Giants in the Nursery: A Biographical History of Developmentally Appropriate Practice

by David Elkind

Examine the evolution of developmentally appropriate practice with this biographical history of early childhood education. This book explores the theory's progression—from its beginnings in writings of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century philosophers, its experimental implementation by eighteenth- and nineteenth-century practitioners, and its scientific grounding in contemporary theory and research—and includes biographical sketches and perspectives of eleven philosophical, pedagogical, and theoretical figures—the giants—in this evolution. David Elkind, PhD , is the best-selling author of more than twenty books and a well-known early childhood expert who has appeared on shows including Today Show , CBS Morning News , 20/20 , Dateline , Donahue , and Oprah .

280 pages, Paperback

First published February 10, 2015

About the author

David Elkind is an American child psychologist and author. His groundbreaking books The Hurried Child and Miseducation informed early childhood education professionals of the possible dangers of "pushing down" the elementary curriculum into the very early years of a child's life. By doing so, he argued, teachers and parents alike could lapse into developmentally inappropriate instructional and learning practices that may distort the smooth development of learning. He is associated with the belief of decline of social markers.

He also wrote Ties that Stress: The New Family Imbalance (1994), All Grown Up and No Place To Go (1988), and Reinventing Childhood (1988). His most recent article titled, "Can We Play?", is featured in Greater Good magazine (published by the Greater Good Science Center), and discusses how play is essential to positive human development but children are playing less than in previous eras.

from wikipedia.org

Reviews

[Ayla · Rating 4 out of 5]

A compelling overview of the great theorists of early childhood development and education. This book helped solidify my understanding of some of the key theories in early education. It presented the ideas of the theorists in context of what is understood about developmentally appropriate practice now, which helped to orient me to what the individual had contributed that still applies today.