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Whilst research underlines the importance of early mathematics in kindergarten, practitioners need effective and innovative approaches to pedagogy. Currently, very different approaches are deployed from an instructional, educator-led approach based on training programmes to a play-based approach. This intervention study examines the effects on the mathematical competency of these two pedagogies. Thirty-five kindergarten educators and 324 six-year-old children were randomly assigned to either a training programme, a play-based approach with card and board games or to the control group. Educators’ views on the interventions were gathered in semi-structured interviews. The results indicate higher learning gains overall for the play-based approach. Differentiated effects were found as tendencies: children with low competencies tend to gain more from training programmes compared to no intervention; children with high competencies gain more from the play-based approach than the training. Educators evaluated the play-based intervention with card and board games as better suited to children’s diverse needs.

The article concerns art as an educational resource, using of this resource in the pedagogical activity supports education, care and the development of personality. Majority of adults educating preschoolers do not possess the understanding of subject matter of the art in system, its functions, meaning for education and technologies of working with kids through art. That is why the question of their training in this area has been examined. This article proves the importance of the collaborative education for adults working with the preschoolers on the base of art pedagogy, which is the pedagogical movement to solve educational problems with art. The results, gained from a poll, of self-assessment related to the competences of adults in the area of using art in pedagogical activity are presented. For better understanding of the perception of art by adults who are teachers of different subjects or family members, it is suggested to discuss the structure of the artistic image in accordance with a scheme that reflects the structure of the interrelations of its components. The specifics of pedagogical activity with works of art are revealed and the stereotypes and limits of perception of the artistic image, caused by the professional specialization of educating adults are presented. The authors show the possibilities for cooperative solutions of educational tasks in the application of artworks by educators of different specialties. Conclusions about the feasibility of collaborative education of adults, teaching preschoolers through the methods of art pedagogy, and mastering the language of art are drawn.

The research questions of the article are: What takes place in the professional cooperative work of including children with special needs in kindergartens and in counteracting exclusive process? How are views on children and ethics expressed through practice and in reflections on practice among the staff in kindergarten? What constitutes ‘pedagogical presence’ ‘attentive love’ and children’s participation in developing pedagogical practice A common understanding of these concepts are highlighted by Fromm’s understanding of ‘be-mode’ and ‘have-mode’ as different modes of orientation toward ourselves and the world. The article draws on critical social theory on preschool education and is based on empiric findings from ethnographic studies in two kindergartens. While planning and regulating the practice according to a biased view on ‘what children need’ earlier were main topic in the kindergartens studied, now concentration on listening to and ‘reading’ the children is focused, and thus expansion of the interests and questions the children themselves bring in is facilitated. The new practice can be seen as a resistance movement against the growth of an instrumental and technical approach to preschool education the last years.