Theories of Child Development
By Maria Velez
Traditional Education
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Teacher centered
Absolute control by teacher
Learning was from text and teacher
lecture
Students are expected to repeat
information either orally or in written form
(Brewer, 42)
John Dewey
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As a progressive educator, he shared
with, Montessori, Piaget and Lev
Vygotsky.
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“Education should be child centered”
“Education must be both active and
interactive.”
“Education must involve the social
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world of the child and the community.”
John Dewey
1859-1952
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American psychologist, philosopher,
educator, social critic, political activist,
theorist and educational consultant.
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Educator who has most influenced our
thinking about education in the United
States.
• “Education is not preparation for
life; education is life itself.”
• “If we teach today’s students as
we taught yesterday’s, we rob
them of tomorrow.”
Dewey’s Beliefs
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Education is living; present
experiences arises from
interaction between past
experience and present
situation.
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Education consists in the
interactions of students with
the curriculum in order to
make them part of their own
knowledge. The teacher’s
role should be that of
facilitator or guide.
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The belief that all genuine
education comes about
through experience does
not mean that all
experiences are genuinely
or equally educative.”
•Teacher must be sensitive
to the values and needs of
families. The values and
cultures of families and
communities should be
reflected in and deepened
by what happens at school.
•Teachers do not only teach
individual children but also
shape the society. They
teach children how to live in
society.
•Children learn best when
they interact with other
people, working side by
side and cooperatively with
peers and adults.
•The interest and
background of each child
and group must be
considered when teachers
plan learning experiences.
Maria Montessori
1870-1952 (82)
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Italian brilliant woman and an astute observer
because she had trained as a scientist. She
determined that the problems existed no in the
children, but in the adults, in their approaches
and in the environments they provided.
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Her work provided a foundation for the work of
such later theorists as Piaget and Vygostsky.
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“The only way to know how to schedule the day and manage behavior is
through observation.”
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There are diversity among early childhood Montessori Programs.
Some of them hold very firmly to Montessori principles, and some of
them would never meet Montessori’s own standards.
Montessori’s Beliefs
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Environment includes not
only the space the children
use and the furnishings and
materials within that space
but also the adults and the
children who share their
days with each other, as
well as the outdoor
environment and other
places where children learn.
Environment for children
need to be beautiful and
orderly so that children can
learn order from them.
Child-sized tools and
furnishings were not
available and she involved
in making her own
materials.
•Teacher has a responsibility to
provide wonderful sights,
textures, sounds, and smells
for children.
•Provide real tools that work.
•Keep Materials and
Equipment Accessible to the
Children.
•When children choose what
they will do and how and when
they will do it, the teachers
have more time to observe and
assist children individually.
•Allow children to take
responsibilities.
•Teach little and observe much.
•Children learn language
and other significant life
skills without conscious
effort from the
environments where they
spend their time.
•Children learn best
through sensory
experiences.
•Children want and need to
care for themselves and
their surroundings. (Adults
spent too much time
“serving” children.)
Erik Erikson
1902-1994 (92)
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Germany artist and teacher. He became
interested in psychology when he met Anna
Freud, psychoanalyst and the daughter of
Sigmund Freud, she convinced Erickson to
study and specialized in child psychoanalysis.
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Erickson’s work has importance for every early
childhood educator because it shows how
children develop the foundation for emotional
and social development and mental health.
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Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development, which is called the Eight Ages of
Man, covers the entire life span of a human being.
Erikson gave us the term “identity Crisis.” He considered it inevitable that young
people experience conflict as they grow and change into adults.
“Erikson’s 8 Stages of Psychosocial Development”
Erikson’s Beliefs
“Erikson’s 8 Stages of Psychosocal Development”
Erikson’s Beliefs
Trust vs. Mistrust (0-1)
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Hold babies during feedings
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Respond to signals of distress
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Support babie’s attachment through primary caregiving.
Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt (1-3)
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Give children simple choices.
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Eliminate false choices.
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Set clear limits for children.
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Accept alternating needs for independence and dependence.
Initiative vs. Guilt (3-6)
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Encourage children to be as independent as possible.
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Focus on gains as children practice new skills, not on the mistakes they make along
the way.
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Set expectations that are in line with children’s individual abilities. Consider individual
differences.
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Focus curriculum on real things and on doing.
Trust vs. Mistrust (0-1)
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Hold babies during feedings
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Respond to signals of distress
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Support babie’s attachment through primary caregiving.
Jean Piaget
1896-1980 (84)
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Switzerland, a budding scientist who published a scholarly
paper at the age of eleven.Psychologist, but really an
epistemologist (someone who studies the nature and
beginning of knowledge).
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Piaget’s work has been a primary influence in preschool
programs in the United States sin the 1970s.
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There Are Three Basic Components To Piaget's Cognitive Theory:
Schemas:
(building blocks of knowledge / intelligent behavior).
Intellectual growth as a process of Adaptation (adjustment) to the world.
This happens through:
Assimilation
Accommodation
Equilibration
Stages of Development:
sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, formal operational.
Jean Piaget’s Beliefs
There Are Three Basic Components To Piaget's Cognitive Theory:
Schemas
• (building blocks of knowledge / intelligent behavior).
Intellectual growth as a process of adaptation (adjustment) to
the world. This happens through:
Assimilation: whish is using an existing schema to deal with a new
object or situation.
Accommodation: This happens when the existing schema (knowledge)
does not work, and needs to be changed to deal with a new object or
situation.
Equilibration: occurs when a child’s schemas can deal with most new
information through assimilation. However, an unpleasant state of
desequilibrium occurs when new information cannot be fitted into
existing schemas (assimilation). Equilibration drives the learning
process as we do not like to be frustrated and will seek to restore
balance by mastering the new challenge (accommodation)
Stages of Development: Child’s cognitive development or constructing a mental model of the world.
sensorimotor, (0-2 yrs.) –
Preoperational, (2-7 yrs.
Concrete operational, ( 7-11 yrs.)
formal operational. (11 yrs +..)
Jean Piaget’s Beliefs
Stages of Development: Child’s cognitive development or
constructing a mental model of the world.
sensorimotor, (0-2 yrs.) – Object Permanence – (Learn through
the senses, reflexes and mnaipulate materials.
Preoperational, (2-7 yrs.) Egocentrism (Form ideas based on their
percetions, can only focus on one varialbe at a time,
overgenteralized based on limited experience.
concrete operational, ( 7-11 yrs.) Conservation (Form ideas based
on reasoning, limit thinking to objects and familiar events.
formal operational. (11 yrs +..) Manipulate ideas in head, e.g.
Abstract Reasoning. (Think conceptaully, think hypothetically.
Piaget’s Beliefs
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Humans grow and progress
through a series of measurable
and predictable stages of
development from birth to death.
Developmentally appropriate
education with environments,
curriculum, materials and
instruction that are consistenly
with student's physical and
cognitive abilities as well as their
social and emotional needs.
A focus on the process of
children's thinking, not just its
products
Recognition of the crucial role
of children's self-initiated,
active involvement in learning
activities
Trying to speed up and
accelerate children's process
through the stages could be
worse than no teaching at all.
Provide a rich stimulating
environment
•Teachers should present
learning material interesting to
them or in such a way that the
material will inspire them can
awaken the child’s motivation.
(Living, 2012)
•A learner cannot assimilate
certain knowledge until the
student is cognitively ready can
also apply to adults (Livingston,
2012).
•Children are encourage to
discover themselves through
spontaneous interaction with
the environment, rather than
the presentation of ready-made
knowledge.
•Acceptance of individual
differences in developmental
progress
•Children learn through
discovery.
•The child explores and
begins to understand in
more complex ways as he
or she grows and matures.
•Children learn effectively
through internal motivation
rather than memorization.
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Avoid lessons that are
very different from the
child's world.
Lev Vygotsky
1896-1934 (38)
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Russian, he was particularly interested in
cognitive and language development and their
relationships to learning.
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Vygotsky studied and responded to the work of
contemporaries Sigmund Freud, Jean Piaget,
and Maria Montessori.
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He shows tha social and cognitive
development work together and build on each
other
• “Learning and development are interrelated
from the child\s very first day of life”
Vygotsky’s Beliefs
Understanding Childhood
Positive Impact
For School
Thank You
Resources
1. Brewer, J.A, (2007). Introduction to Early Childhood Education. Boston, Massachussetts: Pearson.
2. Field, R. (207. John Dewey. In the Internet Encryclopedia of Philosophy (Web). From
http:/iep.utm.edu/d/dewey.htm
3. http://www.slideshare.net/lrickes/john-dewey-powerpoint
4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Student-centred_learning
5.https://montessori.org.au/montessori/biography.htm
6. http://psychology.about.com/od/profilesofmajorthinkers/p/bio_erikson.htm
7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Piaget
8. http://psychology.about.com/od/profilesmz/p/vygotsky.htm
9. http://www.child-development-guide.com/normal-child-development.html
10. http://courses.education.illinois.edu/edpsy313/notes/hh03.htm