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Early childhood education
(ECE) is a branch of education theory which relates to the teaching of young children (formally and informally) up until the age of about eight.
Context
[edit]
While the first two years of a child's life are spent in the creation of a child's first "sense of self", most children are able to differentiate between themselves and others by their second year. This differentiation is crucial to the child's ability to determine how they should function in relation to other people.[1] Parents can be seen as a child's first teacher and therefore an integral part of the early learning process.[2]
Learning Through Play
[edit]Early childhood education often focuses on learning through play, based on the research and philosophy of Jean Piaget, which posits that play meets the physical, intellectual, language, emotional and social needs (PILES) of children. Children's natural curiosity and imagination naturally evoke learning when unfettered. Thus, children learn more efficiently and gain more knowledge through activities such as dramatic play, art, and social games.[3]
Theories of child development
[edit]Vygotsky’s socio-cultural learning theory
[edit]Russian psychologist Lev Vygotsky proposed a "socio-cultural learning theory" that emphasized the impact of social and cultural experiences on individual thinking and the development of mental processes.[4] Vygotsky's theory emerged in the 1930s and is still discussed today as a means of improving and reforming educational practices.
Vygotsky argued that since cognition occurs within a social context, our social experiences shape our ways of thinking about and interpreting the world.[5] Although Vygotsky predated social constructivists, he is commonly classified as one. Social constructivists believe that an individual's cognitive system is a result of interaction in social groups and that learning cannot be separated from social life.
Piaget’s constructivist theory
[edit]Jean Piaget's constructivist theory gained influence in the 1970s and '80s. Although Piaget himself was primarily interested in a descriptive psychology of cognitive development, he also laid the groundwork for a constructivist theory of learning.[6] Piaget believed that learning comes from within: children construct their own knowledge of the world through experience and subsequent reflection. He said that "if logic itself is created rather than being inborn, it follows that the first task of education is to form reasoning." Within Piaget's framework, teachers should guide children in acquiring their own knowledge rather than simply transferring knowledge.[7]
According to Piaget’s theory, when young children encounter new information, they attempt to accommodate and assimilate it into their existing understanding of the world. Accommodation involves adapting mental schemas and representations in order to make them consistent with reality. Assimilation involves fitting new information into their pre-existing schemas. Through these two processes, young children learn by equilibrating their mental representations with reality. They also learn from mistakes.[8]
A Piagetian approach emphasizes experiential education; in school, experiences become more hands-on and concrete as students explore through trial and error.
Notable early childhood educators
[edit]See also
[edit]- Baby video
- Bright from the Start
- Compensatory education
- Head Start Program
- Montessori education
- Playwork
- Preschool curriculum
Notes
[edit]- ^ Oatley, Keith; Keltner, Dacher; Jenkins, Jennifer M (2007). Understanding emotions (2nd ed.). Malden, Massachusetts: Blackwell Publishing. p. 211. ISBN 978-1-4051-3103-2.
- ^ Footnote Anning, A and Cullen, J. and Fleer, M. (2004) Early childhood education. London: SAGE.
- ^ Winner, Melinda (28 January 2009). "The Serious Need for Play". Scientific American.
- ^ Cole; John-Steiner, Scribner, Souberman (1978). Mind in Society: the Development of Higher Psychological Processes.
{{cite journal}}: Missing or empty|title=(help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Jaramillo 1996.
- ^ Smith, L (1985). "Making Educational Sense of Piaget's Psychology". Oxford Review of Education. 11 (2): 181–191. doi:10.1080/0305498850110205.
- ^ "Jean Piaget: Champion of children's ideas". Scholastic Early Childhood Today. 15 (5): 43. 2001.
- ^ Piaget, J (1997). "Development and Learning". Readings on the Development of Children: 7–20.
Neaum,S. (2013). Child development for early year’s students and practitioners. 2nd Edition. London: Sage Publications.