Thanks to her curiosity, and the importance she placed on discovering what the world looked like for the children within her care, Vivian Gussin Paley developed an approach that truly values play as the work of childhood.
When I first met Vivian in 1999, I was immediately struck by how non-judgemental she was. How much she cared for the voices of the children she worked with. How she listened deeper and harder than anyone I had ever met.
Vivian believed that the greatest gift we can give to any child is the act of kindness and I, like many others who have been lucky enough to have spent time with her, have seen first-hand the respect she gave to every child she met.
It was not the monsters they invented that frightened them in the kindergarten; it was being told to sit still and pay attention for long periods of time.