Daniel R. Meier

This book examines children’s play in public city parks and playgrounds as they pursue their agendas for joy, healing, discovery, and democratic engagement. It offers an understanding of relevant theory and approaches for strengthening public city parks and playgrounds as spaces for children’s healthy development and civic engagement. The book features an introduction, six diary interludes between chapters, and six chapters that examine critical dimensions of children’s play in public city parks and playgrounds. Each chapter features a discussion of relevant research and theory, as well as original research from the author’s observational visits to public parks and playgrounds, as well as interviews with scholars, parents, and park designers. The book also features over 30 photographs of parks and playgrounds to illustrate key aspects of design, children’s play, and civic engagement. The book is intended for researchers in the fields of children’s play, city planning, public spaces, and children’s geographies, as well as educators, parents, and open space and children’s play advocates.

Learning Stories and Teaching Inquiry Groups is a practical text focused on how ECE practitioners can establish teacher inquiry and reflection groups and integrate the use of learning stories to strengthen their assessment, teaching practices, and knowledge of child development. Drawing on relevant research and the authors’ direct work with teachers, the book focuses on describing ways the authors have adapted the framework of the learning stories approach from New Zealand to specific US educational contexts via examples from several urban and rural ECE contexts. The book provides practical examples of novice through veteran early childhood teachers engaging and collaborating in onsite and cross-site inquiry and reflection with a focus on learning stories. This text will be useful for infant, toddler, and preschool teachers taking courses at the AA, BA, and MA levels, as well as teachers engaged in onsite professional development. This text will help early childhood educators learn to write learning stories as an observational and assessment approach to document young children’s learning experiences and to deepen teachers’ understanding of the role of narrative in linking child development knowledge with effective environmental design, high-quality curricular approaches, and socially and culturally inclusive relationship practices. The text will support early childhood educators’ professional development through easily understood instructions and case study samples of inquiry work with learning stories through community of practice. Educators will learn how linking learning stories with regular, systematic forms of teacher inquiry, documentation, and reflection promotes a new image of children as holistic learners.

A comprehensive theory-to-practice guidebook, Supporting Literacies for Children of Color argues for a new strength-based view of teaching to support the literacy talents and abilities of preschool-aged children of Color. The early childhood field is at a critical juncture in preschool literacy education as educators confront an ever-changing array of curricular approaches and assessment measures while still trying to meet the social, cultural, language, and literacy needs of individual children. By integrating parent and teacher literacy perspectives, as well as calling on the author’s own decades of teaching, this book offers practical tools and strategies for culturally responsive pedagogy and demonstrates effective methods for using oral language and multilingualism to celebrate and deepen the literacy capabilities of children of Color. Featuring examples of children’s literacy processes and products both at home and in preschools to illustrate effective instructional strategies, as well as boxes noting important ideas and strategies in each major section, this text will guide students and educators toward creating a supportive learning environment for children of Color.

A comprehensive theory-to-practice guidebook, Supporting Literacies for Children of Color argues for a new strength-based view of teaching to support the literacy talents and abilities of preschool-aged children of Color. The early childhood field is at a critical juncture in preschool literacy education as educators confront an ever-changing array of curricular approaches and assessment measures while still trying to meet the social, cultural, language, and literacy needs of individual children. By integrating parent and teacher literacy perspectives, as well as calling on the author’s own decades of teaching, this book offers practical tools and strategies for culturally responsive pedagogy and demonstrates effective methods for using oral language and multilingualism to celebrate and deepen the literacy capabilities of children of Color. Featuring examples of children’s literacy processes and products both at home and in preschools to illustrate effective instructional strategies, as well as boxes noting important ideas and strategies in each major section, this text will guide students and educators toward creating a supportive learning environment for children of Color.

Documentation and Inquiry in the Early Childhood Classroom explores teacher inquiry, reflection, and research and the documentation of these processes within a variety of school sites and models. Compiling underrepresented inquiry stories from practicing teachers and administrators in early childhood (0–5) classrooms in the San Francisco Bay Area, this book highlights the power of the community in supporting professional development for early childhood educators and the education of young children. Important elements addressed include teacher learning, children’s curricula, parent and community communication, and equity and social justice for teachers, children, and families.

Documentation and Inquiry in the Early Childhood Classroom explores teacher inquiry, reflection, and research and the documentation of these processes within a variety of school sites and models. Compiling underrepresented inquiry stories from practicing teachers and administrators in early childhood (0–5) classrooms in the San Francisco Bay Area, this book highlights the power of the community in supporting professional development for early childhood educators and the education of young children. Important elements addressed include teacher learning, children’s curricula, parent and community communication, and equity and social justice for teachers, children, and families.

As top-down educational reform policies at local and national levels increasingly isolate teachers from their own professional and instructional agency, and stultify children’s passion for learning, new techniques are needed for understanding and transforming educational practices. Narrative Inquiry in Early Childhood and Elementary School: Learning to Teach, Teaching Well facilitates meaningful change in early years education by providing early childhood and elementary school teachers with methods to incorporate narrative into their instruction and inquiry. This book offers practical strategies for incorporating narrative tools and structures into the classroom, and encouraging effective conceptual, pedagogical, and personal avenues for engaged teaching and learning across languages and cultures. The book’s chapters promote a lively discussion of central tenets of narrative inquiry and illustrative examples of teachers at work with narrative and inquiry for improving their practice and children’s learning.

As top-down educational reform policies at local and national levels increasingly isolate teachers from their own professional and instructional agency, and stultify children’s passion for learning, new techniques are needed for understanding and transforming educational practices. Narrative Inquiry in Early Childhood and Elementary School: Learning to Teach, Teaching Well facilitates meaningful change in early years education by providing early childhood and elementary school teachers with methods to incorporate narrative into their instruction and inquiry. This book offers practical strategies for incorporating narrative tools and structures into the classroom, and encouraging effective conceptual, pedagogical, and personal avenues for engaged teaching and learning across languages and cultures. The book’s chapters promote a lively discussion of central tenets of narrative inquiry and illustrative examples of teachers at work with narrative and inquiry for improving their practice and children’s learning.

Through teacher research, teachers engage in the systematic study of their own practice to answer questions they have about teaching and learning, and their own effectiveness. This book explores:What teacher research in early childhood settings looks likeWhy it is important to the field of early childhood educationHow teacher educators can support it