Dialogic educators have designed strategies to facilitate dialogic teaching, such as establishing ground rules, employing talk moves, and structuring discussions. Though productive, such strategies rarely open dialogic space, in which shared meaning is created through an interaction that blurs the boundaries between participating voices. Dialogic…

House of Imagination works with educators, artists and creative professionals to develop a creative approach to learning and researching experimental sites for pedagogical innovation. In our partnership work, our creative methodology, with everyone an artist, drives the ambition for artistic excellence. House of Imagination's signature project…

This article discusses the work of Susan Isaacs (1885-1948), the IOE's (Institute of Education), first director of the Department of Child Development. In addition to introducing child psychoanalysis to the UK, Isaacs was instrumental in mapping out the basis for a conceptual understanding of the role of aspects of imagination (which she termed…

This project report describes a playful approach to teaching copyright through a newly developed game entitled Copyright Dough. As copyright literacy has become increasingly important in scholarly communication, this paper explores how a more engaging teaching method is essential for getting researchers, students, academics, and library staff to…

Thomas S. Henricks is the J. Earl Danieley Professor of Sociology and Distinguished University Professor at Elon University. Since receiving his doctorate in sociology at the University of Chicago, Henricks has investigated the sociology of sports from the fandom of modern American professional wrestling to the relationship between sports and…

This article reflects on the significance of a series of encounters with a baby doll in an early years' classroom during an artist residency. The article takes an event when a small group of children encounter a baby doll as its starting point. By connecting this shared lived moment with Deleuze and Guattari's idea of machinic production and…

This article is the text of a keynote address given to the North Dakota Study Group on Evaluation at its annual conference in Chicago in February 2009. Three examples of children's linguistic and literary playfulness are examined, two from England and one from the USA. The article explores the radical implications of these examples for primary…

This article explores how young children can play active roles as researchers, explorers, and designers of their outdoor environment. It introduces the Mosaic approach, a framework for listening and responding to young children's perspectives, first developed in a study in a London preschool in 1999 (Clark & Moss 2001). The author used this…

This article argues that it is possible to look at children's texts in relation to the lens of literacy events and practices from the New Literacy Studies, and apply this perspective to an understanding of creativity. Teachers can then use the possibilities within a text to ask children different kinds of questions. Drawing on a 2-year…

An environmental education program for children at Killerton Park (England) combines reenactment of myths and other outdoor learning activities in an effort to "re-story" the landscape and give children a sense of place in the natural world. The activities were successful in stimulating the children's creativity and sensitivity to…

Describes the contexts and learning processes which contributed to change in the theories of play and the associated classroom practice of nine early childhood teachers in England. Data from surveys, interviews, and observations indicated that all participants were engaged in an ongoing process of professional learning. A three-stage model of…

The Coombes County Infant and Nursery School, a semirural English school, is situated on a one-acre plot packed with ponds, orchards, flower and vegetable gardens, sheep and chicken enclosures, an outdoor theater, and wildlife habitats. The asphalt playground is painted for various games and activities. The principal's idea was to soften…

Speech directed towards young children ("motherese") is subject to consistent systematic modifications. Recent research suggests that gesture directed towards young children is similarly modified (gesturese). It has been suggested that gesturese supports speech, therefore scaffolding communicative development (the facilitative…

Described is the Vale Interactive Science and Technology Adventure (VISTA) center that caters specifically to primary school students, involves concepts and skills from the National Curriculum, and researches playing children's patterns of learning. The plans for the future and early descriptions of students reactions are reported. (KR)

Most early years practitioners heed this advice--"Well planned play, both indoors and outdoors, is a key way in which young children learn with enjoyment and challenge (DFEE/QCA, 2000, P. 25)--and provide environments in which children can play. Sefton LEA wanted staff to provide opportunities for children to construct "places to…