Children in Play

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1572305770 ISBN 13: 9781572305779

Publisher: Guilford Press, 2001

Imaginative play and story telling occupy key roles in children's psychological development and socialization. Bringing together leading contributors, this volume explores what play and story mean to young children, and how these vital aspects of development can best be supported in child care and educational settings. Vital connections are drawn between children's activities, their interpersonal relationships, and their emerging cognitive and affective capacities. Topics covered include promoting social play in the classroom, storytelling and literacy development, and the influences of early caregiving experiences on attachment and learning. Theoretical and methodological issues in these areas of research are also addressed, as well as social policy implications. The book is inspired by the work of Greta G. Fein, the pioneering teacher, researcher, and child care policymaker, who has contributed an integrative concluding chapter.

Review:

"This volume honors Greta G. Fein, consummate authority on children's narrative and pretend play and leading figure in the hybrid discipline of child development/early education. Chapters from noted contributors present the latest research analysis and applications, rife with provocative ideas about social-emotional and symbolic development in context. This outstanding work should spur further research in the area for years to come. As such, it provides excellent fare for graduate-level courses and seminars in child development, family studies, early childhood education, and child-care policy."--James Johnson, PhD, College of Education, The Pennsylvania State University

"This marvelous work brings together many of the most productive and important names in early childhood research. The volume reflects the wonderful influence of Greta G. Fein, the outstanding early childhood educator who has consistently challenged the field with creative, inspired insights into young children's thinking and behavior. I plan to use it as a text in the graduate-level course I teach in Foundations of Early Childhood Education, and it will also be useful for other early childhood education and developmental psychology courses."--Dale C. Farran, PhD, Department of Teaching and Learning, Peabody College, Vanderbilt University

"This book contains a wealth of information. The impressive group of contributors elucidate the ways children learn and develop through planned and spontaneous play activities, and provide a broad array of ideas regarding their play. The emphasis on parents as partners in children's schooling is an especially vital concept."--Peggy L. Riethmiller, PhD, Professor Emeritus, College of Education, Michigan State University

About the Author:

Artin Göncü, PhD, is a professor in the department of Educational Psychology at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). He received his doctorate in Developmental Psychology from the University of Houston. Previously, he served as Coordinator of the graduate program in Early Childhood Education at UIC, as a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Utah, and as a Research Associate and a preschool teacher at the Human Development Lab at the University of Houston. Widely published, Dr. Göncü is a board member of the Piaget Society and Center for Research on Child Culture at Ankara University, in Turkey. He serves on the editorial boards of American Educational Research Journal, Early Education and Development, and the Bogazici University Journal of Education.

Elisa L. Klein, PhD, is an associate professor in the Department of Human Development and the Institute for Child Study at the University of Maryland at College Park, where she is currently a Lilly/Center for Teaching Excellence Fellow. She received her doctorate in Human Development and Family Studies from the Pennsylvania State University. Dr. Klein was previously on the faculty of the Ohio State University, where she also directed the University's Center for Young Children for three years. She recently served as Visiting Scientist and Child Development Research Fellow in the Administration on Children, Youth and Families of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, where she assisted in the development of the final report of the Head Start Family Child Care Demonstration project. The author of numerous articles, book chapters, and reviews, Dr. Klein has served on the editorial boards of Early Childhood Research Quarterly and Early Education and Development.