ABOUT THIS BOOK

The buzz word in education today is accountability. But the federal mandate of "no child left behind" has come to mean curriculums driven by preparation for standardized tests and quantifiable learning results. Even for very young children, unstructured creative time in the classroom is waning as teachers and administrators are under growing pressures to measure school readiness through rote learning and increased homework. In her new book, Vivian Gussin Paley decries this rapid disappearance of creative time and makes the case for the critical role of fantasy play in the psychological, intellectual, and social development of young children.

A Child's Work goes inside classrooms around the globe to explore the stunningly original language of children in their role-playing and storytelling. Drawing from their own words, Paley examines how this natural mode of learning allows children to construct meaning in their worlds, meaning that carries through into their adult lives. Proof that play is the work of children, this compelling and enchanting book will inspire and instruct teachers and parents as well as point to a fundamental misdirection in today's educational programs and strategies.

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

Vivian Gussin Paley, a kindergarten and nursery school teacher for thirty-seven years, primarily at the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools, has received numerous awards and accolades, including a MacArthur Award and most recently the John Dewey Society's Outstanding Achievement Award. She is the author of eleven books, three of which are published by the University of Chicago Press.

REVIEWS

"[A] richly detailed reminder of the enormously important role of imaginary play . . . Paley does children a great service by reminding us of the enormous value of fantasy play."

— Elizabeth Corcoran, San Francisco Chronicle Book Review

"This irresistible book is Vivian Gussin Paley at her very best. . . . The mixture in this book, of times and spaces old and new, is nothing strange; what's different is the cold, critical eye she casts on the shape and purposes of early education today. . . . Her present insistence on the necessary relation between a rich variety of fantasy play and intellectual growth is represented as a hard-earned, precious insight, on which she will not negotiate."

— Mary Jane Drummond, Times Educational Supplement (UK)

"Paley's argument, against which there is no argument, only ignorance, is that child's 'play' is a foundation of education, revealing of and creating social and imaginative skills. But as every educator or parent of a young child knows, the American craze for standardized testing has squeezed out time and funding for the arts, physical education, and 'play.'"

— Bob Blaisdell, Chicago Tribune

"Her books . . . should be required reading wherever children are growing. Paley does not presume to understand preschool children, or to theorize. Her strength lies equally in knowing that she does not know and in trying to learn. She avoids the arrogance of adult to small child; of teacher to student; of writer to reader."

— Penelope Leach, New York Times

"A compelling, enchanting bok that will inspire and instruct while it challenges current trends in educational programs for young children."

— Texas Child Care

"A sensitive and respectful tribute to the power of young children's right for learning through play, written by a remarkably introspective and thoughtful advocate for the quality, not quantity, of early education."

— Joyce Mesrobian, Connections

“America’s children have in Vivian Gussin Paley an extraordinarily knowing and thoughtful observer—indeed, a resourceful teacher who has so much to tell us about how our country’s young people live, learn, grow, in mind, heart and spirit. Here is a book brimming with brave wisdom that will help us parents and teachers understand how our sons and daughters, our students come to terms with life through their minds’ activity."

— Robert Coles, author of The Moral Intelligence of Children

“At a time when policymakers are attempting to convert the preschool years into basic training for school, master teacher Vivian Paley reminds us that fantasy play is the essential, irreplaceable curriculum of the first years of life. Instead of ‘No Child Left Behind’ we stand in risk of establishing a culture where the heart of childhood is left out."

— Howard Gardner, author of The Disciplined Mind

“Wise and wonderful. I hope policymakers and school administrators read this book and restore kindergarten and nursery school education to their true purpose. For that matter, wouldn’t it be wonderful if kids of all ages could have a teacher like Vivian Paley!”

— Nel Noddings, author of Happiness and Education

“In a series of deceptively simple classics, Paley’s moral has always been the developmental power of children’s imaginations, and the need for curiosity and careful listening on the part of those who teach and raise kids. Here, Paley mounts an eloquent and prophetic defense of creative time and fantasy play against the developers moving in to destroy the wetlands and forests of childhood in the name of standardized test preparation and easily measurable results. Paley’s demonstration that education involves, above all, the creation of complex meanings should be a real help in the fight against the terrible simplifiers."

— Joseph Featherstone, author of “Dear Josie”: Witnessing the Hopes and Failure

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Young Children
2. The Language of Play
3. Charlotte and Cinderella
4. The First Rungs of the Ladder
5. The Invention of Theater
6. Looking for Peter Rabbit
7. Frogs, Kittens, and Bad Guys
8. Before There Was School, There Were Stories
9. Big A and Little a
10. Anxious Families, Philosophical Children
11. The Art of Conversation
12. Who Owns the Subject?
13. Simon's Story
14. Proving What We Know
15. The Subject Was a Puzzle Piece
16. Tom and Jerry
17. Pretenses and Perceptions
18. What If?
19. Franklin in the Blocks
20. Musical Chairs
21. A Letter from England

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