QUESTION IN UPLOADED INFO

Moe0704

unit2.ppt

Home >Psychology homework help >QUESTION IN UPLOADED INFO

Chapter 2

Historical Overview:
People and Beliefs That Shaped the Field

Foundations and Best Practices in Early Childhood Education, 2nd Edition Follari

2-*

Starting Questions

Why do we have programs outside the home for children as young as infants?
Do you think parents or schools are best equipped to care for and/or teach infants, preschoolers, school-age children?
What do you believe should be the primary goals and functions of early childhood centers?

Foundations and Best Practices in Early Childhood Education, 2nd Edition Follari

2-*

Historical Trends and Themes

View of children
innately good or evil, trainable, valuable
Role of families/women in home and society
women in the workforce
International influences on American education
Effects of Socioeconomic Status
Purpose of Early Childhood Programs
Custodial care, education, social change

Foundations and Best Practices in Early Childhood Education, 2nd Edition Follari

2-*

Education in the 1600s

Children viewed as small adults
Children’s sinful nature needed to be curbed through harsh punishment and strict discipline
Parents viewed as important teachers
Dame Schools provided care and moral training for children while adults worked
Schools mandated by law in 1647 in Massachusetts

Foundations and Best Practices in Early Childhood Education, 2nd Edition Follari

2-*

Key Thinkers of the 1600s

Johann Amos Comenius
Believed children had great potential for learning
Advocated for active learning
John Locke
Valued firsthand experiences for learning
Promoted playful learning
Viewed children as blank slates

Foundations and Best Practices in Early Childhood Education, 2nd Edition Follari

2-*

Education in the 1700s

A more favorable, romantic view of children emerged

Valued harmonious, authentic education experiences set in rural environments

Foundations and Best Practices in Early Childhood Education, 2nd Edition Follari

2-*

Key Thinkers of the 1700s

Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Promoted indirect manipulation of children’s will
Development unfolds naturally through free exploration
Teachers (mostly men) viewed as more successful than parents in educating children
Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi
Valued interaction, hands-on exploration, and reflection as educational methods
Valued mothers as child’s first teacher
Believed all children were capable of learning

Foundations and Best Practices in Early Childhood Education, 2nd Edition Follari

2-*

Education in the 1800s

Modern early childhood programs take shape (kindergarten is born)
Renewed emphasis on keeping infants at home with mothers led to separation of early childhood programs and elementary programs
Working mothers relied on Day Nurseries, which provided only custodial care

Foundations and Best Practices in Early Childhood Education, 2nd Edition Follari

2-*

Key Thinkers of the 1800s

Friedrich Froebel
Created the first “Kindergarten” in Germany
Envisioned a gentle, garden-like place where development could unfold naturally
Resisted overly academic instruction
Preferred education out of the home, with women as teachers
Developed hands-on materials for active exploration

Foundations and Best Practices in Early Childhood Education, 2nd Edition Follari

2-*

Key Thinkers of the 1800s

Elizabeth Palmer Peabody
Promoted Froebel’s methods in America
Included individualized instruction to suit each child’s abilities
Created the American Froebel Society
Regulated training programs
Advocated including African American women in teacher-training programs and increased access to school for children of slaves and Native American children

Foundations and Best Practices in Early Childhood Education, 2nd Edition Follari

2-*

Education in the 1900s:
Progressivism Dawns

Scientific methods and approaches became more favorable than previous religious emphasis
As kindergartens began to become rigidly academic, several educators emerged to re-emphasize play

Foundations and Best Practices in Early Childhood Education, 2nd Edition Follari

2-*

Key Thinkers of the 1900s

G. Stanley Hall and Arnold Gesell
Created the child study movement
Copious observations and interviews of children led to new knowledge of development
Advocated for an interdisciplinary approach, integrating services for health and education

Foundations and Best Practices in Early Childhood Education, 2nd Edition Follari

2-*

Key Thinkers of the 1900s

John Dewey
Valued children’s psychological and social dimensions
Believed education should emerge from children’s interests and align with their developmental level
Sought to instill a love of learning as the primary aim of education (eclipsing any academic or skills goals)
Valued play as an important part of education

Foundations and Best Practices in Early Childhood Education, 2nd Edition Follari

2-*

Key Thinkers of the 1900s

Caroline Pratt
Created an education system designed to teach children how to think and problem solve
Advocated for the importance of intrinsic motivation
Lucy Sprague Mitchell
After working closely with Pratt, Mitchell developed the Bank Street College of Education
Valued the importance of relationships as a key to education

Foundations and Best Practices in Early Childhood Education, 2nd Edition Follari

2-*

Progressivist Principles Shift

The 1957 launching of the Soviet satellite Sputnik rocked the foundation of Progressivism
Increasing academic performance became the new agenda for education; play fell out of favor
Montessori’s method and constructivist practices began to take hold

Foundations and Best Practices in Early Childhood Education, 2nd Edition Follari

2-*

Key Constructivists

Jean Piaget
Based work on numerous observations of children
Analyzed children’s problem-solving processes, defined distinct stages of children’s cognitive development
Lev Vygotsky
Emphasized language acquisition as a key influence on cognitive development
Believed social and cultural influences greatly impacted children’s development
Promoted importance of teacher guidance as children work on challenging tasks

Foundations and Best Practices in Early Childhood Education, 2nd Edition Follari

2-*

Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development

Piaget’s Stages of Cognitve Development (adapted from Vander Zanden, 2003)

Birth–2 years	Sensorimotor	Infants realize the relationship between sensations and their motor actions. Infants reach and grab items they see; they put items in their mouth; they move their body to make objects move, such as a mobile. Around 9 months infants also learn that objects exist even when they can’t see them—called object permanence.
2–7 years	Preoperational	Children begin to think symbolically. They begin to use and master language—a symbol system; symbolic dramatic play emerges where children can use a item to represent something else—like a block for a car.

Foundations and Best Practices in Early Childhood Education, 2nd Edition Follari

2-*

Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development (cont.)

Piaget’s Stages of Cognitve Development (adapted from Vander Zanden, 2003)

7– 11 years	Concrete operations	Children begin to think rationally, they begin to be able to understand conservation—that while an item’s shape may change, the mass, weight, number, length, or volume does not. For example, a younger child will see a ball of clay flattened and think the flat one has more now because it is longer. Children in this stage understand that the lump may be flattened to be longer but that it remains the same amount. Piaget believed this happened because older children can reverse the flattening action in their heads and imagine the lump as a ball again.
11–older	Formal operations	Abstract thinking develops. Children can now think on the bases of hypotheses and propositions, not just based on concrete objects. Children can master more complex scientific and mathematical operations using reversibility and reciprocity.

Foundations and Best Practices in Early Childhood Education, 2nd Edition Follari

2-*

Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development

Task is:

Child is:

Below child’s level, too easy

Frustrated, distracted from learning

Bored, distracted from learning

Given cues, verbal prompts

Assisted by teachers

Optimal Learning happens in

The Zone

Challenging, not overwhelming

Beyond child’s level, too challenging

New, with familiar elements

Foundations and Best Practices in Early Childhood Education, 2nd Edition Follari

2-*

Current Issues

Social and legal movements, fueled by the work of individuals and families, have led to integrated schools - open and accessible to all children
Intervention programs seek to equalize impact of poverty
As communities become more diverse, classroom practices must rely on culturally responsive practices

Foundations and Best Practices in Early Childhood Education, 2nd Edition Follari

2-*

Culturally Responsive Practices

Value individual culture and diversity, including:
Linguistic diversity
Ethnic, racial diversity
Diverse abilities
Diverse beliefs, family traditions
Religious diversity
Preserve home language and family culture
Validate individual children’s ways of thinking and sharing

Foundations and Best Practices in Early Childhood Education, 2nd Edition Follari

2-*

Reflection Questions

Do any people or beliefs support your own beliefs?

Does anything you read challenge your beliefs or assumptions?

How do you think Horace Mann’s quote fits in with a discussion of the history and changing aims of education?

“Education, then, beyond all other devices of human origin, is the great equalizer of the conditions of man— the balance wheel of the social machinery.”