This past year Elementary Education faculty members Anna Kirova, Larry Prochner and Carla Peck published books in their areas of expertise.
Learning to Teach Young Children: Theoretical Perspectives and Implications for Practice
This book, written by Anna Kirova and Larry Prochner provides educators with the tools to critically engage with the key concepts and beliefs in early childhood education theory and practice. The book is organized around ten propositions that are explored in relation to 30 key questions, for example:
- What does it mean to honour children's right to be different?
- What does it mean to learn?
- How can images of childhood be used as frames for practice?
Original comic-book style illustrations are used to explore key theoretical concepts in an accessible and engaging way. The book also includes a companion website offering overviews of the key concepts covered in the book, supplementary information and references, reflective questions and case studies to support learning.
Contemplating Historical Consciousness: Notes from the Field
This volume, edited by Carla Peck and her colleague Anna Clark, explores the last several decades of new empirical research into representations of the past and the conditions of their production, prompting claims that we have entered a new era in which the past has become more "present" than ever before. Contemplating Historical Consciousness brings together leading historians, ethnographers, and other scholars who give illuminating reflections on the aims, methods, and conceptualization of their own research as well as the successes and failures they have encountered. This rich collective account provides valuable perspectives for current scholars while charting new avenues for future research.
Teaching and Learning Difficult Histories in International Contexts
Edited by Carla Peck and her colleague Terrie Epstein, this book examines issues associated with teaching and learning difficult histories in international contexts while grounded in a critical sociocultural approach. Defined as representations of past violence and oppression, difficult histories are contested and can evoke emotional, often painful, responses in the present. Teaching and learning these histories is contentious yet necessary for increased dialogue within conflict-ridden societies, reconciliation in post-conflict societies, and greater social cohesion in long-standing democratic nations. Focusing on locations and populations across the globe, chapter authors investigate how key themes-including culture, identity, collective memory, emotion, and multi-perspectivity, historical consciousness, distance, and amnesia-inform the teaching and learning of difficult histories.