Creativity and the Arts in Early Childhood by 
Early Childhood Literacy Teachers in High Poverty Schools by
Much has been written about the failure of White American public school teachers to effectively teach low-income children of color to read and write. Scholars have offered numerous explanations for this failure, including the reluctance of teacher preparation programs to address cultural competence and the lack of cultural diversity among teacher educators. In response to reported failures such as high attrition rates of novice teachers and low test scores, American public schools are being subjected to increased standardization of the curriculum and high stakes testing. This book provides rich illustrations of White early literacy teachers who choose to remain in low-income school communities, where they effectively and passionately embrace their students, families, and communities. Blending the teachers' successful practices, shown in in-depth interviews excavating their identities and life experiences, with theoretical frameworks about teaching and learning, Early Childhood Literacy Teachers in High Poverty Schools: A Study of Boundary Crossing discusses the responsibility of public educators to cross geographical, economic, and political divisions on behalf of their students, and offers strategies for teacher educators to equip future teachers for these tasks.
Integrating Art into the Inclusive Early Childhood Curriculum by 
Digital Personalization in Early Childhood by
This book is available as open access through the Bloomsbury Open Access programme and is available on www.bloomsburycollections.com.Digital personalization is an emerging interdisciplinary research field, with application to a variety of areas including design, education and publication industry. This book focuses on children's education and literacy resources, which have undergone important changes with the 'personalization revolution' in the early 21st century. The author develops original insights from educational research and her own studies concerned with digital and non-digital personalization, to discuss in a clear and critical way the thinking, research issues and practical implications of this new field. She scrutinises the character of technology-based personalized education to substantiate the claim that the current models of personalized education tend to be technology- and business-driven, with little pedagogical understanding of the social value of personalization. Research involving touchscreens, personalized books and 2-8-year olds is interrogated for its impact on children's development of language, creativity, identity, as well as family dynamics and classroom dialogue. The literature available on digital and non-digital personalization is discussed in relation to five key themes of personalized education, the so-called 5As: autonomy, authorship, aesthetics, attachment and authenticity. It is argued that the 5As need to be anchored in humanist principles for a sustainable pedagogy and practice. Based on the insights from research with typically and atypically developing children, Kucirkova proposes personalised pluralisation, as a pedagogical framework of personalized education for the future. The book aims to help scholars and professionals understand the connections between personalization and literacy, personalization and education, and personalization and wider socio-moral issues.
The Language of Art by
Typical art resources for teachers offer discrete art activities, but these don't carry children or teachers into the practice of using the languages of art. This resource offers guidance for teachers to create space, time, and intentional processes for children's exploration and learning to use art for asking questions, offering insights, exploring hypotheses, and examining experiences from unfamiliar perspectives. Inspired by an approach to teaching and learning born in Reggio Emilia, Italy, The Language of Art, Second Edition, includes: A new art exploration for teachers to gain experience before implementing the practice with children Advice on setting up a studio space for art and inquiry Suggestions on documenting children's developing fluency with art media and its use in inquiry Inspiring photographs and ideas to show you how inquiry-based practices can work in any early childhood setting Ann Pelo is a teacher educator, program consultant, and author whose primary work focuses on reflective pedagogical practice, social justice and ecological teaching and learning and the art of mentoring. Currently, Pelo consults early childhood educators and administrators in North America, Australia, and New Zealand on inquiry-based teaching and learning, pedagogical leadership, and the necessary place of ecological identity in children's--and adults'--lives. She is the author of several books including the first edition of The Language of Art and co-author of Rethinking Early Childhood Education.