An Analysis of Early Years Philosophies

IntroductionThe importance of wee long time rearing has long been recognised at bottom both academic and professional circles. By establishing well theories and policies during the earlierish eld of study, this hence has a knock-on effect on the archaeozoic(a) aspects of direction and makes the over all(prenominal) emergenceal system more(prenominal) effective, in terms of producing cap equal adults.This paper bequeath mien offsetbornly at the contribution of leading theorists when it comes to the provision of key documents in order to pull out those in the practical application of these theories in the context of earliest old get on with precept (Catron and Allen 2007). The paper leave then go on to look at received policies and practices in early years culture and how these any support or disprove the theoretical perspectives laid out. The final variance then goes on to establish a personal ism of how the source here has pulled together subsisting theories and practices to develop their get approach to early years education.Key Theories of Early schoolingUnsurprisingly, those have-to doe with in the theories and philosophical system which have emerged, over the years, in relation to early years education have gained considerable attention. In order to consider the theories each exit be looked at in turn to look at their induce contribution and in order to consider any advantages and disadvantages associated with these theories and concepts. This leave be broken d throw deep down each accomplishable action to look at the key issues ofChildrens in practiceation Relationships Learning milieu Meeting Childrens Needs MontessoriChildrens LearningThe educational approach highly-developed by Montessori promotes the notion of freedom and independence in early years education, provided of go at that role be limits put in place with respect to the existing level of education and understanding of the tykeren snarled. Alt hough multiple different approaches have been developed and are broadly considered to be based on the educational theories of Montessori, at that place are certain incites of this educational possibleness that would be essential, regardless of how it is utilize in practice (Montessori, 1994).This includes the use of mixed age classrooms for squirtren between the ages of tercet and cardinal, with the students themselves having a choice of activities. Once they have been given a look-alike of choices, the work time should be uninterrupted, as far as doable and a disco real model of behaviour cosmos used to gain the pincerren to research themselves, rather than being directly instructed on certain patterns of behaviour. In order to facilitate this approach, on that point requirements to be freedom of gesture within the classroom.Meeting Childrens NeedsMontessori is largely considered to be an educational possibleness. In reality it is more of a theory of human ev olution and nature, with two key basic principles. Firstly, when children and adults engage in any name of information, they take on board a self construction approach, as they interact with items and the environment around them. This recognises that the information regard is directly coupled to interaction with outside(a) operators and it is the stimuli is crucial to this educational theory and places a some(prenominal) heavier violence on facilitating, rather than direct teaching (Cadwell and Rinaldi 2003).Learning EnvironmentWith this in mind, those looking to apply this educational theory, in practice, pull up stakes imply to consider the environment almost as much of the content of the lesson itself. This is achieved by creating a harmonious and clean environment that is uncluttered and wins free achievement and activity, but withal ensures that the availability of material is linked to the area of phylogeny being targeted. By restricting the material available, this has the effect of guiding the containing experience, but not to such an extent that the individual feels constrain. This educational theory also breaks down the age groups of those involved, with the recognition that children under the age of six are undergoing an incredibly dramatic education period and in that respectfore growing self-construction during this period will potentially be the most important element of long-term development. Certain key expectations are included within this educational theory to guide expectations, without constraining either teacher or student. For example, the encyclopaedism of language is something that is recognised as taking place, continuously, and therefore social behaviours will only truly become a fundamental element of the learning experience from approximately 2 years onwards, according to this educational theory.Waldorf teaching method (Steiner)An early(a) formative educational philosophy is that referred to as Waldorf educati on or Steiner, which was conventional in Austria the early 20th century. As a result of this, several(prenominal) independent Waldorf schools were established, primarily in Ger many a(prenominal), although also in neighbouring countries. This theory of education looks at the stages of development as being a crucial underpinning factor as to how education should take place. This theory broadly splits child development into three distinct stages, each of which lasts around seven years. The early years education which takes on-board the first seven years focuses primarily on providing active activities and creative unravel opportunities, so that the primary feather focus is on child development through visible and practical activities, during this phase.Childrens learningFor the purposes of this analysis, it is the first stage that is most important. However, so that it washstand be seen how these early years of education fit into the broader picture, it is worth noting that the s econd stage focuses more on social development and the third on academic understanding. Although the Waldorf theory bath largely be seen as an educational theory that digest be attached to independent schools across Central Europe, many of the theories and philosophies have permeated more traditional educational establishments.RelationshipsThe education ideas put forward by Steiner largely follow the concept of common sense and go beyond patently what is taught to children. These theories also look at the environment and broader issues such as wellness and well-being. Taking this developmental approach is, in many ways, similar to that looked at above, with the Montessori theory stock-still, it is much more focused on ensuring practical experiences, where the children are not necessarily focusing on maintaining freedom as the primary and key theme (Roopnarine and Johnson. 2005). The emphasis during the early years period is on providing children with practical activities that wi ll forget them to live life experiences either by following the examples of others, or by their own experimentation. Throughout this theory there is also a heavy emphasis placed on nature, where external influences may be seen to be relevant.High sphereMore recently, developed in Michigan, USA, is the High Scope early childhood educational approach which looks at a sort of different educational establishment, including kindergarten, pre-school and even home-based childcare, in order to look at the ways in which early childhood development should be trump established, so as to lay down the introductions for futurity learning. The development of this educational theory was primarily founded on the concept developed by the psychologist Lev Vygotsky, which takes a scaffolding-style approach, suggesting that adults should form a learning scaffolding around children, to take into score their current level of development and encourage them to build on it (French and spud 2005).Relat ionshipsSeveral central concepts have been developed alongside this educational theory and although participation from the student is important, as it is with the other two theories, there is, however, a structure associated with this educational theory which distinguishes it from the previous theories (High/Scope Educational interrogation launching 2001).Learning EnvironmentFor example, environment is seen as important, within this educational theory and the classroom is pass judgment to comply with a high grasp model would have several well-defined interest areas, e.g., there would be a toy area and an art area, clearly delineated and make available for the children. This supports the basic learning approach that is advocated by the other two theories in that students will gain from interaction with adults and their own construction of the orbit around them. However, this is done in a much more structured way, where the daily routine requires early years children to be follo wing a predictable sequence of events throughout the day and there not being complete freedom, as advocated by Montessori.To a certain extent, this theory can be seen to be a muted version of the earlier theories. Furthermore, although a heavy emphasis is placed on a constructivist and interaction approach, a much more rigid structure is put in place to ensure that there is consistency and comfort offered to the students and that they understand exactly what is probably to happen, on any given day. timbre SchoolsFinally, there is the specialist theory associated with Forest Schools Education which involves outdoor education and suggests that the children are able to develop impudence and knowledge through having a large amount of outdoor activities and amiable at times within a forest environment. These types of schools are seen as a means of expression independence within any age category and the theory of Forest Schools has become a pedagogy, in its own right. This recognition of the importance of the environment is itself something that can be utilised, either in its own right or alongside the previous theories of development of early years children, as advocated by the other theories, mentioned above.Government Legislation and steeringWithin the UK, the Department for Education provides guidance for the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS). The charter of this guidance is to produce basic compulsory standards that all entities involved in the early years education provide.The statutory manakin for the EYFS stage was established in 2012 and is the full document guiding those involved in the provision of years education is seen as merely a minimum standard that they are required to meet and any underlie aims and objectives that should be in mind when establishing their own methods and philosophies. This was given its statutory term by virtue of the Childcare Act 2006.There are cardinal aims associated with the guide, including the desire to provide consistency and equality of opportunity for all unfledged children, which will ultimately then provide a secure foundation upon which every child can develop in an appropriate manner and according to their abilities and desires and become well adjusted young adults, in the future. elemental safeguarding welfare requirements are also fundamental to this guidance and, although the focus here is on educational theories, it should be noted that early years education theories should, at all times, consider welfare issues and how these may interact within the educational environment (Helm, and Katz 2001).Overarching principles recognise that each child is unique and will be in a constant state of learning and development, and will therefore need to be adaptable and taking the lead from the child in question. Furthermore, the establishment of positive relationships, both with their peers and adult groups is crucial and educational environments should be enabling and positive, regardless of precisely how they are set up or managed. Depending on the nature of the early years provider there may be more specific requirements when it comes to learning and development. For example a childcare provider for wrap-round services, e.g. outside of school hours, would have a lesser requirement to support learning and development, as it would be presumed that the learning and development has been covered within the educational environment. In order to ensure fit flexibility, while also ensuring equality and consistency with policies produced in the area of learning and development down into three key subjects communication and language corporeal development and personal, social, emotional development. All providers of early years education need to provide basic supporting literacy, mathematics, general understanding of the world and communicatory arts and design. To a certain extent, the rigidity of the current requirements would prevent quantity freedom within the educatio nal environment and this would disallow a fresh theory, such as that of Montessori, to be used although many of the elements of this educational theory can still be present, despite the constraints of the statutory guidance.When establishing methods of learning and development the guidance requires the use of a mixture of directed and free shirk within any education establishment and this prevents the approach from begun being simply focussed one way or the other.The binding agreement to lurch the statutory framework requires that there are three characteristics which must be applied to all the activities that are undertaken by those involved in early years education. Firstly, there is the need to encourage playing and exploring which is supportive and harmonious with the earlier theories of Steiner and Montessori and which encourage every child to explore and develop during their early years. Secondly, there is the need for active learning which encourages children to concent rate and to continue to stress to achieve the results that they are after (Anning et al 2004).Thirdly, there is the need to encourage the creativity and critical thinking of the children, in order to develop their own thoughts and ideas, as well as making links between ideas which they can then use in the future. Although the statutory guidance has a comparatively large level of structure attached to it, on the whole, it follows the educational theories on early years education advocated by Steiner and Montessori.Certain requirements are also placed on early years education providers for example, a disciple must have an allocated key person with whom they interact and who has responsibility for ensuring that they are developing and learning in an appropriate manner this is also seen as a welfare and safeguarding issue, where this is a non- negotiable requirement.Certain standards are expected of children at any stage of early years education, such as the requirement that, by a spe cific age, sentences should be constructed and the children will be regularly reviewed and tested, in order to ascertain whether they are meeting the requirements, special the requirements, or falling short. Although it is not expected that every child will develop at the same place, regular monitoring in many areas which are deemed to be weak is critical and a fundamental part of the current framework, so that the child in question can then be supported to develop in these weak areas.The main legal confidence is undertaken in the final term of the academic year in which the child becomes five years old is provided to the childs carers / parent and other professional that are relevant during the early years. This assessment has several purposes other than to simply ascertain the current stage of learning for the child in question and provides information for the teacher who will be dealing with the child, as soon as they enter into compulsory education. This indicates that the ea rly years order of business does in fact have the vestigial aim of placing children in the take up possible position to enter Year One ( subject area Council for plan and perspicacity 2004).Another important aspect of the statutory guidance which is relevant to this discourse is the heavy emphasis placed on partnership arrangements, with the requirement for early years education providers to engage with the local agentity, where appropriate, particularly for welfare and safeguarding issues.The onus of the policies here, therefore, is to fulfil certain requirements for having the statutory, basic standards in place, while also fling freedom to the early years educational establishment, in order to allow them to adjust, depending on the nature of their establishment and the types of facilities available to them.This would seemingly be a combination of theories, as discussed above, and goes largely along with the early focus on freedom and independence, but with slight constrai nts put in place. Based on this it can therefore be argued that the closest educational theories discussed above to the current situation are that of High Scope, where the adult operates as a form of scaffolding around the independent and free learning of the children. There does however need to be clarity, on a day-to-day basis, but the children themselves are given the freedom to develop at their own pace.A ad hominem PhilosophyBy looking at the educational theories explored in the first part of this report and also looking at the way in which the government has established guidelines, both compulsory and optional for educational establishments, the author here has been able to develop their own personal philosophy for early years education. This personal philosophy also draws, to a certain extent, on reflective learning from the authors own experience within the early years teaching environment.As a result, and in the opinion of the author, it was found that the educational theo ries that support the notion of entirely free play are not as effective as the current educational agenda. However, whilst there are merits in the notion of entirely free experiences for very young children, as advocated by Montessori, it is suggested here that there needs to be a degree of structure, as this is more reflective of the educational experience which the children are likely to receive in the future. Moreover, there is an underlying aim within early years education to present children with the best possible foundation before branching into compulsory education and this would seem to be the main focus.The author also believes that the most appropriate philosophy is a combination of Waldorf and High Scope, stating that there needs to be at least some degree of structure and expectation, in order to ensure that there is sufficient consistency. Each child leaving early years education needs to be in position to undertake compulsory education therefore, without having at leas t some boundaries and expectations laid out for all involved in education, this would result in some children not being able to achieve basic standards. This could ultimately impact, not only on their educational knowledge, but also on their self-esteem, if they were to enter compulsory education substantially behind others, in terms of attainment (Hohmann, 2002).Applying the statutory rules which are in place within the UK also supports this philosophy and recognises the fact that the ability of children to learn and develop will be different, particularly within the early years, and there needs to be at least some freedom for the children to explore and make up their own minds. This does, however, need to be structured and facilitated by the educational professionals, so that any individual weaknesses can be determine and supported in such a way that would not be possible, if total freedom were given to the students.Educational theories provide a strong background to the way in which education should be delivered, both from a physical environment perspective, through to how the adults responsible for delivering education interact with the children in their care. Despite the need for structure, it is noted here that a strong emphasis should also be placed on freedom of choice for the children when building social and self-esteem factors, which are arguably going to be the foundations for future learning, far beyond technical skills such as the ability to charter and write (Penn, 2005). By looking at the broader developmental issues, such as those set out in the statutory guidance, those involved in delivering educational standards can adapt to deal with any issues that arise, rather than being constrained to delivering a specific curriculum.Based on this, my own personal philosophy of education is a hybrid between High Scope and Waldorf, with a bias towards increasing structure, so that basic standards are achieved, regardless of the underlying skills and personalities of the children involved.ReferencesAnning, A., Cullen, J. and Fleer, M. (eds.) (2004). Early childhood education society and culture. Delhi, New York and London keen-sighted PublicationsCadwell, L. B., and C. Rinaldi. (2003) Bringing Learning to Life A Reggio Approach to Early childhood Education. New York Teachers College Press.Catron, C. E., and J. Allen. (2007) Early Childhood Curriculum A Creative flow Model, 4th ed. hurrying Saddle River, NJ Merrill/Prentice Hall.Department of Education (2012) Available at https//www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/2716/eyfs_statutory_framework_march_2012.pdfFrench, G. and Murphy, P. (2005). Once in a lifetime Early childhood care and education for children from save to three. Dublin Barnardos.Helm, H and Katz, L (2001) Young Investigators The Project Approach in the Early Years, New York Teachers College Press.High/Scope Educational look into Foundation. (2001). The physical learning environme nt Participants guide. Michigan High/Scope Educational Research FoundationHohmann, M., et al. Educating (2002) Young Children Active Learning Practices for Preschool and Child Care Programs. Ypsilanti, MI High/Scope Press.Montessori, M (1994). From Childhood to Adolescence. Oxford, England ABC-Clio. pp. 716National Council for Curriculum and Assessment. (2004). Towards a Framework for Early Learning. Dublin National Council for Curriculum and Assessment.Penn, H. (2005). Understanding early childhood. Glasgow Open University Press.Roopnarine, J., and J. Johnson. (2005) Approaches to Early Childhood Education, 4th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ Merrill/Prentice Hall.