Draws together a diverse range of 26 countries to show the complexity of early childhood within a contemporary world. The first book to bring together research from across the globe focusing on parental engagement and early childhood education.

Draws together a diverse range of 26 countries to show the complexity of early childhood within a contemporary world. The first book to bring together research from across the globe focusing on parental engagement and early childhood education.

Growing Children's Social and Emotional Skills examines how parent-educator partnerships can be achieved to enhance the development of children's social and emotional skills. The book presents the TOGETHER programme, a training programme that emphasises the importance of the relationship between caregivers and teachers with the children in their care, as well as deepening the collaborative partnerships between teachers, educators and caregivers. Using a case study approach, the book explores the application of the TOGETHER programme across various home and early childhood education contexts through the unique voices of those involved. The TOGETHER programme presented in this book is: * Easy to implement and adaptable, requiring minimal training time for parents, teachers and educators * Designed to emphasise the importance of relationships in developing children's social and emotional skills * Supported by photocopiable resources and a downloadable e-manual that can be used to implement the training With the vision to empower caregivers to take an active role in building children's social and emotional competence, this book is written in a way that will appeal to academic researchers and tertiary students, early childhood educators and other caregivers. It will assist in recognising children's strengths and deepening collaborative partnerships between families, educators and other caregivers.

The third volume in the Early Childhood Education in the 21st Century: International Teaching, Family and Policy Perspectives miniseries focuses on research highlights and policy aspects of early childhood education and care from 22 different countries around the world. This volume provides a platform for authors to discuss and debate the implications of research findings on current practices that reflect policies of each country. The research presented spans from challenges in teacher training to case studies of family practices around early child development to problematise the key components of teacher education and family practices that impact young children's education and care. By problematising the key issues, chapter authors discuss the shifting paradigm of early childhood education and the importance of future research in informing these changes. Offering key policy and practice insights across 19 different countries, this book is a must-read for early childhood educators, researchers, early childhood organisations, policy makers and those interested to know more about early childhood within an international perspective.

Throughout the world, the challenges facing modern education are formidable. Although some of the challenges facing are unique to each educational jurisdiction, there are also some important commonalities that transcend jurisdictions. Irrespective of the nature of these challenges, there is an increasing focus on teacher quality - what it is and how to enhance it. To date, research tells us what expert teachers should be doing in their classrooms. This approach is based on the idea that teaching expertise is nothing more than the accumulation of specific skills and knowledge, and as teachers acquire these skills and knowledge most of our educational challenges can be overcome. This book questions this idea by asking 37 teachers who are already recognised as experts to share their classroom secrets. Importantly, the teachers come from diverse cultural contexts, including Australia, Finland, Hong Kong and the US, and they share: how they became expert teachers; their expectations for every student when they enter their classroom; how they view and encourage teacher-parent partnerships; and what skills and knowledge they consider important for expert teaching. To our knowledge, this is the first book that compares and contrasts the approaches taken by expert teachers from four very different cultural groups. The book helps to demystify the work of the modern teacher - what they do and the challenges they face. If you aspire to be an expert teacher, this book provides a clear model of how to approach the process. If you are an education researcher searching for 'impact', this book outlines what are some of the emerging hot topics in education research. If you are involved in teacher education then this book offers some new approaches to initial teacher education. If your focus is on educational policy, this book helps make sense of the links between the classrooms of expert teachers, education research and academic achievement. Finally, this book will help parents understand how best to partner with their child's teacher in order to enhance their learning.

Growing Children's Social and Emotional Skills examines how parent-educator partnerships can be achieved to enhance the development of children's social and emotional skills. The book presents the TOGETHER programme, a training programme that emphasises the importance of the relationship between caregivers and teachers with the children in their care, as well as deepening the collaborative partnerships between teachers, educators and caregivers. Using a case study approach, the book explores the application of the TOGETHER programme across various home and early childhood education contexts through the unique voices of those involved. The TOGETHER programme presented in this book is: * Easy to implement and adaptable, requiring minimal training time for parents, teachers and educators * Designed to emphasise the importance of relationships in developing children's social and emotional skills * Supported by photocopiable resources and a downloadable e-manual that can be used to implement the training With the vision to empower caregivers to take an active role in building children's social and emotional competence, this book is written in a way that will appeal to academic researchers and tertiary students, early childhood educators and other caregivers. It will assist in recognising children's strengths and deepening collaborative partnerships between families, educators and other caregivers.

The second volume in this Early Childhood Education in the 21st Century: International Teaching, Family and Policy Perspectives miniseries focuses on teacher and family perspectives of early childhood education and care from 19 different countries around the world. The aim of this volume is to articulate the key components of teacher education and family practices that impact young children's education and care. Each country featured in this volume presents its own unique perspective in relation to the cultural and societal constraints around teacher training and/or family practices and the thinking around those practices that are important for early childhood development. Offering a unique insight into how teachers and families work together in different countries, the book is essential reading for early childhood educators, researchers, early childhood organisations, policy makers and those interested to know more about early childhood within an international perspective.

Developing Leadership in the Asia-Pacific focuses on the design of leadership programs that are able to meet the needs of students, teachers and the wider community. Rather than taking an all-encompassing approach that cover all contexts of leadership development, this book is based on research that guides the leadership teacher in designing a course that takes into account the specific context and needs of individual students, the purpose of the course, and how the course can be evaluated for its effectiveness. Emphasising learner diversity, the book argues that the students' specific cultural and educational contexts need to be taken into account when designing leadership programs. Although these courses are often taught outside of the regular curriculum, components of leadership can be found in the regular curriculum. Accordingly, this book helps the leadership teacher to integrate the leadership program with the regular curriculum through the use of guiding questions, quizzes, case studies, dilemmas, and other pedagogical strategies. It links research with practice, scaffolding teachers in understanding the content or issues described in each chapter, assisting them in building a fully defensible leadership program. A number of real life worked examples are also provided throughout each chapter as a practicable framework that can be used in teaching design for everyday units of work. This book is a useful reference for researchers working in leadership as well as an essential tool for teachers developing leadership programs for students in primary, secondary or tertiary contexts.

Developing Leadership in the Asia-Pacific focuses on the design of leadership programs that are able to meet the needs of students, teachers and the wider community. Rather than taking an all-encompassing approach that cover all contexts of leadership development, this book is based on research that guides the leadership teacher in designing a course that takes into account the specific context and needs of individual students, the purpose of the course, and how the course can be evaluated for its effectiveness. Emphasising learner diversity, the book argues that the students' specific cultural and educational contexts need to be taken into account when designing leadership programs. Although these courses are often taught outside of the regular curriculum, components of leadership can be found in the regular curriculum. Accordingly, this book helps the leadership teacher to integrate the leadership program with the regular curriculum through the use of guiding questions, quizzes, case studies, dilemmas, and other pedagogical strategies. It links research with practice, scaffolding teachers in understanding the content or issues described in each chapter, assisting them in building a fully defensible leadership program. A number of real life worked examples are also provided throughout each chapter as a practicable framework that can be used in teaching design for everyday units of work. This book is a useful reference for researchers working in leadership as well as an essential tool for teachers developing leadership programs for students in primary, secondary or tertiary contexts.

The first volume in this Early Childhood Education and Care in the 21st Century: International Teaching, Family and Policy Perspectives miniseries provides a snapshot of early childhood education and care from 19 different countries around the world. The intention is to provide a description for the policy and provision for young children and their families in each of the unique contemporary contexts. The selection of countries includes every continent in the world to provide variety across cultures, socio-economic status, location, population and other unique factors. Some chapters also share the development and history of early childhood in their country, including economic and political transitions that lead to changes in early childhood provision and policy. The book provides essential takeaways for early childhood educators, researchers, early childhood organisations, policy makers and those interested to know more about early childhood education within an international perspective.

Throughout the world, the challenges facing modern education are formidable. Although some of the challenges facing are unique to each educational jurisdiction, there are also some important commonalities that transcend jurisdictions. Irrespective of the nature of these challenges, there is an increasing focus on teacher quality - what it is and how to enhance it. To date, research tells us what expert teachers should be doing in their classrooms. This approach is based on the idea that teaching expertise is nothing more than the accumulation of specific skills and knowledge, and as teachers acquire these skills and knowledge most of our educational challenges can be overcome. This book questions this idea by asking 37 teachers who are already recognised as experts to share their classroom secrets. Importantly, the teachers come from diverse cultural contexts, including Australia, Finland, Hong Kong and the US, and they share: how they became expert teachers; their expectations for every student when they enter their classroom; how they view and encourage teacher-parent partnerships; and what skills and knowledge they consider important for expert teaching. To our knowledge, this is the first book that compares and contrasts the approaches taken by expert teachers from four very different cultural groups. The book helps to demystify the work of the modern teacher - what they do and the challenges they face. If you aspire to be an expert teacher, this book provides a clear model of how to approach the process. If you are an education researcher searching for 'impact', this book outlines what are some of the emerging hot topics in education research. If you are involved in teacher education then this book offers some new approaches to initial teacher education. If your focus is on educational policy, this book helps make sense of the links between the classrooms of expert teachers, education research and academic achievement. Finally, this book will help parents understand how best to partner with their child's teacher in order to enhance their learning.

The second volume in this Early Childhood Education in the 21st Century: International Teaching, Family and Policy Perspectives miniseries focuses on teacher and family perspectives of early childhood education and care from 19 different countries around the world. The aim of this volume is to articulate the key components of teacher education and family practices that impact young children's education and care. Each country featured in this volume presents its own unique perspective in relation to the cultural and societal constraints around teacher training and/or family practices and the thinking around those practices that are important for early childhood development. Offering a unique insight into how teachers and families work together in different countries, the book is essential reading for early childhood educators, researchers, early childhood organisations, policy makers and those interested to know more about early childhood within an international perspective.

Education has become a political, economic and social priority for Australia, with the success of schools (and teachers) being an integral part of the economic and social future of the country. As a result, quality assurance for learning and teaching has become increasingly debated among policy-makers and the broader public, with a call for more evidence, data and standards to ensure that schools and teachers are held accountable for students' learning outcomes. In response, this book provides a snapshot of the types of evidence and data relating to learning outcomes that are being collected in our classrooms within Australia. The chapters in this book seek to interrogate current views of learning and teaching, beyond what is measured in external assessments that only capture a limited view of student learning outcomes. The chapters explore a range of fundamental topics within education, including positive learning environments, student voice and assessment. They explore and articulate the vital knowledge and skills needed for current and future teachers. In addition, these chapters make clear links between teaching, learning and the theories that frame, shape and inform these learning and teaching processes. The research presented in this book provides practical and theoretical insights into learning and teaching in early years, primary, secondary and tertiary education.

Partnerships with Families and Communities: Building Dynamic Relationships is a comprehensive and accessible resource that provides pre-service teachers with the tools required to build effective, sustainable and proactive partnerships in both early childhood and primary educational settings. This text introduces models of home-school-community partnerships in educational contexts and presents a comprehensive partnerships approach for best practice in applying and leading effective relationships with key stakeholders. It explores essential underpinning policies, legislation and research theories that position strong, positive and proactive partnerships as a systemic solution to children's learning development. Key topics covered include diversity in partnership work, reflective practice and tools for evaluating working partnerships. Each chapter includes focused pedagogy, key terms and definitions, scenarios and review questions, which enable readers to deeply engage with new concepts. 'Proactive Partners' boxes explore real-world scenarios and encourage readers to link theory with practice.

International interest focuses on why pupils from East-Asia tend to outperform pupils from the West and scholars have proposed a number of possible explanations to account for these international trends. Using Vygotsky's theory (1978) as a conceptual framework to "construct" school achievement, this book puts forward culturally relevant context for understanding developmental aspects of children's school achievement and their implication to classroom practice and education progress. Converging the two important lines of inquiry - the child factor and the sociocultural factor - this book showcases evidence-based scholarly works from across the globe that shed light on causes of academic achievement in different contexts. The book brings together eminent scholars from early childhood, primary education, secondary and vocational education who expertly capture the vitality of development and processes of specific child factors and their interaction with their environment that explain their school achievement. Foregrounded in the five planes of cultural historical, institutional, social, personal and mental, the research explain how children think, learn and form the will to perform amidst the changing social and family environment, and challenging school and educational environment.

The third volume in the Early Childhood Education in the 21st Century: International Teaching, Family and Policy Perspectives miniseries focuses on research highlights and policy aspects of early childhood education and care from 22 different countries around the world. This volume provides a platform for authors to discuss and debate the implications of research findings on current practices that reflect policies of each country. The research presented spans from challenges in teacher training to case studies of family practices around early child development to problematise the key components of teacher education and family practices that impact young children's education and care. By problematising the key issues, chapter authors discuss the shifting paradigm of early childhood education and the importance of future research in informing these changes. Offering key policy and practice insights across 19 different countries, this book is a must-read for early childhood educators, researchers, early childhood organisations, policy makers and those interested to know more about early childhood within an international perspective.

The first volume in this Early Childhood Education and Care in the 21st Century: International Teaching, Family and Policy Perspectives miniseries provides a snapshot of early childhood education and care from 19 different countries around the world. The intention is to provide a description for the policy and provision for young children and their families in each of the unique contemporary contexts. The selection of countries includes every continent in the world to provide variety across cultures, socio-economic status, location, population and other unique factors. Some chapters also share the development and history of early childhood in their country, including economic and political transitions that lead to changes in early childhood provision and policy. The book provides essential takeaways for early childhood educators, researchers, early childhood organisations, policy makers and those interested to know more about early childhood education within an international perspective.

Education has become a political, economic and social priority for Australia, with the success of schools (and teachers) being an integral part of the economic and social future of the country. As a result, quality assurance for learning and teaching has become increasingly debated among policy-makers and the broader public, with a call for more evidence, data and standards to ensure that schools and teachers are held accountable for students' learning outcomes. In response, this book provides a snapshot of the types of evidence and data relating to learning outcomes that are being collected in our classrooms within Australia. The chapters in this book seek to interrogate current views of learning and teaching, beyond what is measured in external assessments that only capture a limited view of student learning outcomes. The chapters explore a range of fundamental topics within education, including positive learning environments, student voice and assessment. They explore and articulate the vital knowledge and skills needed for current and future teachers. In addition, these chapters make clear links between teaching, learning and the theories that frame, shape and inform these learning and teaching processes. The research presented in this book provides practical and theoretical insights into learning and teaching in early years, primary, secondary and tertiary education.

International interest focuses on why pupils from East-Asia tend to outperform pupils from the West and scholars have proposed a number of possible explanations to account for these international trends. Using Vygotsky's theory (1978) as a conceptual framework to "construct" school achievement, this book puts forward culturally relevant context for understanding developmental aspects of children's school achievement and their implication to classroom practice and education progress. Converging the two important lines of inquiry - the child factor and the sociocultural factor - this book showcases evidence-based scholarly works from across the globe that shed light on causes of academic achievement in different contexts. The book brings together eminent scholars from early childhood, primary education, secondary and vocational education who expertly capture the vitality of development and processes of specific child factors and their interaction with their environment that explain their school achievement. Foregrounded in the five planes of cultural historical, institutional, social, personal and mental, the research explain how children think, learn and form the will to perform amidst the changing social and family environment, and challenging school and educational environment.

This book explores how professionals can engage and inspire parents to support their young children's mathematics learning. Bringing together international experts, researchers and scholars, it proposes a framework for engaging with and supporting parents, including those who are less aware of the crucial development of children's mathematical skills in the early years. Focusing on mathematics learning from birth to 5 years, the book's underlying assumption is that it is possible to offer guidance to professionals working with families with young children concerning how to engage and support families in the area of mathematics learning, including those families who seem alienated from education services. Specifically, the respective chapters present a framework for understanding children's early mathematical development and the important role of families in this regard. They describe effective strategies for engaging families in their children's mathematics learning, including those who are marginalised and experience multiple disadvantages, so that all families can best support their children's mathematical learning and their development of positive attitudes towards learning. In closing, hurdles and opportunities within the systems surrounding family engagement are addressed.

This book explores how professionals can engage and inspire parents to support their young children's mathematics learning. Bringing together international experts, researchers and scholars, it proposes a framework for engaging with and supporting parents, including those who are less aware of the crucial development of children's mathematical skills in the early years. Focusing on mathematics learning from birth to 5 years, the book's underlying assumption is that it is possible to offer guidance to professionals working with families with young children concerning how to engage and support families in the area of mathematics learning, including those families who seem alienated from education services. Specifically, the respective chapters present a framework for understanding children's early mathematical development and the important role of families in this regard. They describe effective strategies for engaging families in their children's mathematics learning, including those who are marginalised and experience multiple disadvantages, so that all families can best support their children's mathematical learning and their development of positive attitudes towards learning. In closing, hurdles and opportunities within the systems surrounding family engagement are addressed.

The relationship between intellectual ability and academic achievement is well established in the scientific literature. According to Vygotsky (1978), however, the path between a child's cognitive ability and their academic achievement is influenced by the important people in their lives. This book presents a research, which tested directly the controversial idea that parents play a crucial role in influencing their children's academic achievement because of the way that parents communicate their sociocultural values and practices. Evidence is demonstrated using an approach that employs both advance statistical methods including structural equation modelling and case profiles from interviews of parents and their children. In the light of the findings presented in this book, parents are encouraged to maximise their children's academic achievement through the creation of a mediation structure that directly communicates their beliefs and academic expectations. This long overdue book is useful for all students and researchers from the broad area of education and psychology, and most of all, for parents who care.

Vygotsky (1978) asserted that the path between a child's thinking and their academic achievement is influenced by the important people in their lives, in particular their parents. This book presents case stories that show how parents play a crucial role in influencing their children's academic achievement because of the way parents communicate their sociocultural values and practices. In the light of these stories and the critical exploration in connection with the prevalent literature in the field, parents are encouraged to maximise their children's academic achievement through the appropriate opportunities that allow for interaction and communication of their expectations and values. This book is useful for all students and researchers from the broad area of education and psychology, and most of all, for parents.