Category: Schools & Learning
What we know about executive function research in Africa: A scoping review
10 September 2026
The developmental literature has seen an increase in studies on children’s executive function across diverse populations, given its importance for early childhood development and later-life outcomes. A small but increasing number of studies have focused on children’s executive function in low-income countries. This scoping review systematically synthesizes executive function studies conducted in Africa to present […]
A Playful Start to School
30 June 2026
The Importance of Play and Peer Relationships at the Transition to Reception Presented by Dr Elian Fink at the PEDAL Conference 2026 as part of the workshop session titled: ‘A Playful Start to School’. This session explored how children’s play and friendships evolve as they move through the different stages of early years provision into […]
Early Years Library Introductory Workshop for Leaders and Champions
27 April 2026
On this page you will find all the resources needed for the Early Years Library Introductory Workshop for Leaders and Champions. If you are not a leader or a champion in your nursery, you should do the Introductory Workshop for Early Years Educators. Start with the welcome video below, which will give you a brief […]
Explorando el bienestar de los niños y las niñas autistas en Medellín
25 March 2026
Si tienes diagnóstico de autismo o eres familiar de alguien con este diagnóstico en Medellín, ¡esta invitación es para ti! En Colombia, aún sabemos poco sobre cómo se vive el autismo en el día a día. Muchas de las investigaciones provienen de otros países y no reflejan la realidad colombiana. Por eso, hoy queremos escuchar […]
Communication with friends and non-friend peers: an examination of dyadic connectedness across two play contexts
26 February 2026
This study examines the extent to which children’s connectedness is influenced by interaction context and friendship status. Research findings show that although friends engaged in similar rates of connected talk across two contexts, non-friends engaged in more connected talk during goal-directed drawing when compared to free-play. It is therefore important to focus on both context […]
Take part in the Early Years Library Project
9 February 2026
Thank you for your interest in the Early Years Library. We are currently recruiting nurseries to take part in our project, which will take place between March and July 2026. To help you find out more about our project and what it would involve, we have created four short videos. Please watch all four videos […]
A scoping review of teacher training programs to promote learning through play in pre- and primary schools
1 October 2025
This paper was published by the Journal of Early Childhood Teacher Education in September 2025.
Understanding how certain personality traits impact children’s enjoyment of school and teachers’ perceptions of children’s behaviour
25 September 2025
Read a summary of this recent paper published by Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties which used data from the Healthy Start, Happy Start study.
Play: The future of learning and thriving
17 July 2025
Bo Stjerne Thomsen, Head of Educational Impact at LEGO Education, attended the PEDAL Conference 2025 to discuss how play can be more deeply integrated into education, work, and society.
Supporting Learning Through Play
11 December 2024
A Play Commission Submission by Dr Soizic Le Courtois, Manogya Sahay and Qiming Liu