Research
Throughout her career, Paley wrote numerous books containing her observations of and reflections about her classroom and students, primarily those at the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools where she taught pre-school and kindergarten for many years. To collect her data, Paley made audio-recordings of her classrooms so that she could listen to and analyze the interactions that occurred. In so doing, she would often hear private conversations between children that would help her think about the unique way young children communicate with other young children.
Generally, each of her books contains one driving theme. For example, You Can’t Say You Can’t Play focuses on the desire of some students to exclude others during classroom playtime. Paley imposed a rule that children could not exclude other children from play, and discusses the importance of fairness in the classroom. In her books White Teacher and Kwanzaa and Me, Paley explores issues of multiculturalism within the classroom. In particular, she reflects on her own experiences as a white teacher of children of color and analyzes how she can best support and promote a racially diverse classroom.
Many educators believe that Paley’s biggest legacy is in the area of storytelling and fantasy play, which she directly addresses in her books A Child’s Work: The Importance of Fantasy Play, The Boy Who Would Be a Helicopter, Bad Guys Don’t Have Birthdays: Fantasy Play at Four. Paley argues in these and other works that storytelling and fantasy play can significantly impact a child’s academic and social growth. They help young children make sense of the world around them, adapt to the classroom, develop language, and collaborate with peers. Some critics of the federal No Child Left Behind Act point to Paley’s research as evidence that learning and developing can take place using storytelling and other means, which should be used in lieu of, or in addition to, the NCLB-mandated direct instruction and teacher-led activities.
Read more about this topic: Vivian Paley
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