In this reflective account I will be using Brookfield’s four lenses (The university of Sydney, 2015) to analyse how different historical perspectives have had an impact on pedagogy and practice in the early years field. Working on a group project my team looked at how forest schools have impacted on the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS, 2015) I will also look at different other historical perspectives and pioneers such as Steiner (Pound, 2006), Froebel (Pound, 2006), Macmillan (Pound, 2006) and Rousseau (Pound, 2006).
After doing the exhibition on forest schools I have learnt a lot about pioneers who have influenced forest school. Forest schools initially started in the 1950’s in Sweden and a concept of the feature was later introduced
It was in 1996 that the first UK curriculum was introduced which was called ‘Desirable Outcomes’. Within the document were learning outcomes to be achieved by all children by the age of five and being a centralised system, an inspection scheme was also introduced. In this article Soler and Miller (2010) highlight how these changes were perceived to be shaping the early childhood curriculum from the outside rather than from within the early childhood community.
The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) curriculum in England differs greatly in structure and content to the Te Whariki curriculum in New Zealand; this therefore makes for an interesting comparison. The EYFS was introduced in England, in 2008, by the DfE as a framework that ‘sets the standards for learning, development and care of children from birth to five’ (DfE, 2012). Alternatively, Te Whariki was founded in New Zealand, in 1996, based on the aspirations for children ‘to grow up as competent and confident learners and communicators, healthy in mind, body, and spirit, secure in their sense of belonging and in the knowledge that they make a valued contribution to society’ (Ministry of Education, 1996). Throughout this essay, the EYFS
Early childhood education curriculums are becoming a national curriculum in most countries. With more governments and society thinking about education of under-fives we are seeing shifts in thinking and education to meet the changing world. We are developing children skills for the future to create a society where children feel they belong and can contribute to society. Curriculums are being influenced my social, political, cultural, historical and theoretical issues that are impacting different curriculums in the world. I am going to explore and develop my understanding about three different curriculums to recognise the different influences affecting curriculums. I am going to explore the curriculums of Te Whāriki: New Zealand, Belonging, Being and Becoming: The Early Years Learning Framework for Australia and Curriculum for Excellence: Scotland. This will allow me to develop an understanding of other curriculums which I have not heard about to discover other way to education that I have not been taught in teacher’s college.
Why the early years framework emphasises a personal and individual approach to learning and development
The forest school approach embraces the outdoors as a learning environment for children to explore. It first originated in Denmark and was introduced to the UK in the 1950’s. This approach is important as it helps to raise a child’s self-esteem, confidence and also enable problem solving.
In this assignment I am going to compare previous and current pioneers that have and are influencing the current principles of early year’s pedagogy. For example how they are influencing the four principles of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS). This assignment will get me to look at different views that theorist have to education and how they can be used in current practice. It will provide me with the information on how they influence early year’s pedagogy and current practice. Throughout this assignment I will be referencing from current reading that I am doing, these will range from eBooks to articles. I will be using nursery world articles to provide information about each pioneer and what their work has done for current principles in early year’s pedagogy.
Think about your early childhood education (or your child’s early education), was it flexible to suit individual learning experiences or were children required to conform to the teacher’s methods of teaching? If you answered the latter, do you think the former would improve the quality of education? The initial years of education are crucial to learning, development and growth, during these first years children’s experiences shape their learning methods and they are able to learn rapidly, for this, early childhood educators must use teaching methods that are suitable for each child. Teachers must consider the attitude they bring to the classroom; how it affects children’s learning and the value, of the information and knowledge that
As early childhood educators we all have our own philosophies and approaches to education. There are several types of early childhood programs. Each program has its own philosophies, methods, and program goals. Every early childhood educator is unique making each early childhood program experience special. Consistently, early childhood programs offer educational foundations that prepare young students for their educational futures. In this paper I will focus on comparing and contrasting two programs that stood out to me, Ridgeline Montessori and the Whitaker Head Start.
Early childhood education in Australia encompasses prior to school settings as well as the early years of
The education of children has existed since the beginning of time as parents have taught and molded their children into the young adults they desired them to be. Initial training of children was not in a formal setting, although history would see numerous settings, purposes, and methodological changes. Philosophies of education have also changed through the years as various voices have seemed to grasp the purpose of educating the next generation, thus laying out objectives to reach those goals of teaching children.
Would you ever let your four or five-year-old roam in the forest with twenty other kids and only one overseer? Would you ever let this serve as their Preschool and Kindergarten education? Surprisingly enough, this is a style of education that is sweeping through Scandinavian countries as well as other European countries. The concept is called a “Forest Kindergarten” and the purpose of this is to get young children more interested in learning. Also, they aim to allow kids to develop their motor skills in a natural way instead of in a normal classroom setting.
This essay will discuss Jean Piaget, Lev Vygotsky and their theories as well as critical points from their theories and explain how they relate back to each theory. It will discuss how both of these theories can be applied to work in relation to a role in the Early Childhood sector. It will include Dr. Rangimarie Pere’s studies in education and how they compare to those of Piaget and Vygotsky. This essay will also link the chosen theories back to Te Whāriki and the New Zealand early childhood curriculum.
When an educator uses constructivist, and inquiry learning approaches students can express their questions with one another allowing them to build on their knowledge. This then assists the students to implement their critical and creative thinking, personal and social capability and intercultural understanding to take effect (School Curriculum and Standards Authority Government of Western Australia, 2015). Offering different experiences are essential when planning for early childhood student’s as this is a vital part of their learning
Parents and society as a whole are realizing the importance of the first five years. They are realizing that “school readiness” is important and that we can do better for our children. As an industry, that has given early childhood the opportunity to grow both in a business sense and in an educational sense. It has given schools, like Lily Academy, the opportunity to grow the brand and has also forced all early childhood educators to reevaluate their mission and their vision for what they do and how they do it. Because of the demand for early childhood education by parents, the industry continues to grow.
The factors from Forest Kindergarten that I found challenging was that there are no basis of health and safety. Also, the Pedagogue says that the children must use their brains and that they should be able to look after themselves. I found this hard as it is our responsibility to look after all children. Furthermore, I do feel this is a weakness of the Forest Kindergarten as they should protect their students within the kindergarten. The implications based for the