1st Edition
'Be Realistic, Demand the Impossible' A Memoir of Work in Childcare and Education
Acknowledgements
Foreword by Michel Vandenbroeck
Chapter One: Memoir as Method
Chapter Two: Teaching in London
Chapter Three: The Red Republic of Wandsworth
Chapter Four: Who Needs Nurseries – We Do!
Chapter Five: Laborious Democracy
Chapter Six: Tanzania
Chapter Seven: Becoming a Researcher
Chapter Eight: A Workday University
Chapter Nine: Southern Africa
Chapter Ten: Swimming Pools in the Steppes and Pianos in the Desert
Chapter Eleven: The Noise of Time
Biography
Helen Penn is now Professor Emerita at the University of East London and Visiting Professor at the Institute of Education, University College London, UK. She has undertaken work for a variety of international organizations including EU, OECD, UNICEF, UNESCO and Save the Children.
Bronwen J. Cohen, Honorary Professor in Social Policy, School of Social and Political Studies, University of Edinburgh
There will certainly be considerable interest amongst many of those who have known Helen Penn over the course of her eclectic career, and the quality of her writing will ensure that it is a good read. She is not only a recognised authority in this field but well known for her alternative narratives.
In summary, I think you should publish this memoir – it has an important contribution to make to our understanding of this area of policy and will throw light on a history which is often forgotten.
Emeritus Professor Peter Moss, Thomas Coram Research Unit, UCL Institute of Education, University College London
I am an unreserved enthusiast for this proposal. Helen Penn is a remarkable woman, with a remarkable story to tell, which she can tell supremely well.
Tullia Musatti, Institute of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies, National Research Council, Italy
I have read the book proposal with great pleasure. I share the view of its author that there is a need for a more comprehensive understanding of the cultural and social perspectives of ECEC services. I think that the approach proposed by Helen Penn sounds really stimulating.
I strongly recommend to publish this book and I think that it will find a right place within the Contesting Early Childhood series.
