Abbreviations Notes on contributors Acknowledgements Prologue Introduction: Early childhood policies and practices PART I: Early childhood policies: Implications for provision and practice Chapter 01 Balancing traditions and transitions: Early childhood policy initiatives and issues in Germany Chapter 02 Piracy in Policy: Children influencing early childhood curriculum in Norway Chapter 03 Pre-school education in Bulgaria: Achievements and challenges Chapter 04 Early childhood care and education in Uzbekistan Chapter 05 Emerging models for early childhood development from birth to four in South Africa Chapter 06 Early childhood education in the Philippines: Administration and teaching practices Percyveranda Chapter 07 Early childhood curriculum, policy and pedagogy: The Nigerian Perspective Chapter 08 A pedagogy for educating ‘new professionals’ Chapter 09 Ireland: The early childhood pedagogical dilemma PART II: Early childhood practice: Enabling pedagogical cultures and encounters Chapter 10 The Japanese and Western view of nature: Beyond cultural incommensurability Chapter 11 Integrating dance and visual arts in Taiwanese early childhood education Chapter 12 Working theories and learning dispositions in early childhood education: Perspectives from New Zealand Chapter 13 The integration of young children with special needs in mainstream nursery schools Chapter 14 Promoting emotional well-being or mental health? What’s the difference? Chapter 15 Engaging "hard-to-reach" families: A view from the literature Chapter 16 A relational pedagogy in community-based early childhood development Chapter 17 Architexture: reading the Early Years environment Epilogue Author index Subject index