Subject

Introduction
& Briefing
ECH1038 Introduction To Early Childhood
Education
PROFESSIONAL CERTIFICATE IN ECE
Class Schedule

Week Date Time Activities Remarks

1 01.04.23 9.00am – 1.00pm • Class Briefing
• Topic 1 : The Basis of Early Childhood Education
• Assignment Briefing
2 09.04.23 9.00am – 1.00pm • Topic 2 : Basic Theories in Education Students will be
• Early Childhood given 10 minutes
• Tutorial Worksheet 1 break for each one
• Assignment Discussion hour and will have
3 15.04.23 9.00am – 1.00pm • Topic 3 : Teaching Learning Strategies in Early Childhood some class activity as
• Tutorial Worksheet 2 well
• Assignment Presentation & Report Submission
4 29.04.23 9.00am – 1.00pm • Topic 4 : Learning Environment
• Tutorial Worksheet 3
 ASSESSMENT DISTRIBUTION

ASSESSMENT MODE DATE OF SUBMISSION MARKS DISTRIBUTION

ASSIGNMENT GROUP 29.04.2023 30%

TUTORIAL 1 INDIVIDUAL Will be updated 10%

TUTORIAL 2 INDIVIDUAL Will be updated 10%

ETHICS AND PROFESSIONALISM INDIVIDUAL 29.04.2023 10%

FINAL EXAM INDIVIDUAL IN AUGUST 40%

 TOPIC 1:
THE BASIS OF
EARLY
CHILDHOOD
EDUCATION
Ms. Manikavalli@ Malini d/o
Ponnamabalam

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MODERN IDEAS IN EARLY CHILDHOOD

• Early childhood education:

• Refers to group settings deliberately intended to
effect developmental changes in children from
birth to 8 years of age 1st grade. (Gordon, A.M &
Browne, K.W.
• Also refers to education to educational programs
and strategies geared toward children from birth
to the age of eight. This time period is widely
considered the most vulnerable and crucial stage
of a person’s life.
• Focuses on guiding children to learn through play.
 John Amos Comenius (1592 – 1670)

• • Comenius: John Amos Comenius (1592-1670) a

Czech educator, wrote the 1st picture book for children
named: Orbis pictus (the world of pictures, 1658).
• It was a guide for teacher that included training of the
senses and study of nature.
• Comenius fostered the belief that education should
follow the natural order of things.
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVKTnZCD7qo

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under CC BY-SA-NC
 John Locke (1632 – 1714)
John Locke (1632-1714) an English philosopher who is
the founder of modern educational philosophy.
▪ He based his theory of education on the scientific method
and the study of the mind and learning.
▪ Locke theorized the concept of Tabula Rasa: the belief
that the child is born neutral, rather than evil and is a
“clean state” on which the experiences of parents ,
society, education and the world are written.
▪ He discussed the idea of individual differences: observing
one child rather simply teaching a group.
▪ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycS4AUIPtiQ

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Friedrich Wilhelm
Froebel (1782-1852)
Contributed to early childhood education particularly
in his organization of educational thought and ideas
about learning, curriculum and teacher training.
▪ Known as: the “father of kindergarten”.
▪ Kindergarten means: “the garden of children”.
▪ He resolved that early childhood education should
be pleasant especially for children under 6 years
old.
▪ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lieFOzjLHM8 This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA-
NC
The Emergence of
Early Childhood
Education in The
1970s

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THE EMERGENCE OF EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION IN THE 1970s

▪ By 1970s, a trend was developing for the

kindergarten to focus on the intellectual
development of the child.
▪ Thus, a programmatic shift placed more
emphasis on academic goals for the five-year-old.
▪ Rousseau believed in a natural approach to
educate children that would permit growth
without any interference.
▪ Johann Pestalozzi, a Swiss educator, is the first
early childhood teacher who established several
schools for poor and orphaned children.

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THE EMERGENCE OF EARLY CHILDHOOD
EDUCATION IN THE 1970s
▪ In 1970s, many innovations in instruction were available for school
to explore new strategies in teaching.
▪ Among the instructional innovation used are like the open
classroom, individually guided education and competency-based
instruction
▪ Open Classroom : Child centre, teacher serving in the role of
instructional facilitator at open learning areas where teachers and
students learned together.
▪ Individually Guided Education: a term of teachers plan and
implement instruction based on individually paced instruction and
work at open environment.
▪ Competency-based instruction: a form of individually paced
education based on specific learning objectives.

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THE REFORM OF
KINDERGARTEN

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THE REFORM OF
KINDERGARTEN
The first kindergarten was a German School started by Froebel
in 1837

Nearly 20 years later, Margaretha Schurz (a student of

Froebel), opened the first kindergarten in the united states.

Schurz inspired Elizabeth Peabody (1804 – 1894) of Boston,

who opened the 1st English Speaking kindergarten in 1860.

Kindergarten began to become an instrument from social

reform.

Since these included a “day-care” function, they were claaed

charity kindergartens.

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THE REFORM OF KINDERGATEN
• A clash of ideals developed between followers of Froebel
(conservatives) and those John Dewey’s new educational
viewpoint (progressive)
• Frobel approach was criticized for the rigid approach,
teacher-directed learning.
• Dewey’s followers preferred a more child-center approach
with teachers serving as facilitator of children’s learning.
• The progressive succeeded in influencing the content of
kindergarten programs, retaining some of Froebel basic
concepts.

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 • The progressive succeeded in influencing the content of kindergarten
THE REFORM OF programs, retaining some of Froebel basic concepts.
• The reform of kindergarten education continued through the 1920s and
KINDERGARTEN 1930s and led to the creation of the modern American Kindergarten.
• Patty Smith Hill (1868 – 1946) regenerated Froebel ideas to promote
Nursery School for children too young to attend kindergarten.

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 This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA

TWENTIETH CENTURY INNOVATIONS

 Maria Montessori (1870 – 1952)

o Maria Montessori worked with poor children and

mentally retarded children that average age of 2 – 5
years old.
o Sensing that they lacked was proper motivation and
environment, thus, she opened a preschool, and it was
named as “Casa Di bambini” in 1907.
o Children pass through “sensitive period” in which
their curiosity makes them ready for acquiring certain
skills and knowledge.
o She designed teaching materials and classrooms
environment to meet the children needs.
o https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgpncuyLR8c

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 Education as a process of development

The Doctrine of Liberty or Freedom

Principles
of Montessori Principle of Growth of Individuality
System of
Education The principle of Self Education

Principle of Macular Training

Training of the Senses

 TWENTIETH CENTURY INNOVATIONS :
MARIA MONTESSORI
▪ The Montessori approach is a philosophy of education in which
children are given considerable freedom and spontaneity in choosing
activities.
▪ Teacher as facilitator not a director.
▪ The most striking features of Montessori classroom is its material.
▪ Many are made of wood and designed to stress the philosophy of
learning through senses.
▪ In a Montessori classroom, children are free to choose the materials
with which they want to “work” (the word used to describe them
activity).
▪ Children must accomplish on task before starting another one
including the replacing of the materials on the shelf for someone
else to use.
▪ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ln80qFTjq3U
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 Scientific approach of education based on her observations at Casa dei Bambini. It is her
observations and philosophy which turned up into the “Montessori Method”.

Focuses on the self-construction of the child through which he would reveal himself.

Child is given freedom within the limits

THE A practical approach that creates a high level of concentration

MONTESSORI
It helps to create an individual who would care for others, materials, environment, and
METHOD most importantly he learns to respect himself

Develops child’s senses, academic skills, practical life exercises and character

Montessori materials-designed to learn on their own (Isaacs, 2011)

Usage of materials-precise-let children select which one will use, expecting them to
return the materials to assigned places when they are finished.
 Twentieth Century Innovations
Constructive Theory

When individuals
Jean Piaget, suggested that
assimilate, they
through processes of
incorporate the new
accommodation and
experience into an already
assimilation, individuals
existing framework
construct new knowledge
without changing that
from their experiences.
framework.

Accommodation is the
process of reframing one’s
mental representation of
the external world to fit
new experiences.
Learners construct
knowledge out of their
experiences.

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 It described how learning
Constructivism is a theory
happens, regardless of
of knowledge that argues Piaget theory of
whether learners are
that humans generated constructivist learning
using their experiences to
knowledge and meaning has had wide ranging
understand a lecture or
from an interaction impact on learning
following the instructions
between their theories and teaching
for doing something
experiences and their methods in education.
during teaching-learning
ideas.
process.’

Twentieth Century Innovations :

Constructive Theory
TWENTIETH CENTURY INNOVATIONS : REGGIO EMILIA

• Loris Magaluzzi (1920-1994) develop his

theory early childhood from his work with
infants , toddlers and preschoolers.
• Working as the founder and director of early
education in the town of Reggio Emilia, Italy.
• His philosophy includes creating “an amiable
school” (friendly) that welcome families and
community and parents to intensify and
deepen to strengthen a child’s sense of
identity.
• Reggio Emilia respect children’s work and
creativity.
The Reggio Emilia Philosophy
children must have some control over
the direction of their learning

Children must be able to learn

through experiences of touching,
moving, listening, seeing and hearing.

Children gave a relationship with

other children and materials items in
the world that children must be
allowed to explore.

Children must have endless ways and

opportunities to express themselves.
 The Reggio Emilia approach to teaching young
children puts the natural development of children as
well as the close relationship that they share with
Twentieth their environment at the center of its philosophy.

Century Parents are viewed as partners, collaborators and

Innovations : advocates for their children.

Reggio Emilia
Teacher respect parents as each child’s first teacher
and involve parents in every aspect of the curriculum.
Summary

• Early childhood education refers to the combination of physical, cognitive,

emotional, and social learning of a child during the first six to eight years of
her life.
• Parents and primary care givers play an important role in the child’s
acquisition of such knowledge, in a more specialized sense, a professional
early childhood educator offers early childhood education to the child.
THE END