sales sheet

Anne B. Smiths

BRIDGET WILLIAMS BOOKS

Understanding Children and Childhood

The up-to-date and fully revised 5th edition

Understanding Children and Childhood examines how and why children develop, and how they interact with the people and events in their lives. Emphasising that children grow up in diverse cultural contexts, Anne Smiths multi-disciplinary perspective helps build a exible understanding of childhood in New Zealand. The voices and experience of children are central to this book. The varied contexts within which children learn and come to understand the world are explored; case studies and examples reect childrens experiences from their perspective. Use of the latest research and policy completes a rich introduction to the key stages, theories and debates of childhood development. Childrens rights and social justice issues are foregrounded early, embedded in a broad theoretical framework. Childrens development is then presented as driven by learning, supported by opportunities for reciprocal social interaction across diverse cultural contexts. This approach highlights the importance for children of working collaboratively and thinking exibly, enabling them to cope with the new, challenging and uncertain futures of twenty-rst century New Zealand. Understanding Children and Childhood is an essential text for lecturers and researchers in education and psychology departments. The work also has an expanding general and professional readership, including social workers, nurses, psychologists, family lawyers, police education officers and parents. Ultimately, this new edition has been written for anyone who works with children, and wants them to have happy, healthy and productive lives.
RRP$59.99 | 240 x 170 mm | 358 pages ISBN 9781927131763 Published November 2013

Key sales points

A fully revised new edition of a best-selling introduction to childrens development Widely popular with students, teachers, parents and professionals working with children Anne Smith is known internationally for her work on childrens development New Zealands early childhood curriculum, Te Whriki, is closely examined Mori concepts, values and language are embedded throughout the book
Contact your David Bateman sales rep to order: Bryce Gibson Sales Manager 09 415 7664 ex 811 | bryceg@bateman.co.nz Shane Delaney South Island, South Auckland, North Shore, Northland 021 626 746 | shaned@bateman.co.nz Ian Sturrock Wellington, Auckland Central, North Island 021 393 025 | ians@bateman.co.nz Bridget Williams Books PO Box 12474 | Wellington 6144 | New Zealand +64 4 473 8128 | info@bwb.co.nz | www.bwb.co.nz

Distributor: David Bateman Ltd PO Box 100 242, North Shore Mail Centre, Auckland, 0745 Phone: +64 9 515 7664 extn 0 | Email: janetteb@bateman.co.nz

Comments from lecturers who have reviewed the 5th edition Very well-written, with a readable, approachable, personable style of writing that will make it accessible toan audience of, for example, student teachers, or parents interested in learning more about their childrens development. It is also very scholarly, drawing on a vast array of relevant literature, and providing numerous illustrations from these sources to give context to the theory being covered. I really enjoyed the personal, conversational approach in the book . . .and thought it was insightful, thorough and very current. With so many books written by, for and about North American audiences, it was also refreshing to see a book written by, for and about a New Zealand context! Anne Smith has done a ne job on writing a comprehensive revision of the book on the title topics. She has updated the material, and recast it in light of recent research, and thinking and theorising, about childhood and childrens learning and development. I did enjoy the authors generous sharing of her own familys examples to illustrate points or concepts. An additional strength is the way key themes of the child studies approach are introduced, explained, then reiterated throughout chapters and across topics, always reminding the reader within each context/topic of the childs rights and position as an active agent. Author Information Anne Smith is a Professor Emeritus at the University of Otago and Adjunct Professor at Southern Cross University, New South Wales, and has been involved in research and advocacy about children and childhood since the 1970s. A former Director of the Childrens Issues Centre a research, education and advocacy centre for childrens rights she has published books and research papers on a variety of childrens development issues. Her work has been recognised in fellowships and honorary doctorates from overseas, and in 2007 she was awarded a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit (CNZM).

TaBLE OF cONtENtS Preface Acknowledgements Part I Theorising Childhood 1 Theoretical Frameworks for Childhood 2 The Principles of Learning 3 Children as Citizens Part II The Crucial Beginnings 4 Infancy 5 Early Childhood Education Part III Domains of Learning 6 Being and Becoming Sociable 7 Language and Culture 8 Thinking in Context 9 Assessment for Learning Part IV Diverse Childhoods 10 Making Sense of Gender 11 Inclusion of Children with Disabilities Part V Sustaining and Nurturing Human Capacity 12 Families and Whnau Bibliography