Constructivism in Early Childhood Education

Where we lead, our children will follow...

Recent results have shown that children at all stages require social and active instruction through collaborative and regimented learning to promote development for the next progression. The formative years for learning and development occurs prior to kindergarten. The promising results for a comprehensive early childhood education system is reflected by The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Head Start programs that support low-income and special needs children from birth to five years of age. It limited in scope since it only serves a limited population with other socioeconomic disadvantages. (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2011) This acute demographic demonstrates the importance to also provide basic skills for all children prior to entering the k-12 education system. Through imitation or observation our children will only advance if those foundational opportunities are made available. 

Article Review

 “Early childhood education again in spotlight”

Link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/early-childhood-education-again-in-spotlight/2011/10/06/gIQAwMNVYL_story_1.html

    The stratification of knowledge represented in the ideology of constructivism directly correlates with the evidence associated in early childhood education and development.  The theory of constructivism increases the pertinence of developing the connection between early experience and achievement across the educational continuum.  The article from the Washington Post articulates the dedication of the Obama Presidency to fund early childhood systems building for ensuring the high quality of early care environments. Evaluation of developmental milestones to gauge kindergarten readiness can be arbitrary given the large age range that constitutes normal development. This is the issue presented by the Race to the Top, Obama’s education initiative, where “the use of standards and assessments to judge whether a child is ready for kindergarten” and “nowhere in the rules was there anything about giving children time to creatively explore and learn through play”. (Strauss, 2011) Vygotsky’s perspective on the zone of proximal development he elaborates on the common use of tests to diagnose the child’s aptitude as being assessed independently of “what children can do with the assistance of others might be in some sense even more indicative of their mental development than what they can do alone”. (Vygotsky, 1978)   Though “systematicness” is not an isolated learning variation between preschool and school age children it does present the argument for not establishing standardized testing for the preschool age group since they are still learning the basics of being. (Vygotsky, 1978)  

    The implementation of constructivism into early childhood education involves the recognition of the impactful foundational stages that will influence school learning. The purpose of this is to diminish the disruption caused by posing new learning challenges prematurely. The evolution of early childhood education is dependent on the support for community based education that involves teaching parents how to interact with their children and methods for accessing system resources such as healthcare and educational materials. The community has to value and understand the levity of the early development stages since research has shown that “approximately 50% of adult intelligence capabilities have occurred when the child was 4 years old”. (E Childhood School, 2011) Since “learners construct new understandings using what they already know” the integration of social learning in early childhood education will provide our children with the greatest advantage for their future. (Hoover, 1996)

Bibliography:

1)      U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2011, February 23). About the office of head start. Retrieved from http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/ohs/about/index.html

2)      Strauss, V. (2011, October 9). Early childhood education again in spotlight. Retrieved from http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/early-childhood-education-again-in-spotlight/2011/10/06/gIQAwMNVYL_story.html

3)      Vygotsky, L. (1978). Readings on the development of children. Retrieved from http://www.psy.cmu.edu/~siegler/vygotsky78.pdf

4)      E Childhood School. (2011). Early childhood education is important. Retrieved from http://www.echildhoodschool.com/1/early-childhood-education/

5)      Hoover, W. (1996, August). The practice implications of constructivism . Retrieved from http://www.sedl.org/pubs/sedletter/v09n03/practice.html