Play and Learning in the Early Years: From Research to Practice

Providing high quality play experiences is an essential part of good early years education, but this can pose a challenge for practitioners who face pressure from a more didactic primary curriculum, and from parents worried that their children will fail to acquire essential skills and knowledge. By helping the reader to develop their understanding of the complex relationships between play and learning, this book examines current theoretical perspectives on play, alongside examples of recent and innovative play research from a range of disciplinary and methodological perspectives. With contributions from leading play scholars, it brings together theory, research, policy and practice in relation to play and learning in early years settings. The emphasis is on the relationship between play and learning, and play and pedagogy, and the need to understand these dimensions more substantially in order to teach with confidence. Included are chapters on: - the influence of play on thinking, problem-solving and creativity - cooperative play and learning - play, risk and outdoor learning - learning to play in cultural context There are chapter objectives, reflective points, reflective tasks and suggestions for further reading throughout, to facilitate critical thinking and encourage independent study. Suitable for early years practitioners, early childhood students at undergraduate and postgraduate levels, and all those who work with and care for young children, this is an exciting and thought-provoking book.

Table of Contents:
Introduction - Elizabeth Wood, Pat Broadhead and Justine Howard Developing Integrated Pedagogical Approaches to Play and Learning - Elizabeth Wood Learning to Play in a Cultural Context - Liz Brooker Co-Operative Play and Learning from Nursery to Year One - Pat Broadhead ′Born to Play′: The Biocultural Roots of Rough and Tumble Play, and Its Impact upon Young Children′s Learning and Development - Pam Jarvis Playing on the Edge: Perceptions of Risk and Danger in Outdoor Play - Helen Tovey Identity in Young Children′s Drawings: Power, Agency, Control and Transformation - Emese Hall Supporting a Playful Approach to Drawing - Kathy Ring Play Is a Complex Landscape: Imagination and Symbolic Meanings - Maulfry Worthington Making the Most of Play in the Early Years: The Importance of Children′s Perceptions - Justine Howard Play Metacognition and Self-Regulation - David Whitebread Conclusion: Understanding Playful Learning and Playful Pedagogies: Towards a New Research Agenda - Pat Broadhead, Elizabeth Wood and Justine Howard

About the Author :
Elizabeth Wood is Professor of Education at the University of Sheffield. She teaches on a range of post-graduate programmes and runs in-service courses for teachers and early years practitioners. She has worked on a number of collaborative research projects with teachers in early years and primary schools. Elizabeth co-directed two ESRC funded research projects with Neville Bennett: Reception Teachers′ Theories of Play (1995-97) and Progression and Continuity in the Early Years (1999-2000). She has authored books and articles based on her research interests in play, young children′s learning, early childhood pedagogy, equity and equality, policy critique and collaborative action research.

Review :
′This is an authoritative and detailed analysis of the complexities of children′s play in different situations. It is made more accessible by the ′reflection points′ scattered through the text that encourage the reader to link theory with examples drawn from their own practice. It is an excellent up to date source of reference, and will be of significant interest to anyone wanting to understand more about the true nature of young children′s play and how to enhance it′ - Early Years Update ′This is a fascinating textbook about the role of play within the early years sector and highlights how the target-driven approach can create stress for practitioner and child...[This book is] very readable with interesting case studies. It would certainly prompt good discussion at a staff meeting′ - Children and Young People Now ′Designed to help practitioners at all stages of their professional development to understand different aspects of learning through play, the best thing about the book is the enthusiasm each author brings to sharing their research interests with readers. The authors demonstrate how their work can help practitioners to enrich children′s early experiences in childcare and education settings, giving them access to deep thinking about the power of play and the confidence to apply new understandings to their own settings′ - Angela Anning, Emeritus Professor, University of Leeds and Visiting Professor, Leeds Metropolitan University