Basic Concepts and Early Childhood Education Theories

Introduction

Children aged three to six are eligible for early childhood education. By looking at what early programs have meant for a kid, we may learn more about the value of early childhood education to families and society as a whole. First of all, knowledge is made up of facts, concepts, ideas, vocabulary, and services in a short amount of time. In addition, disposition can react to particular situations, and lastly, feelings, emotional states as well as effective child care and early education can result in a positive outcome for a child’s life. The lessons a child picks up throughout their formative years will stick with them and support them as they go on in school and in life.The evolution of the mind’s capacity for thought and reason, however, is known as cognitive development. Potentially beneficial classroom practices will be examined, particularly in the context of technological advancement and socialization practices, by contrasting the theories of Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky in the field of cognitive development and by examining the value of elements frequently found in the early childhood classroom peer interaction, pretend play, and computers. It will be decided via the examination of these factors if a Piagetian or Vygotskian approach will be more advantageous in the first classroom. Understanding cognitive development can help kindergarten teachers establish healthy practices and provide kindergarten students a solid foundation. According to Jean Piaget, children develop their cognitive abilities in four phases, as described by (Cherry, 2014). Each character, how children see the world.

Moreover, any childcare facility or educational establishment has to have a goal statement or a set of guiding principles. Although diverse techniques to children’s learning would certainly be used by different centers, the general idea would surely share some components. Through understanding, contemplation, debate, and assessment, this philosophy may be formed. Early childhood educators must be able to explain precisely how this concept influences children’s learning as well as other techniques the centers use, such daily schedules and other activities.

CONTENTS

PART A

First and foremost, socializing with others outside of the child’s immediate family in a safe environment is a crucial foundational component to the following categories, and parents may have confidence in their children’s fundamental societal skills as they get ready for kindergarten and beyond. These skills help youngsters become more self-assured, improve their capacity to form positive interpersonal relationships, and aid in their ability to adjust to changing circumstances and increased demands. This problem is supported by (Elksnin, 2000), who pointed out that developing social skills at a young age predicts a child’s capacity to fit in with society and contribute to their culture.

Next, emphasize the importance of treating people with respect. This may refer to respect for one’s local and wider surroundings as well as for people and their material assets. This argument was backed by Wood (1999), who asserted that respect is object created—that is, it is due to, demanded of, merited of, elicited by, or claimed by the object—rather than totally subject generated. We show something respect not because we wish to but because we understand that we already do.

In addition, teamwork exemplifies and imparts the value of collaboration, which may be used to teach respect for others’ opinions, listening in cooperation, and equality. (Johnson, 1995) highlighted that via engagement, problem-solving, conversation, cooperation, and collaboration, teams and teamwork aid to foster deep knowledge.

then encourages further study Schools raise student performance, lower absenteeism, and restore teachers’ faith in their abilities. Children that have involved parents or supplementary caregivers do better academically and on tests, have stronger social skills, and behave better.

The best moment to raise problems with the instructors is when they are discovering their strengths, interests, and areas that need updating in addition to grappling with specific components of their teaching. This problem was backed by (Bereiter, 1989), who indicated that as children grow, they develop concepts about what it means to comprehend and appreciate, and these beliefs have a significant impact on how they position themselves in contexts that call for deliberate and hard-earned knowledge.

Furthermore, high society provides links to extended family members and knowledge sources that may last a lifetime. Social ties among children provide security throughout changes. A youngster could be more eager to join a club or activity in preschool if they have a friend who is also interested. In addition, children will learn best when school and educational activities only make up a tiny amount of their days.

enhanced social abilities, as well. For instance, in light of the fact that children have short attention spans, parents are urged to use daily routine activities to teach their children moral lessons. The importance of kindergarten education for children is one step that can be taken to achieve a high society both economically and socially. Leary (1957) emphasized this problem by stating that interpersonal skills are necessary for socialization in order to interact to one another. Interpersonal actions, which are connected to the categories of dominance vs. submission, love vs. hatred, affiliation vs. hostility, and control vs. autonomy, are known as interpersonal skills.

Last but not least, outcomes for children should take into account the steps taken throughout the care and teaching processes, such as dispositions, which are the sum of a child’s developing knowledge, skills, and educational philosophy. The child’s aptitude for learning is crucial because it serves as the foundation for the development of qualities like bravery, curiosity, trustworthiness, playfulness, persistence, and responsibility. The youngster will be helped to develop a strong and healthy common sense of self as competent and confident learners by being empowered. The next step in creating a meaningful education is engagement—drawing the kid into the lesson and keeping their interest and involvement. Additionally, there will be a larger likelihood that this will result in additional exploration and new learning outcomes. Through engaging and rewarding child-initiated play, this may be done simply and efficiently. Additionally, instructors should engage in playtime with the students to encourage critical thinking and creativity.

PART B

The main differences between Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky are their two knowledge themes, which have many differences. For example, Jean Piaget illustrates that cognitive development is already formed and driven by children’s ability to adapt to new experiences, whereas Lev Vygotsky depicted that cognitive development is influenced by group experiences and interactions. So, in the classroom, we may understand that the constructivist approach is the foundation for inquiry education and that knowledge is the process of understanding and interpreting new information. Vygotsky thought that knowledge is social in origin, while Piaget said that cognitive growth is the process of reorganizing knowledge via contact with nature. This claim is supported by (Cole, 1996).

In addition, Jean Piaget said that children learn by active self-discovery and awareness, whereas Lev Vygotsky claimed that children require structured instruction in order to learn and develop. As a result, learning in a classroom setting calls for student interaction as well as structured instruction that includes reading, writing, and problem-solving.

Next, Lev Vygotsky challenged Jean Piaget’s assertion that all children’s cognitive development is universally comparable and argued that it varies and changes based on culture and period. Thus, children’s conceptual knowledge and their capacity for thought and reasoning will both grow in the classroom, and their capacity for social interaction and the acquisition of cognitive abilities will both improve as a result.

Lev Vygotsky refused to acknowledge this and said that children may learn at any stage by having the ZPD scaffolded and moulded, contrary to Jean Piaget who claimed that children would only comprehend when they are ready. In addition to that, children are educated in the classroom via observation, listening, exploration, experimentation, and questioning. Children must be motivated, interested in, and involved in their education. Understanding why they are finding something might also be helpful. This problem was backed by (Flavell, 1977), who showed how children develop the capacity to carry out a variety of activities involving the synchronization of two or more thoughts. For instance, individuals may engage in simple perspective-taking by comparing a depiction of one person’s point of view with a representation of their own.

Lev Vygotsky disagreed with Jean Piaget, who claimed that dialect is the key to unlocking cognitive growth, and claimed that dialect is a byproduct of cognitive development. Since the term “classroom dialect” is often used in education and a target language is used as much as possible, it is also a crucial component of language instruction. In actuality, it implies that young children should be trained to utilize everyday basic language.

On the other hand, Lev Vygotsky initially earned a legal degree before earning a psychology degree, whilst Jean Piaget studied biology, psychology, and philosophy. Despite coming from quite different backgrounds, both researchers used a constructivist approach to their studies of cognitive development because they thought that children went through four developmental stages and needed to work with others to learn. Although Piaget’s theory has had a significant impact, it has also faced some criticism. Findings from far more recent studies suggest that cognitive development is much more continuous than Piaget originally thought.

Children also create schemes, which are mental images of people, things, or principles, as part of their cognitive development. Through assimilation and accommodation, which Piaget described as processes, these plans may be modified or changed. Information that we already know is assimilated. Adapting one’s understanding to what is viewed is known as accommodating. When new information does not match with one’s prior knowledge, disequilibrium results. Piaget defined equilibrium as the point at which assimilation and accommodation had taken place to produce a new developmental stage. A youngster must first “battle” with the notion that the volume of liquid in the cylinders has not changed after they understand conservation (disequilibrium). After adjusting to the new information, equilibrium sets place, and the kid may go on to a new stage of cognitive development (concrete operations).

Private speech is another part of language development. Children and adults alike may utilize private speech to direct their activities and facilitate thought. Piaget would consider egocentric or immature private speech, whereas Vygotsky recognized the value of self-directed communication. After roughly nine years, private speech, which is self-directed management and communication with oneself, internalizes.

Over the course of his research, he discovered that essential ideas about space, numbers, and time gradually came into being. He came to the conclusion that kids have a fundamental genetically or inherited brain structure. Everything else we learn via social, environmental, and physical experiences is built around this fundamental framework.

In the field of child-directed learning, this hypothesis is quite well-liked right now. This idea supports and fosters contextual education, which is driven by the kid as an active learner. This hypothesis is the basis for many theories about play-based learning.

Examining them is essential so that you can compare how each author approached the problem of explaining the progress in general. When Piaget and Vygotsky describe how knowledge is acquired, they depart from intrinsic and empiricist theories, which is an intriguing thought to ponder. Both theories are based on constructivist paradigms.

Although the aforementioned may give the impression that Piaget overlooked the social components of development, this is not the case. He understands or presupposes the social aspect, however, in a fundamentally different manner than Vygotsky. According to Piaget, the social component is merely a variable that affects the processes of the person, not the unit of analysis.

Teachers and students both gain from using Piaget’s theory in the classroom in a number of ways. Teachers have a greater understanding of their pupils’ thought processes. In addition, they may use methods like motivational setting, modeling, and assignments to match their teaching practices to the cognitive level of their pupils. Their objective is to assist the individual in creating experience. Understanding how certain properties of a thing might change while others remain the same is known as conservation of constancy. In other words, it is the understanding that even while an item might undergo physical change, certain of its properties stay the same.

Piaget’s views were losing ground to those of Russian psychologist Lev Vygotsky, who started to get greater attention. Piaget claimed that there are a few universal stages of cognitive development that all children go through, whereas Vygotsky thought that there are different phases of cognitive development in different cultures.

Piaget also underlined that we genuinely develop intelligence via our own actions. Piaget emphasized that children would ultimately learn if they engage with their environment on a regular basis. He also noted that learning will occur after a succession of developmental stages.

We may thus conclude that learning takes place when there are behavioral modifications brought on by experiences and interactions with the environment. The experiences that are prepared and offered for children within a particular core curriculum must be appropriately centered on the fundamental idea of what education is all about and on conceptions of what young children may comprehend.

Learning, in contrast, comes from stimulation, in a sense. This is due to the fact that learning only happens in certain circumstances, through particular actions, or if a particular issue has to be solved. If a youngster has learnt anything, it is usually simple to tell. This may be accomplished in a number of ways, including seeing how a child interacts with other kids, examining what the child does, analyzing the results of achievement tests, and reading tales the child has written. All of these would suggest a shift in thinking, acting, or understanding, which would suggest learning has occurred.

CONCLUSIONS

It is obvious that early care and education are important and cannot be emphasized enough. Early childhood education is essential to provide future workers with a strong foundation of skills, knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors that will assure their success in a future economy that will be increasingly competitive and technology-based. Additionally, early childhood education refers to educational programs and approaches targeted at children from birth to age eight. The goal of early childhood education is often to help children learn via play. There should be greater contact and coordination between the teaching, care, and health sectors in the domain of childcare since nursing and teaching are intended for young children and are separate but complementary. Early childhood educators need to define and comprehend a few terms related to early childhood education.

However, there are still a number of diverse ideas of youth development and education that are important for comprehending how children learn. According to Piaget’s theory on cognitive development, children actively generate knowledge by assimilating new information into their pre-existing mental structures or by adapting those structures to suit new information. Equilibrium or balance in the mind is the outcome of this process. All age groups may benefit from using Vygotsky’s theory’s guiding concepts, such as scaffolding in the zone of proximal development (ZPD). Everything a kid learns in a given psychosocial developmental stage has a positive/negative ratio that, if it leans more toward the positive, will help him deal with life’s challenges and provide him a greater chance for an unhindered overall growth.

Therefore, parents themselves serve as children’s first instructors. Early childhood education should thus, appropriately, be a collaborative effort between the family and the nursing or teaching facility. As a result, staff members at these facilities for child care and early education must be familiar with the children they deal with and their backgrounds, families, communities, and cultures. In a nutshell, there are unlimited opportunities to support children in growing their capacity for critical thought and cognitive awareness for a well-rounded approach to learning when both theories are employed in conjunction with one another.