Literature and Philosophical Play in Early Childhood Education explores the role of philosophy and the humanities as pedagogy in early childhood educational research and practice, arguing that research should attend to questions about education and growth that concern social structures, individual development, and existential aspects of learning. It demonstrates how we can think of pedagogy and educational practices in early childhood as artistic, poetic, and philosophical, and exemplifies a humanities-based approach by giving literature and artful play a place in shaping the ground of practice and research.

The book explores a range of alternative approaches to theory in education and the feasibility of a curriculum of moral values for young children and contains a variety of scenes involving children’s play and involvement with literature and fiction. It portrays how engaging with children’s play can be a philosophical and pedagogical investigation where children’s own philosophising is taken seriously, where children’s thoughts are put on a par with established research and philosophy. Moreover, the book engages with a range of different forms of literature – picture books, novels, auto-fiction, poetry – and develops these as portrayals that serve as a basis for non-theoretical and poetic pedagogical research.

Literature and Philosophical Play in Early Childhood Education will be of great interest to academics, researchers, and post-graduate students in the fields of philosophy and education. It will also appeal to upper-level undergraduates, school psychologists, teachers, and therapists.