Theories, philosophies and
beliefs: seeing children and
thinking about assessment
© McLachlan, Edwards, Margrain & McLean 2013
Theories, philosophies and ‘seeing’
children
• What educators believe and value about teaching and
learning is likely to influence how and why they will
use assessment in early childhood education
• Beliefs and values influence how educators ‘see’ young
children
• How educators ‘see’ young children is influenced by the
range of theories and philosophies they encounter about
children, learning and development
Theory/philosophy View of children/childhood
Suggested methods
Pestalozzi (1800s) Children are innately good and
childhood unfolds naturally over time
Children collect materials from nature that they
observe, explore and discuss
Froebel (1800s)
Naturally creative and productive
Provision of a ‘kinder’ (child) ‘garten’ (garden) for
children to play and participate in hands-on activities
Progressive –
Dewey (1900s)
Children are part of a social and
democratic community
Children participate in social activities and take
responsibility for daily tasks and activities in the
classroom
Developmental
(1960s)
Children construct logical
understandings of their world that are
based on particular ages and stages of
development
Children are part of social and cultural
communities and contexts that define
their developmental expectations and
experiences
Educational experiences and activities are offered to
children so that they can actively explore and
construct their own knowledge
Children are located in multiple
contexts and experiences. There is no
‘one’ way to view and understand
childhood and development.
Education is orientated towards helping children
understand and respect multiple worldviews and
ways of being
Sociocultural
(1990s onwards)
Postdevelopmental
(2000s onwards)
Children and adults co-construct learning together
by developing and exploring learning interests and a
range of culturally relevant experiences
(Adapted from Lim and Genishi 2010, pp. 514-517)
The ‘image of the child’
The ‘image’ the educator holds of the child and the child’s
consequent learning is where teaching begins:
There are hundreds of different images of the child. Each one of you has inside
yourself an image of the child that directs you as you begin to relate to a child. This
theory within you pushes you to behave in certain ways; it orientates you as you talk
to the child, listen to the child, observe the child. It is very difficult for you to act
contrary to this internal image. For example, if your image is that boys and girls are
very different from one another, you will behave differently in your interactions with
each of them.
(Malaguzzi, 1994)
Views about learning influence what
educators think about assessment
What might this educator think about assessment:
I see children as very inquisitive. They are active and busy and have lots of
questions. They are interested in sharing what they know with each other
and with adults. I think this inquisitiveness and interest in sharing means
they learn by making connections. I am interested in the connections
children make with each other and with ideas. I like to see where their ideas
come from. We talk about what they have done at home or with their families
and friends and then I understand why they are interested in different things.
Learning is about talking and sharing and thinking.
Seeing with constructivism
• Constructivist theory suggests
• children learn by engaging with their environments in ways
that prompt investigation and exploration
• children engage and investigate in qualitatively different
ways according to their particular stage of development
• This meant assessment focused on what children could
do
• often looking at different domains of development and if
children were able to achieve particular skills according to a
stage of development
• Assessment approaches include checklist, running
records and anecdotal records
Seeing with sociocultural theory
• Mediation involves people connecting with each other
through language
• Language is a cultural tool children acquire via
interactions with other people
• Assessment focuses on how children are learning with
others
• Observations detail the nature of interactions occurring
between children, educators and peers
Authentic assessment
• Authenticity is focused on finding out what is ‘real’ or genuine about an
object or a situation
• Authentic assessment provides an understanding of the knowledge of the
child – not just what a child can demonstrate for a test
Our experience has been that when teachers are given a developmental test or checklist,
there is a tendency for them to pull children from preferred activities and assess them in
an item-by-item fashion. This format is problematic because it is contrary to
recommended assessment practices and particularly not useful with a curriculum
embedded instrument that is primarily developed for purposes of guiding curriculum
development.
(Grisham-Brown, Hallam & Brookshire 2006, p. 48)
Using authentic assessment
• Use familiar materials that are strongly connected to
children’s experiences in their social settings
• Uses multiple sources of evidence collected over a
period of time to illustrate learning (Darling-Hammond
& Snyder 1999), such as:
• Documents
• Observations
• Photographs
• Recordings
• Include and value children’s perspectives
Four principles of authentic
assessment
1) Focused on finding out what children know and can
do
2) Uses familiar materials
3) Connected to children’s learning contexts
4) Draws on multiple sources of evidence
(Bagnato 2007)
Conclusion
In effective assessment, the educators’ tasks of observing
children’s learning, trying to understand it, and their
responsibility to put their understanding to good use, are
all at the service of young children.
(Drummond 2010, p. 321)
Key terms
• Sociocultural theory – a theoretical perspective informed by the
work of Vygotsky. It argues that children’s learning is mediated
through their relationships with other people and enabled by
language as a cultural tool.
• Post-developmental – a term applied to a range of theories that
challenge the idea that young children’s learning occurs across
different domains and is related to particular ages and stages of
development.
• Authentic assessment – the use of assessment strategies and
approaches to seek to determine the real understanding and ideas
children have about their own learning.