SAGE Handbook of Play and Learning in Early Childhood

Liz Brooker is a Reader in Early Childhood at the Institute of Education, University of London. Liz was an early years’ teacher for many years, and her interest in the home experiences, and transitions to school, of ethnic minority children stemmed from her own work with children and families. Liz has continued to study early transitions, including those of infants and toddlers into their first group-care settings, with a focus on young children’s agency as they engage with new environments. More recently her work has focused on play, using a sociocultural perspective to describe how the social contexts of children’s play shape their own development and that of the communities they construct with others.  Mindy Blaise,???is an associate professor and co-director of the Centre for Childhood Research and Innovation at the Hong Kong Institute of Education, China, SAR. Mindy’s scholarship relates to working with ‘postdevelopmentalism′ to reconfigure early childhood research, teaching and curriculum.  A large part of this work involves ‘grappling-with’ feminist practices that are useful for interrupting the notion of the developmental child. Mindy is currently involved in three interdisciplinary international research projects that are examining the situatedness of childhood in the Asia-Pacific region. She is a principal researcher, with Affrica Taylor and Veronica Pacini-Ketchabaw, in the Common Worlds Childhoods and Pedagogies Research Collective. Susan Edwards is Associate Professor of Curriculum and Pedagogy in the Faculty of Education at Australian Catholic University. She works as a Principal Research Fellow in the area of early childhood education, and specialises in researching aspects of the early childhood curriculum, including play-based learning, teacher thinking, digital technologies and sustainability. Susan is the co-author of Early Childhood Curriculum: Planning assessment and implementation, published by Cambridge University Press, and co-editor of Engaging Play, published by Open University Press. She is currently serving as co-editor on the Asia Pacific Journal of Teacher Education.

• Part I: Theoretical Perspectives on Play and Learning - Mindy Blaise, Susan Edwards and Liz BrookerFoundations of Play Theory - Doris BergenPlay in the Non-Classical Psychology of L.S. Vygotsky - Elena KravtsovaChildren’s Play as Cultural Activity - Suzanne Gaskins Make-Believe Play and Self-Regulation - Adena Meyers and Laura BerkCultural-historical Perspectives on Play: Central Ideas - Bert van OersPostcolonial and Anti-Racist Approaches to Understanding Play - Veronica Pacini-KetchabawNew Materialisms and Play - Hillevi Lenz TaguchiChildhood Studies and Play - Sue SaltmarshEthical dimensions and perspectives on play - Susan Grieshaber and Felicity McArdleGender Discourses and Play - Mindy BlaiseStudying Play through New Research Practices - Liz Jones and Rachel HolmesPart II: Play and Learning in Pedagogy, Curriculum and Assessment - Susan Edwards, Liz Brooker and Mindy Blaise The Play-Pedagogy Interface in Contemporary Debates - Elizabeth Wood Developmental Play in the Classroom - Stuart ReifelChildren’s play and learning and developmental pedagogy - Ingrid Pramling Samuelsson and Niklas PramlingPlay Provisions and Pedagogy in Curricular Approaches - James JohnsonChildren’s content learning in play provision: Competing tensions and future possibilities - Helen Hedges Professional Preparation for a Pedagogy of Play - Sharon Ryan and Kaitlin Northey-BergLearning Mathematics Through Play - Anita Wager and Amy ParksPlay as the precursor for literacy development - Celia Genishi and Anne Haas DysonUnderstanding Narrative as a Key Aspect of Play - Pentti Hakkarainen and Milda BredikytePhysical play and development - Michelle TannockPlay and Playfulness: Issues of Assessment - Margaret Carr Part III: Contexts for Play and Learning - Liz Brooker, Mindy Blaise and Susan Edwards Whose Play? Children, Play and Consumption - Daniel CookChildren’s Right to Play - Stuart Lester and Wendy RussellInfant and Toddler Play - Jennifer Sumsion and Linda HarrisonChildren’s Perspectives on Play - Johanna EinarsdottirDigital Play - Christine Stephen and Lydia PlowmanPlay in Peer Cultures - Annica LöfdahlThe Impact of Race and Culture on Play in Early Childhood Classrooms - Jennifer Keys Adair and Fabienne DoucetPlayfulness and the co-construction of identity in the first years - Rod Parker-ReesConnecting home and educational play: interventions that support children’s learning - Maria Evangelou and Mary WildOpportunities and affordances in outdoor play - Margaret KernanMedia, popular culture and play - Jackie Marsh