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Plato 428-348BC

He believed that all children were born with some inherent knowledge that needed to be activated through education under the guidance of adults. Plato was an ardent advocate of play. He believed that it was important for socialisation and it helped adults to identify the child's future skills or role in society. He said that children should be encouraged to play according to their identified future roles. The teacher's role was to guide children towards their future inclinations.Plato also suggested that in order for anyone to be good at anything, they must have the opportunity to practice through play

Robert Owen

He believed that children learn about their world through their environment as they interact and engage with people around them. He advocated that children should be taught and prepared for the societies that they lived in and that child rearing practices determine how a child develops and grows. He strongly advocated against child labour and was one of the first to develop dedicated infant schools. In his view, infant schools were important settings that could be controlled, manipulated and set up for ECE. He was therefore favouring a centre based approach to learning that allowed social interaction and a controlled learning environment

Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778)

He believed that children should be allowed to develop in a free, natural environment. He stated that nature required children to be children before they can be men. He is best known for having come up with concept of 'school readiness' where children develop skills and acquire knowledge in their own time when they are ready to do so He also suggested that young children should not be concerned with abstract thinking, but rather with concrete objects which they should have ample opportunity to manipulate. He suggested that social and emotional development is an important aspect of early education

John Locke (1632-1704)

He promoted the belief that environment determines who children will ultimately become. This links to the age£old argument of "Nature versus Nurture". Locke emphasised the importance of a well designed learning environment with activities for sensory experiences believing that children learnt through their senses. He also came with the notion that children are born with TABULA RAZA (which is Latin for a blank slate) and that through educational experiences, the child's empty brain was filled with knowledge. He believed that by providing children from disadvantaged backgrounds with an education, they would be able to rise above their circumstances

Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi (1746-1827)

He shared some beliefs with Plato such that children learn through their senses and must be ready to receive new knowledge. He considered it important for the teacher to identify what the child was interested in and to then use that as the basis of learning. Today, we consider this approach to learning to be 'child-centred '. He further considered the idea that the child should be educated holistically via an integrated curriculum that addressed 'the head,hand and heart'

John Amos Comenius (1592-1670)

His basic beliefs were that education should begin in the early years to fulfil humans godlike image. He viewed children's growth as having a timetable which related to learning . He contributed to the history of ECE by suggesting that knowledge should only be given when a child is ready to receive it. He also recognised that children learn through their senses and therefore must have opportunities to experience new learning

UBUNTU

Ubuntu means that we should always strive to show love, compassion,dignity, and humanness,so that we do not pace our personal desires ahead of the needs of the society we live in Ubuntu is about building and maintaining a cohesive community that flourishes through supporting one another Ubuntu promotes social responsibility, selflessness, and a vision of society founded on peace and equality

Vygotsky: Play-based, child centred learning

Vygotsky emphasised the way in which knowledge and understanding are constructed by children from their own experiences. This is known as the Constructivist Theory. The child develops their intellectual capacities through participating in family life, school activities and community activities where their culture is passed through social interaction . He believed that we learn by working together in relationships where one person is more capable than the other. For our purposes, the relationships would be teacher-child relationships, parent-child relationships, or child-children relationships. He believed that the child's language abilities develop best through social interactions such as play and help the child to learn in a natural way

Sensori-motor stage(0-2 years)

*Knowledge is build from the senses and physical actions *Children are egocentric, meaning they think only about themselves and their own needs *This is the first stage of the child's development *The child must be able to manipulate objects

Concrete-operational stage (7-11 years)

*Logical thought develops *The child can organise information *The child understands similarities and differences between things and concepts *Logic is usually only applied to things that can be seen or touched *The child thinks operationally

Pre operational stage (2-7 years)

*The child connects objects to words *The child indulges in fantasy play *Logical reasoning has not yet been established so the child might describe the wind as being caused by the movement of trees

Formal-operational stage(12- adulthood)

*Thinking is now orderly and logical thought has been mastered *The young adult can think in an abstract manner *The young adult can examine a problem from a variety of angles

Needs of child involves:

1. Care which includes aspects like protection safety health,wellbeing and nutrition 2. Education which takes into account early learning, early stimulation and emergent learning 3. Development, this refers to the growth and changes that children go through emotionally,physically, socially and cognitively

EARLY INTERNATIONAL HISTORICAL INFLUENCES IN ECE

1. INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION All aspects of human life economic activities were affected by the Industrial Revolution; agriculture,shipping and all forms of manufacturing were affected. As a result, this impacted on how young children were cared for and protected. The Industrial Revolution created a major demand for labour. More people were needed to operate the machines and equipment that came with industrialisation. As result, other social effects of the IR and the war were being experienced such as breaking up separation of families due to employment demands. Many children were left abandoned or orphaned and so the system of orphanages increased to care for and provide some form of early learning experiences for the children The IR is also known to have resulted in child labour practices,children were easy targets for work demand because of their passiveness and ignorance regarding their rights 2.WORLD WAR The first and second world wars also affected young children's care and education. Men were conscripted to go to war, and women and children had to get into formal employment. This resulted in several effects on children: they were either left in homes and communities without proper care and protection or forced into labour. The need for formal systems of caring for and protecting children was heightened, this in turn led to an increase in the demand for formal ECE systems

BENEFITS OF EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION

1. Lays the foundation for future growth and learning 2. Reduces failure rates in education 3. Provides readiness for formal schooling 4. Improved education outcomes and results 5. Allows women to be employed and to participate in the labour market 6. Contributes to an individual's employability 7. Reduces the crime rates as some people complete their education and find employment 8. Provides better economic opportunities for the poorest of the poor and reduces inequality 9. Ensures care of children in situations where there is a demand for workers and women must join the workforce to meet the demand 10. Provides an opportunity for brain development experiences for later life 11. Investment in early years reduces welfare (social grants)support by government

Friedrich Wilhelm Froebel (1782-1852)

He believed that a teaching curriculum should be specifically planned with designated teaching methods for children's learning experiences. Froebel advocated for well-designed training programmes emphasising the need to observe children and develop activities based on their readiness. He suggested that children learnt through play that was guided by adults and in an organised environment. He did, however, favour teachers making use of nature and taking children into forests or gardens to experience learning. He established the idea that ECE is a formal process that should happen in an organised setting and created the first kindergarten

COLONIALISM TO AFRICANISATION

Colonialism is the policy or practice of a wealthy or powerful nation's maintaining or extending its control over other countries, especially in establishing settlements or exploiting resources

Equilibrium

Equilibrium-Is the way we absorb information. Informations is organised into schemas with the process of equilibrium being made up of two phases: ACCOMMODATION and ASSIMILATION

A Euro-centric/ Westernised approach to education versus Africanisation

In the South African context, there has been a tendency to adopt a compensatory approach to preschool education of black African children. This is automatically implying that there is deficit and that the solution lies in imposing a Western perspective. Consequently, programmes such as Head Start and High Scope( imported from America) were adapted to try to fix the problem. These programmes are not culturally or contextually sensitive to South Africa and often requires high level of training and resources in order to be optimal implemented. This problematic for many early learning environments, especially those situated in impoverished areas Concern linked to a Euro-centric Westernised approach, is that of a enter based approach to learning. Meaning that learning can only take place at a school or ECD centres. Ebrahim (2012) describes how within the non-centre based educational environment, the child is able to learn in their mother-tongue, benefit from a variety of community interaction and develop a sense of belonging Letseka (2013)Africanisation is a renewed focus on Africa with a view of salvaging what was stripped away as a result of our history. He is not suggesting that we outright replace Western perspectives with a purely African one. Instead, he argues that We should extract from the West what is useful and add to the mix indigenous knowledge

BEGINNING OF ECE

Meaning of ECD: * Refers to the physical,cognitive, linguistic, and socio-emotional development of a child from the prenatal stage up to age of eight years * Refers to a comprehensive approach to policies and programmes for children from birth to nine years of age with the active participation of their parents and caregivers. It's purpose is to protect the child's rights to develop his/her full cognitive, emotional,social and physical potential

FOUR APPROACHES TO LEARNING

Montessori emphasised sensory learning and self actualisation Reggio Emilia considered environment and documentation of learning Piaget stressed the agency of the child and their ability to learn through self discovery Vygotsky saw social, collaborative learning through play to be the key to how children learn

Parental ethnic-theories

Parental ethno-theories are ideas that parents or other adults have about what they consider to be import in the development of young children. These ideas are embedded in community practices and rituals and are regenerated over time as each generation adapts the rituals to their own contexts. These ideas are referred to as " indigenous knowledge ". In studies conducted across many African countries,researchers found that parents did not only want their children to excel academically but they also wanted them to be humble, respectful and to cooperate with parents and their peers

Self-discovery

Piaget put forward the idea that children learn best through self-discovery,either on their own, or peers. He considered this to be an important part of children controlling their own learning and how children actively construct knowledge. To achieve this, he suggested that teachers provide lengthy periods of uninterrupted play and exploration

Egocentrism

Piaget suggests that children are egocentric when they are young. By this he meant that young children are not capable of thinking of others and are largely concerned with their own needs and viewpoints. This can make children selfish and they struggle to think about the needs of others, or how their behaviour might affect others. The teacher will need to guide such children by providing them with steps for sharing, the language appropriate to sharing, and rules that will help them to acquire the ability to self-regulate

Piaget: Learning through self-discovery

Piaget's stages of development focus primarily on the intellectual development of the child He suggests that the child is continuously constructing and re-constructing new knowledge, adding simple bits of information to a more complex picture. For example, if the child is beginning to understand how to write her name, she may start by understanding that the squiggle on the page has a meaning. She would then progress to understanding that the shape of each squiggle has a different meaning and is called a letter. This would progress to understanding that each letter has a sound which, when connected to other letters, begins to form a word, and so on. Ultimately, the child would connect all the simple pieces of information into being able to read and write Piaget suggested that the child had a naturally predetermined sequence of development which he termed "genetic epistemology ". This meant that the child had to be at a particular stage of development to absorb and learn a particular concept

SOUTH AFRICAN INDIGENOUS PRACTICES BEFORE THE ECD MOVEMENT

Prior to the IR, the care and education of children rested first and foremost with the nuclear family and extended family. On the other hand the community viewed every child in the community as theirs and played a part in caring, guiding and educating all children collectively. The women would use the babysitting period to educate the children through storytelling and games, which included riddles and idioms, as well as coaching the children in how to take care of themselves. The children acquired experience by taking part in family activities. Lessons will be passed orally and during religious ceremonies, dances and initiation rites

Reasons for learning about the history of your profession:

SUPPORT: learning about philosophers and theorists who have influenced our thinking may validate or negate your own thinking. You will appreciate traditional thinking and briaden your horizons to explore other viewpoints such as Africanisation,which means the infusing of the Africanculture and indigenous knowledge into teaching INSPIRATION: understanding how our history has influenced our current status quo, what methods might effective and how a history includes religion,politics and economic pressure, all inform the decisions that are taken that influence a particular profession as Foundation Phase teaching IDENTITY AND COMMITMENT: understanding the history of ECE means being aware of the need for cultural sensitivity, knowing when to be cautious about universal ideas, understanding your own bias and committing to contribute to enhance the education and development of young children *In essence, by engaging with the history of your profession you are shaping what identity you adopt,reflecting on how you will practice and appreciate the importance of the privilege of developing young children's foundational knowledge

Reggio Emilia: Learning through the environment and documentation

This approach places the emphasis on setting up learning environments that foster exploration by children, but with the specific goal of seeing the child as capable of researching a topic, communicating that topic and documenting it The environment is seen to be the third teacher. By this is meant that the classroom and outdoor environment should be welcoming, attractive, culturally responsive, embracing of nature, and filled with learning materials that promote learning. The children's curiosity is celebrated, along with her/his ability to construct her/his own learning with the assistance of teachers and parents One of the ways in which the teacher uses the environment to encourage learning is through "provocations". The teacher first observe what children express an interest in and then uses the information to decide how to stimulate further learning. The learning "trigger" or initial point of interest shown by the children,is the provocation. The children are encouraged to revisit a topic until they have exhausted their interest in it. Scientific enquiry is a key element of this approach to learning but once again the child is seen as central to the learning process. The teacher is guided by the child and should spend more time listening to what the child says that dictating what the child should be doing or saying

Maria Montessori (1870-1952)

She believed that for a child to learn to learn one should start with educating the senses. By thus she meant that the child should be given objects that will stimulate touch,smell and sight. Learning environment should be beautiful and inviting, with child-sized furniture and toys that the child can easily manipulate. She believed that children should be given tools that work as part of their preparation for the real world. For example, children should use proper, sharp knives, hammers to hammer nails, and real glass jugs for pouring juice. Toys and tools should all be on a low shelf, readily available to children, so that children's learning is not interrupted by having to ask for permission from a teacher to access the items The teacher was seen to be primarily an observer who sets up stimulating learning environment but does not interfere in what the child is doing, unless invited to do so by the child Montessori presented the idea that children learn best by doing, and by repeating what they are doing until they feel they have grasped a new concept or skill She believed that children are capable of learning, and if they are not, the adult was simply not listening to their needs or watching them closely enough. Observation was seen not as a simple passive endeavour on the part of the teacher, but about using observation to reflect on children's needs and then taking action to provide what is needed

TMS TCHOMBE ON CHILD-CENTRED LEARNING AND PARTICIPATIVE PEDAGOGY IN AFRICA

TCHOMBE's research across African communities led her to the conclusion that the main goal in the socialisation of young African children is to develop a socially competent person who is morally upright TCHOMBE means being positive, supportive, creative, productive, tolerant and able to work in a team. The ability and desire to cooperate with one's peers is highly valued across many African cultures TCHOMBE notes that young African children grow up observing their parents working in the homes or in the fields. As the children grow up, they move from observing to participating in chores such as fetching water,collecting firewood, serving food, cleaning, running errands, and taking care or younger siblings. Children's active involvement in family activities begins very early through cooperation, engagement, collaboration and being committed. Much of the learning in the home is informal and incidental, taking place through observation and imitation. Sometimes children learn through guided participation, where an adult or older sibling teaches a young child how something is done TCHOMBE also states that the home provides a rich environment for the learning of language and basic mathematical skills through that active participation and interaction of children of different ages and adult caregivers TCHOMBE observed that "the importance is not only that children are actively engaged in these activities but that the activities are of interest to the children [are child-centred]". Referring to the learning that takes place in the home environment, TCHOMBE further observes that " children are made to see relevanc, meaningfulness and value of the activities in which they engage as they collaborate and generate new knowledge through the participative process". This implies that learning, in this particular context, is relevant to

Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)

The ZPD is essentially the difference between what a child currently knows and what he is able to know with some help from a more capable person. The learning necessary to achieve that goal is achieved in a step-by-step way with help from the teacher; this is sometimes referred to as scaffolding which implies support from the more capable person

APARTHEID

The impart of apartheid was to have far-reaching consequences for ECD as it meant that the formal education of the majority of South Africa's populace was designed to be substandard or even non-existent. The lives of young children were intimately linked to the broader ideological and political struggle to engineer a racially unequal society. By 1939, the South African Association for Early Childhood Education (SAAECE), an association that was largely geared towards servicing white nursery schools, was responsible for setting standards in ECD services. Although in theory, subsidies were available to all groups, black nursery schools were never eligible to receive grants. White nursery school parents could afford the fees that were now being charged but the average black parents could not afford and therefore were forced to remove their children from nursery care and rely on home care. This resulted in an ever-widening gap between the quality of care and education for one race over another. Furthermore, because impoverished families were forced to seek work wherever they could find it, the family unit began to disintegrate along with indigenous cultural traditions. Children were no longer able to be influenced by their mothers because their mothers now lived far from home or working long hours as domestic workers. Fathers were absent because they too were trying to contribute to the family economy, often as migrant mine workers. Children were therefore left in the care of grandparents, older siblings or aunts and uncles In 1967,the National Education Policy Act escalated white provisioning in nursery education when it officially became known as pre-primary education and was dedicated to the education of children from three to six years of age. Training colleges were established to provide a pool of qualified pre-primar

REFORMING THROUGH EDUCARE

The term educare encompassed both the justifiable need to care for the child but also the requirement for an education. This included a safe place for learning, nurturing environments, stimulation and a holistic approach that catered for the social, emotional and physical needs of the child

AFRICAN ECE PHILOSOPHICAL APPROACHES

There is more than one way of teaching a child. For example: *Attitudes towards childhood in China and Japan are influenced by the ancient writings of Confucius who promoted a harmonious way of living that included respect for one another, valued women and children, but expected them to defer to their eldest or male figures *Native-Americans placed the emphasis on the connections between families,tribes and their relationship with nature. *African and African Americans promote the idea of collaborative effort leading to the upliftment of all. There should be a pooling of resources to achieve a positive end goal. *Indian and Middle Eastern families value value education as a means to achieve upward mobility which in turn results in an improved family economy

Stages of development

sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, formal operational