Early Learning and Development provides a unique synthesis of cultural-historical theory from Vygotsky, Elkonin and Leontiev in the twentieth century to the ground-breaking research of scholars such ...as Siraj-Blatchford, Kratsova and Hedegaard today. It demonstrates how development and learning are culturally embedded and institutionally defined, and it reflects specifically upon the implications for the early childhood profession. Divided into parts, with succinct chapters that build upon knowledge progressively, the everyday lives of children at home, in the community, at pre-school and at school are discussed in the context of child development and pedagogy. The book explicitly problematises the foundations of early childhood education, inviting postgraduates, researchers and academics to drill down into specific areas of international discourse, and extending upper-level undergraduates beyond the fundamental underpinnings of their learning. Ultimately Early Learning and Development offers new models of 'conceptual play' practice and theory within a globally resonant, cultural-historical framework.
Early Childhood Matters documents the rapid development of early years education and care from the late 1990s into the new millennium. It chronicles the unique contribution of the EPPE research to ...our understanding of the importance of pre-school.
The Effective Pre-school and Primary Education (EPPE) project is the largest European study of the impact of early years education and care on children’s developmental outcomes. Through this ground-breaking project a team of internationally-recognised experts provide insights into how home learning environments interact with pre-school and primary school experiences to shape children’s progress.
The findings of this fascinating project:
provide new evidence of the importance of early childhood experiences
show how these experiences influence children’s cognitive, social and behavioural development
give new insights on the importance of early years education
will be relevant to a wide audience who are interested in policy development, early years education and care, and ‘effectiveness’ research
examine how the combined effects of pre-school, primary school and the family interact to shape children’s educational outcomes.
This insightful book is essential reading for all those interested in innovative research methodology and policy development in early childhood education and care. It provides new evidence on good practice in early years settings and will have a wide appeal for students and those engaged in providing accredited courses of study at a range of levels in early childhood.
Selected Contents: Chapter 1 Introduction: Why EPPE? Kathy Sylva and the EPPE Team Chapter 2 The EPPE settings in the context of English pre-schools Iram Siraj-Blatchford Chapter 3 The EPPE Research design: An educational effectiveness focus Pam Sammons Chapter 4 Why children, parents and home learning are important Edward Melhuish Chapter 5 Quality in Early Childhood settings Kathy Sylva Chapter 6 Does pre-school make a difference?: Results over the pre-school period (to aged 5) Pam Sammons Chapter 7 Do the benefits of pre-school last? Investigating pupil outcomes to the end of Key Stage 2 (aged 11) Pam Sammons Chapter 8 A focus on pedagogy: Case studies of effective practice Iram Siraj-Blatchford Chapter 9 Vulnerable children: Identifying children ‘at risk’ Brenda Taggart Chapter 10 A linked study: Effective Pre-school Provision in Northern Ireland Edward Melhuish Chapter 11 Making a difference: How research can inform policy Brenda Taggart Chapter 12 Re-thinking the evidence-base for Early Years policy and practice Kathy Sylva Glossary of terms Appendix 1 How children were assessed at different time points throughout the study Appendix 2 The Home Learning Environment at different time points Appendix 3 The EPPE Technical Papers Appendix 4 Social/behavioural dimensions at different time points (items associated with dimensions) Appendix 5 The Multiple Disadvantage Index Appendix 6 Results from analyses of pre-school effects compared with those of family income and parents’ employment status
Kathy Sylva is Professor of Educational Psychology, University of Oxford.
Edward Melhuish is Professor of Human Development, Birkbeck College, University of London.
Pam Sammons is Professor of Education, University of Oxford.
Iram Siraj-Blatchford is Professor of Education, Institute of Education, University of London.
Brenda Taggart is Senior Research Officer, Institute of Education, University of London.
Innocence, Knowledge and the Construction of Childhood provides a critical examination of the way we regulate children's access to certain knowledge and explores how this regulation contributes to ...the construction of childhood, to children's vulnerability and to the constitution of the 'good' future citizen in developed countries.
Through this controversial analysis, Kerry H. Robinson critically engages with the relationships between childhood, sexuality, innocence, moral panic, censorship and notions of citizenship. This book highlights how the strict regulation of children's knowledge, often in the name of protection or in the child's best interest, can ironically, increase children's prejudice around difference, increase their vulnerability to exploitation and abuse, and undermine their abilities to become competent adolescents and adults. Within her work Robinson draws upon empirical research to:
provide an overview of the regulation and governance of children's access to 'difficult knowledge', particularly knowledge of sexuality
explore and develop Foucault's work on the relationship between childhood and sexuality
identify the impact of these discourses on adults' understanding of childhood, and the tension that exists between their own perceptions of sexual knowledge, and the perceptions of children
reconceptualise children's education around sexuality.
Innocence, Knowledge and the Construction of Childhood is essential reading for both undergraduate and postgraduate students undertaking courses in education, particularly with a focus on early childhood or primary teaching, as well as in other disciplines such as sociology, gender and sexuality studies, and cultural studies.
This open access book’s theme is Teaching mathematics as to be meaningful – foregrounding children’s play and perspectives. It discusses the relation between teachers, children and mathematical ...content within the context of play with a particular focus on the framing of these relations within this context, which is an important theme in the debate on whether teaching should be integrated with or separated from children’s play. The work further addresses meaningfulness in the learning process, particularly from the child’s perspective. Globally, most guidelines and curricula for early childhood education mention play as one of the key features for young children’s learning. Still, there are quite different views on the definitions of play and in what ways play should become part of children’s learning. The chapters of the book mirror the research topics presented at the fifth POEM conference in May 2022 divided into four sub-themes: Play and learning, Children’s perspectives on mathematics, Teachers’ competencies and Theorizing aspects of early mathematics education.
In this fascinating new book, Affrica Taylor encourages an exciting paradigmatic shift in the ways in which childhood and nature are conceived and pedagogically deployed, and invites readers to ...critically reassess the naturalist childhood discourses that are rife within popular culture and early years education.
Through adopting a common worlds framework, Reconfiguring the Natures of Childhood generates a number of complex and inclusive ways of seeing and representing the early years. It recasts childhood as:
messy and implicated rather than pure and innocent;
situated and differentiated rather than decontextualized and universal;
entangled within real world relations rather than protected in a separate space.
Throughout the book, the author follows an intelligent and innovative line of thought which challenges many pre-existing ideas about childhood. Drawing upon cross-disciplinary perspectives, and with international relevance, this book makes an important contribution to the field of childhood studies and early childhood education, and will be a valuable resource for scholars, postgraduate students and higher education teachers.
Introduction 1. Rousseau’s Legacy: Configuring Nature’s Child 2. Representing Nature’s Child 3. Educating Nature’s Child 4. Assembling Common Worlds Childhoods 5. Enacting Common Worlds Childhoods Conclusion: Towards Common Worlds Pedagogies
Affrica Taylor is Associate Professor of Education, University of Canberra, Australia.
La propuesta de este escrito es reflexionar acerca de las posturas asumidas acerca del juego en el “Simposio Internacional de Educación Inicial: Desafíos Pedagógicos para los próximos años”, ...organizada en 2016 por el Ministerio de Educación y Deportes de la República Argentina, junto a la Organización de Estados Iberoamericanos para la Educación, la Ciencia y la Cultura (OEI), a propósito de la discusión acerca de la obligatoriedad de la sala de tres años en Argentina. Este evento puso en el centro de la escena a las experiencias de juego colectivas en la educación infantil, experiencias que en tiempos de virtualidad reivindican la dimensión corporal y la construcción de su disponibilidad para moverse y encontrarse con otros. A partir de la pregunta que interpela la relación aparentemente indisoluble entre juego y educación infantil, la intención es reflexionar acerca de la frivolidad productiva y el desorden ordenado (Kishimoto, 1998; Brougere, 1998), es decir, la ausencia de consecuencias de las decisiones tomadas en el marco de lo permitido por las reglas de juego, dos características que la educación (desde Froebel a la actualidad) ha realzado para incluirlo en las propuestas de escolaridad. Desenredando la necesidad de pensar el juego en la educación desde y para el bienestar infantil, en este proceso de ensayar consideraciones teóricas, se propone poner el acento en la contracara de las particularidades mencionadas, es decir, en la intensidad, para promover en la educación infantil prácticas lúdicas inclusivas, sanas y contingentes.
Abstract. The proposal is to analyze the theoretical and practical positions assumed about games in the “International Symposium of Initial Education: Pedagogical Challenges for the coming years”, organized in 2016 by the Ministry of Education and Sports of the Argentine Republic, together with the Organization of Ibero-American States for Education, Science and Culture (OEI), regarding the discussion about the mandatory nature of the three-year ward in Argentina. This event put at the center of the scene collective play experiences in early childhood education, experiences that in times of virtuality vindicate the bodily dimension and the construction of their availability to move and meet others.Starting from the idea that questions the (apparently) indissoluble relationship between play and early childhood education, the intention is to reflect on productive frivolity and disorder ordered (Kishimoto, 1998; Brougere, 1998), that is, the absence of consequences of the decisions made within the framework of what is allowed by the rules of the game, two characteristics that education (from Froebel to the present) has enhanced to include it in school proposals. Unraveling the need to think about play in education from and for child welfare, this essay proposes to emphasize the other side of the particularities mentioned, that is, intensity, to promote inclusive playful practices in early childhood education, healthy and contingent.
Este estudio describe y analiza el lugar que el cuerpo, el movimiento y la Educación Física (EF) ocupan en las prescripciones curriculares de Educación Infantil (EI) en la ciudad de Vitória, ...centrándose en sus interfaces con las discusiones académicas que se debaten actualmente. Metodológicamente, es una investigación documental y tiene como fuente los documentos: A Educação Infantil do Município de Vitória: um outro olhar (2006) e Diretrizes Curriculares Educação Infantil de Vitória/ES (2020). Los resultados encontrados permiten afirmar que las perspectivas de trabajo con el cuerpo y el movimiento de los niños y las niñas representan un avance en el debate sobre el papel de la EF en la EI. Considerando que, además de reconocer el lenguaje corporal como uno de los lenguajes imprescindibles para trabajar con niños y niñas, se alinean con las concepciones actuales de educación infantil y primera infancia. Además se constituyen en propuestas elaboradas junto a los docentes de Educación Infantil.
Abstract: This study describes and analyzes the place that body, movement and physical education occupy in the curriculum prescriptions for Early Childhood Education in the city of Vitória, focusing their interfaces with the discussions that take place in the academic level of the debate. Methodologically, it carries out a documentary research and has as source the documents: A Educação Infantil do Município de Vitória: um outro olhar (2006) e Diretrizes Curriculares Educação Infantil de Vitória/ES (2020). The results found allow us to state that the perspectives of working with the children's body and movement in the analyzed documents represent an advance in the debate on the role of Physical Education in Early Childhood Education. Considering that, in addition to recognizing body language as one of the essential languages for working with children, and aligning the current conceptions of childhood and early childhood education, they constitute proposals elaborated in co-authorship with the teachers of the Child education.
Adopting an interdisciplinary approach, Rachel M. Heydon and Luigi Iannacci shed light on the ways in which joint notions of normality and abnormality are used to pathologize childhood.
