Making Sense of Place: Children's Understanding of Large-Scale Environments (Developing Body & Mind S.) - Hardcover

Matthews, M.H.

9780745009308: Making Sense of Place: Children's Understanding of Large-Scale Environments (Developing Body & Mind S.)

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0745009301 ISBN 13: 9780745009308

Publisher: Prentice Hall / Harvester Wheatsheaf, 1992

This specific ISBN edition is currently not available.

How, why and at what age children acquire an understanding of place is proving a difficult issue to uncover. A growing school of thought argues that the environmental capability of children needs to be reassessed, and a burgeoning body of empirical evidence has shown that the environmental skills and competence of children have been underestimated. This has occurred partly because of an uncritical acceptance of the Piagetian state theory of human development and partly because of an over-reliance on novel, small-scale laboratory tests, divorced from the child's world of experience.
This book which is clearly written and generously illustrated, unravels how children make sense of place. It demonstrates that, either at birth or shortly after, all children are natural environmental mappers and protogeographers. Its author, a geographer who is equally at ease with psychological research, also makes valuable suggestions on how adults can make provisions for play and schooling which take into account children's environmental needs and capabilities. This is the most comprehensive, and current, work to date on the psychology of children's understanding of geography.

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Review

This book will be a primary reference for years to come for those interested in children and space. The extensive review of literature, nondogmative view of theory, methodology and practice, and humble approach to children makes it easy to recommend. Journal of Cultural Geography The reading behind this book is huge, the bibliography publishable in itself, the scholarship genuine. It will be accessible to both geographers and psychologists alike. -- Chris Spencer, University of Sheffield Journal of Cultural Geography Presents one of the most organized, cogent, and compelling challenges to date of Piagetian state theory of human development...Making Sense of Place is a first rate book. -- Chris Spencer, University of Sheffield The Pennsylvania Geographer More than a reference book for your shelves. It is a guide to how geography can take place at scales, and with subject populations, that are different from usual, but of considerable importance to public welfare and the quality of life. Journal of Higher Education More than a reference book for your shelves. It is a guide to how geography can take place at scales, and with subject populations, that are different from usual, but of considerable importance to public welfare and the quality of life. Journal of Higher Education This book will be a primary reference for years to come for those interested in children and space. The extensive review of literature, nondogmative view of theory, methodology and practice, and humble approach to children makes it easy to recommend. Journal of Cultural Geography The reading behind this book is huge, the bibliography publishable in itself, the scholarship genuine. It will be accessible to both geographers and psychologists alike. -- Chris Spencer, University of Sheffield Journal of Cultural Geography Presents one of the most organized, cogent, and compelling challenges to date of Piagetian state theory of human development...Making Sense of Place is a first rate book. -- Chris Spencer, University of Sheffield The Pennsylvania Geographer

Synopsis

An analysis of children's conception of space and place, this book examines the various direct and indirect outside agencies and psychological processes that contribute to the evolution of spatial awareness in the young child.

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