Beyond listening
Children's perspectives on early childhood services
Edited by Alison Clark, Anne Trine Kjørholt and Peter Moss
Published
Oct 19, 2005Page count
208 pagesISBN
978-1861346124Dimensions
240 x 172 mmImprint
Policy Press
Beyond listening
More young children than ever before are spending their time in some form of early childhood service. But how do we know what they think about it? While there has been a move to take children's views into account more generally, very little attention has been given to listening to young children below the age of six or seven.
This book is the first of its kind to focus on listening to young children, both from an international perspective and through combining theory, practice and reflection. With contributions and examples from researchers and practitioners in six countries it examines critically how listening to young children in early childhood services is understood and practised.
Each chapter is rooted in the everyday lives of young children and presents a range of actual experiences for students and practitioners to draw from. Beyond listening goes further to address key questions emerging from early childhood services and research. These are What do we mean by listening? Why listen? How do we listen to young children? What view of the child do different approaches to listening presume? What risks does listening entail for young children?
The authors are leading experts in this area of rapidly growing interest and have themselves developed innovative methods such as the Mosaic approach, which is discussed in the book.
"Bringing together theory, research and practical experiences used worldwide, it reinforces the importance of listening to young children ... A must for early years professionals as a study aid and for research purposes this is not a book to be read from cover to cover but rather to be digested in small mouthfuls to allow the reader to explore its content and apply it in practice." 0-19
"... useful for all people who work with young children and have an interest in the ways in which they perceive the world and may be encouraged to communicate their experiences ... full of innovative ideas." childRIGHT
"Beyond Listening provides a combination of theory and practice which would help even the most experienced practitioner broaden their knowledge about how to work with children. Recommended." Community Care
"Beyond Listening will be of great interest to a wide audience. It draws together theory and practice from an international perspective comprehensively and accessibly - a valuable contribution to raising the status of children's perspectives within early childhood services." Y. Penny Lancaster, Project Director, Listening to Young Children Training and Consultancy Service, Coram Family
Alison Clark is Research Officer at the Thomas Coram Research Unit, Institute of Education, University of London.
Anne Trine Kjørholt is Associate Professor and Director of the Norwegian Centre for Child Research at the Norwegian University for Science and Technology, Norway.
Peter Moss is Professor of Early Childhood Provision at the Thomas Coram Research Unit, Institute of Education, University of London.
Introduction ~ Peter Moss, Alison Clark and Anne Trine Kjørholt; Documentation and assessment: what is the relationship? ~ Carlina Rinaldi; Ways of seeing: using the Mosaic approach to listen to young children's perspective ~ Alison Clark; Participant observation: a way to learn about children's perspectives ~ Hanne Warming; From children's point of view: methodological and ethical challenges ~ Brit Johanne Eide and Nina Winger; Channels for listening to young children and parents ~ Valerie Driscoll and Caron Rudge; Small voices ... powerful messages ~ Linda Kinney; Beyond listening: can assessment practice play a part? ~ Margaret Carr, Carolyn Jones and Wendy Lee; The competent child and 'the right to be oneself': reflections on children as fellow citizens in an early childhood centre ~ Anne Trine Kjørholt; Beyond listening: future prospects ~ Anne Trine Kjørholt, Peter Moss and Alison Clark.
