Evolutionary Playwork and Reflective Analytic Practice

Evolutionary Playwork and Reflective Analytic Practice
Author: Bob Hughes
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 318
Release: 2013-07-04
Genre: Family & Relationships
ISBN: 113452952X

Evolutionary Playwork and Reflective Analytic Practice will enable playwork students, practitioners and researchers to reassess the impact and purpose of playwork on children.

Evolutionary Playwork

Evolutionary Playwork
Author: Bob Hughes
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 422
Release: 2013-03-01
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1135258325

Play is a crucial component in the development of all children. In this fully updated and revised edition of his classic playwork text, Bob Hughes explores the complexities of children’s play, its meaning and purpose, and argues that adult-free play is essential for the psychological well-being of the child. The book is divided into fourteen chapters that together examine the fundamentals of evolutionary play. Firstly, Hughes examines the very earliest ideas of playwork and its impact on brain growth and organization today. He then goes on to explore and explain the key theoretical concepts underlying playwork. These include discussions on free play and creating suitable play environments alongside more thorny issues such as safety and consultation. Finally, the book offers up some of Hughes’ most recent research that reveals how his approach to play and playwork in global society has continued to evolve throughout his career to meet new challenges and needs. Throughout this book, Hughes has included his fellow practitioner Mick Conway’s vivid observations of children at play to bring the facts and arguments in the text to life. This revised edition reflects important recent advances in our understanding of the evolutionary history of play and its impact on the development of the brain, of the role play in the development of resilience and of the impact of play deprivation. Evolutionary Playwork is still the only book to combine the reality of playwork practice with the fundamentals of evolutionary and developmental psychology, and it is still essential reading for all playwork students, practitioners and researchers.

Reflective Playwork

Reflective Playwork
Author: Jacky Kilvington
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 195
Release: 2018-01-11
Genre: Education
ISBN: 147425408X

In a world where we are ever seeking to protect our children and to encourage their educational progress, it is often overlooked that the need for play is as important as the need for food and sleep. Drawing on playwork methodology, theory and practice, this extensively revised new edition of Reflective Playwork recognises that play is a need for all, and seeks to encourage the provision of time and space for all children to freely enjoy its benefits. Encouraging a greater understanding of play from a child's perspective and ways in which any adult can support and enhance play, it covers: playwork principles, the playwork approach, reflective practice and values, play theory, the child and their welfare and spaces for play. This edition has a greater focus on putting playwork theory into practice to address the needs of all those who work with children and play. Using more stories and case studies from real life situations and a wider range of settings including schools, children's centres, voluntary organisations and play therapy, Jacky Kilvington and Ali Wood help readers identify how to use the playwork approach and engage in reflective practice whoever and wherever they are. New and updated for this edition: - Key questions, reflection opportunities and further reading suggestions have been updated to include the latest research, terminology and current concerns for children and young people; - an updated glossary highlighting key playwork terminology; - a new chapter on playable spaces; - a new chapter on applying the playwork approach in other professions in the children's and continuing professional development; - a wider look at play and playwork across the Western world; - a renewed focus on showing links between playwork practice and other types of practice. Written in an accessible style, Reflective Playwork is approachable for foundation and undergraduate level students and above as well as practitioners.

Playwork in Practice

Playwork in Practice
Author: Ali Wood
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 201
Release: 2024-09-05
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1350162035

Playwork in Practice introduces the ways that playwork can be used across the children's workforce, including carers, qualified teachers, parents and other adults. You will learn the theoretical and practical aspects of the playwork approach supported by a wealth of research-evidence, this book is for anyone studying playwork or looking to use it in their own practice. The chapters focus on the following areas where the playwork approach can be applied: behaviour, adult expectations, relationships and inclusion, space, environment and outdoors, age, risk, and resilience, emotions and resilience, health, well-being and gender. Using a reflexive reflective approach, the book offers vivid descriptions of interactions between children and adults in a range of different circumstances and analyses these interactions critically. Each chapter includes a real-life story with analysis based on the authors conversations with carers, playworkers, parents and other adults. The chapters also include reflective questions.

Researching Play from a Playwork Perspective

Researching Play from a Playwork Perspective
Author: Pete King
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 142
Release: 2017-07-06
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1317222121

Play is of critical importance to the well-being of children across the globe, a fact reflected in Article 31 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Yet existing literature on the subject is largely confined to discussing play from a developmental, educational or psychological perspective. Researching Play from a Playwork Perspective offers a new and exciting angle from which to view play, drawing on the authors’ own experience of conducting research into various aspects of this all-important and pervasive phenomenon. This innovative work will act as a compass for those looking to undertake research into different aspects of play and child welfare. Each chapter explores how the author has combined established and new research methodologies with their individual playwork approaches to arrive at emergent understandings of playwork research. The overall conclusion discusses directions for future research and develops a new model of playwork research from the four common themes that emerge from the contributions of individual authors: children’s rights, process, critical reflection, and playfulness. Examples from the United Kingdom, Nicaragua, and Sweden give this unique work international relevance. Researching Play from a Playwork Perspective will appeal to researchers and students around the world working in the fields of playwork, childcare, early years, education, psychology and children’s rights. It should also be of interest to practitioners in a wide variety of professional contexts, including childcare and therapy.

Practice-Based Research in Children's Play

Practice-Based Research in Children's Play
Author: Wendy Russell
Publisher: Policy Press
Total Pages: 288
Release: 2018-03-07
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1447330048

There has been a growing awareness in recent years of the importance of play in children's learning and development--but that awareness has not been accompanied by sufficient scholarly attention, outside of conceptual studies and how-to textbooks. This collection fills that gap by bringing together scholars from a range of fields and methodological approaches to look at play from a practice-based perspective. Moving beyond the dominant voice of developmental psychology, the book offers a number of new ways of approaching children's play and the roles of adults in supporting it; as a result, it will be valuable to anyone working with or studying children at play.

Rethinking Children's Play

Rethinking Children's Play
Author: Fraser Brown
Publisher: A&C Black
Total Pages: 196
Release: 2013-01-17
Genre: Education
ISBN: 144119469X

A thought-provoking re-examination of children's play drawing together insights and experiences across fields such as education, sociology, philosophy and psychology to encourage an inter-disciplinary approach.

Further Perspectives on Researching Play from a Playwork Perspective

Further Perspectives on Researching Play from a Playwork Perspective
Author: Pete King
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 169
Release: 2020-10-08
Genre: Education
ISBN: 0429685564

Building on the success of the first volume of Researching Play from a Playwork Perspective, this book further develops the crucial research of playwork as an emerging and unique discipline. The first volume explored how an understanding of playwork theory and practice can inform research into children’s play. From the seven contributors, four common themes to researching play from a playwork perspective were identified: rights-based; process, critical reflection and playfulness. This second volume aims to explore these four factors from two angles. The first considers how four more playworkers have researched play in four different contexts: prison, gender and toys, in Dutch play provision, and in the area of autism. In the second part of the book, the four pillars of playwork research are explored by academics from other disciplines with an interest in playwork research. This will be of great interest to researchers and upper-level students in the fields of playwork, childcare, early years, education, psychology and children’s rights. It will also appeal to practitioners in a wide variety of professional contexts, including childcare and therapy.

For Youth Workers and Youth Work

For Youth Workers and Youth Work
Author: Doug Nicholls
Publisher: Policy Press
Total Pages: 290
Release: 2012-09-22
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 184742872X

In this unique and passionate book, Doug Nicholls proposes a cultural revolution within youth work. He draws on the best of youth work's past to redesign the youth work map for today. He speaks with wit, wisdom and warmth to youth workers about their craft. Yet he takes no intellectual prisoners in proposing a new role for youth work in the struggle for social justice. No student or practitioner should miss it.

Early Childhood Studies

Early Childhood Studies
Author: Rod Parker-Rees
Publisher: Learning Matters
Total Pages: 321
Release: 2015-07-13
Genre: Education
ISBN: 147393365X

For students of Early Childhood Studies, questions are as important as answers. What is childhood? Is childhood the same in all cultures? How do children grow and develop? What space do we make for children in our society? How do adults approach risk and what does this mean for children? Can children’s play be planned by adults? Early Childhood Studies tackles these questions and more. It explores the why, how and what of studying and working with young children and their families, considering how a range of theories can help us to identify useful questions. This is a comprehensive, up-to-date, challenging and accessible core text for the Early Childhood Studies course. Throughout, key theories and research findings are highlighted and explored to help link theory and practice. It covers the important themes of child development, communication, wellbeing, observation, working with parents, inclusive practice, leadership and research. This fourth edition has been fully updated throughout and includes new chapters on children and risk, inclusive learning environments, play and adults′ concepts of childhood.