Early Childhood Education Chapter 3 Summary

Early childhood education, although constantly evolving, was actually established and practiced as early on as the times of Ancient Greece and Rome. The foundation that early childhood education is based upon is to instill in children the skills needed to succeed later on in life, while making sure young children enjoy their time in schooling. Throughout chapter 3 in the textbook Who Am I in the Lives of Children, the reader is capable of evaluating just how greatly the methods for teaching today’s youth have evolved and changed for the better.
During the times of Ancient Greece and Rome which was around 400 B.C- A.D 200, most children under the age of seven according to the textbook were cared for by their mothers and extended family members.

After the children were done being “babied” and pampered for the first eight years or so of their lives, they were submersed into the real world where they began to prepare for the careers they would pursue based on gender and social class. Plato, a famous and well-spoken Greek philosopher at the time believed that there were important stages of childhood that ought to be recognized and treated specifically per age group. “...proposed that curriculum should include games, music stories, and drama that would illustrate the values needed by all good citizens” (page 141). Aristotle, a pupil who studied under Plato at his academy, agreed with his mentor that teaching must start early but also took to the time to take the philosophy a step further proclaiming that child’s play was a fundamental and key element of a child’s development. However, although the Greeks were starting to grasp the basics of early childhood development and its teachings, there was still a lot of improvement to be made to the system.
The Middle Ages which took place around 500-1450 are “generally defined as the period between the Roman Empire and the Renaissance” (143). During the Middle Ages the “school system” that was in place was not one that would be honored here in the United States. The system was one where the poor would not be given the same opportunities as the rich as the youth were forced to do hard labor in the fields with their parents to support the families. There was a select amount of children however named the oblates whom were seems as the future of the monastery. Their education was prioritized above all and considered an extremely important part of the community’s activities, wellbeing, and future. The boys and girls were taught separately yet they received the same education in the subjects that were taught. A man by the name of Martin Luther was one of the most important people in the movement towards the education system we follow today. Martin Luther is most well-known for proposing that education should be for all children despite status, that individual literacy is important, and that all aspects of development are equally important. Martin’s work was so well recognized and agreed with that he impacted later educational philosophers to incorporate these ideas into their work.
The father of early childhood education though, if it needed to be narrowed down to just one person, many would simultaneously agree that is was John Amos Comenius.

John would be the man that would in the near future write about education, which he believed could be one of the biggest keys in improving society. This is exceptionally true in today’s world as the world leaders currently dominating and overpowering are those that attained a good education and were pushed to their limits by teachers and parents alike. The education our youth and society receive in their primetime “zone” for learning, is what will either determine their getting a good job or ending up homeless. Comenius believed that all individuals being equal before God should in turn be entitled to equal education. “He believed that schools should prepare children for life and for further education that he envisaged as taking place in a series of ascending grades, where at each level the child would be exposed to an ever widening circle of knowledge” (145). This basis of schooling that John Amos came up with still remains the system we use today, of course with a few tweaks. In today’s schooling there are three sections of schooling which are then divided into subparts based on age and intelligence. A man by the name of John Locke however had somewhat contradicting ideas regarding teaching over nurturing. Locke believed that a child would most succeed if they are given knowledge to be received through their

senses (hands-on) and if they were shown that nurture proves far more important than nature. These contradicting ideas however were both given light in today’s society where a typical early childhood education class is based on the fundamentals of both nurturing and teaching. As a teacher the two most important things are to ensure that of course you’re student is having a good time and enjoying themselves, but secondly to be sure that the student is gaining as much knowledge as possible. There are even programs available nowadays, as the youth grow older enabling them to be in special advanced classes to fuller unlock their raw potential. Although it seems as if though these historical figures made enough of a mark on the concept of early childhood education there is still so much to come from more professors and historians as the years progress.
A woman by the name of Rousseau proclaimed that a child is born and conceived inherently good, therefore stating that any behavioral problems a child may show are a result of something going on in the child’s environment. She also believed that education should start at birth and continue long through adulthood. This is the philosophy many parents carry today, with their children coming home from the hospital (as a newborn) to find a room decorated with all sorts of stimuli for a child of that age. Ms. Jean’s beliefs helped shape today’s ECE standards by helping make a point of the fact that there should be special focus on direct experiences as well as free play. Pestalozzi helped contribute to ECE standards as well by doing thorough research and determining that although Rousseau’s method’s were intelligent and well though out they were simply not effective. This led him to make his own discoveries and teaching methods due to his wanting his eleven year old son to be capable of reading. He later discovered through extensive research on both his son and other children that a focus on sensory exploration would prove vital to a child’s education as well as allowing self-paced learning. This concept of self-paced learning is extremely important to any child, as every child learns at a different rate; and as a teacher it is necessary to be understanding of different levels of speed and comprehension.