Innovative Approaches in Early Childhood Mathematics EECERA Collection of Research in Early Childhood Education Series

The chapters in this book investigate and reflect on many of the issues and challenges raised by the current trends and tensions in early childhood mathematics education. They emanate from seven countries ? Australia, Northern Ireland, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.

Ever since Fröbel invented the kindergarten, mathematics has been a part of early childhood pedagogy. Mathematics is an important part of children?s daily life, which helps them to understand the world around them. Nowadays, early childhood mathematics is in the international spotlight. Partly this is the result of myriad studies that seem to show that early childhood mathematics achievement is a strong predictor of success or otherwise in future school mathematics, other school subjects, and life itself. Another influence on early childhood mathematics education is the advent of the political and advocacy juggernaut known as STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics). Early childhood mathematics education is important for children?s present and future learning.

This book provides a strong collection of current research for the consideration of all in the early childhood education field. It was originally published as a special issue of the European Early Childhood Education Research Journal.

Introduction – Innovative approaches in early childhood mathematics 1. Teachers’ involvement in children’s mathematizing – beyond dichotomization between play and teaching 2. Young children’s mathematical learning opportunities in family shopping experiences 3. Mathematizing in preschool: children’s participation in geometrical discourse 4. Affective-motivational aspects of early childhood teacher students’ knowledge about mathematics 5. Mathematical pedagogical content knowledge in Early Childhood Education: tales from the ‘great unknown’ in teacher education in Portugal 6. The impact of the Promoting Early Number Talk project on the development of abstract representation in mathematics 7. The role of and connection between systematization and representation when young children work on a combinatorial task 8. What makes a task a problem in early childhood education? 9. Learning through play – pedagogy and learning outcomes in early childhood mathematics 10. Using a bioecological framework to investigate an early childhood mathematics education intervention

Oliver Thiel is an Associate Professor at Queen Maud University College in Trondheim, Norway. He has 20 years of teaching and research experience in the field of early childhood mathematics education in Germany and Norway. He is convenor of the EECERA Special Interest Group: Mathematics Birth to Eight Years.

Bob Perry is recently retired after 45 years in higher education. He is Emeritus Professor in the School of Education at Charles Sturt University in Albury-Wodonga, Australia, and Director of Peridot Education Pty Ltd. He has been awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Mälardalen University, Sweden, in recognition of his body of research.