Early Childhood Studies

Principles and Practice

Jane Johnston, Lindy Nahmad-Williams, Ruby Oates, Val Wood

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2018
• eBook ISBN: 9781317200970
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

This fully updated new edition offers a comprehensive, accessible, yet rigorous introduction to the study of Early Childhood that will will add value to any Early Childhood Studies course at both foundation and degree level. Addressing both care and education in the Early Years, the book considers a range of multi-disciplinary aspects of Early Childhood; including health, social, educational, psychological and sociological perspectives.

Early Childhood Studies engages the reader by providing real-world examples that underpin theoretical perspectives and bring examples to life, while encouraging practitioners to engage in reflective practice by considering their own similar experiences.

Key features include:

• Engaging activities and case studies that bring theory to life
• Cutting-edge research
• Practical tasks and advice with points for further reading
• End of chapter summaries, Reflective Tasks and Study Skills boxes in each chapter
• Full colour illustrations throughout

This core introductory textbook is an indispensable resource for Early Years' students and professionals, whatever their level of expertise or experience.

Part 1
History and Philosophy of Early Childhood Studies

Chapter 1
Theories and Theorists

Jane Johnston and Val Wood

'Our highest human endeavours must be to develop free human beings who are able of themselves to impart purpose and direction to their lives'

Steiner (1996)

Introduction

This chapter seeks to chart the emergence of influential theories on practice and policy in early childhood education and care, from the early eighteenth century onwards. Taking a chronological approach, it can be seen how the work of the earliest theorists and reformers impacts upon the work of the future generations of pioneers. Brief biographical details have been included to provide further insight into how experiences in their lives could have potentially influenced their work. In addition to providing factual details, the chapter also includes common themes and links between the theorists. Explicit connections are made between the work of the theorists and current early childhood practice and policy.

Aims

• → To provide an overview of historical practice and provision in the early years through the work of early pioneers and reformers
• → To provide key biographical details of the lives of these pioneers and reformers, in an attempt to understand the influences on them that have helped to formulate their beliefs
• → To examine the key historical beliefs held by these pioneers and reformers and consider their influence on current practices and policy in early childhood education and care
• → To consider recent, new and emerging theories and theorists emphasising the current issues in Early Childhood Studies, both nationally and internationally

A timeline of theorists

We start our timeline (see Table 1.1) with Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–1778), who was a French ‘philosopher, social and political theorist, musician, botanist, and one of the most eloquent writers of the Age of Enlightenment’ (Dent, 2005). Rousseau was born in Geneva on 18 June 1712 and raised by an aunt and uncle, as his mother died just after his birth. At 13, Rousseau was apprenticed to an engraver, but ran away after three years and became a companion and secretary to Madame Louise de Warens. It was here that Rousseau was influenced in his thinking. In 1742 he went to Paris and worked as a music teacher, music copyist and political secretary, becoming a close friend of the French philosopher Denis Diderot. Rousseau believed that childhood was distinctly different from adulthood. His ideas are based on the philosophy that humans are born free and good, but are influenced by society and its conventions and through the process of socialisation, and that children have a different way of thinking to adults. Children were thought to develop inhibitions, vices and ideas during their childhood and to become increasingly constrained by the rules of society. Rousseau stressed that young children should be allowed to develop free of society’s constraints and that early provision should provide a balance between societal freedom and happiness on one side and increasing independence and control on the other (Roopnarine and Johnson, 1987). Rousseau believed that education should ‘accommodate itself to the child’ (Barnard, 1961: 33) rather than expecting the child to accommodate to the system, convincing educators that education should be child-centred, with expression, rather than repression, being central (Rousseau, 1911). Elements of Rousseau’s principles have dominated early education for over 200 years and he has been called the ‘Father of Education’. It is reasonably undisputed that his philosophy led to the understanding that practical development in the early years (experiential learning) was most effective, and to the child-centred education in the UK in the 1960s and 1970s.

Our second reformer and thinker is Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi (1746–1827), a Swiss humanitarian and educational reformer, whose theories are thought to have been influential in the development of elementary education worldwide. Pestalozzi was born in Zurich on 12 January 1746 and studied theology at the University of Zurich, intending to become a pastor. However, he was most concerned with the plight of the poor, and in 1775 opened a school for the children of the poor on his estate near Zurich and another for orphans in 1798, both of which were not open for long because of financial difficulties. In 1799, Pestalozzi was more successful when he opened a school at Burgdorf, which was moved to Yverdon in 1805 and was attended by pupils from all over Europe. This school was a testing ground for many of his ideas. Pestalozzi stressed the individuality of the child and believed that children learn through practice and observation ‘ through the natural employment of the senses’ (Silber, 1960). Like Rousseau, he stressed experiential learning and went on to identify that teachers should facilitate learning rather than impart knowledge to children. His beliefs have influenced not only elementary (primary) education throughout the Western world, but also teacher training in the UK, especially in the 1960s and 1970s.

Table 1.1 Pioneers and reformers in early childhood education

Rousseau, J.J.	(1712-1778)
Pestalozzi, J.H.	(1746-1827)
Oberlin, J.F.	(1740-1826)
Froebel, F.	(1782-1852)
Dewey, J.	(1859-1952)
Montessori, M.	(1870-1952)
McMillan, R.	(1859-1917)
McMillan, M.	(1860-1931)
Steiner, R.	(1861-1925)
Freud, S.	(1856-1939)
Piaget, J.	(1896-1980)
Vygotsky, L.S.	(1896-1934)
Erikson, E.	(1902-1994)
Skinner, B.F.	(1904-1990)
Bowlby, J.	(1907-1990)
Maslow, A.H.	(1908-1970)
Plowden, B.D.	(1910-2000)
Bruner, J.	(1915-2016)
Bronfenbrenner, U.	(1917-2005)
Malaguzzi, L.	(1920-1994)
Bandura, A.	(1925-)
Kohlberg, L.	(1927-1987)
Weikart, D.P.	(1931-2003)

Reflective Tasks

Experiential learning

Level 1

Consider Rousseau’s and Pestalozzi’s belief in experiential learning. What do you consider experiential learning to be? Identify which of the following would be part of experiential learning:

• ● finding out for yourself;
• ● being taught something;
• ● learning through your own experience;
• ● thinking through a problem;
• ● being supported by another person (adult or peer);
• ● learning through practical activities;
• ● discussing with others;
• ● learning from a book or the media.

Think about a positive learning experience you have had.

• ● What made it so positive?
• ● Was it experiential?

Level 2

Think of a successful learning experience you have provided for children.

• ● What were the features that made it successful?
• ● How could you have made the experience more experiential?
• ● Would this have made it even more successful? Why?

Level 3

Consider the future planning of your setting.

• ● Does it contain aspects of experiential learning?
• ● How can you work with your staff to develop the planning further to enhance children's experiential learning?
• ● Why might this be beneficial to the children?

Jean Frederic Oberlin (1740–1826) is a little known and probably under-rated reformer. He was a French educator who instituted a system of pre-school education which focused on language development and handicrafts, but had a varied and balanced curriculum, with some instruction, physical exercises to aid cooperative skills, handicrafts and no lesson plans or timetable. In 1767, together with three collaborators, Madeleine-Salome Oberlin, Sarah Banzet and Louise Scheppler, he set up a system of pre-school education and founded schools, which became known as the knitting schools, in poor villages in rural Alsace. At that time in rural areas, standard French was not commonly spoken, and while this adversely affected his work it also characterised his system of learning. In the schools, groups of about 50 children sat around a leader while she knitted and chatted, teaching them names of objects, plants, animals, etc. in standard French. In this way, the children learnt from the leader, who modelled speaking and listening and taught them about the world around them in an open and cheerful way. Oberlin also introduced a system for learning to read which was a form of early paired reading, where children would listen to stories, look at illustrations and later read the text for themselves. His ideas and the practice in his schools formed a model for early education in France and he appears to be the first person to recognise the importance of a varied and balanced curriculum. His ideas were not adopted in France during his lifetime and his schools did not continue after his death in 1826, but today’s provision for young children equally considers the importance of a varied curriculum and engages in group work to support developments such as litera...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Brief contents
• Contents
• Guided tour
• About the authors and contributors
• Acknowledgements
• List of abbreviations
• Introduction
• Part 1 History and philosophy of early childhood studies
• Part 2 Early years development
• Part 3 Early childhood
• Part 4 Practitioners in early childhood
• Glossary
• Index