Theories of Childhood

John Dewey

• John Dewey was born to a modest family in Burlington, Vermont on October 20, 1859.
• Dewey graduated from the University of Vermont before getting his PhD from Johns Hopkins University.
• He did his best works at the University of Chicago from 1894 to 1904.
• After the University of Chicago, he proceeded to profess at Columbia University and Columbia University's Teachers college until 1930.
• In 1905, he became the president of the American Philosophical Association.
• Dewey passed away June 1, 1952.

~What Teachers Must Do As Supports of Children's Development and Learning~

• Teachers must concentrate on careful planning and development of curricula meant solely to enhance each child's experimentation and discovery.
• The school, and more specifically the classroom, should be a child's second home.
• Any presence in the classroom should be prepared with questions and be ready to field an incredible array of answers.

"Education is not preparation for

life, education is life itself."

-John Dewey

"Never help a child with a task at which

he feels he can succeed."

~Dr. Maria Montessori

Teachers must know that a

balance should exist between

object permanence and

separation anxiety.

Egocentrism is elevated especially in this stage of development (around the ages of 2-6 years). Providing children with an example through story is more beneficial than simply

giving a set answer.

This explains

why preschool

conversations

get off task quickly!

What a child knows

The Zone

Howard Gardener

The Eight Intelligences~

Intrapersonal

Interpersonal

Linguistic

Naturalistic

Kinesthetic

Musical

Spatial

Logical/Mathematical

Intrapersonal:

These students like to be by

themselves most of the time, work

independently, and be given

time to reflect.

Kinesthetic:

These students need to move,

laugh, and work with their hands.

They need to be doing something or

manipulating something in order

to learn.

What Teachers Should Know

Interpersonal:

These students enjoy collaboration and

prefer group work and

class discussions.

Musical:

These students think in music notes and

melodies. They are smart in hearing music

and remembering lyrics, and they may

play a musical instrument because of

this smart.

Linguistic:

These students learn through

language and words.

Spatial:

These students think in pictures

and are able to do the work in their

head.

Naturalistic:

These students love to be outdoors.

They care about the environment

and animals.

Logical/Matematical:

These students learn through

numbers and patterns.

Lev Vygotsky

What teachers should do...

• Was born in 1943 in Pennsylvania
• Graduated from Harvard
• He was inspired by Piaget and decided to study developmental pyschology.
• Erik Erikson was one of his mentors.
• In 1983 he published his famous Frame of Mind with the well-known theory ofmultiple intelligences.
• His work is considered one of the mot influential pieces of work as it pertains to education.

• Use students natural talents to their advantage.
• Introduce concepts through music, cooperative learning, art activities, role play, multimedia, field trips, and inner reflection.
• Vary the approaches and include as many as possible in each lesson!
• Ex. Use body movements during songs that explain concepts.
• Ex. Allow the children opportunities for dramatic play to display knowledge.
• Ex. Have children participate in group work to develop interpersonal skills.

~What Teachers Should Do~

Teachers Should....

Teach to the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)

Provide children a chance to work in academic work and projects in pairs.

Scaffolding

Do not make the mistake of interrupting too soon! Allow your children the chance to problem solve together.

Ask and Answer many questions. That is, you must ask open-ended questions to stimulate deeper conversation among students.

When you take a hard task and see it through, your self-esteem skyrockets.

These type of experiences are ones you want to provide your children!

Encourage sharing at times when you might not usually think to do so. Student interests and opinions are valued in the classroom that encompasses Vygotsky's ideas.

Establish and develop times for

social interactions. Vygotsky said that social interactions promote healthy development!

Encourage Vocalization and Deeper Conversations

Observe the Children

Why should we do this?

Teachers Should Refrain From....

"Good Job!" and "Great Work!" Instead,

summarizing what the child accomplished and allowing him to reflect on his actions is more beneficial than giving him one phrase that he hears multiple times daily.

Encourage Helpfulness in the classroom and beyond

Lev Vygotsky says that language leads development.

Use your observations

to support the child's learning

and further development.

Where is the child now and what is he or she capable of doing with and without help? (This is the child's development in action.)

Teach your children how to

ask for help in various situations.

Encourage your children to ask for help from a classmate first, rather than going to the teacher.

What teachers should know...

• Teachers need to know that they need to be good observers. Teachers need to know where children need help and where they don't.
• Teachers need to know that pairing up children is beneficial becuase not only do teachers learn from observing but children learn from observing their peers.
• Teachers need to know that letting children have conversations is crucial to thier learning.
• Teachers need to know about childrens ZDP, which stands for zone of proximal development. ZDP, as defined by Vygotsky, is the distance between the most difficult task a child can do alone and the most difficult task a child can do with help.

Jean Piaget

• Born in 1896 in Russia to a middle class family.
• Graduated in 1917 from University of Moscow with specialization in literature, and then taught literature in secondary school where he developed interest in how people learn.
• Studied and responded to the works of Freud, Piaget, and Montessori.
• Died at only 38 of tuberculosis.
• His work was often overshadowed by Piaget's theories, but in recent years the attention drawn to Reggio Emilia preschools has brought a new focus on his work.

• Teachers need to know that a lot of what children need to learn comes from play.
• Teachers need to know that childrens social and cognitive development work together and build on each other.

What Teachers Should Do...

Sensorimotor: Birth - 18 months

Preoperational: 18 months - 6 years

Provide large blocks of time for uninterrupted free play.

Keep babies safe but interested.

• When children are interested and absorbed, allow more time for them to explore!
• Keep places for children to store ongoing work.
• Organize small group work while others are still engaged in extended free play.

Respond reassuringly to separation anxiety.

Provide many real-world experiences for children throughout the year.

• Babies need to push, pull, crawl, climb, pull up to stand without being physically at risk.
• There should be a variety of things to touch and explore like cause and effect toys, soft materials, mirrors, board and cloth books.

• At this time, make as few changes in the child's life as possible.
• Keep schedules routine.
• Ease parents' minds by welcoming them to call anytime or even initiating to call to tell them their child is doing fine.

• Reading and talking about concepts are not enough. Children need to experience them first hand.

Plan open-ended activities and ask open-ended questions.

• Open-ended questions and activities support development because they ask children to think.
• Put children in a position of inquiry instead of right or wrong.

• Was born in Switzerland in 1896.
• He published his first scholarly paper at the age of 11.
• Over the span of his career, he published sixty books and hundreds of articles.
• He is often referred to as a psychologist but he is actually an epistemologist which is someone who studies the nature and beginning of knowledge.
• He is known for aksing how children arrive at what they know, while others would just as what children know and when they know it.

Concrete Operational

&

Formal Operational

These children will be 6 years and older. Teachers should work with the concept of reversibility ages 7-12 and should help children ages 11-16 think logically and in hypothetical terms.

Intrinsic and Extrinsic

It is Piaget's thinking that how a child interacts within his environment stimulates learning.

Building Blocks to Knowledge

Children establish their own branches of knowledge by attaching their own meanings to their surroundings.

Piaget's Stages

• Sensorimotor Stage (Birth-18 months)
• Preoperational (2-6 years of age)
• Concrete Operational (6-12 years)
• Formal Operational (12 + years of age)

Considerations of Curriculum

Keep children curious and provide opportunities to challenge the thought processes behind their wondering.

What Teachers Should Know

The Sensorimotor Stage

Preoperational Stage

Object Permanence

Separation Anxiety

The age at which babies experience a thrill to discover that objects and people who left can exist after that point (around 8-9 months).

A concept that is reflected in object permanence, but evolves when children become emotional at their primary care-givers absence.

Accomdations lead to Equalibrium

Children in this stage will begin to adjust their thoughts based on incoming (new) information. Balancing this brand new information with previously known thoughts is known to Piaget as a state of Equilibrium.

Erik Erikson

Trust versus Mistrust

It is important to have warm, close contact with the child, especially during feeding times in order to establish a strong bond between care giver and child.

Responding as quickly as possible to a child's cry or signal for you as their care giver is extremely sensitive in developing that ongoing sense of trust between the two of you.

Having the same individual care and support a specific child will only intensify that relationship of trust. Remember that the strength developed in the infant's stage of development is hope.

Erik Erikson was born in Frankfurt, Germany in 1902. He specialized in child psychoanalysis. He moved to the US in 1933 and joined the staff at Harvard Medical School. He later moved to Yale University where he started his work on society and child development. His later years included exploring ways that adults continue to live productive and meaningful lives in their old age.

Infants

Autonomy versus Shame and Doubt

Within the 0-1 year of age range

Refrain from providing children with choices that they do not have.

Set Clear, Firm Limits.

Allow the children to take risks in learning, but remember that setting limits in the environment surrounding the child will help him regulate his inner controls.

Rather than ask, "Jimmy, would you like to go to your locker and put you your coat?" which may or may not be met with defiance, focus on choices that the children can make for themselves.

Accept sometimes constant switching attitudes.

Give Children Simple Choices.

Support the direction the child is going and recognize that toddlers will demonstrate periods of "baby talk" and "big boy" attitude likely many times a day.

For instance, you may say, "Would you like to hear a story before we brush teeth, or after?" A teacher might ask, "Billy, would you like vanilla or cherry yogurt for your snack today?"

Remember willpower is the result of the

Autonomy versus Shame and Doubt!

Toddlers

Initiative versus Guilt

Within the 2-3 years of age range

Create curriculum the children will be excited about.

Focus on the gains that the children are making (and they are undoubtedly making lots)!

Even teachers make mistakes. It is worth modeling for the children that teachers need direct help as well.

Children need real tools in order to succeed to their utmost potential. (If you haven't gotten it yet, this is another parallel to Montessori practices!) Using real materials focuses the child on real life application and instills great confidence as well.

Know the individual learner.

Each beautiful child in your classroom will have their own strengths and weaknesses. Use the strengths to work on strengthening the weaknesses.

Let the children take risks in learning.

Foster Independence in these little monkeys.

This is a parallel with Montessori practice... Erikson also believes one of the duties of the teacher is to create a classroom where children can accomplish for themselves.

If children can take a hard task and follow through, it will do wonders for their self-esteem. It is our jobs as teachers to create this environment for our children.

What Teachers Should Know

Preschoolers :)

*A sense of purpose*

Maria Montessori

Within the 4-5 year old age range

"BrainyQuote." John Dewey Quotes.

Web. 12 September 2014.

If a child has problems in some areas it's usually because in their early years of life, certain patterns develop that cause these problems. It's always possible to go back and renegotiate these issues from previous stages of development.

What teachers should know...

You need to know:

• There are many stages of development that correspond with the children's age

-Trust vs. Mistrust (0-1)

-Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt (2-3)

-Initiative vs. Guilt (4-5)

-Industry vs. Inferiority (6-12)

-Identity vs. Role Confusion (Adolescence)

-Intimacy vs. Isolation (Young Adulthood)

-Generativity vs. Stagnation (Middle Age)

-Ego Integration vs. Despair (Old Age)

Child-Centered Environments

• Children learn language and other life skills from their environments.
• Children learn best through sensory experiences.
• Children need real tools if they are to do real work.
• Having materials accessible helps children become responsible for their own learning.
• Teachers need to "educate the senses" -- beauty and order are critical.

Competence and Responsibility

~What Teachers Should Know About Children's Development and Learning~

• Children want and need to care about themselves and their surroundings.
• Children learn best through doing and repetition.
• Don't interfere with the child's patterns and pace of learning.
• Children should be allowed to do everything they are capable of.
• Children are capable of great concentration when surrounded by interesting things to do and when given time and freedom to explore them.

Daily Montessori. "Maria Montessori Quotes." Web. 22 September 2014.

Maria Montessori Wisdom

Observation

Changing times bring new problems but also new opportunities.

Child-Centered

• Born in Chiaravalle, Italy in 1870.
• Father hoped she'd take the traditional woman's role of teaching, but instead became a student of science.
• In 1896 with a specialization in pediatrics, she became the 1st woman to graduate medical school in Italy.
• Became known as "Teacher" during her first job at an insane asylum where she found "unteachable" children responded to her methods.
• In 1907 she open her 1st Casa dei Bambini.
• By 1913, already 100 schools in America following her methods.
• Appointed to the government inspector of school in Italy in 1922.
• Nominated for Nobel Peace Prize three times!

• In order to teach, you must know about your students. Observation!!!
• All children can learn. If a child is not learning the adult is not listening or watching carefully enough.
• Observation and flexibility allows scheduling and behavior management to operate more smoothly.
• Allowing children to provide ideas for curriculum creates a more exciting and yet more peaceful place to be.

Teachers shape society!!!

Interests and background of each child should be used as a motivator to guide learning experiences.

Know about the values and needs of the families to deepen and extend those values at school.

Alive = Learning

Children need to learn about their needs of the present.

Children learn best through interactions.

Create Beauty and Order

Montessori believes in learning as a sensory process. Therefore, the addition of flowers and music to a classroom opens the child to those experiences.

Observe and Reflect

Foster Independence

Allow the children to gravitate to

materials of interest.

Montessori believes in only few transitions during a child's day. This allows the supports in the classroom to observe and reflect with each other on individual and class progress.

What Teachers Should Do as Supports of Child's Learning and Development

Provide Functional Materials

Prepare and Restock Materials

In allowing the children to use real-life materials, they are gaining confidence in what they are able to accomplish on their own.

Montessori believes that the child is capable and interested in real work if they are given the proper materials and time to work through those materials.

"The self is not something ready-made, but something in continuous formation through choice of action."

~John Dewey

Theories of Childhood

Qoute about the growth of children...? Something? Or could be deleted.

Created by:

Jacie Beagle

Addie Giesen

Brandie Hirchert

Could add some common themes down here in the roots? Or just delete?