Child Development Institute Research and Resources

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    The Classroom as Community: Ideas From an Early Childhood Teacher
    (2000-05-01) Stone, Jeannette G.
    I have based my views on my l953-97 experiences as a preschool teacher, administrator, and consultant—in cooperative preschools, Head Start programs, a college lab school, and child day care centers, including special education classrooms. Children in these settings have come from diverse economic and ethnic homes and neighborhoods. Staff members in centers for severely disabled children, as well as those with extremely limited budgets, may feel that particular realities prevent their adoption of some practices described here—such as class trips or purchase of quality materials, which can be expensive. I know how some teachers have to modify their programs for practical reasons and yet how ingenious they are in upholding high standards. I really believe that the basic philosophy in this paper applies to all facilities for children. All children attending childcare programs benefit from respectful teaching and they all belong to classroom communities, whether they are in family day care or in large inclusive urban centers. My hope is that they will enjoy learning to be together, in whatever setting they find themselves; that they will thrive as individuals; and that they will take good care of each other.
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    From Play To Literacy: Implications For The Classroom
    (2000-04-01) Wilford, Sara
    There are many perspectives on the connections between play and literacy. Writers and speakers concerned with this topic include professional educators in the area of literacy development, early childhood education specialists, and child development experts. My own interest evolved initially from my years as a first and second grade public school teacher. Later, as director of the Sarah Lawrence Early Childhood Center I wrote a book for parents called What You Need To Know When Your Child Is Learning To Read (1999), a book that focuses on variations in timing and domain among children as they seek different entry points into literacy: I wanted to emphasize the fact that parents and other good observers of young children can use the individual differences demonstrated by emergent readers and writers to facilitate literacy development. Most recently, my colleagues at the Sarah Lawrence Child Development Institute and I undertook the co-production of a public television documentary called When A Child Pretends (1999). The filming took place at our Early Childhood Center, and at Central Park East I Elementary School in East Harlem. All of these experiences have led me to consider the framework of this paper. To clarify, I define early childhood as spanning birth to age eight, and my definition of play extends past its pure form as exemplified by imaginative play to include active, child-initiated and adult-facilitated experiences characterized by playfulness and the disposition to investigate. I believe that there are five distinct literacy goals that can be reached by supporting children’s natural inclination towards playful endeavors. To illustrate how these goals may be achieved, I have identified five aspects of early childhood classrooms which value play and playful attitudes and are particularly relevant to fostering children’s literacy.
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    The Meanings of Play in the Developmental-Interaction Tradition
    (1998-05-01) Franklin, Margery B.
    Children's play activities, particularly the development of dramatic scenarios, have been a central focus of developmental-interaction thinking over many decades. To understand the emphasis on play and the specific meanings accorded to it within this tradition, we must go back to the early part of the century and the progressive education movement. In this tradition, play was seen as a mode of learning, not only for preschoolers but for children in the elementary years (Johnson, 1928; Biber, 1984). Therefore, play activities assumed a central place m the preschool curriculum and were developed in relation to social studies in the early elementary years. From the beginning, practice was grounded in a theory of the developing child. In addition, educational practice was informed by an implicit theory of symbolization -namely, the idea that recasting experience in symbolic form (as in play) is not only a matter of expression but a prime means for consolidating, extending, and creating knowledge. As the psychological theory base of the developmental-interaction view was formulated (Biber, 1967; Franklin, 1981; Shapiro and Biber, 1972), a second stream of thinking about play assumed importance. Psychoanalytic thin.king, primarily in the form of ego psychology, emphasized the functions of play as a pathway for personal expression and growth, a means for gaining emotional insight and resolving conflict. In the first part of this chapter, I consider the view of play held by the founders -- Harriet Johnson, Caroline Pratt, Lucy Sprague Mitchell - and bow this view was realized in practice. The second part of the chapter examines writings by Biber and her associates that attempt to integrate the original lines of thinking with psychodynamic formulations. I will show how the introduction of psychoanalytic theory impinged on, and changed, concepts of play process and medium, sources of material, and the functions of play. The third part of the chapter argues that certain contemporary developments in psychological theorizing provide new grounding for central ideas about play in classic developmental interactionism. These are: articulation of symbolic mediation theory, as represented in the work of Werner and Kaplan (1983/1963) and Vygotsky (1986); a broadened view of cognitive functioning, in particular the idea of narrative as a fundamental way of organizing experience (Brockmeier & Harre, 1997; Bruner, 1986; Wells, 1986); and the theme of self developing in interaction with others, specifically peers, in social collaborative activity.
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    Guidelines for Observing Young Children in School
    (1994-10-01) Franklin, Margery B.
    This brief guide is intended for students and teachers who are interested in learning the basics of observing children in their everyday surroundings. My review of works in the field led me to the conclusion that most books on the subject set out a list of requirements for “objective observation” that are daunting to all but the most devoted researcher and, in fact, can become a screen rather than a window between observer and observed. For this reason, I have attempted to provide a series of guidelines that should make the process of observation engaging rather than tedious, while yielding textured, nuanced material for interpretation. Three helpful works on observing young children are cited on the last page.