Includes bibliographical references and index.

Machine generated contents note: SECTION 1 Developing Critical Reflection -- 1.The undergraduate journey / Rosie Walker -- 2.Reflective practice / Karen Appleby -- 3.The ethical practitioner with children and families / Sue Callan -- 4.Critical thinking / Catherine Lamond -- 5.ICT and learning for students: a new way of thinking / Michelle Rogers -- SECTION 2 The Developing Child -- 6.Deliberating on practices with young children in the United States / Mary Benson McMullen -- 7.'Vygotsky Rocks'! An argument that helps use Lev Vygotsky's ideas in early years practice / Anna Popova -- 8.Child health and wellbeing: exploring implications for practice / Jackie Musgrave -- 9.Play and creativity: how important is this in terms of the developing child? / Frances Brett -- 10.Repositioning developmentalism / Anna Kilderry -- SECTION 3 Taking a Holistic View -- 11.Security and attachment / Robin Balbernie -- 12.The developing child in society: making transitions / Aline Wendy Dunlop -- Contents note continued: 13.Taking a holistic view: critically examining complex professional issues / Claire M. Richards -- 14.The language of special educational needs: learning from the past to build the future / Caroline Jones -- 15.Supporting children with complex health needs and life-limiting conditions and their families / Erica Brown -- SECTION 4 Policy and Practice -- 16.Whose curriculum is it anyway? / Derval Carey-Jenkins -- 17.Approaches to the early years curriculum: a critical view from Wales / Sian Wyn Siencyn -- 18.Parental involvement and partnership with parents: 'Tain't what you do (it's the way that you do it)' / Dianne Jackson -- 19.Supporting parents / Josephine Bleach -- 20.Policy into practice: implementing the Early Years Learning Framework for Australia from a Western Australian perspective / Sandra Hesterman -- SECTION 5 Professional Roles and Responsibilities -- 21.Professional practice and early childhood today / Michael Gasper -- Contents note continued: 22.Integrated working in practice: why don't professionals talk to each other? / Alison Nicholas -- 23.Children's developing identity / Victoria Cooper -- 24.Assessment: a critical companion to early childhood pedagogy / Janet Robertson -- 25.The responsibility of the practice-based researcher / Carla Solvason.

Covering all the key topics and concepts of early childhood, this book teaches students to think critically and encourages questioning and evaluation.