Influencing Influencing Early Childhood Education I n Early Childhood f l u Key Figures, Philosophies and Ideas e n This exciting book offers an informed and insightful approach to the wealth of c Education i theories and figures that underpin current practice in early childhood care n and education. g E From the earliest pioneers to more current approaches, Linda Pound explores a the thinking and ideas behind a range of well known early years figures, key r l theorists and movements and shows how they have influenced the y Key Figures, Philosophies and Ideas development of early childhood education. As well as placing them in an C historical context the author identifies connections between them in order to h i build a complete picture of the development of early childhood education and l d influential theories and approaches to learning in the early years. h o Included are chapters on: o (cid:129) Robert Owen d (cid:129) Friederich Froebel E d (cid:129) Margaret McMillan u (cid:129) Rudolf Steiner c a (cid:129) Maria Montessori t (cid:129) Susan Isaacs i o (cid:129) Sigmund Freud Linda Poundis an Independent n (cid:129) John Bowlby Educational Consultant; she provides (cid:129) Burrhus Skinner training and writes extensively for K e (cid:129) Jean Piaget earlyyears practitioners. y F (cid:129) Lev Vygotsky ig anure In addition, the book considers more recent developments such as ds Id, P postmodern analyses, the deconstruction of developmental theories and eh place of neuroscience. asilo s o p This book helps early childhood practitioners gain an in-depth understanding h ie of the key influences on early childhood education particularly through the s Reflective Questions designed to challenge different levels of thinking. PL oi un nd da Cover design Hybert Design (cid:129)www.hybertdesign.com Linda Pound www.openup.co.uk P1:OSO/OVY P2:OSO/OVY QC:OSO/OVY T1:OSO MHBK029-FM MHBK029-Pound February14,2011 10:13 Influencing Early Childhood Education P1:OSO/OVY P2:OSO/OVY QC:OSO/OVY T1:OSO MHBK029-FM MHBK029-Pound February14,2011 10:13 P1:OSO/OVY P2:OSO/OVY QC:OSO/OVY T1:OSO MHBK029-FM MHBK029-Pound February14,2011 10:13 Influencing Early Childhood Education Key figures, philosophies and ideas Linda Pound Open University Press P1:OSO/OVY P2:OSO/OVY QC:OSO/OVY T1:OSO MHBK029-FM MHBK029-Pound February14,2011 10:13 OpenUniversityPress McGraw-HillEducation McGraw-HillHouse ShoppenhangersRoad Maidenhead Berkshire England SL62QL email:[email protected] worldwideweb:www.openup.co.uk andTwoPennPlaza,NewYork,NY10121-2289,USA Firstpublished2011 Copyright(cid:2)C LindaPound2011 Allrightsreserved.Exceptforthequotationofshortpassagesforthepurposesofcriticism andreview,nopartofthispublicationmaybereproduced,storedinaretrievalsystem,or transmitted,inanyformorbyanymeans,electronic,mechanical,photocopying, recordingorotherwise,withoutthepriorwrittenpermissionofthepublisheroralicence fromtheCopyrightLicensingAgencyLimited.Detailsofsuchlicences(forreprographic reproduction)maybeobtainedfromtheCopyrightLicensingAgencyLtdofSaffronHouse, 6–10KirbyStreet,London,EC1N8TS. AcataloguerecordofthisbookisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary ISBN13:9780335241569(pb) 9780335241552(hb) ISBN10:0335241565(pb) 0335241557(hb) eISBN13:9780335241576 LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData CIPdatahasbeenappliedfor Fictitousnamesofcompanies,products,people,charactersand/ordatathat maybeusedherein(incasestudiesorinexamples)arenotintendedto representanyrealindividual,company,productorevent. TypesetbyAptaraInc.,India PrintedintheUKbyBell&BainLtd,Glasgow P1:OSO/OVY P2:OSO/OVY QC:OSO/OVY T1:OSO MHBK029-FM MHBK029-Pound February14,2011 10:13 Contents Introduction vii Part1 Thinkingaboutearlychildhoodinthenineteenthcentury 1 1 RobertOwen1771–1858 6 2 FriedrichFroebel1782–1852 12 Part2 Progressiveideasofthetwentiethcentury 19 3 MargaretMcMillan1860–1931 27 4 RudolfSteiner1861–1925 34 5 MariaMontessori1870–1952 42 6 SusanIsaacs1885–1948 47 Part3 Psychodynamictheoriesandtheirimpact 53 7 SigmundFreud(1856–1939)andthedevelopmentof psychoanalyticaltheories 56 8 Psychodynamicsandyoungchildren 61 9 JohnBowlby(1907–1990)andattachmenttheories 70 10 Emotionandcognition 81 Part4 Constructivismandbehaviourism 89 11 BurrhusSkinner(1904–1990),behaviouristtheoriesand approaches 92 P1:OSO/OVY P2:OSO/OVY QC:OSO/OVY T1:OSO MHBK029-FM MHBK029-Pound February14,2011 10:13 vi CONTENTS 12 JeanPiaget(1896–1980)andconstructivism 100 13 LevVygotsky(1896–1934)andsocialconstructivism 118 Part5 Challengingtheoriesandpracticeinthetwentiethcentury 129 14 De(constructing)schooling 132 15 Deconstructingearlychildhood 141 16 Deconstructingdevelopment 153 Part6 Weighinguptheevidence 165 Finalthoughts 177 Bibliography 179 Index 195 P1:OSO/OVY P2:OSO/OVY QC:OSO/OVY T1:OSO MHBK029-FM MHBK029-Pound February14,2011 10:13 Introduction Acultureshouldknowwhereitsbeliefsoriginate. (Kramer[1961]1995:x) Thedevelopmentoftheoriesandpracticesrelatedtotherearingofyoungchildrenis afascinatingsubject.Aroundtheworldsocietiesandcultureshavechosentobringup theiryounginwayswhichcorrespondtowhattheybelieveaboutthenatureofyoung childrenandthenatureofthesocietyinwhichtheywishtolive.Thishasledtowide diversity. Whilethehistoryandphilosophyofearlychildhoodcareandeducationusedto be considered a vital element of the training of teachers and other practitioners in Britain,itfelloutoffavourinthelatterpartofthetwentiethcenturyandcametobe regarded as an unnecessary frill. More recently, practitioners and trainers alike have, however,cometorecognisetheimportanceofunderstandingsomethingofthelegacy ofgiantthinkerslikePiagetandpioneerpractitionerssuchastheMcMillansisters.An understandingoftheorycan: (cid:2) helppractitionerstoshedlightonwhattheydoandhelpthemtounderstand whytheydowhattheydo; (cid:2) promotereflectivepracticewhichsupportsconstantimprovement; (cid:2) enablepractitionerstoevaluatenewtheoriesorinnovativepractices,weighing uptheireffectivenessandrelevance. Thisbookseekstoexploresomeofthetheoriesofsuchthinkers.Itwill: (cid:2) plotthedevelopmentofrelevanttheoriesfromthenineteenthcentury; (cid:2) discussthewaysinwhichparticulartheoriesinfluencepractice; (cid:2) identifythelinksbetweentheories;and (cid:2) considerboththelimitationsoftheoriesandtheirimpactonpracticeandon futuretheories. P1:OSO/OVY P2:OSO/OVY QC:OSO/OVY T1:OSO MHBK029-FM MHBK029-Pound February14,2011 10:13 viii INTRODUCTION Theory or philosophy? It is interesting to speculate on whether what lies behind these ideas and practices is atheoryoraphilosophy.ThewordtheorystemsfromGreekandislinkedtoideasof viewingorlookingat.Ineverydayconversationweoftensaytooneanotherthingslike ‘I’veanidea–Idon’tknowwhetheritwillwork.It’sonlyatheory’.Alternativelywelabel opinionsastheories–‘mytheoryaboutwhysoandsodoesthatis...’.Inbothcaseswe areacknowledgingthattheoriesarenotinfalliblebutareideasbeingshaped.Innormal conversation,weacceptthattheoriesarenotfactsbutexplanationsofthingsthatwe havenoticedorobserved.Thisviewoftheoriesbeingbasedonobservation,whatwe seeorobserve,alsocoverstheorieswhichgobeyondthetrivial.SusanIsaacs’theories and writings (see Chapter 6) offered an explanation of the learning she observed in childrenatMaltingHouseSchool. Philosophy, on the other hand, stems from Greek words whose meaning implies aloveofknowledge.Butthisisbynomeansthewholestory.Theorymaybethought of as a set of beliefs – or perhaps a philosophy which guides action. In the case of Steiner Waldorf education (see Chapter 4) or Montessori education (see Chapter 5), the philosophy is based on a set of theories which guide practice. Some beliefs are not recognised as theories but they still guide our actions. Our theories or views of howchildrenlearnorwhattheyshouldlearnareofteninformedandshapedbycul- ture. It is likely that what guided practitioners in foundational (Miller and Pound 2011) or traditional contexts was a philosophy – a set of values about the nature of children, their learning and the contexts in which they learn most effectively. There was no theoretical or empirical data which guided their views other than the evidence of their own eyes (Board of Education 1933). The pioneers of early educa- tion developed practice which was based on firmly held philosophies and personal theories. Within what have been called the traditions of early childhood education (Blackstone 1971; Clift et al. 1980; Tizard 1974), risk has often been regarded as an important element of early childhood education. Woodwork benches and real tools were standard equipment for nursery schools and classes well into the 1980s and 1990s – and still are in some areas. In Steiner Waldorf practice for exam- ple, from a very early age – perhaps 2 – children are given opportunities to use knives (Heckmann 2008). This practice is mirrored in forest schools. Rogoff (1990) provocatively uses a picture of a child of less than one year of age wielding a ma- chete in order to cut fruit – an image which frequently evokes cries of horror from audiences of English practitioners. Risk-taking is an area about which contempo- rary thinkers from many different disciplines have expressed concern. While on the one hand tighter and tighter constraints are imposed to prevent harm to chil- dren, others express deep concern about the absence of opportunities for young children to learn to manage risk by exploring risky situations safely (see for ex- ample Furedi 2001; Lindon 1999; Tovey 2007). A failure to learn to manage risk safely results in a loss of independence and autonomy (see for example Walsh 2004). P1:OSO/OVY P2:OSO/OVY QC:OSO/OVY T1:OSO MHBK029-FM MHBK029-Pound February14,2011 10:13 INTRODUCTION ix Personal or informal theories Whether we recognise it or not we all hold personal theories. Keenan and Evans (2009) write about formal and informal theories. They suggest that formal theories have sets of linked laws or hypotheses, can be expressed in a variety of ways includ- ingmathematicallyandarelogicalintheirstructure.Informalorimplicittheories,on the other hand, ‘may be little more than organized sets of intuitions or expectations aboutourworld’(Keenan2002:18).Theygoontoclaimthatalthoughdevelopmental psychology has no formal theories, its informal theories ‘are somewhat more devel- opedthantheintuitiveexpectationsabouthumanbehaviourthatweallhold’(Keenan 2002:27). Theseviewsraisesomeinterestingquestions.Thefirstrelatestothenatureofhu- man development, an area in which all who work with young children must have someinterest.Throughoutthisbook,referencewillbemadetomanydifferenttheories ofdevelopmentandnofurtherexplorationisneededatthispoint.Thesecondques- tion is about the nature of intuition. Claxton (2000: 50) suggests that intuition gives practitionerstheabilityto: (cid:2) functionfluentlyandflexiblyincomplexdomains; (cid:2) extractintricatepatternsofinformation; (cid:2) makesubtleandaccuratejudgements; (cid:2) detect and extract the significance of small, incidental details of a situation thatothersmayoverlook; (cid:2) taketimetomulloverproblemsinordertoarriveatmoreinsightfulorcreative solutions; (cid:2) and to apply this perceptive, ruminative, inquisitive attitude to one’s own perceptionsandreactions. Itistheabilityandwillingnesstoreflect(orruminate),thathelpstopreventour implicit, informal theories about children and learning from becoming prejudice or dogma. Gardner (2006) asserts that no one in any field of employment can claim to beaprofessionalunlesstheyarepreparedtobecomeareflectivepractitioner.Hegoes furtherinsuggestingthatanyonewhofailstodososhouldbecounselledoutoftheir chosenprofession.Nowherecanthisreflectiveapproachbemorenecessarythaninthe fieldofearlychildhood–wherepractitionersareworkingwithyoungchildrenwhoare inmanywaysamongstthemostvulnerablemembersofanysocietyandaretherefore determiningtheshapeofsociety. The third question is about the extent to which theories of child development shouldordoinformpractice.Writingabouttheprimarycurriculumaroundthetime of the introduction of OFSTED, Alexander et al. (1992: 18) reminded teachers that ‘teaching is not applied child development. It is a weakness of the child-centred tra- dition that it has sometimes tended to treat it as such and, consequently, to neglect thestudyofclassroompractice’.IntheyearssinceAlexanderetal.wrotetheirreport,