Learning: What Matters to Children

An alphabet of what learners do
by Diane Rich, Mary Jane Drummond and Cathy Myer

Authors

The authors are experienced and respected education consultants. They have come together to work on a variety of projects for many years, and have always been committed to promoting what matters to children.

Diane Rich has been involved in children’s learning for many years, as play worker, teacher, advisory teacher, researcher, consultant, author, trustee for children’s charities. She co-ordinated the work of the What Matters to Children team from 2005-2013. Diane recently worked as a visiting lecturer at the University of Roehampton. She continues to work as a freelance consultant and runs Rich Learning Opportunities: keeping creativity, play and first-hand experience at the heart of children’s learning.

Mary Jane Drummond is a writer and researcher with an abiding interest in young children’s learning. Before retiring she worked for many years at the University of Cambridge, Faculty of Education.

Cathy Myer has been a teacher, advisory teacher, university lecturer and freelance education consultant. Although now retired, Cathy remains passionate about children and their capacity to learn from their experiences of the real world.

What is this book?

This book explores the characteristics of effective learners, describing the internal processes of the play, exploration, enquiry, and talk of active learners, discussing their importance. With foreword by Gareth Malone, it is a continuation and development of the elements represented on the alphabet pages of its sister book, ‘First-hand experience: what matters to children’ (new edition 2014).
The book takes the form of an alphabet of what learners do, designed to help educators of children from birth to 11 see more clearly and more completely the richness of what learners do. It explores learning both from the child’s point of view, and from the educator’s in terms of the choices they might make in their provision. In every chapter a single verb of learning is considered, active children belonging, choosing, feeling and representing and so on, but each of these, stitched together with play, links with other verbs to make a joined-up, worthwhile whole.