Theorists

• The curricular approaches and models in early childhood education is anchored on different philosophical and theoretical frameworks
• Any curriculum design has always some legal bases and preferred philosophies or related theories
• Curriculum developers' personal views on these philosophies and theories serve as mirror for deeper understanding of the context of the learners and the curriculum content to be developed
• Philosophy

  The foundation of knowledge
• Education


  The practical component of the theory
• Because of the relationship between philosophy and education, philosophy is foundational in all aspects of education especially the curriculum of the school
• The curriculum must be tailored in such a way that it constitutes deed experiences that a student ought to have to become the adult he or she ought to become
• Those who design the curriculum must have knowledge of the desirable qualities in an adult society
• This knowledge of the good in the society is rightly estimated by philosophy
• This makes curriculum to have intimate relation with philosophy
• It is philosophy that discovers and unfolds the good that all individuals should aspire in all their purposeful education
• High quality early childhood care and education has been associated with both short-term and long-term cognitive, social, and emotional benefits for young children's development
• Throughout the evolution of early childhood education, curriculum is closely linked to learning theories and pedagogies
• Theories linked to curriculum

  • Behaviorist theories of child development
  • Maturationist theories of child development
  • Constructivist theories of child development
• Behaviorist theories of child development

  Led to highly didactic models of direct instruction in which teachers typically present discrete facts to the entire class of children in whole groups
• Maturationist theories of child development


  Children are allowed to develop at their own pace with advanced pedagogy and curricula that enable children to direct their own learning
• Constructivist theories of child development

  Children are active partners with their socio-cultural environment, including teachers and peers
• John Amos Comenius: '"In all the operations of nature, development is from within, so children should be allowed to learn at their own pace."'
• John Amos Comenius was born on March 28, 1592, in Southeastern Moravia
• After deciding to become a priest of the Bohemian Unity of Brethren, he received his higher education in Germany at Herborn, Nassau, and Heidelberg
• In 1614 he returned to Bohemia, where he taught in the schools of the Brethren
• He was ordained a priest 2 years later and appointed Pastor of a parish in Fulneck in 1618
• Because of persecution, the Brethren were forced to leave Bohemia in 1628. Comenius went to Leszno, Poland, where his position as corector of the Brethren's school led him to become interested in educational reform
• Many of the educational ideas expressed in his Didactica magna (1657; The Great Didactic) were developed during this period
• Reforms that Comenius advocated

  • Gentler discipline
  • Use of the vernacular instead of Latin in the primary schools
  • Free, universal, compulsory education for both sexes and all social classes
• His book Janua linguarum reserata (1631; The Gate of Languages Unlocked) revolutionized the teaching of Latin and helped establish his reputation throughout Europe as an educational reformer
• Elected a bishop of his church in 1632, Comenius expressed his great interest in Christian unity and was conspicuous in the 17th century for his ecumenical beliefs
• His development of a universal system of human knowledge among all men and nations, called pansophy, led to his being invited to England
• From there he went to Sweden in 1642 and was employed in reforming the nation's school system
• In 1650 he established a pansophic school in Hungary as a model for others, but conflicts caused his return to Leszno in 1655
• After the sack of the city in 1656, he fled to Amsterdam, where he resided until his death on Nov. 4, 1670
• Influence and Implications of Comenius in Today's Education and Curriculum


  • Social reform in education agenda
  • Develop a more humane view of the child
  • Schools are organized according to stages of development
  • Use of visuals and pictures as teaching aids
  • Emphasis on learning through the senses
  • Inclusion of theories in the curriculum
  • Instilled the idea of good citizenship
  • Emphasis on becoming God-fearing human beings
• Tabula rasa


  The belief that the child is born neutral, rather than good or evil, and is a clean slate on which the experiences of parents, society, education, and the world are written
• John Locke (b. 1632, d. 1704) was a British philosopher, Oxford academic and medical researcher
• Locke's monumental An Essay Concerning Human Understanding (1689) is one of the first great defenses of modern empiricism and concerns itself with determining the limits of human understanding in respect to a wide spectrum of topics
• Locke's association with Anthony Ashley Cooper (later the First Earl of Shaftesbury) led him to become successively a government official charged with collecting information about trade and colonies, economic writer, opposition political activist, and finally a revolutionary whose cause ultimately triumphed in the Glorious Revolution of 1688
• Among Locke's political works he is most famous for The Second Treatise of Government in which he argues that sovereignty resides in the people and explains the nature of legitimate government in terms of natural rights and the social contract
• He is also famous for calling for the separation of Church and State in his Letter Concerning Toleration
• Influence and Implications of Locke's work in Today's Education and Curriculum


  • Theory of clean slate or tabula rasa
  • Education that emphasizes sensory observation and learning through the environment
  • Theory of education based on scientific method, study of the mind and learning
  • Acceptance of individual differences
  • Sensory approach to teaching
  • Emphasis on the effect of the environment on learning
• Jean-Jacques Rousseau: '"Children really learn only from first-hand information and their view of the external world is quite different from the adults."'