Early Childhood Pedagogical Play

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xii

   PDF

2. Introduction

   • Avis Ridgway, Gloria Quiñones, Liang Li

   Pages 1-4

3. Re-theorising Play as Pedagogical

   • Avis Ridgway, Gloria Quiñones, Liang Li

   Pages 5-16

4. Examining Play from the Child’s Perspective

   • Avis Ridgway, Gloria Quiñones, Liang Li

   Pages 17-31

5. Sustained Shared Thinking in Pedagogical Play

   • Avis Ridgway, Gloria Quiñones, Liang Li

   Pages 33-45

6. Dimensions of Play Activity

   • Avis Ridgway, Gloria Quiñones, Liang Li

   Pages 47-68

7. Play Affordances Across Institutional Contexts

   • Avis Ridgway, Gloria Quiñones, Liang Li

   Pages 69-92

8. Imagination in Play: Space and Artefacts

   • Avis Ridgway, Gloria Quiñones, Liang Li

   Pages 93-116

9. In the Everyday Moments of Play

   • Avis Ridgway, Gloria Quiñones, Liang Li

   Pages 117-130

10. Recognising Cultural Influences in Play

    • Avis Ridgway, Gloria Quiñones, Liang Li

    Pages 131-154

11. Contemporary Interpretations of Pedagogical Play

    • Avis Ridgway, Gloria Quiñones, Liang Li

    Pages 155-180

12. Back Matter

    Pages 181-185

    PDF

This book re-theorizes the relationship between pedagogy and play. The authors suggest that pedagogical play is characterized by conceptual reciprocity (a pedagogical approach for supporting children’s academic learning through joint play) and agentic imagination (a concept that when present in play, affords the child’s motives and imagination a critical role in learning and development). These new concepts are brought to life using a cultural-historical approach to the analysis of play, supported in each chapter by visual narratives used as a research method for re-theorising play as a pedagogical activity. Whenever a cultural-historical approach is applied to understanding pedagogical play, the whole context of the playful event is always included. Further, the child’s cultural environment is taken into account in order to better understand their play. Children from different countries play differently for many reasons, which may include their resources, local cultural beliefs about play and specific pedagogical practices. The inclusion and acknowledgement of social, cultural and historical contexts gives credence and value to understanding play from both child and adult perspectives, which the authors believe is important for the child’s learning and development. As such, the relationships that children and adults have with human and non-human others, as well as any connections with artefacts and the material environment, are included in all considerations of pedagogical play.

• Play in early childhood
• Vygotsky
• cultural historical theory
• pedagogical play
• pedagogical value of play
• re-theorising play

• Faculty of Education, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia

  Avis Ridgway, Gloria Quiñones, Liang Li

Dr Avis Ridgway, PhD (2010), MEd, GDEA, BEd, DipT. EC., is an Adjunct Research Fellow in the Faculty of Education, Monash University, Australia. Avis focuses on using a cultural historical approach to early childhood research to examine historical influences on learning, pedagogical play, the cultural world of babies and toddlers, spaces that educate, innovative teacher practices and visual narrative methodology.

Dr Gloria Quinones PhD (2013), MEd, BEd, is a lecturer and early career researcher at Faculty of Education, Monash University, Australia and member of the Child and Community Development Faculty Research Group. Gloria’s research, conducted in both Mexico and Australia, focuses on emotions, play, pedagogy, cultural and affective worlds of infants and toddlers and  innovative visual methodologies.

Dr Liang Li PhD (2012), MEd (EC), MEd (Intl TESOL), Grad.Dip (ECE), B.Law, is a lecturer and an early career researcher in the Faculty of Education at Monash University, Australia, and a member of the Child and Community Development Faculty Research Group. Her research interests focus on child development, cultural world of babies and toddlers, family study, play and pedagogy, early childhood teacher education and visual methodology.

Policies and ethics