Samantha Burns

Problem-solving has been identified as a critical 21st-century skill. This review integrated evidence on the effectiveness of existing approaches to teaching and assessing problem-solving in an interpersonal context (IPS) for children from birth to age six, in early childhood education and care (ECEC) settings. A comprehensive search (i.e., PsycINFO, ERIC, Education Source, Child Development and Adolescent Studies) yielded 13,030 abstracts, 38 eligible papers representing 7,627 children, and 26 papers for the meta-analysis. Multilevel meta-analyses for the pooled effect revealed strong relationships between IPS interventions and children’s IPS outcomes, Hedges’ g = 0.76 (SE = .10, p < .001, 95% CI [0.57, 0.95], τ = .26). The evidence suggests that skills training specific to IPS (e.g., brainstorming) and using assessment formats that allow children to generate novel solutions may best capture the learning process. More research is needed to expand investigations to infant and toddler samples.

Across the globe young children are increasingly spending time in early childhood education and care (ECEC) settings. Exposure to ECEC settings is associated with positive developmental outcomes when they are of high quality. Quality rating and improvement systems (QRIS) measure and improve the quality of children’s experiences in ECEC settings. However, they rarely include children’s perspectives directly. This is at least in part due to the challenges associated with interviewing young children, and a lack of guidance on how to utilise their feedback. This study employed photovoice methodology to understand children’s preferences and perspectives related to their experiences in their ECEC setting. We then qualitatively mapped children’s responses onto a classroom level, measure of quality as a way of understanding overlap in children’s perspectives on quality in ECEC and those held by professionals in the field. Twenty-one children were interviewed from five ECEC programmes in Halifax, Canada. Children largely reported that their favourite parts of care included (1) materials/activities; (2) descriptions of the uses of physical spaces in their ECEC settings; and (3) other characteristics. Qualitative differences were found in children’s preferences based on their care setting. Some children preferred activities in designated areas, whereas other children preferred materials. Interestingly, few children stated preferences for socialising with peers or educators. The potential of this method for eliciting children’s input on their experiences and implications for policy and practice are discussed.