Vygotsky’s…
The current work follows the premise that fictional oral narratives represent socio-emotionally and academically relevant communicative practices. Two studies are presented, aiming to (1) analyze the narrative skills of preschool-age Turkish-German dual language learners (DLLs) and (2) explore a peer-assisted approach to supporting DLLs’ narrative skills in early childhood education and care.…
This book addresses the cognitive, social, and psychological dimensions that shape students’ mathematics experience to help students become more capable, cooperative, and confident in the process of engaging mathematics. In these ways they can have a more valuable and enjoyable mathematics experience, and become more valued participants in society. The book focuses on the mathematics classroo…