Global Perspectives in Early Childhood Education

Contents: Eeva Hujala/Anneli Niikko: The Science of Early Childhood Education - Core Ideas - Eve Kikas/Marja-Kristiina Lerkkanen: Education in Estonia and Finland - Ulla Härkönen: The Process of Creating the Pedagogical Systems Theory for Early Childhood and Preschool Education - James E. Johnson/Jennifer Chestnut Pyles: ECE in the USA: Focus on the State-Funded Pre-K Movement - Mare Torm: 170 Years of Development in Estonian Preschool Institutions: Historical Trends in Preschool Education - Marika Veisson/Paul Kees/Taimi Tulva/Maie Vikat: Development of the Field of Preschool Education in Tallinn University - Sigrun Sand: Early Childhood Education in a Multicultural Norway - Jarmo Kinos: Early Childhood Education in Finland - History, the Present and a Little Part of the Future - Airi Liimets: What «Gifts» Could Good Beginnings Have in Education Interpreted as a Difference? - Tiiu Tammemäe: The Development of Speech of Estonian Children Aged 2-4 Years and Its Connections with Environmental Factors where the Child is Growing Up - Kristina Nugin/Marika Veisson: The Intellectual Development of 3-6-Year-Old Children in Different Child Rearing Environments in Estonia - Mairi Männamaa/Eve Kikas: Developing a Test Battery for Assessing 6- and 7-Year-Old Children's Cognitive Skills - Piret Soodla/Eve Kikas: Oral Narratives of 6-7 Years Old Estonian Children - Marja-Kristiina Lerkkanen/Timo Ahonen/Anna-Maija Poikkeus: The Development of Reading Skills and Motivation and Identification of Risk at School Entry - Peter K Smith: Children's Play: Essential for Development, Surplus Energy, or Something in Between? - Anneli Niikko/Aino Ugaste: A Comparative Perspective on the Early Years' Curricula in Finland and Estonia - Manjula Waniganayake: Early Childhood Leadership at Crossroads: Current Concerns and Future Directions - Helena Rasku-Puttone/ Eija Pakarinen/Kaili Trossmann/Marja-Kristiina Lerkkanen/Eve Kikas/Anna-Maija Poikkeus: Classroom Practices in Finnish and Estonian

Marika Veisson is Professor of Early Childhood Education and Educational Psychology at Tallinn University (Estonia).
Eeva Hujala is a Professor of Early Childhood Education at the University of Tampere (Finland).
Peter K. Smith is Head of the Unit for School and Family Studies, and Professor of Psychology, at Goldsmiths, University of London (UK).
Manjula Waniganayake is an Associate Professor (PhD) at the Institute of Early Childhood, Macquarie University (Australia).
Eve Kikas is Professor of Early Childhood Education and Educational Psychology at Tallinn University (Estonia).