Published in 1984. The more we know about young writers, the more we observe them as they write, discuss the composing process with them, talk to them about the sources of their ideas and the difficulties which they encounter as they try to captures thoughts and feelings in words, the greater will be our understanding of imaginative activity and the part it plays in children’s personal and social development. This is the essential theme of the book and the contributors stress the importance of sympathetic and sensitive guidance by teachers and parents in encouraging the imaginative process in young children. The personal diaries, stories and conversations with young writers which appear in this book illustrate how children can use imaginative writing as a means of coming to terms with social and emotional issues in their lives. The book presents first a theoretical analysis of the imaginative writing process and then goes on to explore children’s growing awareness of themselves and others through their perception of sex-roles, their way of dealing symbolically with illness and death, fear and separation, religious and spiritual experiences, and their understanding of social relationships with family and friends. The writing process itself is examined in detail and parallels drawn between the adult and child writer. The final part of the book presents children’s own reflections on writing, shows one classroom community in action and discusses the extent to which children themselves can gain control of their own writing process.

This highly readable text provides an exceptionally clear overview of the whole field of child development, from birth to adolescence. the 2-12 age range is strongly emphasised. All the main areas of child development are fully covered: * perception and understanding * cognitive skills * play and language * personality * social relationships The author draws upon the studies from a wide range of disciplines and shows how these contribute to our understanding of child development, clearly demonstrating how the information can be applied at home and school.

First published in 1993. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Psychology Library Editions: Child Development (20 Volume set) brings together a diverse number of titles across many areas of developmental psychology, from children’s play to language development. The series of previously out-of-print titles, originally published between 1930 and 1993, with the majority from the 70s and 80s, includes contributions from many respected authors in the field and charts the progression of the field over this time.

Originally published in 1986, in this compendium of recent research on children’s play, acknowledged experts review the latest methodologies and ideas, examine salient problems, and reveal the application of current knowledge in several areas of professional practice at the time. Exciting new results embracing a wide area of investigation – the development and measurement of play in young children, the training of symbolic play, play and learning with computers, language play, play and handicapped children, play therapy, and outdoor play – will still be of considerable interest to teachers, nursery and day care personnel, social workers and students of psychology and education.

This book positions imagination as a central concept which increases the understanding of daily life, personal life choices, and the way in which culture and society changes. Case studies from micro instances of reverie and daydreaming, to utopian projects, are included and analysed. The theoretical focus is on imagination as a force free from immediate constraints, forming the basis of our individual and collective agency. In each chapter, the authors review and integrate a wide range of classic and contemporary literature culminating in the proposal of a sociocultural model of imagination. The book takes into account the triggers of imagination, the content of imagination, and the outcomes of imagination. At the heart of the model is the interplay between the individual and culture; an exploration of how the imagination, as something very personal and subjective, grows out of our shared culture, and how our shared culture can be transformed by acts of imagination. Imagination in Human and Cultural Development offers new perspectives on the study of psychological learning, change, innovation and creativity throughout the lifespan. The book will appeal to academics and scholars in the fields of psychology and the social sciences, especially those with an interest in development, social change, cultural psychology, imagination and creativity.

Originally published in 1987, this book introduces the reader to work on the intellectual development of adolescents relevant to the secondary school teacher. It covers the teaching of English, history, geography, economics, politics, legal studies, physics, chemistry, biology and mathematics. Although it emphasises the continuing importance of Piaget’s thought, the book aims to introduce readers to the non-Piagetian research that had taken place in recent years.