1st Edition
Schemas in the Early Years Exploring Beneath the Surface Through Observation and Dialogue
Evolved through conversations with key early childhood education experts, Schemas in the Early Years focuses on the value of ‘repeated patterns’ of action or ‘schemas’ in young children’s play. It stimulates readers to ask questions of themselves, to watch children closely, and to create a dialogue with parents and other educators as well.
Contributors to this fascinating book discuss their observation of children in naturalistic situations when they are deeply involved in play and identify topics or themes that can be linked to and inspire professional development opportunities. This book provides an antidote to beginning with the curriculum rather than the child and really considers children as learners. Each chapter focuses on young children and schemas, considering a wide age range from babies to children attending statutory schooling.
Schemas in the Early Years is an accessible and inspiring text and serves as essential reading for educators wanting to think further and in more depth about schemas. Newcomers to schema theory or anyone currently using schema theory to understand children will also find these enquiries useful.
All royalties from the sale of this book will be donated to Shelter – the housing and homelessness charity.
Introduction Cath Arnold
Chapter 1: Treasure basket play – learning to move or moving to learn? Julie Brierley
Chapter 2: Lines and Connections Everywhere: A Possible Insight into Ezra Moores’ Conceptualisation of the World Colette Tait
Chapter 3: Round and Round: Learning about schemas in the Welsh Foundation Phase (FP) curriculum Amanda Thomas
Chapter 4: Schemas and Language Emma Hewitt
Chapter 5: Schemas and Metaphor Cath Arnold and Sue Gascoyne
Chapter 6: Why do they do that, and how should we respond? Kate Barker
Chapter 7: An Exploration of Schematic Play in Autistic Children
Tamsin Grimmer and Sue Gascoyne
Chapter 8: Feeling at home in the world: linking schemas with landscape and embodiment understandings Jan White
Chapter 9: Bringing post-humanism and Froebel into conversation with schema play Christina MacRae
Chapter 10: Children First: The Relevance of Schemas for Children in School Christine Parker
Co-writers: Zoë Austin and Antonio Griffiths-Murru
Concluding Thoughts Jan White and Cath Arnold
Biography
Cath Arnold is an early years consultant associated with the Pen Green Research Base, Corby, UK.
