Chapter 5 POST INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

(1860-1980)

Cindy Shelton

Post Industrial Revolution

Inhumane conditions of child life continued

Dr. Maria Montessori became known

Froebel and Dr. Montessori impacted early childhood education movement in Great Britain

Will look at impact Grace Owen, the McMillan's and Jean Piaget had on early childhood around the world

They paved the way for early childhood programs today

GRACE OWEN (1873-1965)

Trained in Froebelian methods

Her impressions of Kindergarten life published in Child Life

Held a progressive view on Kindergarten

Role of teacher is to encourage child’s spontaneous self expression and individuality

Undirected play

Suggestion

Imitation

Discovery by experiment

GRACE OWEN (1873-1965)

1908 testified before Board of Education

Inspectors opinion is that under fives get no intellectual advantage from school

1905 Code of Regulation for Public Elementary School refused “under fives” admission to schools

Three years later Owen testified about need for nursery school for 3-5

By 1918 there were 12 existing nursery school and 8 new schools supported by Board of Education

She was one of three founders of Nursery School Association founded in 1923

Margaret McMillan (1860-1931)Rachel McMillan (1859-1917)

Sisters who attended school until mother died in 1877

Margaret did volunteer work for labour movement and for Bradford socialists

Rachel studied to be a sanitation inspector

Volunteer work led Margaret to join Bradford School Board

Sisters began to fought for children’s causes such as malnourishment and disease

Led to nutrition programs and school baths in Britain

Margaret resigned from School Board in 1902 and moved to London

Margaret McMillan

Opened a school health clinic

Opened night camps and camp school

Girls arrived at camp and helped in garden and with domestic tasks

Fresh air and good food helped children put on weight

Led to companion school being opened for boys

Gap in health care of children led to 1837 Notification of Birth Act which supervised health from newborn to age one

Rachel McMillan Nursery School

Margaret opened baby camp in 1911 which were unsuitable for very young children and led to establishment of nursery school

Infant teacher could devote time and thought to educational environment so children were “busily and purposefully occupied while teacher remained in the background”

4th stage of infant school movement- Free Play

Fisher Act passed in 1918 led to nursery schools throughout Great Britain

Three Goals of McMillan School

Nurture all children which to her meant “all round loving care of individuals”

Help parents improve their practices and improve their own potentials

Create a blueprint and model that others could use

The Training Centre

In service and initial training of teachers

Part of the nursery school and started small so they could have individual training

Work with disadvantaged students

Teacher and parents as partners

Relationship between physical development and health to the development of cognitive and affective development

Understanding children’s behavior through observation

Nursery school teacher is “helping to make a brain and nervous system” (Brain based research)

Jean Piaget ( 1896-1980)

Had an early interest in nature

Studied natural science

Age 21 presented dissertation in study of mollusks and was ABD for PhD in philosophy

Began to work with Parisian children and was interested in why they failed tests and not the “norms” for success

Three findings

Incorrect answers occurred often in children of same age so need to find how children think

Verbal skills not as developed in young children so pair verbal with manipulatives

Logic is way of describing thought process

Jean Piaget

Thought intelligence could be viewed as how an organism adapts to its environment

Focus on intellectual growth by looking at evolution in childhood

Began to publish books on early lives of children

Jean Piaget Society – formed by Dr. Lois Macomber

Interdisciplinary – scholars, teachers and researchers

Nature of developmental construction of human knowledge

Genova Group

Interdisciplinary international Center for Genetic Epistemology

Combine efforts to study a problem

Each looked at problem from their specialty view

Discuss findings at an annual symposium each June

Piaget Publications

300 papers, book chapters and introductions in French and translated into English and other languages

Major Interests

Study of life

Study of knowledge

Evolution of knowledge in the child

Several definitions of intelligence

Content of thought (thoughts and interests)

Specific heredity (biology)

General heredity (adaptation and organization

Piaget in Historical Context

Children construct their own knowledge and intelligence through play

Start with exercise play and move to symbolic play

Pretend play important cause lack logical reasoning

Play basis for self initiated activities

Children use language differently than adults but have same feelings as adults

Child makes world fit into their own schema

Piaget in Educational Context

He concentrated on process of thinking and how the answers to questions demonstrate the thought process

Interaction with peers important part of cognitive development

Child centered

Constance Kamii = principles of education from Piaget

Knowledge constructed from within

Social action and cooperation between peers

Intellectual activity based on actual experience rather than language

Curriculum Models from Piaget

Maturationist (Romanticism)

Child’s role in developmental maturation

Thought is a phenomenon – emphasize creativity and self confidence

Environmentalist (Cultural transmission)

Impact of outside environment

Knowledge comes from outside

Interactionist (cognitive developmental

Organism and environment interact in complex ways

Basis from Head Start and Follow Through models

Educational Context

Bank Street Model – Whole child / programs for disadvantaged should have same goal as programs for all children

Have to understand where gap lie to help with language and thinking

Kamii –DeVries program - study of nature of knowledge and how child gains knowledge

Piaget theory influence time needed for learning and quality of instruction