Learning to Belong : Exploring Young Children's Participation at the Start of School

Building on highly topical research surrounding young children’s participation, this book draws on a diversity of disciplines exploring the importance of participatory approaches to children’s early education and shows how fostering a sense of identity and belonging are essential to early learning. Taking young children seriously demands a high level of confidence and leadership in early years practitioners, and the author provides a convincing, well researched rationale for using this approach in early years contexts. The chapters • demonstrate the importance of listening to the voices of the children,• show how to help young children make sense of the rules and hierarchies they encounter in the classroom• explore ways of working that include the young children but also allow adults to shape approaches to collective decision making • use examples of the type of questions which children might ask when they first enter school, which are presented as ‘windows’ into children’s experiences via key moments or incidents in the school day• provide a framework and practical tools for planning This book is an important addition to debate about the politics and ethics of a highly prescribed and mainly developmentally-informed early years curriculum. Researchers and students of early childhood education will find much here of interest to them.

Building on highly topical research surrounding young children’s participation, this book draws on a diversity of disciplines exploring the importance of participatory approaches to children’s early education and shows how fostering a sense of identity and belonging are essential to early learning.

Taking young children seriously demands a high level of confidence and leadership in early years practitioners, and the author provides a convincing, well researched rationale for using this approach in early years contexts. The chapters

• demonstrate the importance of listening to the voices of the children,
• show how to help young children make sense of the rules and hierarchies they encounter in the classroom
• explore ways of working that include the young children but also allow adults to shape approaches to collective decision making

• use examples of the type of questions which children might ask when they first enter school, which are presented as ‘windows’ into children’s experiences via key moments or incidents in the school day
• provide a framework and practical tools for planning

This book is an important addition to debate about the politics and ethics of a highly prescribed and mainly developmentally-informed early years curriculum. Researchers and students of early childhood education will find much here of interest to them.

Building on highly topical research surrounding young children's participation, this book draws from a diversity of disciplines to explore the importance of participatory approaches to children's early education and show how fostering a sense of identity and belonging is essential to early learning. Chapters in this book: demonstrate the importance of listening to the voices of the children; show how to help young children make sense of the rules and hierarchies they encounter in the classroom; explore ways of working that include the young children but also allow adults to shape approaches to collective decision-making; use examples of the type of questions children might ask when they first enter school, which are presented as 'windows' into children's experiences via key moments or incidents in the school day; provide a framework and practical tools for planning. -- from back cover Contents......Page 8 Figures and tables......Page 11 Acknowledgements......Page 12 Note on the text......Page 13 Introduction......Page 14 Planning the project......Page 18 What does it mean to belong?......Page 32 Participation in early childhood education......Page 44 Participatory work at the start of school......Page 53 What am I good at?......Page 62 Who’s my friend?......Page 75 Who’s in charge?......Page 84 What am I allowed to do?......Page 94 How to plan for participation......Page 103 Conclusion......Page 115 References......Page 117 Index......Page 123 This fascinating book draws on a diversity of disciplines exploring the importance of participatory approaches to children?s early education and shows how fostering a sense of identity is essential to early learning Caroline Bath. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [104]-109) And Index.