Kinaesthetic Learning in Early Childhood: Exploring Theory and Practice for Educators
About this ebook
Kinaesthetic or hands-on active learning is extremely important for young children’s personal, social and cultural development. Without this kind of learning children may be at risk of poor behaviour, social development and academic learning outcomes. This book shares concrete examples of authentic kinaesthetic learning experiences, across different discipline areas, in a range of Early Childhood contexts. The chapters outline practical approaches to kinaesthetic learning in the classroom to help educators to engage young children, covering curriculum areas such as the arts, mathematics, literacy, digital technologies and English as a foreign language. These practical examples are supported by a range of research and theories related to the benefits of kinaesthetic learning for young children, as well as authentic classroom data.
Written by leading experts in the field, this book shares authentic, appropriate classroom strategies for implementing kinaesthetic learning with young children and will be essential reading for researchers as well as pre- and in-service educators.
About the author
Georgina Barton is a professor of literacies and pedagogy at the University of Southern Queensland, Brisbane, Australia. Before being an academic, Georgina taught in schools for over 20 years including teaching English in South India. She has been an acting principal and a lead teacher in the areas of literacy and numeracy. Georgina also has extensive experience in teaching the arts in schools and universities and often utilises the arts to support students’ literacy learning outcomes.
Susanne Garvis is a professor at the School of Education and Professional Studies at Griffith University. She is a specialist in Early Childhood education and has been involved with many national and international projects around policy, quality and learning with young children. Her most recent was a large meta-analysis exploring teacher qualifications and environmental quality. She has worked in many countries and currently lives in Australia.
