Perspectives on Play

Avril Brock was a principal lecturer in the Carnegie Faculty at Leeds Metropolitan University, UK, in the School of Education and Childhood, working with PhD, EdD, postgraduate and undergraduate students. She has worked in higher education since 1989, after being a deputy head, primary and early years teacher in West Yorkshire, often working with linguistically diverse children. Avril has recently retired and is busy playing with her grandchildren, as well as developing her play through golf, painting and photography! Pam Jarvis is Reader in Childhood, Youth and Education at the Institute of Childhood and Education, Leeds Trinity University, UK. She is a Chartered Psychologist and historian, who additionally has Qualified Teacher Status. Her research interests centre around developmentally informed policy and practice for children, young people and families, a topic upon which she regularly blogs in the TES and the Huffington Post. She teaches across various childhood, youth and family-related undergraduate and postgraduate programmes at Leeds Trinity University. Yinka Olusoga is Senior Lecturer in Early Childhood Education at the Carnegie School of Education, Leeds Beckett University, UK. Yinka’s research interests include: student teachers’ experiences of enhancing provision to support child-initiated play; the history of personal and social education; and the role of discourse in the social construction of childhood and of schooling.

• Foreword Introduction Section 1: The Value of Play? Psychological, Educational and Playwork Perspectives Chapter 1. Three Perspectives on Play Pam Jarvis, Avril Brock, Fraser Brown Chapter 2. ‘We Don’t Play Like That Here’: Social, Cultural and Gender Perspectives on Play Yinka Olusoga Section 2: Children at Play: A Journey through the Years (0–11) Chapter 3. Curriculum and Pedagogy of Play: A Multitude of Perspectives? Avril Brock Chapter 4. Born to Play: Babies and Toddlers Playing Avril Brock, Pam Jarvis Chapter 5. Playing in the Early Years: At Liberty to Play – Not Only Legal but also Statutory! Avril Brock Chapter 6. Play, Children and Primary Schools Yinka Olusoga, Bev Keen Section 3: Supporting Children’s Play Chapter 7. Building ‘Social Hardiness’ for Life: Rough and Tumble Play in the Early Years of Primary School Pam Jarvis Chapter 8. Play for Children with Special Educational Needs Verna Kilburn, Kären Mills Chapter 9. Playwork Fraser Brown Chapter 10. Opening Play: Research into Play and Dramatherapy Phil Jones, Sue Elmer Section 4: Concluding Perspectives Chapter 11. A Place to Play: Online and Offline in the 21st Century Pam Jarvis Glossary Index