{"product_id":"parents-and-playgroups","title":"Parents and Playgroups","description":"\u003cp\u003eOriginally published in 1981 to mark the twentieth anniversary of the birth of the Pre-school Playgroups Association, \u003ci\u003eParents and Playgroups\u003c\/i\u003e brings together three wide-ranging reports which examine the role of the playgroup movement, its underlying philosophy and the contribution made by both playgroups and Mother and Toddler groups to the lives of thousands of mothers and children throughout Britain at the time.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFormed following a letter to the \u003ci\u003eGuardian\u003c\/i\u003e in 1961, the PPA together with its sister organization the Scottish PPA had a membership of approaching 16,000 playgroups, serving nearly half a million children. Yet there had been very little research into the workings of the movement until 1975, when Barclays Bank funded a major research project which resulted in the three reports \u003ci\u003eParental Involvement in Playgroups\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eMother and Toddler Groups\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003ePatterns of Oversight\u003c\/i\u003e published in this volume.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe many questions explored and debated include:\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cul\u003e\u003cli\u003eHow should the playgroup movement develop in the 1980s and after?\u003c\/li\u003e\u003c\/ul\u003e\u003cul\u003e\u003cli\u003eWhat do parents contribute to playgroups – and what do playgroups and Mother and Toddler groups offer in return?\u003c\/li\u003e\u003c\/ul\u003e\u003cul\u003e\u003cli\u003eShould Social Service Departments take over the running of playgroups and Mother and Toddler groups? Do local authorities give playgroups enough support? Or does statutory ‘oversight’ inhibit flexibility and imaginative development?\u003c\/li\u003e\u003c\/ul\u003e\u003cul\u003e\u003cli\u003eAre playgroups and Mother and Toddler groups too middle-class oriented – and do they work equally well in different kinds of neighbourhood?\u003c\/li\u003e\u003c\/ul\u003e\u003cul\u003e\u003cli\u003eHow do playgroups compare with nursery schools?\u003c\/li\u003e\u003c\/ul\u003e\u003cp\u003eAs Lady Plowden writes in her Foreword, ‘the three studies will serve as an introduction to the developed thinking of the association, and point to further areas of research. They describe something increasingly vital in our present society, which is so often rootless and purposeless, as the group studying parental involvement says \"one of the greatest strengths of the playgroup movement is that overall it is a positive force in a largely negative society.\"’\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn the words of Max Patterson, President of the Scottish PPA: ‘This is a valuable set of studies… There is a challenge in the material to those with power to effect change. The experience and hard-earned knowledge of the Playgroups Association raises important questions for all whose interest is family and pre-school child.’\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Taylor \u0026 Francis Ltd","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54247690207576,"sku":"9781032343761","price":112.99,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0278\/1295\/4195\/files\/9781032343761_791ef407-9d1b-4b3c-9506-e83e2bec55a9.jpg?v=1770311731","url":"https:\/\/agendabookshop.com\/products\/parents-and-playgroups","provider":"Agenda Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}