Re-Exploring Play and Playfulness in Early Childhood Teacher Education

This book explores early childhood teacher educators’ lived experiences in designing and implementing intentional play-based approaches in teaching preservice teachers. The chapters cover action research, teaching stories about playful classroom practices, and diverse narratives about developing preservice teachers’ positive views toward play. Early childhood teacher educators will be encouraged to (re)explore their beliefs about the roles of play and playfulness in higher education. Readers will learn playful strategies to actively engage preservice teachers in building meaningful knowledge about play and how to use play to support young children’s learning across varied cultural contexts, experiences, and individual differences.

This book comes from many play spaces – the most obvious being how the members of the Creativity and Play ResearchNet of NAECTE composed these 13 chapters from their lived experiences in virtual and actual classrooms with adults learning about teaching in classrooms and other learning environments with young children. But in fact it is the young child calling for this time of playful learning. “Enough with tests and certification exams, let’s play!” This text validates that appeal with fresh research and applications, all grounded in recent NAEYC position statements and pillars of the play research community, such as Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, Walter Drew, Stuart Brown, Mimi Brodsky Chenfeld, and Vivan Paley. The variety of playful ways that learning can take place make this book a delightful text to read, and a powerful tool in the hands of early childhood teacher educators who are actually factually putting the book down and going out to play, with teachers and, through them, the children of their future classrooms.

Josh Thompson

Professor of Early Childhood Education

Texas A & M University

This book offers a rare combination of innovative approaches to play education and practical strategies to improve Early Childhood Teacher Education. Through hands-on play and rich narrative stories, this treasure book reveals how teacher educators are actively using intentional open-ended play experiences, reflection, journaling, and meaningful group discussion, to enlighten preservice teachers. Here is an exciting creative resource that will extend your understanding of the process and benefits that play encounters offer preservice teachers. For anyone interested in strengthening play leadership, overcoming challenges and barriers to play, and the application of play in early childhood classrooms or college education, this book is for you. “Re-Exploring Play and Playfulness in Early Childhood Teacher Education” is a compelling extension of earlier play research that updates the practice of hands-on play education with adults. You will value the wisdom offered by these authors.

Walter F. Drew, Ed.D., Co-founder

Institute for Self Active Education

Melanie K. Felton has been an Associate Professor and Director of Early Childhood Education at College of Saint Mary in Omaha, Nebraska, for over 30 years, teaching undergraduate and graduate courses in Early Childhood Education, Lifespan Development, and Educational Psychology. She taught 3–5-year-olds in a multi-age full-day program at Iowa State University Child Development Laboratory School and created the first Prekindergarten program for St. Albert Catholic Schools in Council Bluffs, Iowa.

Diana H. Cortez-Castro is the Program Coordinator and Faculty of Teacher Education at Texas Southmost College. She has 16+ years of experience in Hispanic-serving institutions, developing and teaching courses in Early Childhood Education, Curriculum and Instruction, Bilingual Education, and Educational Psychology. Dr. Cortez-Castro is an active advocate for children's right to play and has organized Community Play Days promoting sustainability, equity, and diversity since 2008.

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