For more information
Call 1-800-351-0222
Call 1-800-351-0222
EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT & EDUCATION.
Term Paper ID:28937
Essay Subject:
Discusses process & theory of effective early childhood teaching. Main ideas are from "Helping Young Children Learn."... More...
16 Pages / 3600 Words
12 sources, 33 Citations,
TURABIAN Format
$64.00
More Papers on This Topic
Paper Abstract:
Discusses process & theory of effective early childhood teaching. Main ideas are from "Helping Young Children Learn."
Paper Introduction:
This paper is a discussion of the process and theory of early childhood development and education, using the fifth edition of Helping Young Children Learn by Evelyn G. Pitcher, Sylvia G. Feinburg, and David A. Alexander as the framework for exploration. This volume focuses on developmental issues in the education of very young children, considering the ways in which the physical, biological, and psychological growth process affects the process of learning. Understanding these interrelated stages is essential to effective educational planning for the classroom teacher, the social worker, and the parent. Without acknowledgment of the progress of the whole child, learning is incomplete. This paper looks at the context in which early education takes place and considers some of the primary concerns that must be included in effective early
Text of the Paper:
The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper.
[3] Ibid., 8. Zigler, Eds. . The word itself is more oftenapplied to a systematic structure of specific learning, especially a set offacts and skills that are to mastered in a formal way. What makes more sense is to strive for the establishment of a clearevaluation of the individual child and his or her stage of developmentwhich can then be used by the elementary school teacher in beginning theprocess of formal schooling. Even as the child enters a system that usesstandardized tests and specific curricular benchmarks in order to measureprogress, such universal measures ought still to keep the individual childin mind. (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1987), 153. [8] Pitcher, 12. [2] Evelyn G. at high levels."[32] So the best programs consider thewhole child, supporting development at all levels by providing a wide rangeof activities that allow the individual to explore at grow in everypossible respect, rather than focusing on one or two specific areas. Pitcher and her colleagues argue that literacy should be as organic adevelopment as any other skill developed by very young children. [11] Ibid., 9. The first specific play activity that Pitcher and her colleaguesconsider to be critical to early childhood education is the production ofartworks. . [31] Ibid., 332. Understanding these interrelatedstages is essential to effective educational planning for the classroomteacher, the social worker, and the parent. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1987. [7] Leon Eisenberg, "Experience, Brain, and Behavior: The Importanceof a Head Start," Pediatrics 1 3: 5 (May 1999): 1 31. .Activity selects out the synapses that will persist; inactivity results inregression and apoptosis."[7] At the same time, however, young children also crave redundancy.Pitcher and her colleagues write, "Toddlers like repetition; it is thebasis of their learning style. Variety is especially important, as Leon Eisenberg notes, "Majorbrain pathways are specified in the genome, but the learned connectionsbetween brain and behavior are fashioned by social experience . In fact, all of the specific areas of activity outlined by Pitcherand her colleagues are interrelated. Don't hang uponly 'the good ones.'"[12] Art provides the most essential foundation to early childhoodactivity, since it offers children the chance to participate, choosematerials and the means of expression, and results in a concrete endproduct. Pitcher and her colleagues observe,"Complicating this issue is that for each person who asks what the child isgaining from schooling, there is one hoped-for or valued set of acceptable(and unacceptable) answers."[3 ] One inherent difficulty is the conceptthat early childhood and "preschool" experiences should serve aspreparation for the start of formal schooling, which carries with it theexpectation that all children will bring to that experience a common set ofskills and a common basis of preparation. Children too young to begin a program of formal education arenevertheless eager to learn. [16] Jillian Rodd, "Children, Culture, and Education." ChildhoodEducation 73: 1 (September 15, 1996): 325. They go througha series of definable stages on the way to becoming adults. [17] Pitcher, 171. Knopf, 1987), 7. Barnet. New York: W. Pitcher,Sylvia G. Childhood and Society, 35th Anniversary Edition. Palsha and Patricia W. She continues, "Skills can be defined as brief andsmall units of action or behavior that are relatively easily observed,"while dispositions include social skills that aid in and expand upon thelearning process (such as generosity and curiosity), and feelings includethe resolution of many of the essential conflicts outlined by Erikson, suchas self-confidence and the sense of belonging.[23] These four essentialgoals are especially important for early childhood education when they areseen within the context of the individual child's developmental process.Katz argues, "The fact that children can do something is not sufficientjustification for requiring it of them. [2 ] Brazelton, 213. Books and reading activities are only the most obvious of thecommunication and language development process that is so much a part ofearly childhood education. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1998.Brazelton, T. As they observe, "It is with the crayon and the marker that thechild first engages in the important task of making his own symbolicworld."[9] Self-expression through art is one of the best examples of adevelopmental technique tailored to the child's individuality. (Upper Saddle River,NJ: Prentice Hall, 1989), 1-2. Feinburg, and David A.Alexander as the framework for exploration. [3 ] Ibid., 321. Pitcher, Evelyn G.; Sylvia G. He notes that, for example, while swimming classes for veryyoung children have some benefits, they must take into account the greaterphysical sensitivity of very young bodies: "Infants in swimming classesare at risk for middle-ear infections and potential permanent hearing loss,for autoasphyxiation from swallowing water, and for diarrhea, since thebabies are not toilet-trained and the water may be polluted."[33] Everyearly childhood program needs to remain sensitive to the fact that itsparticipants are very young, not "little adults," but truly children. This formalstructure is the antithesis of early childhood education, especiallyeducation that approaches the job from a developmental perspective, sinceit seeks to impose a "one size fits all" mentality on children who arenowhere near ready for this approach. [14] Pitcher, 1 3/ [15] Ibid., 122. Pitcher and her colleagues stress the importance of acknowledgment; theycaution the teacher, "Art is a personal, individual thing. Be sure the idea of learning these things iscoming from her."[2 ] The final specific area of activity championed by Pitcher and hercolleagues are the numerous kinds of play that build social and cognitivelearning. Musiccan be used more passively, as when children listen to records orperformances, or actively, as when they are encouraged to sing, chant, orplay basic instruments. Alexander. . Reading aloud is also a social activity, whetherstrengthening only the relationship between the child and adult reader oralso including other children as participants. While researchdoes provide some general guidelines regarding the abilities likely to bedeveloped at a particular age, every child is an individual to such anextent that these guidelines may prove utterly useless in any given case.While "five year olds seem to have no trouble in the flight of theimagination that sees life in nonlife, people in animals, and reality indreams,"[25] a particular five year old may be nowhere near ready tounderstand the concept of a talking chair or a flying pig. . Erikson, Childhood and Society, 35th Anniversary Edition(New York: W. Helping Young Children Learn, 5th edition. Wesley, "Improving Quality inEarly Childhood Environments Through On-Site Consultation." Topics inEarly Childhood Special Education 18: 4 (Winter 1998): 244. Alexander, advocate an approach toteaching very young children that emphasizes an understanding ofdevelopmental stages, an acknowledgment of the unique progress of eachindividual child, and a recognition of the socialization process thateducation serves in helping the individual to become an active member ofsociety. Norton, 1985), 246. how to play with otherchildren, how to handle other adults, and how to learn about themselves associal people."[4] Play is an essential aspect of early childhoodeducation; every activity included in the curriculum at this stage shouldfeel like play to the child, no matter how purposeful its design andinclusion may be to the teacher designing the program. Cultural considerations havebecome a prominent concern in recent educational thinking at all levels, aseducators have come to recognize the impact of teaching in a trulymulticultural society. The Youngest Minds: Parenting and Genes in the Development of Intellect and Emotion. "Experience, Brain, and Behavior: The Importance of a Head Start." Pediatrics 1 3: 5 (May 1999): 1 31-1 38.Elkind, David. . Feinburg; and David A. "Early Education: What Should Young Children Be Doing?" In Early Schooling: The National Debate, Sharon L. . It is important to remember that Erikson and hissupporters do not suggest that each one of the stages of development shouldbe resolved completely in favor of one "side" over the other. Evaluative efforts need to be designed to consider thewhole picture, just at programs themselves need to include opportunitiesfor the child to develop physically, cognitively, socially, andpsychologically. . Pitcher and her colleagues argue, "The creation of art engagesthe child on a number of levels: cognitive, expressive, motoric, andaesthetic."[1 ] Because there is no "wrong" answer, whatever the childproduces is a positive, useful expression of individuality that helps laythe foundation for later, more formal and specific learning. [18] Erikson, 252. The adult's job is to forge the linkbetween learning to talk and learning to read," principally by readingaloud to children on a regular basis.[14] They advocate using literature,reading, and the development of literacy as one more tool in the process,instead of a specific curricular goal. He must do something which he has chosen todo without being compelled by urgent interests or impelled by strongpassion; he must feel entertained and free of any fear or hope of seriousconsequences."[5] Play in general is critical to the early learning experience, but, asJamie Sorcher observes, "School plays a major role in our lives . Painting a picture of a house alsoinvolves the manipulation on paint, the observation of what a house lookslike, the cooperation of fellow students in sharing painting space, somecomprehension of the size of the canvas and planning out the painting, andeven verbalization in explaining the creative work at hand to others in theroom. by keeping stresshormones . Wesley observe,"Without careful attention to the way in which aspects of quality such asphysical space, materials, and staff are used in the classroom, childrenwith disabilities are less likely to benefit from inclusion" in amainstream classroom setting.[28] The early childhood educational experience can be one of the bestsettings in which to determine the need for specialized approaches for theindividual child. It is interesting that they place this third, sincemany early childhood education approaches tend to begin prematurely withliteracy as a goal. This paper is a discussion of the process and theory of earlychildhood development and education, using the fifth edition of HelpingYoung Children Learn by Evelyn G. . [13] David Elkind, Miseducation: Preschoolers at Risk (New York:Alfred A. [27] Ann Barnet and Richard Barnet, "Childcare Brain Drain?" TheNation 264: 18 (May 12, 1997): 6. While theconcept of childhood as a state separate from adulthood may be a relativelyrecent sociological idea, the fact remains that babies and young childrenare not as fully developed in any way as they can become. "Children, Culture, and Education." Childhood Education 73: 1 (September 15, 1996): 325-33 .Sorcher, Jamie. They are undergoing one of the most rapidtransformations of their lives, a developmental process that proceeds at anincredible pace on every level, giving them the opportunity to exploretheir world and find their place in it, while growing so fast that theirprogress is almost observable on a day-to-day basis. [22] Lilian G. A child whobegins elementary school unable to read at even the most basic level maynevertheless be much more "ready" for the experience than one who is ableto recognize basic letters or words but cannot interact effectively withhis or her peers. Later on the same page, Erikson quotes Schiller:"Man is perfectly human only when he plays," and emphasizes the differencebetween play and the purposeful activity of work, which producescommodities of some sort. Many earlystages provide necessary preparation for later developments, and while theprecise progression may be a matter of interpretation and opinion, the factof developmental stages has achieved nearly universal acceptance. [32] Mark Nichols, "Building Brains: Can Young Children Be Programmedfor Health?" Maclean's, November 1, 1999, 65. The effective teacher can help thechild deal with each of the classic crises in Erikson's scheme byrecognizing them as they occur and providing opportunities and support forreasonable resolutions which come from the individual child's discovery ofthe world, rather than being imposed on him or her by outside forces. The notion of applying the concept of "curriculum" to earlychildhood education brings inherent dangers. Evaluating the effectiveness of programs that work with very youngchildren can be equally tricky. learning at school is not so easy. Yet many children do have particular needs that must also beconsidered in designing both the early childhood program and the space inwhich it is carried out. "Childcare Brain Drain?" The Nation 264: 18 (May 12, 1997): 6-7.Barnet, Ann B. Books that are appropriate for veryyoung children include both illustrations which enhance the listeningprocess and provide artistic inspiration for artwork creation and theopportunity for repetition and familiarity that are an integral part of thelearning process. Touchpoints: Your Child's Emotional and Behavioral Development. Berry Brazelton agrees: "Play is the powerful waychildren learn their most important tasks . by which the individual demonstrates that hisego, at a given stage, is strong enough to integrate the timetable of theorganism with the structure of social institutions."[1] Erikson's mostsignificant contribution to developmental theory was his concept thatindividual development is tied to socialization, the ways in which thepersonal becomes integrated with the social. [19] Pitcher, 223. A developmental approach presumes knowledgeable and sensitive observation of children, honest commitment to individual differences, and an understanding that young children learn best when learning is meaningful to them and is based on live and vibrant firsthand experiences.[2] They outline a series of specific curricular approaches which aremost effective at addressing these issues, from art and music to social andcognitive activities. The simple act of talking to one another and toadults is a vital learning activity, one which is sometimes overlookedbecause it does not seem to constitute a separate curricular item. [24] Ibid., 154. . [12] Ibid., 84. In observing children, wecan, to some measure, observe ourselves."[31] Rather than denying thehumanity of the teacher, the best educational program ought to embrace itand celebrate the caring that such humanity brings to the process ofpreparing very young children to become fully participating individualmembers of society. . and Richard J. In their book, Helping Young Children Learn, Evelyn G. In either case, the teacher must take a much larger share of the responsibility for deciding what the child needs to learn and how to arrange a special environment in which he can do so effectively.[29]They also point out that determining the existence of a problem that goesbeyond being merely out of step with typical developmental progressrequires great sensitivity on the teacher's part. In some cases, the child's basic constitutional endowment - the ways in which his body and mind are organized - makes active collaboration with the teacher difficult. David Elkind, in his book Miseducation: Preschoolersat Risk, is one of the more outspoken opponents to premature formality andadvanced curricular goals. All of these approaches derive from the spirit ofplay, the fundamental concept behind every aspect of early childhoodeducation. They like to hear the same songs andnursery rhymes over and over again"[8]Therefore, an effective curriculum must include opportunities to rehearseand repeat activities and materials from which the individual child derivespleasure. Mark Nichols notes thephysical impact of an appropriately stimulating early childhood educationalexperience: "Without stimulation, some brain pathways might not develop.And a growing body of evidence suggests that can have a dire effect notonly on intellectual ability but on future health . [33] Elkind, 15. W. . Artistic expression begins with scribbling, a process that combineslearning how to manipulate the materials used with more advanced attemptsto represent and interpret the world, a process that Pitcher and hercolleagues observe may be the "veritable beginning of philosophy" for theyoung child.[11] The teacher needs to validate every artistic effort,since each attempt is a critical part of the exploration that art provides. "Building Brains: Can Young Children Be Programmed for Health?" Maclean's, November 1, 1999, 64-65.Palsha, Sharon A. Norton, 1985.Katz, Lilian G. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 1992.Eisenberg, Leon. Pitcher and her colleagues devote some attention to the question ofcultural considerations in the use of literature. Miseducation: Preschoolers at Risk. For this reason, evaluations which concentrate on the acquisition oftoo detailed a set of skills tend to miss the larger picture. Pitcher, Sylvia G. "Improving Quality in Early Childhood Environments Through On-Site Consultation." Topics in Early Childhood Special Education 18: 4 (Winter 1998): 243-257.Pitcher, Evelyn G.; Sylvia G. Barnet and Richard J.Barnet emphasize, "Human relationships shape the minds of children."[26]While an effective teacher brings training and a large collection ofactivities to the job of educating very young children, the most importantskills are an experienced eye, solid personal judgment, and his or her ownhumanity. [4] T. The second play activity that Pitcher and her colleagues advocateis the use of music, which develops listening and language skills. [the early years] of life."[6] Therefore, thecurriculum used must be diverse and adaptable to the individual's needs andstage of development. [an]uninvolved and light fashion. The greatest danger, of course, lies in the attempt to do too much.Early childhood education must address the whole child at the appropriatestage of development. BibliographyBarnet, Ann and Richard Barnet. Berry. He references Mark Twain's remarks thatconstructing artificial flowers is work, while climbing a mountain is"merely fun." [6] Jamie Sorcher, "Brain Trust: Can Toys Enhance Early ChildhoodDevelopment?" Playthings 97: 1 (October 1999): 2. "Brain Trust: Can Toys Enhance Early Childhood Development?" Playthings 97: 1 (October 1999): 2-3.----------------------- [1] Erik H. [25] Pitcher, 115. They write, "Cooperative behavior, sharing resources, andresponding to the needs of others are important behaviors to ensure agroup's solidarity."[21] Activities which encourage children to worktogether to achieve common goals or to play cooperatively are important inestablishing social skills, while also building on some of the other areasincluded (such as their manipulation of the physical environment, in usingbuilding blocks or playing with water). 151-167.Nichols, Mark. Katz, "Early Education: What Should Young Children BeDoing?" In Early Schooling: The National Debate, Sharon L. Physical mastery is also a critical factor in early childhooddevelopment. Erik H. Feinburg; and David A.Alexander, Helping Young Children Learn, 5th edition. There is no compelling evidence tosuggest that early introduction to academic work guarantees success inschool in the long term, but there are reasons to believe that it could becounterproductive."[24] In fact, the most significant tool in effective early childhoodeducation may be the judgment of the individual teacher. This is an especiallyimportant idea in education, since the purpose of learning is not merely todevelop the child's individual skills and mastery of the world but also,maybe more importantly, to develop the child's ability to fit into andinteract with his or her society. [1 ] Ibid. [21] Pitcher, 255. In addition to extreme sensitivity to needs based ondevelopmental progress, the teacher should also keep alert to signs ofspecial needs, such as with the ADDH child or the exceptional student.Since children at this age are not usually good candidates forstandardized, formal testing, they may not be able to be evaluated in thesame way from which older children can benefit, but through carefulobservation and sensitive understanding the early childhood teacher may beable to see some of the earliest signs of individual differences andindividual specialized needs. The best earlychildhood education programs are those that are sensitive to the ways inwhich their young charges progress as individuals and help them to developat their own particular pace. A teacher needsto be able to read the often extremely subtle signs that signal anindividual's cognitive, social, and psychological progress and introduceactivities that are appropriate to that specific level of development,rather than imposing arbitrary programs simply because all participants"should" be able to deal with and benefit from whatever is beingapproached. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1989.Rodd, Jillian. Yetas Pitcher and her colleagues point out, "Children's concept of quantityand their ability to reason about quantity develop naturally from theirinteractions with the environment."[19] Consequently, mathematicalconcepts do have a place in early childhood education, as long as thatplace is in line with the child's developmental level. Zigler, Eds.. Palsha and Patricia W. The teacher must include as many differentactivities as possible, both to stimulate the young learner and to retaininterest. Kagan and Edward F. Barnet, The Youngest Minds:Parenting and Genes in the Development of Intellect and Emotion (New York:Simon & Schuster, 1998) 259. . . They write, "Literacy isacknowledged as a social and cultural phenomenon whenever children withdifferent ethnic backgrounds are given reading materials that reflect theirown experiences."[15] As Jillian Rodd observes, "Development can only befully understood when it is viewed in the larger cultural context."[16]This context includes not just ethnic and cultural diversity but alsodifferent sex roles, family situations, and a wide variety of other socialfactors which affect even the youngest students living in contemporaryAmerica. Feinburg, and David A. Yet this is unrealistic andunlikely. Contemporary American teachers must almost becomesociologists in order to effectively serve the diverse range of childrenmaking up the population of typical schools across the country. One of the other areas of early childhood curriculum that, likereading, can be subject to misuse is the introduction of arithmetic. They provide a definition of their central concept: Developmental education means that the way adults set up a classroom for young children and the kinds of activities they provide rest on what is known and understood about childhood development . Sharon A. . [28] Sharon A. [26] Ann B. In their book, The Youngest Minds, Ann B. Given anassortment of varied materials and encouraged to produce whatever workinspires him or her, the child can begin by selecting materials he or shefeels comfortable manipulating: finger paints, large crayons, clay, and soforth, depending on the level of his or her motor skills and aestheticresponses. and Patricia W. W. . This volume focuses ondevelopmental issues in the education of very young children, consideringthe ways in which the physical, biological, and psychological growthprocess affects the process of learning. Activities which encourage the child to explore the world andestablish a solid relationship to the physical environment are vital.Again, most of the other more tangible activities include some aspect ofphysicalization, but it is important for the teacher to remember thephysical as a separate goal. Pitcherand her colleagues observe, "The child's language remains linked to theconcrete realities of his environment through early adolescence, when itexpands to include intangibles."[17] Language expression activities whichallow the child opportunities to communicate in various ways are essential;communication can be verbal, written, creative, or physically expressive,and should include all possible aspects of self-expression. [5] Erikson, 212. As they note, "Optimal learning in young children occurs whenthey play."[3] T. Theysuggest, "Children use language and choose books according to theirparticular stage of development . Human beings are not born fully formed in any respect. Berry Brazelton, Touchpoints: Your Child's Emotional andBehavioral Development (Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 1992), 214. Apparently purposeless play must allow the child the chance toreturn to selected activities; repetition offers familiarity, comfort, anddeeper understanding, critical elements to the more advanced learning thatwill come later and for which early childhood education builds theessential foundation. For example,in the struggle of trust over mistrust, the first stage, the child who isable to be completely trusting actually has a disadvantage over theindividual who has learned that not every situation calls for such asurrender; the child who mistrusts to some extent is better served againstsome potentially dangerous situations. At thispoint, the child requires "the gradual and well-guided experience of theautonomy of free choice,"[18] which may manifest itself in something assimple as being allowed to choose a red crayon over a blue one or a readingof a favorite story over the singing of a new nursery rhyme. [29] Pitcher, 289. . As David Elkind points out, this does not meanintroducing children to activities and curriculum for which they are notyet ready. The third play activity catalogued by Pitcher and her colleagues isthe use of literature. . Only such inclusive approaches will genuinely serve thechild. . A child who is labeledtoo early as being either learning disabled or exceptional runs a greatrisk of being pigeonholed prematurely by educational systems whichsometimes rely too heavily on categorization. and Richard J. Barnet, Ann B. Katz argues that early childhood education should focus on"four types of learning goals: knowledge, skills, dispositions, andfeelings."[22] She emphasizes that, at this stage, knowledge should be asbroadly defined as possible, rather than trying to adhere to the morerigorous, specific kinds of information to which later, more formalizededucation aspires. As Pitcher and her colleagues note: For some children, . In other cases, experiences prior to school have not been able to support development and learning fully. Several of Erikson's stages of developmentspecifically address issues related to this, including the stage ofresolving the conflict between autonomy versus shame and doubt. [23] Ibid. Fully developed human beings are not only those who have developed onthe cognitive, psychological, and social level. Erikson describesthe psychological and developmental effects of the process of playing:"When man plays he must intermingle with things and people in . [9] Ibid., 43. Since the most importantfunction that effective early childhood education can serve is anappreciation of the child's individuality, such pigeonholing can beespecially destructive. New York: Alfred A. This paper looks atthe context in which early education takes place and considers some of theprimary concerns that must be included in effective early childhoodteaching. He quotes pediatrician Benjamin Spock, whowrites, "Experiments done years ago indicate that children who beganreading at seven developed fewer reading problems that those who started atsix."[13] Early childhood programs that have as their goal advancedliteracy have experienced great popularity and a subsequent violentbacklash. Erikson, expanding on Sigmund Freud's articulation ofpsychosexual stages of development, codified eight stages of identitydevelopment, "a list of ego qualities which emerge from critical periods ofdevelopment - criteria . Kagan andEdward F. butthere are no certainties as to what might actually make a [critical]difference in . . In an earlier article, the Barnets observe, "The amount of timecaregivers spend talking to infants and their sensitivity to the babies'reactions are powerful predictors of language facility and intellectualcapacity."[27] In other words, personal attention alone can be even morecritical than the specific kind of activity a teacher uses. Pitcher and her colleagues also point out the personal bias ofthe individual teacher which is an inevitable part of the process: "Eachof us has idiosyncratic priorities for children that vigorously shape theinterpersonal and curricular decisions we make. Lilian G. Brazelton argues,"The timing [of teaching a particular skill] is not as important as thechild's own desire to learn. Wesley. . . Without acknowledgment of theprogress of the whole child, learning is incomplete. Knopf, 1987.Erikson, Erik H.
If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again:
or
We can write a Custom Essay just for you.
Browse Essays by Subject