It was with real sadness that I read about the death of Vivian Gussin Paley. When I was studying to become a teacher and knee deep in textbooks about child development and theory, I accidentally chanced on Wally’s Stories in the library when waiting for the photocopier (remember those days?).
I am a sucker for a good bit of narrative and enjoyed the human way that she talked about children and her role as a teacher. My photocopying forgotten, I sat and read the book that afternoon.
Vivian G.P. wrote about her own experiences in the classroom, but she never preached. She simply talks about the dialogue of the day without agenda. She links with an invisible thread her own search for ‘truth’ in the context of a kindergarten classroom. Many early years texts have ‘in practice’ sections and these are often pretty drab, but the way that she celebrates children as equals makes her books come alive with vivid colour.
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