Ebook Rethinking Learning In Early Childhood Education

"I think a real strength of the book is the use of the case studies to ground the points made and to offer in-depth insights into practice." Jackie Marsh, University of Sheffield, UK This exciting book considers the nature of young children's lives and how this can, and should, inform early childhood education in practical ways. It examines: What is it like for young children to learn in the 21st century? How can we link this to new and innovative ways of providing relevant and engaging learning contexts for young children? What it means to be multiliterate in the 21st century The book explores how learning and engagement with ideas can be extended through the use of new technologies, describing how information and communications technologies enable young people to extend the boundaries of their learning and social interactions. These experiences have important implications for formal learning environments and the nature of the curriculum, including bold new approaches to teaching and learning which offer opportunities for children to investigate in new ways. This book provides examples of the ways in which early childhood teachers have extended opportunities for new types of learning for children by creating contexts in which they are able to explore and represent their ideas and thinking in multimodal formats using new technologies. This book represents a research-based discussion for rethinking learning in the 21st century and includes various case studies and scenarios to enable students and practising teachers to try out new ideas. Finally, it considers new ways of thinking about children's learning by creating a multiliteracies portrait, pedagogies and pathways profile that enables teachers to build on their strengths to plan for effective learning outcomes. Rethinking Learning in Early Childhood Education is key reading for students on Early Years courses or Primary Education pre-service teacher education programmes.

Rethinking Early Childhood Education is alive with the conviction that teaching young children involves values and vision. This anthology collects inspiring stories about social justice teaching with young children. Included here is outstanding writing from childcare teachers, early-grade public school teachers, scholars, and parents.Early childhood is when we develop our core dispositions -- the habits of thinking that shape how we live. This book shows how educators can nurture empathy, an ecological consciousness, curiosity, collaboration, and activism in young children. It invites readers to rethink early childhood education, reminding them that it is inseparable from social justice and ecological education.An outstanding resource for childcare providers, early-grade teachers, as well as teacher education and staff development programs.

This book challenges traditional conceptions of readiness in early childhood education by sharing concrete examples of practice, policy and histories that rethink readiness. This book seeks to reimagine possible new educational worlds for young children.

This collection, edited by leaders in the field of early childhood and multicultural education, is a valuable resource for those studying and working with young children. Chapters emphasize the relationship between theory, research, and practice, and provide illustrations of equitable and inclusive practices that move us toward social justice in the critical field of early childhood education. Drawing from the current literature on ability, class, culture, ethnicity, gender, languages, race, and sexual orientation, the book presents a forward-looking account of how diversity could improve the educational experience of children from birth to grade three.

Bringing together a collection of chapters from international experts in the field of early childhood education, Rethinking Play and Pedagogy in Early Childhood Education seeks to explore how play in the Early Years is valued as a means of learning. The book discusses how play is presented, transformed by institutional and pedagogical discourses and ultimately experienced by children. Adopting cultural, conceptual and contextual approaches to play and pedagogy across its chapters, this book addresses contemporary emerging issues surrounding play and pedagogy including: the application of critical and socio-cultural analyses to play in early childhood renewed interest in the aesthetic, creative and affective dimensions of play in early childhood education competing discourses of ‘performativity’, market forces, social reconstruction and child-centredness children’s voice and participation within educational settings globalization, migration and cultural pluralism the role of digital technology in early childhood education diversity, identity and social justice within early childhood settings. With international appeal and relevance, this book will be of interest to students taking undergraduate, Masters and doctoral courses in early childhood education, childhood and education studies as well as academic teachers and researchers, policy-makers and international agencies working with young children.

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"This is a book that I am going to have to own, and will work to find contexts in which to recommend. It cuts obliquely through so many important domains of evidence and scholarship that it cannot but be a valuable stimulus" -Hamish Macleod, University of Edinburgh Digital connectivity is a phenomenon of the 21st century and while many have debated its impact on society, few have researched relationship between the changes taking place and the actual impact on learning. Rethinking Learning in an Age of Digital Fluency examines what kind of impact an increasingly connected environment is having on learning and what kind of culture it is creating within learning settings. Engagement with digital media and navigating through digital spaces with ease is something that many young people appear to do well, although the tangible benefits of this are unclear. This book, therefore, will present an overview of current research and practice in the area of digital tethering, whilst examining how it could be used to harness new learning and engagement practices that are fit for the modern age. Questions that the book also addresses include: Is being digital tethered a new learning nexus? Are social networking sites spaces for co-production of knowledge and spaces of inclusive learning? Are students who are digitally tethered creating new learning maps and pedagogies? Does digital tethering enable students to use digital media to create new learning spaces? This fascinating and at times controversial text engages with numerous aspects of digital learning amongst undergraduate students including mobile learning, individual and collaborative learning, viral networking, self-publication and identity dissemination. It will be of enormous interest to researchers and students in education and educational psychology.

The conceptualisation and practice of play is considered core to early childhood pedagogy. In this essential text, contributors from a range of countries and cultures explore how play might be defined, encouraged and interpreted in early childhood settings and practice. Rethinking Play as Pedagogy provides a fresh perspective of play as a purposeful pedagogy offering multi-layered opportunities for learning and development. Written to provoke group discussion and extend thinking, opportunities for international comparison, points for reflection and editorial provocations, this volume will help students engage critically with a variety of understandings of play, and diverse approaches to harnessing children’s natural propensity to play. Considering the role of the learning environment, the practitioner, the wider community, and policy, chapters are divided into four key sections which reflect major influences on practice and pedagogy: Being alongside children Those who educate Embedding families and communities Working with systems Offering in-depth discussion of diverse perceptions, potentials and practicalities of early childhood play, this text will enhance understanding, support self-directed learning, and provoke and transform thinking at both graduate and postgraduate levels, particularly in the field of early childhood education and care, for students, educators, integrated service providers and policy makers.