Abstract
The concept of sustained shared thinking is explored as a pedagogical tool used to foreground collaboration, creativity and imagination in children’s learning and play. Research by Professor Siraj-Blatchford (2009), on the quality of early childhood pedagogy and curriculum for young children’s learning and development, has shown that the most effective learning interactions with children occur when sustained shared thinking is evident. This chapter discusses the relationship between the educator and the child while playing and how educators are able to sustain conversations and thinking with children during episodes of play. We look at the concept of sustained shared thinking as a pedagogical tool in both family and preschool contexts.
…an effective pedagogic interaction, where two or more individuals ‘work together’ in an intellectual way to solve a problem, clarify a concept, evaluate activities, or extend a narrative
(Siraj-Blatchford 2007, p. 18).
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Bodrova, E. (2008). Make-believe play versus academic skills: A Vygotskian approach to today’s dilemma of early childhood education. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 16(3), 357–369.
Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR). (2009). Belonging, being, and becoming: The early years learning framework for Australia. Canberra: Australian Government.
Elkonin, D. B. (2005). Chapter 1. The subject of our research: The developed form of play. Journal of Russian and East European Psychology, 43(1), 22–48.
Elkonin, D. B. (1978). Psychologija igry [The Psychology of Play]. Moscow: Pedagogika.
Ferholt, B., & Lecusay, R. (2010). Adult and child development in the zone of proximal development: Socratic dialogue in a playworld. Mind, Culture, and Activity, 17(1), 59–83.
Fleer, M. (2010). Early learning and development: Cultural-historical concepts in play. Australia: Cambridge University Press.
Li, L. (2012). How do immigrant parents support preschoolers’ bilingual heritage language development in a role play context? Australasian Journal of Early Childhood, 37(1), 142–151.
Nicolopoulou, A., Sa, A. B. D., Ilgaz, H., & Brockmeyer, C. (2010). Using the transformative power of play to educate hearts and minds: From Vygotsky to Vivian Paley and beyond. Mind, Culture and Activity, 17(1), 42–58.
Siraj-Blatchford, I. (2007). Creativity, communication and collaboration: The identification of pedagogic progression in sustained shared thinking. Asia Pacific Journal of Research in Early Childhood Education, 1(2), 3–23.
Siraj-Blatchford, I. (2009). Conceptualising progression in the pedagogy of play and sustained shared thinking in early childhood education: A Vygotskian perspective. Educational and Child Psychology, 26(2), 77–89.
van Oers, B. (2010). Children’s enculturation through play. In L. Brooker & S. Edwards (Eds.), Engaging play (pp. 195–209). UK: McGraw-Hill.
Vygotsky, L. S. (1966). Play and its role in the mental development of the child. Voprosy Psikhologii, 12(6), 62–76.
Vygotsky, L. S. (1987a). Imagination and its development in childhood (N. Minick, Trans.). In R. W. Rieber & A. S. Carton (Eds.), The collected works of L. S. Vygotsky (Vol. 1, pp. 339–350). New York: Plenum Press.
Vygotsky, L. S. (1987b). Thinking and speech (N. Minick, Trans.). In R. W. Rieber & A. S. Carton (Eds.), The collected works of L. S. Vygotsky: Problems of general psychology (Vol. 1). New York: Plenum Press.
Vygotsky, L. S. (2004). Imagination and creativity in childhood. Journal of Russian and East European Psychology, 42(1), 7–97.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2015 Springer Science+Business Media Singapore
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Ridgway, A., Quiñones, G., Li, L. (2015). Sustained Shared Thinking in Pedagogical Play. In: Early Childhood Pedagogical Play. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-287-475-7_4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-287-475-7_4
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-287-474-0
Online ISBN: 978-981-287-475-7
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and LawEducation (R0)