Encounters with Materials in Early Childhood Education rearticulates understandings of materials-blocks of clay, sheets of paper, brushes and paints-to formulate what happens when we think with materials and apply them to early childhood development and classrooms.
"Through vivid vignettes and extensive theoretical grounding, readers are challenged to reconsider taken-for-granted assumptions about the role of materials in the early childhood classroom. This groundbreaking, deeply layered book will remain important to me as I revisit and reflect on its ideas, and I highly recommend it as a must-read for educators in the disciplines of both art education and early childhood education."
--Pat Tarr, PhD, retired art and early childhood educator, Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary, Canada
"'What if??' This essential question propels this open-ended exploration of the ways that young children and responsive materials interact in early childhood classrooms. The authors invite us to ponder with them, to notice, to question, in ways that move us beyond the conventions and constraints of traditional practices and provisions for young children. Sometimes startling, always provocative, this text rewards careful and considerate reading, as it reminds us how often we tend to structure even the most 'unstructured' aspects of early childhood curriculum, prohibiting truly productive encounters between children and the 'stuff' that offers unknown possibilities."
--Christine Marmé Thompson, Professor of Art Education, Pennsylvania State University, USA
