Play-based learning is of growing interest in many English-medium primary schools throughout Aotearoa New Zealand. I share my insights from researching play as learning, and supporting teachers with curriculum design and pedagogy in play-based contexts. Although play is a slippery concept and its value often underestimated, the evidence of the…

In this research article, Haeny Yoon and Tran Nguyen Templeton explore the challenges of listening to children in both classrooms and research that purports to center young children. Through two stories from their respective studies, Yoon and Templeton highlight the complexities of following children's leads given the competing agendas situating…

This project/report partnered researchers with teachers from two centres to explore and theorise understandings of children's inquiries and working theories. This project investigated the following questions: (1) What is the nature and content of infants', toddlers' and young children's inquiries and working theories in relation to their everyday…

Discusses how to integrate young children's interests into classroom learning activities. Emphasizes the need for early childhood educators to be creative and open-minded when encountering unexpected interests and classroom situations. (KB)

The purpose of this book is to help parents and teachers recognize and understand dramatic play in childhood as a process whereby the child acts out human experience in an attempt to order, clarify, and understand it. Written by a person experienced in theatre and drama, the book considers the following aspects of dramatic play: the importance of…

This student guide for a program concerned with creativity in its broadest sense focuses on how people of all occupations and ages can think creatively, how children gain the ability to think and act in imaginative ways, and what parents can do to support this growth. Designed around a magazine format to allow maximum flexibility to different…

Noting that a creative approach to early childhood education allows teachers to reinforce the foundation of achievement by encouraging and expanding upon children's play activities, this book provides teacher-developed ideas and strategies for creating learning communities in the early childhood classroom. The beginning chapter introduces creative…