Roots of Early Childhood Education
How did it all begin? Where did our “big ideas” about Early Childhood
Education come from? The following are just a few of the major theorists of
child development.
Play as Therapy: Sigmund Freud (1856-1939)

In 1920, Sigmund Freud posed a psychoanalytic play theory that was defined in his
book "Beyond the Pleasure Principle." In this work, Freud described play as a child's
mechanism for repeatedly working out a previously experienced traumatic event in an
effort to correct or master the event to his satisfaction.
Main Theory
Experiences in early childhood influence later development. Assumes sexual factors are
major factors, even in early childhood.
Freud's work was heavily criticized for lack of substantial evidence. He regarded basic
sexual instincts as being the driving force behind virtually all behaviour.
There are many unproven aspects to Freud's work, for example Freud theorized that certain
characteristics were related to childhood factors like parental attitudes to toilet training.
For example… If parents were too strict or began toilet training too early, Freud believed
that an anal-retentive personality develops in which the individual is stringent, orderly, rigid
and obsessive.
Play as Preparation: John Dewey (1859-1952)

John Dewey was a prominent theorist in the early 1900s. According to Dewey, play is
a subconscious activity that helps an individual develop both mentally and socially.
It should be separate from work as play helps a child to grow into a working world. As
children become adults, they no longer "play" but seek amusement from their
occupation. This childhood activity of play prepares them to become healthy working
adults.
Play as Sensory Learning: Maria Montessori (1870-1952)

Maria Montessori, an Italian educationist during the early 1900s, postulated that
"play is the child's work." According to the Montessori method, which is still
employed today in private schools, children would be best served spending their play
time learning or imagining. Montessori play is sensory, using a hands-on approach
to everyday tools like sand tables. The child sets her own pace, and the teacher
is collaborative in helping the child play to learn.
Play as Intellectual Development: Jean Piaget (1896-1980)

Jean Piaget is most noted for introducing the stages of child development. These
stages directly relate to play, as he stated that intellectual growth occurs as
children go through the stages of assimilation, or manipulating the outside world to
meet one's own needs--playacting--and accommodation, or readjusting one's own
views to meet the needs of the outside environment, or work.
Play as Social Development: Lev Vygotsky (1896-1934)

Lev Vygotsky suggested that children will use play as a means to grow socially. In
play, they encounter others and learn to interact using language and role-play.
Vygotsky is most noted for introducing the ZPD, or zone of proximal
development. This suggests that while children need their peers or playmates to
grow, they need adult interaction as they master each social skill and are ready to be
introduced to new learning for growth. In Vygotsky’s view the adults provide the
scaffolding to help children learn new information and develop more complex thinking
abilities.
Play is the work of children: Friedrich Froebel (1782-1852)
Friedrich Froebel was from German heritage and loved nature. He developed the word
"kindergarten", and designed what is called the "Froebel gifts" (geometric blocks, pattern
blocks, etc). Froebel's contribution to the education world was his ideas in recognising
that children had unique needs and capabilities, and the importance of the activities in
the children's learning.
Through play, the individual learns that there is
1) Unity in the universe
2) Opposites can be resolved
3) Materials can be combined to create diff. things.
Social Child Development Theories John Bowlby (1907-1990)
There is a great deal of research on the social development of children. John Bowlby
proposed one of the earliest theories of social development. Bowlby believed that early
relationships with caregivers play a major role in child development and continue to
influence social relationships throughout life. Bowlby’s evolutionary theory of
attachment suggests that children come into the world biologically pre-programmed to form
attachments with others, because this will help them to survive.
Erik Erikson
(1902-1994)
Theorist Erik Erikson also proposed a stage theory of development, but his theory
encompassed development throughout the human lifespan. Erickson believed that there
were eight stages through which a healthily developing human should pass from infancy
to late adulthood. In each stage the person confronts, and hopefully masters, new
challenges.
Each stage builds on the successful completion of earlier stages. The challenges of stages
not successfully completed may be expected to reappear as problems in the future.
Albert Bandura (1925Psychologist Albert Bandura proposed what is known as social learning theory. According
to this theory of child development, children learn new behaviors from observing other
people. Unlike behavioral theories, Bandura believed that external reinforcement was not
the only way that people learned new things. Instead, intrinsic reinforcements such as a
sense of pride, satisfaction and accomplishment could also lead to learning. By observing
the actions of others, including parents and peers, children develop new skills and acquire
new information.
Main Theory
Learning takes place by imitation. This differs from Skinner's "conditioning" because
there is more emphasis on inner motivational factors.
Bandura's theory known as "Social Learning Theory" has been renamed "Social Cognitive
Theory" to accomodate later developments of the theory.
Bandura is seen by many as a cognitive psychologist because of his focus on motivational
factors and self-regulatory mechanisms that contribute to a person's behaviour, rather
than just environmental factors.
Bandura proposed that children learn from copying others and tend to repeat behavior if
they see someone else being rewarded for that behavior.
This focus on cognition is what differentiates social cognitive theory from Skinner's
purely behaviouristic viewpoint.
B.F.Skinner (1904-1990)
Main Theory
Reinforcement and punishment moulds behaviour. Children are conditioned by their
experiences.
Skinner maintained that learning occurred as a result of the organism responding to, or
operating on, its environment, and coined the term operant conditioning (1938) to describe this
phenomenon.
He did extensive research with animals, notably rats and pigeons, and invented the famous
Skinner box, in which a rat learns to press a lever in order to obtain food.
He believed that behavior that is rewarded (reinforced) is likely to be repeated.
Arnold Gesell (1880-1961)
Main Theory
Development is genetically determined by universal "maturation patterns" which occurs in a
predictable sequence.
Gesell's classic study involved twin girls, both given training for motor skills but one given
training for longer than the other.
There was no measurable difference in the age at which either child acquired the skills,
suggesting that development had happened in a genetically programmed way, irrespective of
the training given.
A child learns whether or not an adult teaches him/her, suggesting physical development at
least is largely pre-programmed.
By studying thousands of children over many years, Gesell came up with "milestones of
development" – (1940’s) stages by which normal children can accomplish different tasks. These
are still used today.
Jerome Bruner (1915Bruner was one of the founding fathers of constructivist theory. Constructivism is a broad
conceptual framework with numerous perspectives, and Bruner's is only one. Bruner's
theoretical framework is based on the theme that learners construct new ideas or
concepts based upon existing knowledge. Learning is an active process. In the 1960s
Jerome Bruner developed a theory of cognitive growth. His approach (in contrast to Piaget)
looked to environmental and experiential factors. Bruner suggested that intellectual ability
developed in stages through step-by-step changes in how the mind is used.
Information sourced through Google and compiled by Mary Rose Taylor