1st Edition

Developing a Loving Pedagogy in the Early Years How Love Fits with Professional Practice

By Tamsin Grimmer Copyright 2021
    202 Pages 96 Color Illustrations
    by Routledge

    202 Pages 96 Color Illustrations
    by Routledge

    Care and caring are key to early childhood education and yet love can be viewed as a taboo word within early childhood settings. This book guides practitioners through the potentially problematic area of loving the children they care for. It shows where a loving pedagogy can fit within professional practice and how this can enrich experiences for children and educators.

    The book explores how educators can support their children by holding them in mind, valuing them and promoting their best interests. Focusing on how relationships, attachment and connections underpin our settings and practice, the chapters cover:

    • the fundamentals of professional love
    • appropriate touch in practice
    • the different ways in which children feel loved
    • the rights of the child
    • empowering children through love
    • working with parents and carers.

    Including case studies and questions for reflection, this is vital reading for practitioners wanting to develop a nurturing and loving pedagogy that places the child at the centre of their practice.

    Introduction

    Chapter 1 Defining Love

    Chapter 2 Problematising Love

    Chapter 3 Professional Love

    Chapter 4 Tactile Nature of a Loving Pedagogy

    Chapter 5 The Language(s) of Love – Love in Practice

    Chapter 6 The Empowerment of Children through Love

    Chapter 7 Holding Children in Mind

    Chapter 8 Loving Relationships

    Chapter 9 Concluding Thoughts

    Afterword: Demonstrating a Loving Pedagogy During a Pandemic

    Biography

    Tamsin Grimmer is an experienced consultant and trainer, a director of Linden Learning and a senior lecturer in Early Years at Bath Spa University. She is based in Wiltshire, UK.

    "I have not put the book down. It's a fresh, vibrant and on point contemporary read. Do I suggest you read it, YES! Will it support your practice, your pedagogy and question why we do what we do, ABSOLUTELY! I feel like I have connected much more with my own pedagogy and now it has linked to love, nurture and care."

    - Aaron Bradbury, Early Years Educator

    "We desperately need more kindness, empathy and love for each other, for nature and for our planet, and if we start with the children in our care, who of course, we love dearly, then we will set them up for the future too. I really liked this book - it's the sort of professional book that gives us knowledge, while at the same time showing us how to apply that knowledge in a really accessible way."

    - Nicky Hudson, It's All About Stories