This document consists of a collection of papers presented during the 1979 Utah Inter-Institutional Seminar in Childhood Education. Introductory lectures provide an overview of theories of human development and indicate techniques for understanding child behavior. Self-reflection by teachers and techniques for influencing children are emphasized. Papers presented focus on managing mathematics programs, preschools and day care centers in Sweden, Denmark and Norway; developing critical thinking skills in young children by asking specific sets of questions at seven levels of thinking; the positive effects of men in early childhood education and guiding the development of children's self concept. Other papers discussed developing a child's sense of story; developmental trends in questioning by teachers and implications for early childhood science; teachers' influence on the development of children's self concept; motivating intellectual curiosity in children; and developmental work with a severely traumatized foster child. (Author/RH)