Twenty-First Century Early Childhood Teaching, Learning and Play

Abstract

How is play or technology implemented in early childhood classrooms? As preservice teachers entering the field of early childhood education, we wanted to systematically examine this question and increase our understanding of twenty-first-century teaching practices. The objective for this study was to research and consider cur-rent ideas and teaching practices therefore expanding our knowledge of early childhood curriculum, teaching, and learning. Action research was selected as the research method to achieve this objective (Kemmis & McTaggart, 1988). The purpose was to develop a broader perspective and understanding of our future as early childhood teachers in the twenty-first century. This article describes twenty-first century re-search on teaching practices in early childhood including play and technology, a comparison between the research and current early child-hood teachers’ practices as well as our personal early childhood experiences.