OOIR: Observatory of International Research

Papers

(The median citation count of Early Years is 1. The table below lists those papers that are above that threshold based on CrossRef citation counts [max. 250 papers]. The publications cover those that have been published in the past four years, i.e., from 2021-11-01 to 2025-11-01.)

Article	Citations
What does it (not) mean to be “Froebelian”?: exploring Scottish early years professionals’ perspectives	24
An exploratory study of Chilean early childhood teachers’ professional learning communities	22
Parent–child play and coping: experiences of parents and young children during the pandemic	15
Parents’ perspectives on inclusive practices in early childhood education and care: facilitators and barriers for children with Cerebral Palsy	9
Encouraging and assessing preschool children’s musical creativity	9
Navigating ‘the bumpy road’ from research to practice: improving the impact of research on spatial reasoning practice with young children	9
Transition at a standstill: preschoolers’ motor development during the COVID-19 pandemic	9
Challenges, struggles and needs in assessment: voices of early childhood teachers	9
A critical analysis of Chinese Early Childhood Education policy documents from the perspective of education for sustainable development	8
Mature play needs a mature player: experimental investigation of the effective scaffolding in the preschoolers’ play	8
Crisis and adaptability: a model of early childhood teacher resilience across five countries	7
Did you do something today, or did you solely play? Barriers and facilitators for the use of play in early childhood educational contexts	7
Moments of togetherness: humour and playful interactions in the toddler peer group	6
School readiness: a qualitative analysis of early childhood education and first-grade teachers´ beliefs in Uruguay	6
Service children’s wellbeing in the context of three- to four-year-old Army children experiencing a parental deployment	6
Supporting early years professional development to enhance high-quality conversational interactions in early childhood care and education settings: the ShREC approach	6
The quality of nursery settings in Jamaica using ITERS-3; harnessing the lessons for improved practices in childcare facilities	6
Using art criticism to investigate aesthetic appreciation in children with high and low aesthetic judgment	6
‘I can teach you that’: a study of musical interaction as a learning-generating practice in Swedish preschool everyday environments	6
Learning from COVID: recognising the centrality of the relational in early years practice and research	6
Observing dressing in a collaborative or trusting environment: the right to participate in one's own care at the Emmi Pikler nursery school in Budapest	6
Infant/toddler mentor teachers’ professional learning through weekly co-planning meetings with preservice teachers	6
Supporting childcare professionals in approaching multilingualism: insights from a collaborative process for professional development	5
List of reviewers from October 2020 to December 2021	5
‘We cry together every day’ – expressing complex emotion in research with early childhood practitioners	5

Learning through play or learning sexism through play? Why critical gender literacy matters in kindergarten education	5
Using action research to infuse nature-based loose parts play into the Kindergarten Program	5
Online reflective supervision training with early care and education supervisors	5
Obituary: Liz Brooker April 1946–August 2022	5
Links between teachers’ planning, assessment and development time and implementation of curriculum in early childhood education	5
The characteristics of gifted children with learning disabilities according to preschool teachers	5
Universal mental health support in the early years in the context of the UK: early years professionals’ views	4
Is there a place for love in an early childhood setting?	4
Home-based early intervention services for children with disabilities in Saudi Arabia: opportunities and challenges from a specialists perspective	4
Mentoring processes in kindergarten student teachers’ training	4
Construct validity of the sensory integration infant routines questionnaire (SIIRQ)	4
Children’s transitions in early childhood education and care: various combinations of dis-/continuities	4
Taiwanese parents’ perspectives on the implementation of self‐determination for children with developmental delays in a family setting	4
Fostering children’s racialized identities in early childhood education	4
Assessing four- and five-year old children’s play-based writing: use of a collaboratively-developed assessment tool	4
Professionalization in early childhood education: how do educators craft their work?	4
Fundamental motor skills enhancement in a preschool setting through a structured physical education programme	4
Reconceptualising the third teacher: a study of trainee experiences of work-based learning on level 3 early years programmes	3
Examining the relationship between four to six year olds' school readiness levels and their parents’ tolerance of risky play	3
Pedagogical photo documentation for play in early childhood education and care	3
Toddlers’ attachment behaviours and the quality of their transitions from home to kindergarten	3
Preschool outdoor education environment quality predicts children’s environmental attitude, awareness and affinity towards nature (biophilia)	3
Building professionalism through professional associations and unions	3
Norwegian ECEC teachers’ play practices with children aged 2-3 years	3
How kindergarten teachers in China create conditions for children’s mathematics concept learning	3
The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on preschool teachers’ identity	3
Promoting professionalism and quality in preschool practice with the youngest children through action research	3
Early childhood education professionals’ mentalization: a pilot study	3
How does nature support early language learning? A systematic literature review	3
Quality in children’s digital picture books: seven key strands for educational reflections for shared dialogue-based reading in early childhood settings	3
“Oh, you’ve never done that before?!” Preservice teachers being ‘stirred in’ to unfamiliar practices with infants and toddlers	3
The role of placement and practicum in the professional readiness of ECEC educators working with infants and toddlers	3
Exploring educators’ and parents’ perceptions of gender as a correlate of toddlers’ physical activity: two faces of the same coin?	3
The role of teachers in, and the importance of, self-discovery for developing science process skills	3
Compliance to compassion: how COVID-19 changed the way educators use social media to collaborate with families	3
‘He will play because it is play’. Exploring Ghanaian early years parents’ ethno-theories about play and learning	3
Creating Conditions for Chinese Kindergarten Teachers’ Professional Development in a Play-based Setting	3
‘I can’t teach without ICT’: unpacking and problematising teachers’ perceptions of the use of ICT in kindergartens in China	3
Peer-mediated education and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in preschool inclusive programs: the power of games	2
Inclusive active play curriculum in pre-service Canadian early childhood education programs	2
How parents read young learners’ digital engagement: a posthumanist inquiry into the temporality of co-evolving learning practices in AI game space	2
How do early childhood education leaders shape professional learning communities?	2
The use of short-video mobile apps in early childhood: a case study of parental perspectives in China	2
Ukrainian refugee children in Czech early childhood settings: why some families are more successful than others when integrating into a new environment	2
Adjustment to preschool after COVID-19 in Turkey: teachers’ perspectives	2
When environmental knowledge falls short: how collectivism shapes pro-environmental attitudes and behaviors of early childhood educators	2
A comparison between preschool children’s verbal participation during the shared reading of a wordless and a text-based rendition of Aesop’s fable The Lion and the Mouse	2
Preschool teachers' pedagogical knowledge, awareness and perspectives of early childhood mathematics education	2
Children’s involvement in home-based childcare: are boys more susceptible to caregiver sensitivity than girls?	2
The role of parents’ gender in parenting attitudes and parental permission to engage in risky play	2

The relationship between preschool teachers’ sense of teaching efficacy and turnover intention during the COVID-19 pandemic: a mediation model	2
An exploratory study of early childhood coaches’ practices and professional learning needs	2
Early childhood education and care traditions and policy in an expanding Europe	2
Degrees of freedom: reflections on perceived barriers to outdoor learning practice for early education in England and Turkey	2
Early childhood preservice teachers’ learning about children’s metacognitive thinking processes and constructivist pedagogy	2
‘Nobody left behind’: barriers to engagement in early years digitally mediated leadership development	2
Latent analysis of the relationship between burnout experienced by Chinese preschool teachers and their professional engagement and career development aspirations	2
Can we play with science? Preschool teachers’ discussion about play-responsive teaching and how science content can be introduced into play with support of digital tools	2
Comparing teachers’ and parents’ perspectives on early childhood literacy education	2
Education and an Ethics of Care when working with Refugee Families during COVID-19	2
Enhancing preschool–home collaboration: lessons from virtual home visit experiences during the COVID-19 outbreak in China	2
Value in time: associations between early childhood educators’ time stress and curriculum implementation	1
Concepts of early childhood learning and development in Cameroon, West Africa	1
China’s preschool teacher workforce development 2010–2020: crossing the river by feeling the stones	1
Impact of kindergarten teachers’ scientific processing skills training on children’s science and mathematics development	1
Unlock the father–child relationship during lockdown: an investigation of socioemotional experiences of Wuhan preschool children and parents under COVID-19	1
List of reviewers from 2024	1
Participation profiles in Chilean ECE professional associations and unions: assemblages of agency and professional field orientation	1
The ‘it’ factor: expectations of ‘good’ early childhood teachers in Australia	1
Fostering excellence: professional associations and the cultivation of teachers’ professional identities	1
Making toddlers’ numerical competence visible – without relying solely on verbal utterances	1
The preschool teachers’ union in Iceland: a critical analysis of influence and challenges	1
Enhancing quality: the influence of educational resources on preprimary schools in Gambella Regional State, Ethiopia	1
An infant-toddler field experience in resistance to settler colonialism in teacher preparation: perspectives and practices of teachers and teacher candidates	1
The policy-research-practice triangle in New Zealand early childhood education: Complexities, impossibilities and silences	1
Professional vision of early childhood teachers: relations to knowledge, work experience and teacher child-interaction	1
On becoming an infant-toddler pedagogue: perceived contributions of heuristic play in initial professional education	1
Thinking out of feeling: Vygotsky and the emotional transition from early childhood to school age in Korean Language	1
Beyond the rules, behind a smile: children’s oppositional actions in nurseries	1
The effects of board games on math skills in children attending prekindergarten and kindergarten: A systematic review	1
Building professionalism in early childhood development in South Africa: professional associations and unions	1
STEAM education with young learners: five different design processes	1
Measuring the impact of concept knowledge and laboratory intervention on pre-service kindergarten teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge in science education	1
Barriers to involvement in parenting activities in school-based preschools in disadvantaged neighbourhoods in Canada	1
‘I’d like to find out more about what we can actually do after this degree because I’m not 100% sure’: exploring emergent and divergent aspirations of Early Childhood undergraduates	1
The development of Birth to Five Matters guidance : reflections on the critical agency and collective advocacy of an English early childhood coalition	1
Building professionalism: Chilean ECEC leaders’ views on their participation in professional associations	1
International perspectives on wellbeing and democratic living in early childhood curricula	1
Birth to 3: a critical space for early childhood workforce transformation in South Africa	1
Dialogical conceptualisations of leadership in social enterprise early years group	1
Metacognition and self-regulation in young children: does it matter if metacognitive experiences are communicated?	1
Preschool children’s understanding of the musical concept of tempo by engaging in strategies from mathematical generalisation	1
Effects of teachers’ experience and beliefs on the frequency of math teaching*	1
Beneficial or debilitating: a qualitative inquiry into Chinese preschool teachers’ workload-related stress mindset	1
Empowering little learners: revolutionizing distance learning (DL) for Tabuk Region kindergarten students with disabilities	1
Teaching STEM through play: conditions created by the conceptual PlayWorld model for early childhood teachers	1
Preschoolers’ and their parents’ mental health and wellbeing during the COVID-19 pandemic in Estonia and Germany	1
bell hooks and Picture Books: Equity in Early Childhood Education	1
International perspectives on early childhood education curriculum development: reflections on a documentary review	1