1st Edition

Kinaesthetic Learning in Early Childhood Exploring Theory and Practice for Educators

Edited By Georgina Barton, Susanne Garvis Copyright 2024
180 Pages 8 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

180 Pages 8 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

180 Pages 8 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

Strongly grounded in research and rich with practical examples for educators, this book demonstrates the importance and benefits of kinaesthetic learning in young children’s learning and development. Kinaesthetic or hands-on active learning is extremely important for young children’s personal, social and cultural development. Without this kind of learning children may be at risk of poor... Read more

1. The importance of kinaesthetic learning for early childhood

Georgina Barton and Susanne Garvis

2. Kinaesthetic learning: A systematic review in early childhood education contexts

Susanne Garvis, Georgina Barton and Anh Hai Le

3. Learning by doing: a self-narrative approach to children's experiential learning

Tina Yngvesson and Susanne Garvis

4. Practice-based approaches to kinaesthetic learning

Katrina Allegos, Anna Crozier, Helen Darrer, Jackie Dimattina, Suzanne Donaghey, Catherine Farrar, Amy Goodale, Charmian Harris, Georgie O’Meara and Susanne Garvis

5. A kinaesthetic approach to teaching mathematics education in the early years

Bin Wu and Wendy Goff

6. An investigation of the use of arts-based embodied learning in early years classrooms

Marthy Watson and Nicole Delaney

7. The body as an instrument of knowing: Kinaesthetic learning with and through the arts

Susan Chapman

8. Digital technologies and kinaesthetic learning for early years boys

Georgina Barton and Rebecca Trimble-Roles

9. Building a bridge: LEGO as a kinaesthetic tool to facilitate play-based learning in early childhood and beyond

Melissa Fanshawe, Monique Mandarakas, Melissa Cain, Marie Oddoux, Marc Angelier, Per Havgaard, Michelle Turner and Marie White

10. Embodied scaffolding and kinaesthetic learning in Finnish early childhood education

Jonna Kangas, Tuulikki Ukkonen-Mikkola and Heidi Harju-Luukkainen

11. Concluding comments

Susanne Garvis and Georgina Barton

Biography

Georgina Barton is a professor of literacies and pedagogy at the University of Southern Queensland, Brisbane, Australia. Before being an academic, Georgina taught in schools for over 20 years including teaching English in South India. She has been an acting principal and a lead teacher in the areas of literacy and numeracy. Georgina also has extensive experience in teaching the arts in schools and universities and often utilises the arts to support students’ literacy learning outcomes.

Susanne Garvis is a professor at the School of Education and Professional Studies at Griffith University. She is a specialist in Early Childhood education and has been involved with many national and international projects around policy, quality and learning with young children. Her most recent was a large meta-analysis exploring teacher qualifications and environmental quality. She has worked in many countries and currently lives in Australia.

'As this book consistently aims to provide the reader with varied research studies that promote the learning benefits of kinaesthetic education, so too does it simultaneously advocate for play-based early learning environments. A preschool or kindergarten teacher looking to reaffirm their use of hands-on learning and incorporate new ideas for it would gain insight into developing their practice from reading this book. Drawing from the detailed chapters, they could apply the myriad of ideas and strategies to content-related elements in their classrooms. This book would also serve as a good option in a pre-service setting to set a foundational understanding of early childhood theoretical concepts for students while increasing awareness of the importance of kinaesthetic learning in early childhood education.'

Lori BlakeAssistant Professor of Early Childhood Education, Central Connecticut State University, USA.