{"id":4493,"date":"2019-08-02T16:26:32","date_gmt":"2019-08-02T21:26:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stager.tv\/?p=4493"},"modified":"2020-07-25T18:56:50","modified_gmt":"2020-07-25T23:56:50","slug":"vivian-paley-a-legacy-of-learning-stories","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stager.tv\/?p=4493","title":{"rendered":"Vivian Paley, a Legacy of Learning Stories (1929-2019)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>The world lost a giant of an educator on July 26th when Vivian Paley passed away at age 90<\/a>. Paley was the only kindergarten teacher ever named a MacArthur genius. Her example as an educator, documented in her numerous moving and inspirational books, gave voice to young teachers. Her poignant shared self-reflection tackled poverty, racism, gender, power, peace, community, rejection, literacy, democracy, fantasy, play, and love in the classroom and beyond. Paley led through kindness, common sense, and an affection for the inner lives of children. Her work is relevant for educators and parents, regardless of the age of child you support.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo her, teaching was not about meeting a bunch of core requirements that you can quantify; it was about being a human being.\u201d – John Hornstein in the NY Times Obituary<\/a> of Vivian Paley<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I tried in vain to convince Ms. Paley to participate in Constructing Modern Knowledge<\/a>, but she saw a photo of a computer on our web site and declined. My powers of persuasion were unpersuasive, even when I listed all of her friends who had participated in the past. I sure wish I could have shared Ms. Paley with our community.<\/p>\n

In The Children’s Machine<\/a>, Seymour Papert stressed the importance of sharing learning stories as a way of reforming education in a humane learner-centered direction. Vivian Paley was a master of documenting and sharing learning stories.<\/p>\n

I strongly urge you to read several of the books listed below, but if you are allergic to books, listen to Vivian Paley on This American Life<\/a> talking about how she allowed five year-olds to address issues of friendship,\u00a0empathy, and even bullying with one simple rule, “You can’t say, you can’t play.” (11 minutes)<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>In T<\/a>he\u00a0Classrooms All Young Children Need: Lessons in Teaching from Vivian Paley<\/a>,\u00a0<\/i>Patricia Cooper authored a terrific analysis of analysis of Paley’s work as a “pedagogical model organized around two complementary principles: a curriculum that promotes play and imagination, and the idea of classrooms as fair places where young children of every color, ability, and disposition are welcome.” (Cooper, Patricia M. The classrooms all young children need: Lessons in teaching from Vivian Paley<\/a><\/i>. University of Chicago Press, 2009.)<\/p>\n

If you are an educator unfamiliar with the name Vivian Paley or her work, that is a great shame and diminishes your craft.<\/p>\n

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Vivian Paley authored thirteen books, here are my top five favorites.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n