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. 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.

Part I: Theoretical premises and research on playing and learning.- 1. Developing play-responsive didaktik – mission impossible?.- Teaching and learning in ECEC.- Different voices, arguments and standpoints.- Guidance for readers.- 2. Learning, teaching, and didaktik.- The processes and products of learning and development.- Teaching and its phylogenetic and ontogenetic development.- The ‘what’ of learning and didaktik.- 3. Playing, playworlds, and early childhood education.- A brief note on play theories.- The development of play: Actions, objects, and meaning.- Key references in research on play.- The diversity of beliefs about practices of play.- The sociogenesis of forms of play and its implication for ECEC.- 4. A combined research and development project.- Intersubjectivity and alterity.- Language as constitutive and perspectivizing.- The freedom of play and open-endedness.- As if and as is and learning from fiction.- Part II: Empirical studies.- Teachers’ playing skills.- 5. The Lava-Shark: Teachers attempting to enter children’s play.- 6. The Lion and the Mouse: How and why teachers succeed in becoming participants in children’s play.- Responding to alterity.- Coordinating as if and as is.- 7. Goldilocks and her Motorcycle: Establishing narrative frames.- 8. The Triangle-Lady and The Three Billy Goats Gruff: Constituting contents for learning in play.- Playing and teaching as integrated activities.- 9. When Kroko-the-Crocodile got sick.- 10. The Magical Fruits: Establishing a narrative play frame for mutual problem solving.- 11. The Letter Thief: From playing to teaching to learning to playing.- Part III: Conclusions and theoretical elaboration.- 12. A play-responsive early childhood education didaktik.- References.    

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.

Provides a novel conception of teaching in early childhood education as inherently responsive to play Presents a close collaboration with preschool teachers, heads, and development leaders Is thoroughly empirically grounded in research in naturalistic environments Covers a wide variety of play activities and all ages of children in Swedish preschool

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