Fifteen original research accounts are described by the experienced early childhood professionals who carried them out. The research focuses on early childhood services and settings; gender and disability issues in provision and play and on how adults influence children’s learning. Each account also identifies methodological issues and suggests further reading.
The contributors work in a variety of settings and services in and outside the UK. The issues researched include:
playgroups in the 21st Century;
practitioners’ responses to legislative change;
the involvement of qualified teachers in voluntary pre-school;
transferring from a Montessori nursery to a state reception class;
men in the early childhood workforce;
gender discourses in children’s homes;
gender through the eyes of girls;
including young children with disabilities;
working with under threes;
children’s drawings;
children’s reading choices;
adults’ perceptions of play;
children’s acquisition of thinking skills;
reflective practice in early years work.
The book is written for students researching in the ever expanding field of early childhood education and care and for the wide range of practitioners seeking to underpin their practice with current research.
| Introduction | ||
| Ch. 1 | Early childhood education in developing countries : are ethnic minority children required to compromise their rights? | 1 |
| Ch. 2 | Reform or rejection? : the impact of change on the role of the pre-school leader | 13 |
| Ch. 3 | Changes and challenges : pre-school practitioners' responses to policy change and development | 21 |
| Ch. 4 | The value of early years development officers' support for voluntary pre-school playgroups | 31 |
| Ch. 5 | Joining the 'mainstream' : transferring from a Montessori nursery school to a state reception class | 43 |
| Ch. 6 | 'It's not what men do' : men in the early childhood workforce | 55 |
| Ch. 7 | Why do boys like to build and girls like to draw? : gender issues in a small British military community | 63 |
| Ch. 8 | Seeing gender through the eyes of young girls | 73 |
| Ch. 9 | Imogen's story : inclusion in a mainstream school in Dubai | 85 |
| Ch. 10 | Working with children under three : the perspectives of three UK academics | 93 |
| Ch. 11 | Using young children's drawings for teaching and learning : a case study | 115 |
| Ch. 12 | Young children's favourite books | 125 |
| Ch. 13 | Is it OK to play? : perceptions of play in a small rural primary school | 141 |
| Ch. 14 | Supporting children's thinking skills in the foundation stage | 151 |
| Ch. 15 | Re-thinking reflective practice in the early years | 163 |
Overview
Fifteen original research accounts are described by the experienced early childhood professionals who carried them out. The research focuses on early childhood services and settings; gender and disability issues in provision and play and on how adults influence children’s learning. Each account also identifies methodological issues and suggests further reading.
The contributors work in a variety of settings ...