Early Childhood Studies

Rod Parker-Rees, Caroline Leeson, Rod Parker-Rees, Caroline Leeson, Author

• Publisher: Learning Matters
• Year: 2015
• Print ISBN:
  9781473915923
  9781473915916
• eBook ISBN:
  9781473933644
• Edition: 4
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Elementary Education

For students of Early Childhood Studies, questions are as important as answers.  
What is childhood? Is childhood the same in all cultures?
How do children grow and develop?
What space do we make for children in our society?
How do adults approach risk and what does this mean for children?

Can children's play be planned by adults?

Early Childhood Studies tackles these questions and more. It explores the why, how and what of studying and working with young children and their families, considering how a range of theories can help us to identify useful questions.

This is a comprehensive, up-to-date, challenging and accessible core text for the Early Childhood Studies course. Throughout, key theories and research findings are highlighted and explored to help link theory and practice. It covers the important themes of child development, communication, wellbeing, observation, working with parents, inclusive practice, leadership and research. This fourth edition has been fully updated throughout and includes new chapters on children and risk, inclusive learning environments, play and adults? concepts of childhood.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Publisher Note
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Contributors
• Preface
• Introduction
• Part 1 What can Children do? Sociocultural Factors in Development
• 1 An Introduction to Child Development
• 2 Children at Play: Evolution, Playfulness and Creativity
• 3 Developing Communication: Getting to Know each Other
• 4 Spirituality and Young Children's Well-Being
• Part 2 Working with Children: Extending Opportunities for Participation
• 5 Observing Children: The Importance of Personal Insight and Reflective Action
• 6 Providing an Enabling Environment
• 7 Children, Inequality and Risk
• 8 Tackling Inequality in Early Years Settings
• Part 3 Multiprofessional Practice: Developing Empowering Communities
• 9 Language, Cultural Identity and Belonging
• 10 Working in Partnership: Encounters with Colleagues in the Third Space
• 11 Parenting in Trouble?
• 12 Leadership in Early Childhood Settings
• Part 4 Comparing Children's Worlds: Making the Familiar Strange
• 13 Concepts of Childhood: Meeting with Difference
• 14 The Benefits of Comparison: Recent Developments in the German Early Years Workforce
• 15 Children's Well-Being in the Majority World: Developing Sustainable Life Patterns
• 16 The Research, Policy and Practice Triangle in Early Childhood Education and Care
• Part 5 Researching Practice: Developing Critical Engagement
• 17 In Praise of Reflective Practice
• 18 Research Projects in Early Childhood Studies
• 19 Action Research
• Index