While firmly acknowledging the importance of play in early childhood, this book interrogates the assumption that play is a birthright. It pushes beyond traditional understandings of play to ask questions such as: what is the relationship between play and the arts – theatre, music and philosophy – and between play and wellbeing? How is play relevant to educational practice in the rapidly changing circumstances of today’s world? What do Australian Aboriginal conceptions of play have to offer understandings of play? The book examines how ideas of play evolve as children increasingly interact with popular culture and technology, and how developing notions of play have changed our work spaces, teaching practices, curricula, and learning environments, as well as our understanding of relationships between children and adults. This multidisciplinary volume on the subject of play combines the work of some of the world’s leading researchers in the field of early childhood education with contributions from distinguished and emerging scholars in areas as diverse as education, theatre studies, architecture, literature, philosophy, cultural studies, theology and the creative arts. Reconsidering the common focus on play in early education, to investigate its broader impact, this collection offers a refreshing and valuable addition to studies on play, reconceptualizing it for the 21st century.

This book offers a fresh look at recent developments in policy, curricula and pedagogical discourse around children’s play with Internet of Toys (IoToys). By expanding the notion of digital and smart play perspectives in early childhood education, the authors critique and develop the broader subject area of IoToys play to better serve its end users. The book brings together research from across three different countries: Australia, Norway and England. It offers tangible examples of how one can use IoToys to build children’s social skills, emotional intelligence, sense of achievement, collaboration and aspects of STEM and design play thinking processes. The learning stories of children’s IoToys play will deliver a comprehensive review of how practitioners and parents can come together to build communities of practice for (re)enhancing children’s learning and growth using evolving technology-based play and engage in paradigmatic debates. Readers as a result will better appreciate the growth in pragmatic applications of technologies together with theoretical perspectives. The book will be a valuable resource for any academic or practitioner just beginning to understand the complexities and success stories of integrating IoToys for children’s playful learning.

Building Better Schools with Evidence-based Policy: Adaptable Policy for Teachers and School Leaders provides an extensive set of free-to-use policies for building better schools. The policies included in this book cover a broad range of popular topics for schools that are not readily accessible, and each policy is built on theory, driven by research, and created by experts. Each policy is based on substantial evidence, and this is ensured through the inclusion of contributors who are active and highly reputable in their respective field. Most schools are obliged to write and maintain policy, and not all school leaders have the required skills, time, or expertise to do this effectively. Building Better Schools with Evidence-based Policy: Adaptable Policy for Teachers and School Leaders is a time-saving resource for schools. It aims to address the reported research-to-practice gap in education by delivering accessible evidence-based practice in a ready-to-use adaptable format. All policies within this book are designed to be adapted and tailored to the unique diversity and needs of each school as reflected by the context and the people that make up the school community. This book is relevant to every person who works in a school – worldwide. Users of this book can rest assured that each policy has been carefully formulated from the current understandings of best practice. This is a practical innovation and an example of how schools can use research evidence in their day-to-day practices. "The Open Access version of this book, available at www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license."

This book provides different perspectives on the concept of children’s rights, including policy, educational, and children’s perspectives. It examines how the crucial ideas of the Convention on the Rights of the Child are respected and implemented in 14 countries in five regions of the world. It looks at early childhood education, children’s participatory rights, and at how these rights are promoted and guaranteed in different countries. It explores the professional practice of education and its complexities, challenges and dilemmas, as well as the role of play, and of listening and participation. The book advocates children’s rights today, arguing for its vital importance, in the best interests of the children. In doing so, it furthers the understanding of children’s rights and spreads knowledge about the Convention, as a means of celebrating its 30th anniversary. The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) comprises the potential to change the lives of children to the very best. It may exalt children from the position of marginalized citizens to the centre of policies all over the world. Even though the concept of children’s rights is omnipresent, the respect for children’s rights must be discussed. While the Convention brings the new perspective of children as citizens to the world, there are still challenges in its application. The book interrogates challenges in understanding and applying children rights and offers possible answers to these challenges. The ratification process itself, does not guarantee that children’s rights are respected. While all adults should take responsibility for implementing the UNCRC in everyday life, Early Childhood Education should give opportunities for children to learn and live their rights.

This ground-breaking collected volume features multiple voices from the field that, together, offer an extensive and balanced examination of the contemporary, historical, and philosophical influences that shape early childhood education and care in Canada today. Showcasing uniquely Canadian narratives, perspectives, and histories, the text provides a superb foundation in the key topics and approaches of the field, including Indigenous ways of knowing, holistic education, play, the nature of childhood, developmental approaches, and the impact of educational philosophers and theorists such as Rousseau and Dewey. The authors discuss current and reimagined themes such as children’s rights, diversity and inclusion, multimodality, ecology, and Indigenous education in the context of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Featuring chapters by academics from across Canada that explore the field’s history and future, as well as guiding questions to support reader engagement, Early Years Education and Care in Canada is a fundamental resource for students, academics, practitioners, and policymakers in early childhood education and care.

Digital practices are forging ahead in leaps and bounds. Examining digital practices in early childhood education, this book seeks to inform the discussion on how digital technologies are best integrated into play-based pedagogy, and demonstrates effective practices that enhance children’s learning and development. With a range of international contributors, perspectives, and case studies, the fusion of play and portable technology is explored through contemporary research.

This book investigates the role of Service Learning in supporting inclusive practice. Specifically, it explores the process of Service Learning and the intersection with inclusion in classroom and community.

Early childhood teachers know that the quality of child-teacher interactions has an impact on children's social and educational outcomes. Talking with children is central to early learning, but the significant details of high quality conversations in early childhood settings are not always obvious. This Handbook brings together experts from across the globe to share evidence of teachers talking with children in early learning environments. It applies the methodology of conversation analysis to questions about early childhood education, and shows why this method of studying discourse can be a valuable resource for professional development in early childhood. Each chapter of this Handbook includes an up-to-date literature review; shows how interactional pedagogy can be achieved in everyday interactions; and demonstrates how to apply this learning in practice. It offers unique insights into real-life early childhood education practices, based on robust research findings, and provides practical advice for teaching and talking with children.

This book constitutes the refereed post-conference proceedings the 7th International Conference on Design, Leaning and Innovation, DLI 2022, which took place in Faro, Portugal, in November 21-22, 2022. The 4 revised full papers and 2 short papers presented were carefully selected from 32 submissions on. They were organized in topical sections as follows: Digital Environments and Design Processes Fostering Learning and Interaction, Designs for Innovative Learning with Digital Technology, Digital Approaches Shaping Educational Practices.

Every generation has sought to make teaching and learning more inclusive and equitable, but pesky questions always remain, such as, how can teaching and learning be conducted in ways that satisfies and respects everyone? What are the parameters of an inclusive pedagogy? Who defines its principles? How should these principles be taught and by whom? And by what authority shall they be grounded? These types of thorny questions occupy the essence of educators and the authors of this book. This book is about teachers, educators, and topics related to inclusion. Teachers and educators have a lot to know, therefore the topics are broad and relevant to the times. What should teachers know about special needs, religion and spirituality, Aboriginality, the environment, tolerance, and school choice? Although teachers have knowledge of their subject matter, knowledge alone is not sufficient. They must know and understand how people learn. A teacher must also care deeply about who they teach. And this "teacher knowledge" grows and changes over time as teachers become more experienced, informed, skilled, and wiser. At the same time no teacher preparation will be sufficient because there will always be discussions that were never had and knowledge that was never shared. Time has its costs and there is only so much a formal education can prepare someone. This book helps to satisfy a cavity in learning for teachers and educators in general.