Socio‐dramatic play (SDP) creates a zone of proximal development in which optimum cognitive development occurs. To participate successfully in this kind of play children and their partners must create shared meaning, or what is referred to in the socio‐cultural literature as intersubjectivity. Based on intersubjectivity and SDP, this study investigated whether four‐year‐old children attending an Australian metropolitan kindergarten created intersubjectivity in their play. Once its existence had been established, children were found to employ four main play acts when they created intersubjectivity with their play partners. Extensions were used most frequently, and introductions, build‐ons and acceptances next, with other play acts less often. A key recommendation is that prioritising SDP in programmes for young children maximises opportunities for the creation of intersubjectivity.

This article presents the findings from a case study focused on understanding how cultural models of education are brought together in dialogue to re-imagine education. The use of cultural models theory provided a useful framework for exploring how teachers, leaders, children, and families at Westside Primary School orchestrated multiple perspectives to re-imagine their figured world as culturally responsive. Findings suggest the principles from two cultural models of education – Reggio Emilia and a pedagogical framework called the Nunga Way, informed by local Australian Aboriginal First Nations peoples – were significant for local culturally responsive pedagogy.

Early childhood education contexts are complex and diverse and thus require leadership approaches that connect with the values and beliefs of that field. Currently the research on leadership in early childhood education is limited and it would benefit from research into innovative approaches employed in very different but comparable locations. This article presents findings from a cross-case analysis exploring the role of leadership in two early childhood education settings: a university laboratory school in the United States of America and a public school in Australia. Drawing on cultural models theory, we argue that co-constructing leadership in context is a useful alternative to traditional hierarchical approaches to leadership. Each site’s co-construction of leadership provided an opportunity for leadership to be developed organically and to be shared amongst the community of learners. The findings demonstrate how co-constructed leadership promotes a democratic environment for all members of a learning community.

THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH Australia's online course ‘Brain development in the Early Years' is a response to Mustard's Thinker in Residence Report (2008) which recommended the early childhood educator workforce acquire knowledge about young children's brain development. This research investigated educators' views on the value for their work of learning about early brain development. Data comprised responses to course content in online course discussions and a standard anonymous online course evaluation instrument, written by 45 in-service and pre-service educators enrolled in the course. Analysis revealed four themes regarding educators' statements about the value of brain development knowledge for their roles as educators: ‘Working with families', ‘Working with children’, ‘Advocacy’ and ‘Working across services'. Themes are described and illustrated with examples from students' writing. Findings are discussed in terms of the impact of educators' knowledge about brain development on their thinking about their professional practice.

Lecturer feedback on students’ essays is important to the quality of the experience students have at university ( Norton & Norton, 2001 Norton LS Norton JCW (2001) Essay feedback: how can it help students improve their academic writing? paper presented at the International Conference of the European Association for the Teaching of Academic Writing Across Europe Groningen, The Netherlands, 18–20 June ). The aim of the present study was to investigate whether early childhood students at one university actually read lecturer feedback on their essays and, if they did, what they found helpful and not helpful to their learning. Feedback was defined as ‘giving students information on how well or how poorly they are doing in their academic work’ ( Hounsell, 1987 Hounsell D (1987) Essay writing and the quality of feedback in: J. Richardson M. Eysenck & D. Piper (Eds) Student learning: research in education and cognitive psycholog (Milton Keynes, Society for Research into Higher Education and Open University Press) , p. 109). Using the Vygotskian concept of learning as a socially shared activity, qualitative data were collected from second‐year students from a four‐year early childhood degree programme via an anonymous survey and four focus groups. Major findings were that, in contrast with studies of students in other programmes, early childhood students read lecturer feedback on their essays and used feedback that was detailed and explanatory as a learning tool. Types of feedback students found to be most and least useful were identified.