This study examines the degree to which young children are influenced by the familiarity of an adult participant in their pretend play with toys which vary in resemblance to highly prototypical objects (e.g., cup-like cups or doll-like dolls). A group of 29 children, mean age 21 months, was divided into two experimental groups balanced by sex; 15…

Observations of American instructors and students in England, as well as English publications, reveal that English primary teachers treat writing as a way for children to share their personal experiences, and they correspondingly emphasize freedom of expression, fluency, and the retention and development of imaginative responses. Teachers enrich…

This study hypothesized that disadvantaged black children could achieve higher creativity scores if they were provided with stimulating experiences appropriate to psychological warm-up immediately before they were tested for figural and verbal creative thinking ability. The subjects were 105 first grade children divided into three experimental…

Notes need for outdoor education programs for gifted students. Describes a 1981 survey of such programs provided by New York's Board of Cooperative Educational Services and outdoor education centers. Renzulli's Enrichment Triad Model and Parents' Creative Problem Solving Process are suggested as models to teach gifted students through outdoor…

Providing a forum for current thinking related to early care and education, this book presents a wide range of views regarding research methodology, the nature of experience while teaching, teaching and program improvement, and conceptualizing play in the curriculum. The chapters are: (1) "Postmodern Research in Early Childhood Education" (Gaile…

Even in an educational tests and measurements classroom it is possible to stimulate student creativity and divergent thinking. Examples of projects and test constructions are given to provide food for thought for the creative teacher. (JN)

Explains four rules for the care and guidance of children until age six so that they may develop and retain curiosity, imagination, and inquisitiveness, and have greater potential for accomplishment and enjoyment of life. Describes benefits when such care is given and negative effects when it is withheld. (SB)

Reviews research on the early development of symbolic play. Suggests that symbolic play begins to emerge near the beginning of the child's second year and continues to play an important role in his or her development throughout the preschool years. Proposes basic techniques caregivers can use to facilitate and promote the development of symbolic…

A discussion of communicative language teaching of children of about eight focuses on their unique communication capacities and needs, particularly in the school environment, on the importance of teaching communication strategies as a social and linguistic tool, on developing metalinguistic competence, and on the role of the imagination in…

Explores the notion of imaginative development. Defines imagination through a review of literature of music, religion, and aesthetics. Suggests that imagination precedes creativity and involves perception, intuition, thinking, and feeling. Describes a developmental sequence based on research. Proposes ways to cultivate imagination through music.…

Examines the contributions of creativity and imagination to the total learning of the young child. Offers arguments against the myths that lead to deemphasis of the arts in curriculum. Recommends ways of refashioning schools to promote the expressive arts. (BB)

Challenges ways in which a positivist view of science has led to hegemonic discourse on writing to learn science and highlights contradictions in this discourse. Argues for pedagogy that draws on critical, feminist, and hegemonic pedagogies and incorporates affective, creative, critical, cognitive, and diverse language practices set within…

The article to which this essay responds advises risky practices that trouble traditional distinctions between science and not-science (things not scientific in nature), particularly its argument to politicize science as a way to organize teaching. Raises questions about science as a regime of truth in a place where such questions carry much…

The reading and writing of creative writing have the potential to bring sociology to life in a dramatic way. Literature has been used in sociology in one of two ways: to provide sociological evidence and as an object of analysis--a social institution to be studied in its own right. Previous scholarship has proven that the use of literature in…

A common theme of the papers presented in this forum is that of the importance of listening to children's voices. They key messages conveyed by the authors are synthesised in this paper and the implications for the development of the subject and research within it are considered. This is then placed in the context of some recent doctoral research…