Emotions can either help or hinder students’ learning. This is especially true in early childhood education. This article analyzes data on how two early childhood teachers account for students’ emotions in their teaching, a process we call “emotional scaffolding.” These teachers use emotional scaffolding for three main instructional purposes: 1) to create an emotional climate in their classrooms; 2) to manage students’ excitement levels; and 3) to maintain students’ interest in classroom learning. This article differentiates emotional scaffolding within instruction in early childhood education from other uses of the label found in the literature. Lastly, the article suggests a framework for researchers to use to analyze emotional scaffolding in early childhood classrooms.
With the rapid technological development of society brought on by Artificial Intelligence (AI), the demand for AI-literate workers will increase in the future. It is critical to develop the next generation's AI competencies and educate them about how to work with and use AI. Previous studies on AI were predominantly focused on secondary and university education; however, research on the Artificial Intelligence curriculum in early childhood education is scarce. Due to the lack of conformity on the standardisation of AI curriculum for early childhood education, this study examines the AI curriculum for kindergarten children using the framework which consists of four key components, including (1) aims, goals, objectives, or declarations of outcome, (2) subject matter, domains, or content, (3) methods or procedure, (4) evaluation and assessment. We recommend that AI literacy be achieved by three competencies: AI Knowledge, AI Skill, and AI Attitude. The employment of a social robot as a learning companion and programmable artifact was proven to be helpful in assisting young children in grasping AI principles. We also discovered which teaching methods had the most greatest influence on students' learning. We recommend problem-based learning for future AI education based on the findings.
BACKGROUND: Despite investments by the Nigerian government and international organisations in childhood immunisation to combat child mortality, coverage in many northern states remains below the national average, thereby increasing the risk of vaccine-preventable diseases. This paper examines the barriers to immunisation in six states in northeast and northwest Nigeria, which have the lowest vaccination coverage rates in the country. METHOD: We conducted 24 focus group discussions (FGDs) with mothers/caregivers and community influencers who collaborate with health workers to provide routine immunisation. The socio-ecological framework informed the design of the FGDs. We thematically analysed inductively and deductively coded data on NVivo version 12. RESULTS: Barriers to immunisation uptake included: Individual and interpersonal level - limited female mobility, adverse events after immunisation; community level - misconceptions and myths about vaccines, religious beliefs and norms, health provider-patient gender discordance, mistrust of immunisation; system level - poor health worker attitude, ineffective documentation of immunisation appointments, distance to health facilities, inadequate human resource capacity at health facilities, vaccine supply shortages, and lack of incentives. CONCLUSION: This study highlights the intricate barriers to immunisation uptake in northern Nigeria. Key recommendations include engaging male caregivers through tailored social and behavioural change initiatives and capacity building for health workers to improve their counselling skills on vaccine side effects. Findings from the study provide valuable insights for policymakers and programme implementers. Implementing these interventions can tackle ongoing challenges and improve routine immunisation in these states.
Eno-Obong E. Etim, Angela Odiachi, Leanne Dougherty et al.
Game-based learning has gained popularity in recent years as a tool for enhancing learning outcomes in children. This approach uses games to teach various subjects and skills, promoting engagement, motivation, and fun. In early childhood education, game-based learning has the potential to promote cognitive, social, and emotional development. This systematic review and meta-analysis aim to summarize the existing literature on the effectiveness of game-based learning in early childhood education This systematic review and meta-analysis examine the effectiveness of game-based learning in early childhood education. The results show that game-based learning has a moderate to large effect on cognitive, social, emotional, motivation, and engagement outcomes. The findings suggest that game-based learning can be a promising tool for early childhood educators to promote children's learning and development. However, further research is needed to address the remaining gaps in the literature. The study's findings have implications for educators, policymakers, and game developers who aim to promote positive child development and enhance learning outcomes in early childhood education.
Augmented Reality has been widely used in various level of education such as higher-level education, secondary education (lower/upper secondary level), primary education, and in informal learning.However, the implementation in early childhood education is still limited.By using library research methodology, the objective of this paper is to investigate the existing work of augmented reality in early childhood education between 2009-2018.Based on the results, it shows that the publication of augmented reality in early childhood education increased slowly within these past ten years.It has been found that the main advantage of augmented reality is to enhance motivation.Early literacy has been found to be the most used topic with sampling less than 30 children.Finally, 'Marker-based' augmented reality has been widely used with mobile devices and in term of data collection methods, 'Test' has been used the most in this field of research.
Child immunisation is regarded as one of the most essential public health interventions for reducing morbidity and mortality among children. Despite several public healthcare initiatives, a considerable proportion of children are yet to be covered under vaccination service in India. This study attempts to examine the association between maternal exposure to intimate partner violence (IPV) and childhood immunisation in India. Data were drawn from the fourth round of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-4), conducted in 2015–16. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression models were employed to assess the associations. About 65% of sample children aged 11–23 months were fully vaccinated. After adjusting for socio-demographic factors, women’s exposure to emotional IPV was significantly associated with a lower likelihood of full immunisation (adjusted odds ratio [AOR]: 0.74, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.61–0.90) among children. However, physical and sexual IPV had no significant association with childhood immunisation status in the adjusted analysis. The findings suggest preventive measures against domestic violence to reduce the risk of poor child healthcare services. Furthermore, efforts should be taken for effective reproductive and child healthcare programmes, especially among socio-economically vulnerable women and children, to improve child vaccination coverage.
The aim of the study reported in this paper was to identify the value that makerspaces can have in early childhood education (ECE). Drawing on data from research on makerspaces in four early childhood settings in a northern city in England, part of an international project on makerspaces in the early years (“Makerspaces in the Early Years: Enhancing Digital Literacy and Creativity” or MakEY), we identify three key principles that are integral to this provision: maker agency, maker funds of knowledge, and postdigital maker play. The paper identifies that makerspaces lead to the development of skills and knowledge that will become increasingly important in societies that are becoming highly technologized.
Jackie Marsh, Elizabeth Ann Wood, Liz Chesworth et al.
Early childhood education institutions are referred to preschool, nursery school and practicum schools that educate young children. Preschool curriculum was developed for children in the preschool education institutions to provide a rich learning experience and to help healthy growth. Creativity is fundamental for the preschool curriculum and can be defined as a procedure to create original things. Preschool teachers should provide children with materials to trigger their imagination, should provide opportunities to imagine and to explain their ideas, should appreciate children's individuality, and should encourage their different viewpoints. They also should encourage children to participate in creative games, should care about children's new products, and value them. Moreover, children's creativity should be appreciated, and children should be given confidence. In this study, it is aimed to investigate the creativity of children in the preschool. A simple causal design with pre-and post-test with a single group was used in the study. The participants consisted of 184 children (96 boys, 88 girls) enrolled in preschool and nursery schools belong to Ministry of Education located in Ankara during the 2014-2015 academic year. Figural Creativity Form A and B of Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking were used as pre- and post-tests. The results showed that preschool curriculum increased children's creativity in a positive way.
Routine vaccines are critical to child health. The COVID-19 pandemic significantly impacted essential health services, particularly in low-and middle-income countries (LMICs). We reviewed literature to determine the impact of COVID-19 on service delivery and uptake of routine childhood immunisation in LMICs. We reviewed papers published between March 2020 and June 2022 using a scoping review framework, and assessed each paper across the World Health Organisation health system strengthening framework. Our search identified 3,471 publications; 58 studies were included. One-quarter of studies showed routine childhood immunisation coverage declined (10% to 38%) between 2019 to 2021. Declines in the number of vaccine doses administered (25% to 51%), timeliness (6.2% to 34%), and the availability of fixed and outreach services were also reported. Strategies proposed to improve coverage included catch-up activities, strengthening supply chain and outreach services. Re-focusing efforts on increasing coverage is critical to improve child health and reduce the likelihood of disease outbreaks.
Milena Dalton, Benjamin Sanderson, Leanne J. Robinson et al.
This paper monetizes the life-cycle intragenerational and intergenerational benefits of the Perry Preschool Project, a pioneering high-quality early childhood education program implemented before Head Start that targeted disadvantaged African-Americans and was evaluated by a randomized trial.It has the longest follow-up of any experimentally evaluated early childhood education program.We follow participants into late midlife as well as their children into adulthood.Impacts on the original participants and their children generate substantial benefits.Access to life-cycle data enables us to evaluate the accuracy of widely used schemes to forecast life-cycle benefits from early-life test scores, which we find wanting.
Jorge Luis García, Frederik Bennhoff, Duncan Ermini Leaf et al.
