This open access book develops a theoretical concept of teaching that is relevant to early childhood education, and based on children's learning and development through play. It discusses theoretical premises and research on playing and learning, and proposes the development of play-responsive didaktik. It examines the processes and products of learning and development, teaching and its phylogenetic and ontogenetic development, as well as the 'what' of learning and didaktik. Next, it explores the actions, objects and meaning of play and provides insight into the diversity of beliefs about the practices of play. The book presents ideas on how combined research and development projects can be carried out, providing incentive and a model for practice development and research. The second part of the book consists of empirical studies on teacher's playing skills and examples of play with very young as well as older children.

This book represents the outcome of the joint activities of a group of scholars who were concerned about the lack of international research in play for children from birth to 3 years. The authors are members of the Organisation Mondiale pour l'Education Prescholaire (OMEP). For further information, see http: //www.om- ong.net/. The idea of carrying out a research project internationally was born at the OMEP's World Congress in Melbourne, Australia 2004. All member countries were invited and 10 countries decided to participate, of which three have withdrawn d- ing the process. The reason for this might be that in these countries only one person was working with the project, while other seven countries have been working in a team of two or more persons. The countries that have carried out research and contributed to this book with a chapter each are Australia, Chile, China, Japan, New Zealand, Sweden and USA (Wisconsin). For more information about the p- ticipating countries and their corresponding addresses, see Appendix I. This book project started in Melbourne with a discussion about what is general in early childhood education globally, and what is culturally speci c. The discussion was inspired by one of the keynote speakers, Nazhat Shameem (2004), judge in the supreme court in Fiji, when she said: "If we all think we are so different and speci c in each culture, the role of human rights has no value anymore." We formulated three questions: "

Recent decades have seen a growing emphasis, in a number of professional contexts, on acknowledging and acting on the views of children. This trend was given added weight by the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, ratified in 1990. Today, seeking the perspective of the child has become an essential process in all sorts of tasks, from framing new legislation to regulating professions.

This book answers the fundamental question of what it is that constitutes a 'child perspective', and how this might differ from the perspectives of children themselves. The answers to such questions have important implications for building progressive and developmental adult-child relationships. However, theoretical and empirical treatments of child perspectives and children's perspectives are very diverse and idiosyncratic, and the standard reference work has yet to be written.

Thus, this work is an attempt to fill the gap in the literature by searching for and defining key formulations of potential child perspectives within parts of the so-called 'new child paradigm'. This has been derived from childhood sociology, contextual-relational developmental psychology, interpretative humanistic psychology and developmental pedagogy. The highly experienced authors develop a comprehensive professional child perspective paradigm that integrates recent theory and empirical child research. With its clear presentation of underlying theories and suggested applications, this book illustrates a child-oriented understanding of specific relevance to both child-care and preschool educational practice.

The book provides a comprehensive analyses of Vygotsky's and Piaget's theories implementation in modern preschool education. It analyzes the problem of the relationship between the natural and the cultural in the context of Vygotsky and Jean Piaget theories. Their discourses complemented each other: whereas Vygotsky developed his theory in the direction from society (culture) to the individual child, Piaget's movement was the opposite: from individual child to society. These two approaches confront modern world with the need to analyze the problem of childhood: is childhood a period of cultural exploration or is it a special form of relationship in which both the egocentrism and consciousness of the child, and the egocentrism and consciousness of culture are represented? Readers will gain insight into the methodology that makes possible to unite up-to-date views based on Vygotsky and Piaget theories on child development and education.

Qualitative analyses of young children's learning in natural settings are rare, so this new book will make educators sit up and pay attention. It lays out a Nordic, or continental European teaching and learning paradigm whose didactic framework is distinct from the Anglo-American system. This analysis, which features contributions and case studies from researchers in a range of subjects, is built on principles such as the learner's perspective, establishing sufficient intersubjectivity, 'pointing out', and informing experience linguistically. After clarifying some historical background, the book discusses the contemporary emphasis in early childhood education on pedagogy/learning. What should 'didactics' mean in educating young children?

The book examines the opportunities for learning that teachers provide for children in early childhood education, as well as how children respond to these opportunities. It presents empirical studies from a variety of naturalistic settings, including mathematics, making visual art, ecology, music, dance, literacy and story-telling, as well as learning about gender, morality and democracy. The authors seek to answer key questions about the processes involved in both teaching and learning. What challenges do teachers face as they try to expand children's knowledge in various fields of learning? How do they respond to these challenges, and what can we learn about children's corresponding uptake? What now requires further research? One key distinction in researching children's learning is between studies that look at 'process' and those that analyze 'product'. In the tradition of Piaget, Vygotsky and Werner, as well as Mercer and Valsiner's more recent work, this book advocates the importance and relative rareness of the former type of study.

Qualitative analyses of young children s learning in natural settings are rare, so this new book will make educators sit up and pay attention. It lays out a Nordic, or continental European teaching and learning paradigm whose didactic framework is distinct from the Anglo-American system. This analysis, which features contributions and case studies from researchers in a range of subjects, is built on principles such as the learner s perspective, establishing sufficient intersubjectivity, pointing out, and informing experience linguistically. After clarifying some historical background, the book discusses the contemporary emphasis in early childhood education on pedagogy/learning. What should didactics mean in educating young children?

The book examines the opportunities for learning that teachers provide for children in early childhood education, as well as how children respond to these opportunities. It presents empirical studies from a variety of naturalistic settings, including mathematics, making visual art, ecology, music, dance, literacy and story-telling, as well as learning about gender, morality and democracy. The authors seek to answer key questions about the processes involved in both teaching and learning. What challenges do teachers face as they try to expand children s knowledge in various fields of learning? How do they respond to these challenges, and what can we learn about children s corresponding uptake? What now requires further research? One key distinction in researching children s learning is between studies that look at process and those that analyze product . In the tradition of Piaget, Vygotsky and Werner, as well as Mercer and Valsiner s more recent work, this book advocates the importance and relative rareness of the former type of study.

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Recent decades have seen a growing emphasis, in a number of professional contexts, on acknowledging and acting on the views of children. This trend was given added weight by the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, ratified in 1990. Today, seeking the perspective of the child has become an essential process in all sorts of tasks, from framing new legislation to regulating professions.

This book answers the fundamental question of what it is that constitutes a 'child perspective', and how this might differ from the perspectives of children themselves. The answers to such questions have important implications for building progressive and developmental adult-child relationships. However, theoretical and empirical treatments of child perspectives and children's perspectives are very diverse and idiosyncratic, and the standard reference work has yet to be written.

Thus, this work is an attempt to fill the gap in the literature by searching for and defining key formulations of potential child perspectives within parts of the so-called 'new child paradigm'. This has been derived from childhood sociology, contextual-relational developmental psychology, interpretative humanistic psychology and developmental pedagogy. The highly experienced authors develop a comprehensive professional child perspective paradigm that integrates recent theory and empirical child research. With its clear presentation of underlying theories and suggested applications, this book illustrates a child-oriented understanding of specific relevance to both child-care and preschool educational practice.

This book represents the outcome of the joint activities of a group of scholars who were concerned about the lack of international research in play for children from birth to 3 years. The authors are members of the Organisation Mondiale pour l'Education Prescholaire (OMEP). For further information, see http: //www.om- ong.net/. The idea of carrying out a research project internationally was born at the OMEP's World Congress in Melbourne, Australia 2004. All member countries were invited and 10 countries decided to participate, of which three have withdrawn d- ing the process. The reason for this might be that in these countries only one person was working with the project, while other seven countries have been working in a team of two or more persons. The countries that have carried out research and contributed to this book with a chapter each are Australia, Chile, China, Japan, New Zealand, Sweden and USA (Wisconsin). For more information about the p- ticipating countries and their corresponding addresses, see Appendix I. This book project started in Melbourne with a discussion about what is general in early childhood education globally, and what is culturally speci c. The discussion was inspired by one of the keynote speakers, Nazhat Shameem (2004), judge in the supreme court in Fiji, when she said: "If we all think we are so different and speci c in each culture, the role of human rights has no value anymore." We formulated three questions: "