Books
Here you’ll find a list of recommended books that can help guide your journey with Learning Stories.
Focus on Developmentally Appropriate Practice: Equitable and Joyful Learning in Preschool (Focus on DAP: Equitable and Joyful Learning)
What Does Developmentally Appropriate Practice Look Like in a Preschool Classroom? If you’ve ever wondered how effective teachers actually do DAP, this is the book for you. Here, you can peek into classrooms to see teachers making intentional decisions in the six key areas of practice that form the six guidelines for DAP in action.
by Iliana Alanis
by Isauro M. Escamilla, Linda R. Kroll, Daniel R. Meier, & Annie White
Learning Stories & Teacher Inquiry Groups: Re-imagining Teaching and Assessment in Early Childhood Education
Enhance your professional development and partner with children and families to improve learning experiences in a range of early childhood settings and programs.
Learn how to integrate the Learning Stories approach and teacher inquiry groups to promote authentic assessment to inform instruction, and foster collegial team building and collaboration. The writing of Learning Stories integrated within the professional development process of teacher inquiry, documentation, and reflection offers a new model of professional support and a method for reaching out to children and families. The Learning Stories approach is used primarily with children from birth through age 8, and educators in classrooms and programs, administrators, professional development specialists, instructional coaches, and teacher educators can benefit from this approach.
by Margaret Carr & Wendy Lee
Learning Stories in Practice
Featuring a variety of examples of real-life learning stories from around the world, Learning Stories in Practice by Margaret Carr and Wendy Lee provides clear, practical advice on how to initiate and create learning stories and why they are valuable. The authors show readers how to write stories that capture the excitement of each young child’s journey through the early years and how to develop a deep professional understanding of the learning that takes place during this time in their lives.
Learning Stories: Constructing Learner Identities in Early Education
Margaret Carr’s seminal work on Learning Stories was first published by SAGE in 2001, and this widely acclaimed approach to assessment has since gained a huge international following. In this new full-colour book, the authors outline the philosophy behind Learning Stories and refer to the latest findings from the research projects they have led with teachers on learning dispositions and learning power, to argue that Learning Stories can construct learner identities in early childhood settings and schools. By making the connection between sociocultural approaches to pedagogy and assessment, and narrative inquiry, this book contextualizes Learning Stories as a philosophical approach to education, learning and pedagogy.
by Margaret Carr & Wendy Lee
by Margaret Carr
Assessment in Early Childhood Settings: Learning Stories
This book shows that an early childhood setting can be described as a learning place in which children develop learning dispositions such as resilience in the face of uncertainty, confidence to express their ideas, and collaborative and thoughtful approaches to problem-solving. These dispositions provide the starting point for life-long learning.
The author asks: How can we assess and track children′s learning in the early years in a way that includes learning dispositions and avoids the pitfalls of over-formal methods, whilst being helpful for practitioners, interesting for families, and supportive for learners?
by Deb Curtis & Margie Carter
The Art of Awareness
The art of observing children is more than merely the act of watching them—it is also using what you see and hear to craft new opportunities in your classroom. This resource provides a wealth of inspiration and practice. It will help you learn to observe in new ways. You’ll witness children’s remarkable competencies as they experience childhood, and find new joy in your work with children.
by Deb Curtis & Margie Carter
Learning Together with Young Children, Second Edition
Offering an alternative approach to standardization and data-driven mandates, this book puts children at the center of planning your curriculum. Rather than a prescriptive curriculum, by using The Thinking Lens® protocol, teachers can translate educational theories into concrete ideas for working with children and families. Learn to create a welcoming classroom culture, develop routines for self-regulation, and use Learning Stories to enhance experiences for the children in your care.