Young Children Learning

`I particularly enjoyed Judith Roden′s chapter "Young Children Are Natural Scientists" especially her thoughts on children′s drawings, which puncture some popular assumptions′ - Times Educational Supplement, Friday Magazine

`This expertly argued and fascinating book seeks to redress the balance; it places the child firmly at the centre of the educational process and examines in detail the many and varied factors (such as health and physical development, play, stress, and early intervention) which affect the way in which the young child learns and develops′ - Who Minds

`Tricia David, an internationally recognized expert in early years education, has brought together 11 tutors from Canterbury Christ Church University College to "encourage debate and disagreement".... It has... some absorbing and helpful contributions which both bring forward the debate in early years education and also may cause readers to reappraise their own practice, possibly as a result of disagreeing with one or other contributors′ - International Journal of Early Years Education

Young Children Learning brings together current thinking on young children′s learning, with ideas about the curriculum for children aged 0 to eight years old. Areas covered in this book include: play; health and physical development; early intervention; stress; children understanding their worlds; bilingualism; children′s spiritual development; national identity; young children as natural scientists; assessing learning; the needs of parents, children and teachers; and childhood in changing societies.

Written by experienced practitioners from the centre for International Studies in early childhood, Young Children Learning shows that in the earliest years of childhood, all children should experience the delight which can be part of effective pedagogy - pedagogy which takes account of the child′s individuality and development, in the context of changing socio-cultural constructions of childhood.

Tricia David is a Professor of Education at Canterbury Christ Church College, where she directs the Centre for International Studies in Early Childhood. She is a past president of OMEP-UK (OMEP is the World Organization for Early Childhood Education) and she is currently a member of BERA ( British Educational Research Associaton) Council and the editor of the International Journal of Early Childhood.

CONTRIBUTORSAFFILIATIONS:

Teresa Aguado Universidad Nacional a Distancia, Madrid

Stig Brostrom Royal Danish School of Educational Studies

Noirin Hayes Dublin Institute of Technology

Rosario Jimenez-Frias Universidad Nacional a Distancia, Madrid

Malgorzata Karwowska-Struczyk Poland

Alkistis Kondoyianni Ministry of Education, Athens

Ulla Lind Stockholm Institute of Education

Helen Penn Institute of Education, London

Eric Plaisance Universite Rene Descartes, Paris V

Sylvie Rayne Institut National de Recherche Pedagogique, Paris

Karin Vilien Educational Consultant, Copenhagen